Torment: Tides of Numenera out on Early Access
- Thread starter 2bak
- Start date
mrchaos
Super Orc
It is available! But 40 euros for early access?
I think I´ll pass. For now.
I think I´ll pass. For now.
omphaloskepsis
First time out of the vault
I kickstarted and have played about 30 hours of the beta so far., and I'm feeling very optimistic about Torment, more so than before I played it.
There's a lot of reactivity in the world, and a lot of choice & consequence. There are even several timed quests that progress whether you start them or not, which has people on the Beta forums enraged. The narrative is occasionally overwritten in terms of maybe trying too hard to be lyrical and unusual, but overall it's very good.
Combat (e.g. "crisis") is super easy (compared to something like Underrail or Age of Decadence), and needs a lot of bug-fixing and balance, but is also unique. Apparently it's pretty true to the Numenera PnP rules, though that's just me repeating what more knowledgeable folks have said. There are some interesting aspects to it, like using certain objects in the environment or even starting a dialog in the middle of some fights.
Nearly all combat is avoidable, too. People are also complaining that glaives, the fighter class, aren't as good as nanos the mage class--similar to how PST preferred mages with high INT/WIS/CHA. BUT IMO this is much less true than in PST, because the system alters the types of checks it gives you depending on how you've built your character. So it's not as preferential, but there's at least a little bias to high intellect characters.
There's a Scan Thoughts telepathy power that nanos can choose, which plays out a little like a Malkavian in Bloodlines. Not as entertaining, but I love it. The game looks like it will be very replayable. Also, fail states are often interesting, and in at least one case is actually better than a success.
It took me 15 hours to finish the beta content on my first playthrough. Estimates are that the beta content is about 30% - 40% of the game.
Oh, and there are choose your own adventure style text-based mini-games scattered around. It may sound awful, but they're well written and they give you interesting choices.
There's a lot of reactivity in the world, and a lot of choice & consequence. There are even several timed quests that progress whether you start them or not, which has people on the Beta forums enraged. The narrative is occasionally overwritten in terms of maybe trying too hard to be lyrical and unusual, but overall it's very good.
Combat (e.g. "crisis") is super easy (compared to something like Underrail or Age of Decadence), and needs a lot of bug-fixing and balance, but is also unique. Apparently it's pretty true to the Numenera PnP rules, though that's just me repeating what more knowledgeable folks have said. There are some interesting aspects to it, like using certain objects in the environment or even starting a dialog in the middle of some fights.
Nearly all combat is avoidable, too. People are also complaining that glaives, the fighter class, aren't as good as nanos the mage class--similar to how PST preferred mages with high INT/WIS/CHA. BUT IMO this is much less true than in PST, because the system alters the types of checks it gives you depending on how you've built your character. So it's not as preferential, but there's at least a little bias to high intellect characters.
There's a Scan Thoughts telepathy power that nanos can choose, which plays out a little like a Malkavian in Bloodlines. Not as entertaining, but I love it. The game looks like it will be very replayable. Also, fail states are often interesting, and in at least one case is actually better than a success.
It took me 15 hours to finish the beta content on my first playthrough. Estimates are that the beta content is about 30% - 40% of the game.
Oh, and there are choose your own adventure style text-based mini-games scattered around. It may sound awful, but they're well written and they give you interesting choices.
I'm intrigued by the idea of timed quests. I actually just talked about that recently with somebody.
I always found it silly that RPG's have people just waiting on you to get done picking your arsehole before you bothered to get around to whatever vital task you said you were going to do.
I always found it silly that RPG's have people just waiting on you to get done picking your arsehole before you bothered to get around to whatever vital task you said you were going to do.
omphaloskepsis
First time out of the vault
I like it, partly for the reason you mention (don't people get sick of fake tension?), partly for the replayability. And the game is flexible about fail states, so often you're just seeing a different side of the story rather than "missing out". But I don't know if the timed quests will survive the complaints. Or they might get diluted into pointlessness.
There are recurring complaints about not being able to see all of the content (in terms of C&C in general, and timed quests), and more about how unfair the timed quests are. There was also one guy who started a thread about how inXile needed to drop the turn-based combat, but that resulted in pages of people dogpiling him.
Fortunately it's too far along for them to remove much of the reactivity or C&C, and the complainers might be in the minority, but so far there aren't that many who are arguing back. I'm afraid it's going to get worse with Early Access feedback, but who knows.
I really do want RPG's to do more of what FO1 did with the Water Chip and the Super Mutant Army.
Gamers aren't really expected to participate on the level of, "Well if I have these water merchants deliver water to my Vault, that'll signal its existence to raiders."
I immediately went, "Ahhh shit, that timer is ticking down but hey, these water bros will buy me some time."
It just isn't really natural of us to reason out long-term consequences in games based on our knowledge of the setting. Because most of the time, the setting is just some cardboard cutout propped up in the background.
Gamers aren't really expected to participate on the level of, "Well if I have these water merchants deliver water to my Vault, that'll signal its existence to raiders."
I immediately went, "Ahhh shit, that timer is ticking down but hey, these water bros will buy me some time."
It just isn't really natural of us to reason out long-term consequences in games based on our knowledge of the setting. Because most of the time, the setting is just some cardboard cutout propped up in the background.
dopezilla
God of Blood and War
This looks interesting. I didn't even know InXile was working on this, so it's a nice surprise. I'm gonna wait it out 'till it's released, though. I don't like playing games that aren't done yet. When my new GPU arrives I might play some PST to get back into the setting. 
I tend to ignore betas, even if I'm entitled to them. I prefer to have the full experience upon release, especially since my gaming time is somewhat restricted.
That said, community feedback and bug reports are obviously valuable for the devs.
That said, community feedback and bug reports are obviously valuable for the devs.