Chalk this one up as another unfortunate casualty of the video game market.
There is absolutely no reason that this game should have tanked at retail. That is exactly what happened, though. The game did go relatively unnoticed when it released in late 1999, despite the ravings of critics across the board. Maybe everyone was hustling to protect their computers against the dreaded Y2K bug. Then again, maybe the really intimidating "he's not QUITE dead" guy on the game's box turned a lot of consumers away from the game.
Whatever the reason, I can't really say that I blame the gaming public, though, as I really don't recall having very high expectations for Torment either. After having purchased Baldur's Gate on a whim about a year earlier and being completely surprised, there was no doubt that I was going to get the next D&D-licensed RPG from Black Isle. I mean, what was there not to love? It was going to be like Baldur's Gate, but in the Planescape Campaign Setting, wasn't it?
Well, yes and no... but that is definitely a good thing. Being set in the Planescape setting, which was itself a very off-the-wall and original D&D property, set the tone for the game itself to carve its own path in the world of PC RPGs. Baldur's Gate it most definitely was not, although there were some similarities. They ran on the same Infinity engine, and as such played in a very similar manner. The interface was a bit different, but otherwise things were about identical gameplay-wise. Torment, however, had a much tighter camera, getting in very close to the characters instead of the more overhead view of Baldur's Gate.
That closeness to the characters represents the game as a whole. The focus was on The Nameless One and the odd crew of cohorts that he gathered on his quest to find out who he really was. The characters are not cardboard RPG cutouts either, breaking away from typical clichés of the genre: a wisecracking floating skull, a chaste succubus, and a rogue modron (imagine a talking microwave with wings, limbs, and a crossbow) that operates off of sheer computational logic (voiced brilliantly by Homer Simpson himself, Dan Castellaneta). The characters banter with each other in witty and often hilarious ways, and you literally could spend an hour of play having a discussion with a party member and come away happy. Despite their absurd natures, all of the characters felt real.
Following the trend of several other RPGs that have been influential to me, Torment provides these characters with a rich and unique setting thanks to the Planescape license. Some truly bizarre things can be seen, experienced, and fought against in Sigil and some of the planes that are visited throughout the course of the game. I mean, what other games allow you to venture into the first layer of The Nine Hells (err, Baator... lovely 2nd Edition D&D) in order to visit a Pillar of Skulls that can provide the answers you so desperately seek? I really can't think of any at all that provide the same sort of bizarre setting in such a masterful package. The fact that the Planescape setting was implemented so incredibly well just makes the game that much more of a masterpiece.
The opportunities for actual role-playing, though, were even greater than in any other game I had played before (or after) it. Granted, you did not get to make your own character like in Fallout, but in effect you could make the Nameless One into whatever kind of character you chose. Perhaps even more importantly, however, the three “cerebral” statistics--Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma--actually served a purpose. There was great fun to be had by playing an exceptionally intelligent and insightful smooth-talker. Torment resembled Fallout in this capacity, as there were few battles that were required in order to finish the game. In fact, much like in Fallout, you could defeat the final boss without even raising your sword (metaphorically, of course, as, due to a developer's in-joke, there were almost no swords in the game--apart from the Sword of Trias, usable only by Lawful Good characters at the end of the game), provided you had come upon certain information or items prior to the confrontation.
This was fortunate, as combat in Torment was definitely a step backward from that of Baldur's Gate. Battles ended up being little more than a glorified click and watch affair, with little to no strategy to speak of. It really didn't matter, however, because the battles were a mere side note to the meaty, robust storyline. Torment is as close to literary as an RPG can be, and it succeeded in achieving what Xenogears tried and failed to do (and without the annoying anime clichés). The story unfolded in layers, and each revelation led to a new chain of events that eventually led to a startling conclusion. The only problem, though, is that since it was presented in a fairly free-form manner, you could easily miss an important bit of information if you forgot about something or were unable to utilize certain items (I'm talking about you, Bronze Sphere).
It definitely had some flaws, but Planescape: Torment was a masterpiece ahead of its time. No game that I have ever played has matched the storytelling capability of Black Isle's creation, and only Fallout has provided a similar ability to freely role-play in a unique and interesting environment. It is a shame that it sold so poorly, although that seems to be a common theme among many of my all-time favorite titles. It wasn't just Baldur's Gate dressed in Planescape clothing as I had originally expected, but that ended up being a very good thing indeed.
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