I’m talking with a group of abandoned children from the collapsed house. They are keeping apostates other races and robbing other ruins in the village. The girl asked what song I want you to sing. Cheerful song eight coins, sad five. I wonder why it is sad cheaper, and the child answers: because there are more sad songs.

This is shortly game atmosphere in Torment: Tides of Numenera, wonderfully pessimistic vision of human life in areas where there is not conditioned by the limitations of our mentality. You play the role of the discarded corpses of a man who has found a way of transferring consciousness into another body. Price of this discovery is the awakening of dark forces known as The Sorrow that haunts so-called “the changing of God” and its waste. Your task is to direct personal tide ancient civilization itself in favor to avoid deletion of all reality and introduced the ninth world into a new era.

If you do not know what you just read, feel free to smile. Torment: Tides of Numenera has the most original combination of fantasy and fiction, which now can be found in the games. Although this is not the first game in the series, is not a continuation but a spiritual successor to Planescape Torment who in his time was also something very different from the former offers RPG games. Personally I’m not a connoisseur of Torment of the universe, but I thanks to this game instantly fell in love with him. It did not take long to instead of the typical fantasy motifs embrace lingo on metaphysics and some kind of futuristic existentialism.

I will not say that I did not feel lost in all this. The game begins with the fall from the sky and literally I was and felt through the rest of their adventures. If you regularly consume all the modern fantasy content, Torment is refreshing. Gaming experience comparable situation when you go live in a foreign country, looking for the instructions and then you realize that you first need some time that you interpret the meaning of these instructions so that you can follow. World Torment is full of specific slang – wizards respond to the word Nano currency is Shin, Merecaster the condition of previous civilizations in compliance with the tides that flow of emotions and instincts in the collective psyche of mankind …

„Get ready to absorb large amounts of information if you are not familiar with the original tabletop game Numenera universe.“

Unfortunately, the meeting is not quite painless process for new players. In the game, for example, there is no encyclopedia, glossary, or something like that, where you are at peace informed about all those foreign and strange notions. As much as the narrative was fascinating and original, players can literally immersed in very deep water. On the one hand the effect of disorientation helps to see yourself as a guy who also does not know in what kind of world exactly fallen. But on the other hand, there are some questionable decisions that I think are even detrimental to the game itself.

For example, the game before releasing got an excellent video in which explains the plot of the story. I’m from this material instantly understood what this rough work, but for some reason this video you will not find in the game. Instead it at the very beginning you will get an interactive sequence where you see nothing but you text describes how you fall. It is fascinating, but not in a good way in this sequence can die – without having to see how the game looks.

„When did you last see the game over screen before you’ve even started to play? Regardless of specificity, the torment that is not particularly good design is not the story is not for the gameplay.“

For this text introduction can in turn draw one thing – in Torment: Tides of Numener  will be piles of text. The game has very little acted or mic’d dialogue. In principle we do not mind if the story like a damn good, but when I say “quite a bit” I mean even less than what could be heard in games such as Pillars of Eternity, Wasteland 2 and Divinity: Original Sin. Someone that could detract from playing with the aforementioned specific slang, but it is commendable that at least this is what the text visually readable and has several sizes so you do not have to strain your eyes if you’re one-eyed jack or play on consoles.

The specificity of Torment: Tides of Numenere is that this RPG title in which the struggle sideshow. Specifically, almost all the accounts in the game you can avoid if you are skilled in conversation or prevent them from negotiating in the midst of the unfolding. The game therefore often looks like some kind of PNC adventure rather than an RPG, especially since you have to avoid conflicts of interest with respect to the skills to fight and solve puzzles to draw resources from the same pool of power, speed and intellect.

„Almost all the accounts in the game can be avoided therefore Torment often looks like PNC adventure than as RPG title.“

The struggle that takes place on the moves essentially is quite solid and requires little brainstorming to get out a good outcome. However, Torment: Tides of Numenera has one fundamental problem – in 90% of cases can not be killed. More precisely, you can, but has no effect but is literally just go back to the same place and continue where you left off. Your fellow soldiers come to life automatically, you are full of energy, but not enemies. Above all, such a thing can not be avoided because the game does not have a variable weight, that has only one setting weight where enemies can never be as challenging as you can be persistent.

A good part of the other mechanics of the game fall into the water because you can die only on special occasions. For example, in the battle to an important role should have Cypher items that are unique and once you use them you will not find such an item during gameplay. I in the first half of the game I had no need to use these items. Not that this did not have a chance, although I avoided the fight as much as possible, but to me it was more profitable to keep these items for later because I had no fear what will happen if my characters die – I knew that I was 15 seconds back on the same place and continue where I left off. With a little persistent repetition is not even so important is not what kind of equipment you have, and the equipment itself is very rare and generally uninteresting if it is not part of some puzzles, they must themselves craftati.

„Enemies in this game can never be as challenging as you can be persistent with repetition after death.“

The system of dialogue is somewhat more complex because of the fight after the ordered repetition is no more, except by quickload functions. It is transmitted in several stocks interactive comic book with which you experience other people’s memories and sometimes distort reality. The system is imbued with the so-called “tides”, or mechanics that defines players in various shades of what could be termed as good and evil. There are five basic tide and their dominance is determined by the style of play.

If you are hungry then you will be able to dominate the tide to be black, if you care to compromise and justice will awaken indigo tide, for compassion and sacrifice awakens the blue tide, and the like. Dominant tide can come in combination, through sixteen outcomes, each in small nuances affects how you perceive other characters, what is your relationship to the world, how much usability pull out of your equipment and the like. The catch is that there is no visible indicators by which to orient yourself what kind of character you want to be. This modeling is done only according to your personal assessment because you only see that you are the dominant tide and get notified when the tide increases.

Torment: Tides of Numenera because of such restrictions act as a mechanically inferior product compared to similar games that have campaigns on Kickstarter collect small amounts of financial resources for development. However, none of the mechanics can not deny the originality of the ninth world where you can meet the man without a head, a man with three heads, and a man who lives in the head of your character. Torment: Tides of Numenera has its flaws in design, but as a whole makes up for its unique atmosphere. However, if you want to live in a real issue, avoid the version for consoles that are running pretty bad. The game is on PC worst than it should be, there is almost no graphics settings and struggling with occasional bugs, but all the while holding a mouse in their hands, you can be sure that this is the correct way to play this game.