Ixion_SEROV
Aesthetics Uber Alles - Digital Odysseus
- Joined
- May 25, 2021
- Messages
- 44
- Reaction score
- 145
- Awards
- 42
If someone were to ask me about my top video game ranking, my 1st place spot is a tie between two classics that are cut from different cloths and yet are equally impactful in their ability to amaze me; Planescape Torment and Deus Ex.
While Deus Ex is a political and cyberpunk thriller set in a dystopian world that looks increasingly similar to our own, Planescape Torment is an adventure through some of the most alien settings I have ever seen in gaming. It takes place in Dungeons & Dragons' planar convergence- a place where inter-dimensional adventurers, traders, and riffraff all emerge into a place called Sigil, the City of Doors. It's an Ouroboros of a city shaped like a giant donut at the center of existence where guilds, factions, and wayward power brokers vie for influence, command, and control in a world where almost anything can happen. It's aesthetics are as alien and bizarre as its inhabitants as the neverending clashes of designs and architectural influences are never one in the same. Wherever you go, you're bound to find something that no other entry in all of fiction can provide.
What's stranger than the setting itself is the character you play. You are not simply a Level 1 Fighter or Druid who whipped out your dice and rolled up a fresh set of eyes to see drink in this setting in all its glory. No. You are The Nameless One; an immortal amnesiac who has a history that you must discover as you make your way through this imposing city and the inter-dimensional wastes that surround it. As you gather companions and delve into the mysteries of your own circumstances, you are plunged into quite possibly the greatest quest a hero- or villain- can go on.
No amount of text I place here can describe all the nuances of every facet this game provides. It's a lens into the superior fiction of yesteryear where love and care was placed into every facet of a make-believe society. Everything from culture and cuisine to symbolism, magic, and theology have become warped and reshaped in this marvelous city. Most importantly of all, I must note that this is a Dungeons and Dragons adventure that places heavy emphasis on dialogue and its accompanying stats- Intelligence and Charisma. The smarter you play and the more that you ask, the more that will be revealed to you as you uncover your own history and the maddening circumstances that have brought you here.
The City of Doors welcomes you, and you welcome it too.
While Deus Ex is a political and cyberpunk thriller set in a dystopian world that looks increasingly similar to our own, Planescape Torment is an adventure through some of the most alien settings I have ever seen in gaming. It takes place in Dungeons & Dragons' planar convergence- a place where inter-dimensional adventurers, traders, and riffraff all emerge into a place called Sigil, the City of Doors. It's an Ouroboros of a city shaped like a giant donut at the center of existence where guilds, factions, and wayward power brokers vie for influence, command, and control in a world where almost anything can happen. It's aesthetics are as alien and bizarre as its inhabitants as the neverending clashes of designs and architectural influences are never one in the same. Wherever you go, you're bound to find something that no other entry in all of fiction can provide.
What's stranger than the setting itself is the character you play. You are not simply a Level 1 Fighter or Druid who whipped out your dice and rolled up a fresh set of eyes to see drink in this setting in all its glory. No. You are The Nameless One; an immortal amnesiac who has a history that you must discover as you make your way through this imposing city and the inter-dimensional wastes that surround it. As you gather companions and delve into the mysteries of your own circumstances, you are plunged into quite possibly the greatest quest a hero- or villain- can go on.
No amount of text I place here can describe all the nuances of every facet this game provides. It's a lens into the superior fiction of yesteryear where love and care was placed into every facet of a make-believe society. Everything from culture and cuisine to symbolism, magic, and theology have become warped and reshaped in this marvelous city. Most importantly of all, I must note that this is a Dungeons and Dragons adventure that places heavy emphasis on dialogue and its accompanying stats- Intelligence and Charisma. The smarter you play and the more that you ask, the more that will be revealed to you as you uncover your own history and the maddening circumstances that have brought you here.
The City of Doors welcomes you, and you welcome it too.
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