I'm in the WoW Beta Test!

[A Black Falcon]

Planescape has no demo. Just like all of the other Infinity engine titles actually... none of those five games have (free) demos. I don't know why, but it's an unfortunate fact...

As for that demo, yeah, it's just that one very short chapter where you sink the boat. And yes, I have played it... I played it before getting the game. Though it wasn't the demo that convinced me to get the game, it was the reviews (and how high they all were). It's the demo, they say, because it's easily the shortest chapter in the game... you talk to a few people (it makes April look kind of foolish with how she acts with the captain, but it makes more sense once you play the game and realize the whole 'two worlds' thing... see, there are two worlds (two earths kind of), Stark and Arcadia, and one has technology and the other magic. There is a deep story behind it but that much you get from the back of the box. That chapter (7) is on Arcadia; April is from Stark. Sure she's been there for a little while, but not on the ocean... but I'm still not sure if she's being annoying on purpose (to bug that captain) or by accident. Oh well. :)

Um, I do forget a bit about the demo. Does it start on the ship or somewhere else? Was it just the ship? I can't quite remember... but either way, the problem about the story is that the demo is NOT the beginning of the game. It's pretty much in the middle. So the story won't make sense. Why is she on this ship? Which world is she on (though that should be obvious it isn't stated)? It's quite unclear. As you say, the story as far as the demo goes is confusing... but it should be, given where in the game it i (and how they just chopped out a section of the game instead of making a new demo, and the demo isn't even the beginning!).

As for whether the game is serious or humorous, kind of like a Lucasarts game it's both. That is, it's got a definitely serious story and a deep plot on the one hand. It's also a quite long game -- 30 hours minimum. With a lot of conversations. And it's serious to a large extent... but the game also definitely has a sense of humor, especially in the character of April (she can be pretty funny at times). The idea is that she's the 'average person who is called to do extrodinary things'. Cliche sure, but well presented and deep. Now, IMO anyway in the demo she just comes off as either clueless or annoying, but overall it's a lot better than that... and even that makes more sense with the background information (like how hard it was to convince that guy to make the voyage).

But anyway, I really bought it because of the universal acclaim, not the (decent but not fantastic) demo. I haven't finished it.. I'm not stuck exactly, but it's a tough (logic) puzzle that will take time to solve (and involves wandering all over this island) and I just haven't gotten around to getting myself to do it.

But it's still better than that pitiful Syberia demo, that's for sure... actually, most adventure games don't seem to have demos or they have very short ones. Ever play the Curse of Monkey Island demo? Extremely short! As for the TLJ demo, what it does tell you is that this is a typical point-and-click adventure game with a decent interface, nice backgrounds, and dated polyagonal character models. And a lot of walking around with items trying them on things and talking to people.

Finally, if you have to choose between this and Torment Torment wins. ... but that shouldn't surprise you, I put Torment very high in my top 10...