Gamasutra Quantum Leap Awards: RPGs
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Planescape: Torment took the somewhat cumbersome structure of the dialogue tree and turned it into a tangled dodecohedron of wonder within the weird. While in many ways it refined tropes and technology from the tradition of Baldur's Gate and Fallout, Torment's approach to storytelling transcends its form, providing characters that unveil through interaction like layers of an onion, and a setting just as mysterious and complex. Every named NPC would have some bizzare-psuedo quest to unleash, replete with brilliant writing and EXP. From a nation of undead haunted by cranium rats, to a brothel of intellectual lusts, to a pile of skulls in the first of nine hells, Torment's setting breathed with just as much character as its core NPCs. Whats most innovative about Torment, however, is its abondonment an empty vessel avatar for a layered, complex character identity the player could explore through play - though the Nameless One was something of an empty vessel on his own, one found. What can change the nature of a man? Great role-play design, thats what.
