Standing the test of time as one of the best role playing games Once created, Planescape: Torment was a success for several reasons, but surprisingly, much of Black Isle Studios was completely unfamiliar with the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting that started it all.
talking to PC gamer In a recent issue of the magazine, lead artist Tim Donley reveals his reaction to Black Isle Studios founder Feargus Urquhart's announcement that the next game the developers would be working on was a Planescape title. Apparently, the director “came in one day and said 'let's make a Planescape game'” to the rest of the team, and this took many of the developers by surprise, because they didn't know what Planescape was.
“In my head,” Donley explains, “I'm like, 'What the fuck is that?' At the time it seemed so different that I thought, 'Is this steampunk, space or sci-fi?'” Donley wasn't alone in his thoughts about Planescape's ever-mysterious campaign; lead programmer Dan Spitzley confirms this. “Planescape wasn't a well-known property,” he admits. It's not like there were a ton of Planescape video games to pay attention to, either.
“Certainly,” the leader continues, “I didn't have many games anymore, so there were a lot of things we could try to do that other teams might not have been willing to do,” and it seems that's precisely what Black Isle Studios ended up doing. doing it. The developers' game. stood out among the giants of the genre at the time as the original Baldur's Gate and the first two failed games Thanks to Torment, we make companions “feel like fully functioning parts of the story.”
As studio founder Urquhart himself said, “You had companions in Fallout 1, Fallout 2, and Baldur's Gate, but they didn't have real dialogue.” That was definitely not the case with Planescape: Torment, and even today it remains one of the best RPGs developed. As someone with way too many hours on the 1999 classic, I can attest to that. Even after more modern icons like Baldur's Gate 3I find myself returning to Planescape.
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