Planescape Torment: Great RPG or Greatest?

[Great Rumbler]

I gave it a try. The fairest review I can offer is that it just wasn't my thing.

Torment's kind of the anti-RPG, in many respects. Most have some real-world analog or some gleaming semi-futuristic setting for you to play about in with high-spirited characters and we're going to save the world blahblahblah [See: every JRPG ever]. Maybe there's some evil lurking about, some monsters roaming the countryside, but the idyllic villages and cities generally have few problems and are often adorned with green trees, green grass, and people whose medieval attire just came back from the dry-cleaners.

But Torment, true to its name, is very dark and mean. The characters you meet are ugly, inside and out, and the only ray of light might be your own character, or you can be just as ugly and cruel as everybody else. The world itself it twisted and bleak and you often hear stories of places that are even worse than that.

And the story isn't about saving the world, it's about a man who live and dies over and over again, losing all his memories each time, even the memories of his friends and lovers, trying to find a way to finally die once and for all.

It's decidedly different, and a big part of why I love it so much.