#torment: tides of numenera

[capriccio-ffxiv]

... damn. Sudden thought.

FFXIV fans, who else has played Torment: Tides of Numenera?

In that game, the main character is what's called a Castoff -- what remains behind when a body-hopping immortal swaps bodies. There's actually a LOT of these, and they even try to form their own society, though an entity called the Sorrow hunts them.

We know that while most of the time Ascians just burn out their hosts (Emet Selch) or let them die (most of them tbh?) we also know that some hosts do survive (Thancred). I'm intrigued by this concept for an OC, or even a WoL! Imagine a lesser or sundered Ascian having no idea they'd stolen the body of the Shard of Azem, and possibly being told by Emet Selch point-blank to vacate that *immediately*. Or just a small town of people brought together solely by the fact that they survived something horrible like that, perhaps left with strange powers... (Still mad that Thancred's heterochromia was never followed up on)

[catthattalks]

The last castoff 🤝 The Dark Urge

selfish God as a parent who only created them to further their goals.

[franzior219]

I'm so freaking sad that InXile Entertainment did not delivered what they've promised during crowdfunding of Torment: Tides of Numenera. The whole concept of lovecraftian horror, pseudo science-fiction and fantasy in dungeons & dragons style was so awesome I'm enjoying the game right now. But I can't just ignore the fact that they deleted a lot of things from this game for unknown reasons (things like 4 joinable factions with quests or more companions). Overall, a nice experience, but I can't call it a true spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment.

[springacres]

I played it, liked the mechanics and setup, but never got very far. I should pick it up again!

Torment Tides of Numenera was actually a good and fun game

[eljackinton]

You've arrived in the land of a thousand different names And the fabulous sons have crashed their planes in flames Now tomorrow's back claiming redemption is on your heels And a toothless past is asking you how it feels

[oneknightstand-if]

i beg thee do NOT watch seven deadly sins it is genuinely not good I already fell into this pit

It being like five seasons in (and not those 12 episode seasons that are so common right now) is the biggest deterrent. That and the huge pile of other Arthurian related games, movies, TV series, books, and such I still have to go through.

[shepherds-of-haven]

Are you planning to play Baldurs Gate 3? If not I highly recommend looking into it!

It's on my list of potential games to play but I'll be honest, I've not had much luck with the DnD-style, technical aspect of these types of games: I never finished Divinity: Original Sin (1 or 2) or Pathfinder: Kingmaker, largely because I found myself not knowing wtf was going on, so we'll see! 🥹 But I am definitely intrigued by the characters and RPG aspects of it! Just for some reason things like the combat make my dum-dum brain no work!

[starlightcleric]

Something I have come to understand about myself is that I will put many hours into a mediocre game if the gameplay scratches my brain right, but it's basically impossible for me to play something for a good plot but gameplay I hate.

[theperfectquestion]

Planescape Torment: What can change the nature of a man?

Tides of Numenera: What does one life matter?

Disco Elysium: I don't want to be this kind of animal any more.

[doyouknowthisgame]

[amechyofsorts]

You know you are in a bad place mentally when you fill out one of these fucking things.

[fair-lead]

love the aesthetic of old isometric crpgs.. i wouldn't call them beautiful per se, but they have such a distinct look. its admirable when things have distinct visual styles

[8bitsupervillain]

End of the Year 2022! Honorable video game mentions

Here is the honorable mentions for the video games of 2022. I’m separating them somewhat in the list, but you’ll find both the pre-2022 and the 2022 lists here. They’re all generally fine games, just I quit playing them for various reasons.

Pre-2022

HM: Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance

A fun little Action RPG, but also ball grindingly hard. Perhaps it's because I went with the Wizard character but this is astonishingly difficult. I'll probably go back and finish it.

HM: Divinity: Dragon Commander

I like this game even though I'm not particularly great at strategy games. I enjoy the story quite a bit, but I'm undecided if I'll go back to it.

HM: Undernauts

A good dungeon RPG but I sort of just fell off of it. I played it for twelve hours or so, but I just kind of moved on to other games. I love the art style.

HM: Shining Song Starnova

I got a few hours into the game when my computer decided I didn't make any progress into the story and deleted my save. Idol Manager made me think about giving this game a go.

HM: Daggerfall: Unity

I am trying desperately to figure out why people like the Elder Scrolls games so much. This one is pretty good, but I didn't play it for any great length of time.

HM: Elder Scrolls Battlespire

I decided I wanted to try an Elder Scrolls that is a more straight forward game compared to the more open world options. I didn't get far in it, but I do intend on giving it a more fair shake.

HM: Titan Quest

I wanted to play an Action RPG, and I was drawn to the more Greek inspired look than the typical dark fantasy games in the genre. Really I just want to play the expansion set in China.  

HM: Torment: Tides of Numenera

I watched the opening movie and I thought it was pretty cool. Sadly I didn't play beyond the opening because I decided to play Pillars of Eternity and Tyranny instead.

HM: Open X-COM

I finally decided to take a real shot at trying to play "classic" X-COM, every other time I just sort of bounced off it. This time however I seemed to actually get a nice handle on how the game actually plays, so who knows maybe in the future I'll actually go through the entirety of original X-COM.

2022 Propa

HM: Evil West

Started this one just a smidge too late for it to be eligible for proper best of the year consideration. A fun hack and slash to be sure, kind of a cowboy pastiche of a Devil May Cry. It's a hoot.

HM: Steelrising

A soulsborne-esque yarn where you play as the robot bodyguard of Marie Antoinette during the robo-French Revolution. Sadly I didn't get particularly far before my attentions were drawn elsewhere.

HM: Conan Chop Chop

Decent little roguelite game.

HM: Card Shark

An interesting game with a unique selling point, being a game set in France's past and with the main gimmick being you're not trying to win the card games legitimately but by cheating better than your opponents. I should finish it some day.

HM: Pentiment

I love a good murder mystery. Sadly I had to let this one slide unplayed.

HM: Lunacid

You're spoiled for choice these days with Dark Souls derivatives, so it's nice to see someone go back and make a King's Field-like.

HM: River City Saga: Three Kingdoms

I enjoy beat-em ups and I thought a Kunio game set in the historical period of the Three Kingdoms sounds like a fun idea. I'm not sure I've played it enough to really pass judgment on it.

HM: Moonscars

One of approximately a hundred Soulsy Metroidvania dark fantasy games that came out this year. I liked what I played though.

HM: Tarnishing of Juxtia

See above, also it reminds me a lot of Blasphemous more than any other game.

HM: Souldiers

Unfortunately all these Metroidvania games came out too close in my mind so I kind of had to let some of them fall to the wayside.

HM: Weird West

Yeehaw.

HM: Salt and Sacrifice

I don't care for the character art, but the gameplay is generally solid. I don't know if I'd recommend it over any other of these Metroidvania types, but I thought it was pretty good from what I've played.

HM: Soulash

A fun pixel-graphics roguelike that I wish I spent more time with.

HM: The Last Hero of Nostalgaia

Allegedly a satire of Dark Souls and all those types, but I found it to just be a generally fun game to play. Maybe it really goes down hill, but from the demo I played it seemed pretty decent.

HM: Undecember

It's like if Diablo Immortal was a slightly better roguelite phone game. That sounds mean, but I actually quite like this.

HM: Thymesia

Bloodborne inspired game this time. Unfortunately I didn't play much of it because of all the other games vying for my attention.

HM: SD Gundam Battle Alliance

2022 was just positively cram packed with games that were generally pretty good and did what they set out to do quite well. This is a decent little Action RPG, and one day I hope to finish it.

HM: Valkyrie Elysium

One of the dozen or so games Square Enix released with practically no advertisement. I like what I’ve played so far, it just fell onto the back burner and out of my priorities list.

[guywithbeer]

Check out my YouTube, Rumble and RUTUBE channels [GUYWITHBEER GAMING] for both gameplay videos and a review video of the science fantasy RPG game, TORMENT: TIDES OF NUMENERA.

#tormenttidesofnumenera #gameplay #review #youtube #rutube #rumble

[shuunnico]

You like rpgs. Do you recommend any games like baldurs gate 3?

Absolutely. I'll assume you mean CRPGs and not RPGs in general.

Computer Roleplaying Games (CRPGs) refers to a style and genre of game that BG3 follows. Some have started calling CRPGs "Classic RPGs" instead. CRPGs are typically identified by an isometric, top down view style, a heavy focus on story and exploration.

I'm going to split my list it three main categories based on accessibility factors. These factors include the amount of reading involved, the depth of mechanics and the level of abstraction/math required.

Easy Entry Level

Baldur's Gate 3 - 2023 - Larian Studios. The current gold star for easy entry CRPGs. Exceptional graphics, every character voice acted, very little reading and fairly straightforward mechanics and concepts.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 DE- 2017 - Larian Studios. This is basically a less polished, more complex version of BG3 and made by the same studio.

Disco Elysium, Final Cut - 2019 - ZA/UM. Disco Elysium is a detective/social focus game that dives into heavy narrative concepts. Failing rolls is just as viable for the story as succeeding them, making the game's mechanics take a backseat to story. However, there is a lot of reading and that may be a barrier to entry.

Tyranny - 2016 - Obsidian Entertainment. A game about being evil, it's mechanically pretty simple, but there's a fair bit of jank due to it's low budget, and the game ends on a cliffhanger, but it's story is very solid.

Mid Entry Level

Wasteland 3 - 2020 - inExile Entertainment. The long awaited third installment of the Wasteland franchise and significantly less complex than its predecessors. Post apocalyptic, frozen Colorado, grim reality and goofy ideas. This is the franchise that originally inspired Fallout.

Shadowrun: Dragonfall DC/ Shadowrun: Hong Kong EE - 2014/2015 - Harebrained Schemes. Set in the Fantasy/Cyberpunk hybrid setting of Shadowrun. Fair bit of reading, but the game's mechanics are relatively easy to grasp and don't require a lot of math. Always play Dragonfall before Hong Kong.

Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire - 2018 - Obsidian Entertainment. A unique setting, exploring a fictional parallel to the age of piracy. Very wordy (but a lot is voice acted), with a lot of world building, but well worth engaging with. The first game, Pillars of Eternity, is less accessible, but still good.

Kingmaker/Wrath of the Righteous/Rogue Trader - 2020/2022/2023 - Owlcat Games. Owlcat adapts existing systems into CRPGs, like how BG3 is an adaption of DnD 5e. Do not be fooled, these games are where you start hitting a lot of complexity, a lot of math and a lot potential to damage your playthroughs by accident. This is where things start to get difficult.

Difficult Entry Level

Baldur's Gate 1/2 - Bioware - 1998/2000. The prequels to BG3, these games use an older, much more complex version of DnD's rules. Be prepared for a lot of reading and complex mechanics, but you'll be rewarded with some amazing storytelling.

Planescape Torment - Interplay - 1999. Another game using DnD's older mechanics, Planescape is a completely different beast from BG3. Many consider this series mechanically inferior to the Baldur's Gate franchise, but with better storytelling and world building to compensate.

Fallout 1/2 - 1997/1998 - Interplay/Black Isle. One of the most widely known game franchises started as an isometric CRPG. Universally considered more complex, rewarding and deeper than the Bethesda portion of the franchise, you'll need some experience to get into them, but you'll be happy you did.

Games I haven't played but I've heard good things of:

Wasteland 2, DC - 2015 - inExile

Torment: Tides Of Numenera - 2017 - inExile

Neverwinter Nights - 2002 - Bioware

Arcanum - 2001 - Troika Games

Ultima 7 Part 1/Part 2 - 1992/1993 - Origin Systems

Icewind Dale - 2000 - Black Isle Studio

[rationalisms]

could you recommend an indie game that does disco elysium or its kind of game better? (/genuine)

i'd be happy to recommend some games to you for sure!

but i would like to preface this by saying that my point (which is hard to explain in a pithy tag aside to be fair lol) isn't necessarily that these will be "better" than disco elysium. that's incredibly hard to quantify anyway since so much of this is based on taste. e.g. i disliked some things about DE other people loved (like the pacing) even though i overall had a good time with the game.

it's more that the way people were talking about disco elysium, especially in terms of like... "professional video game journalism" but also definitely on this site and the other formerly blue side, was tinged with this tone that DE is somehow unique or groundbreaking in its attempt to treat a video game like an artform or a serious vehicle for storytelling. which is insulting especially to the games DE clearly draws from.

a lot of people who don't usually play video games played DE based on recommendations, which is great! but a huge part of the response from those people didn't seem to be "wow, clearly i can have a good time with video games if they're like this, i should seek out more". it instead seemed to be "well folks, pack it up, this is the one video game i will enjoy because it's Deep unlike everything else out there". which is incredibly disappointing.

anyway. whether these recommendations will hit for you will primarily depend on what you're looking for when you say "its kind of game", but here's some games that gave me the same general feeling.

planescape: torment is the game that heavily inspired disco elysium. it's a similarly combat-light crpg with a focus on exploration and story and set in a weird, technologically discongruent setting. i would also recommend its sequel, torment: tides of numenera. i didn't enjoy that one as much but it was still pretty good.

kentucky road zero is a game about a truck driver who has to cross the titular road zero and the many people he meets on the way. it's also magical realism so if you enjoyed the genre of disco elysium this might be up your alley.

beautiful desolation is another game which is based on real world culture/history with sci-fi world building on top. in this case south africa. it's really beautiful and rewards exploration in a similar way.

return of the obra dinn is also an atmospheric detective game set on a ship lost in 1803. it's by the same creator who made papers, please (which is also excellent by the way).

hypnospace outlaw has a similar half absurd, half earnest tone. it also felt similarly nostalgic to me. it's incredibly easy to sink a lot of time into this one though so watch out lol.

orwell, and its sequel, orwell: ignorance is strength, are similar "internet" simulators like HO with a much more overt political tone (if you couldn't tell by the name lol). you play as an employee for a government surveillance program.

stasis if you're looking for more isometric point and click games with a strong atmosphere and great voice acting.

sunless sea, and its sequel, sunless skies, are exploration/roguelike games about a weird, fantastical world. if you've ever played fallen london, they're set in the same universe.

what remains of edith finch is also magical realism and dark comedy, so if you enjoyed the tone of DE you might enjoy that.

some say it has always been here also has a surreal and sometimes oppressive atmosphere. i wish this game was longer, i loved it so much.

i miss the sea of japan is another wonderful bitsy game i got reminded of when i thought about SSIHABH. it's wistful and sweet.

i have no mouth and i must scream is a psychological thriller about five people and their dark pasts trying to outwit an AI. it's very atmospheric and also has variously fucked up (by life) protagonists.

whispers of a machine is another detective game with more of a sci-fi slant, though it's set in a world inspired by sweden and other nordic countries. it's also very atmospheric and has some great voice acting.

buddy simulator 1984 gave me a lot of the same feelings disco elysium did (wistfulness, nostalgia, anxiety, etc lol). i really loved the first half of the game but wasn't as into the second half, would absolutely still recommend it though.

and if we're talking just straight up great crpgs with a heavily political tone, i will always always always recommend harebrained schemes shadowrun trilogy (especially dragonfall and hong kong, both incredible games. returns is... fine lol but definitely not on the level of the sequels) and fallout 1 and 2.

plus, no rec list about magical realism would be complete without life is strange. :') i haven't played any of the sequels and it's been a long time since i played it, but i remember loving it at the time.

games i haven't played yet but that are on my to play list and which look like they could scratch the same itch:

citizen sleeper, also a dice based game which is very narrative and exploration based.

norco, which several of my friends love a lot.

where the water tastes like wine, which is set in the great depression era of the US and about collecting stories and sharing them.

pentiment, another detective game set in a real world approximation. i love everything obsidian touches so i'm sure it's great, but i haven't gotten round to it yet.

night in the woods seems to be popular with people who like DE so it might be up your alley. i'm pretty sure it's also magical realism?

roadwarden is another isometric point and click game about exploration and friends have said it has a great atmosphere.

i hope those are a good starting point for you! i would also genuinely recommend just hopping on itch.io and typing in a random prompt and seeing what you get. i've discovered sooo many wonderful games (many of them completely free, though i will always advocate for tipping the creators) by just noodling around on there. tons and tons of incredible indie games who don't have the luxury of publisher funding made by people who could really use the support.

enjoy and have a lovely day ^__^