I hate Planescape: Torment. And that is the reason you should listen to me.
rattenfleisch
Member Posts: 6
in Off-Topic
WARNING: Very mild (almost non-existent) spoilers ahead. I will tell you a few things you learn in the first few minutes of the game, but nothing that would hamper your enjoyment of the game should you decide to play it. I think the information in this post is more of an appetizer than a spoiler.
So, this post should be safe for anyone. I can't guarantee this for the following posts however, so be careful.
I have to confess: I personally HATE Planescape: Torment. I hate nearly every part of it, from the setting to the characters. I never really could get into it because it just isn't my style.
So... why am I creating a topic about it? Am I just an attention whore?
Well, not really. The reason I'm writing this is because I want you to try Planescape: Torment. And I want those who tried it but didn't like it to try it again.
"Why?" you might ask. Well, admittedly, I think quite a few people will regard playing this game as torment at some point. Just as I did.
But that's not the reason I want you to play it. I want you to play it because it is good.
From the pure gameplay perspective, the game is far from perfect.
1. Character customization is nearly non-existent.
During character creation, you can distribute stats and that's it. You can't select your race, gender, class, alignment (changed during the course of the game so not really a problem)... not even your looks or portrait.
Of course, this is necessary to make the game make sense. And considering what the game wants to be, this is not really a problem. But still, gameplay-wise, it is a little shallow.
So you inevitably start as a fighter, but can change to a mage or thief later... not a dualclass, but a real and complete switch to another class. So you can effectively choose your alignment, stats and one of three classes. From this standpoint alone, the replayability value is extremely low.
2. Combat is nearly non-existent.
Yes, there is combat in the game. But it is so easy that it can barely be considered as such. There is barely any opportunity to use tactics in battle and the enemies are so wimpy that you can dagger them to death as a mage.
Yes, Planescape is more about story than about combat, but such easy battles make it even worse, because they feel so redundant and stupid that they could have been left out completely.
3. The game is set on rails.
While you have way more freedom in expressing your character than in Baldur's Gate, the course you take is pretty much set. Baldur's Gate 1 offers freedom to roam the lands and has a rather loose connection between the necessary steps in the story (Nashkell Mine, Bandit Camp, Cloakwood, Baldur's Gate, etc.). Baldur's Gate 2 offers you less freedom (almost none, except some sideways, but at least you have those) and has parts where you are just drawn from one place to another. Planescape: Torment is much worse in this regard, as the order of things you do is pretty much predetermined.
This lowers the replayability value quite a bit. But on the other hand, while the physical course is set, your alignment really does make a difference, much deeper and more convincing than in Baldur's Gate.
This increases replayability, so it evens out. But still, the "rails" are annoying.
4. The game flows a bit slow in the beginning.
I'm talking about the first part of the game, after you leave the mortuary and enter the first part of the city, shaped like a donut and consisting of four areas.
Again, this is purely from a gaming point of view. Story wise, it makes perfect sense to feel a bit lost in the beginning. But this deterred quite a few players from playing further. It's hard to make a decision here. At first, I was convinced that this should be changed, but looking back from the end of the game, it's perfect the way it is... story wise.
Many players don't know where to start at this point and lose interest. Story wise, this is brilliant. Games usually take you by the hand and give you a reason to go on, but PST requires you to bring a certain drive to unravel your mysteries with you. It just leaves you there, just as confused as your character and with only some vague clues where to go and what to do.
As you may have noticed, I've already started praising the game I hate so much.
And I don't only hate it because the gameplay is shitty, the reason I hate it most is because of the setting.
I'm not known for my broad taste. I like "normal" fantasy settings, good (or lawful neutral ;-P) guys in shining armour with sharp swords fighting legions of ugly, evil bad guys. I like it simple.
PST is not so simple. The whole setting is weird, the characters you encounter are strange and the protagonist looks like a hobo with dreadlocks. I can't relate to anything of it.
And parts of the game even made me feel sick. Which is even worse because everything is described so vividly. The smell of fluids used to preserve the corpses in the mortuary, for example, or a similar treated liver you obtain later in the game, and it's jelly-like texture still turn my stomach by the thought of it. I have no problems at all with blood and gibs and exploded heads, but the mortuary was just too much for me.
But that is what makes the game so good: the descriptions. The characters you talk to are so vividly described that they nearly come to life before your eyes. This leaves room for your imagination and is fun, because you have some descriptions to go by. Try to imagine some Baldur's Gate characters... how does Belt look like? Or Scar? Try to imagine how their faces look like. I bet you can't even give some of them a voice.
I just played through BG1 and can't do it. But I can still remember that smelling storyteller from PST even though I've last played through the game I-don't-know-how-many years ago. Maybe six years, but I really don't know.
Let's sum it up:
1. The gameplay is shitty, that is a fact.
2. I absolutely hate the setting, that is my personal opinion.
3. The story is so f***ing good that I still heartily recommend it. PST can't be regarded as a game. It is a piece of art.
So I hope I've made you a bit curious now. Let me serve you the aforementioned "spoilers" (which aren't really spoilers) now.
The game is about a character called "The Nameless One" because... well, he doesn't have a name because he can't remember it. He wakes up in a mortuary and can't remember who he is, because every time he "dies" he loses all his memory and returns to life. So he doesn't know who he is and why he is in this condition, but as it seems, a few people he comes across seem to recognize him. As it seems, each of his "incarnations" was different. Sometimes he was an evil motherf****er, sometimes quite a nice guy, sometimes powerful and sometimes pretty much insignificant.
This time, *you* decide who he is and what he does. Your actions effect your alignment and the outcome of this game. Be honest and keep your word and you become more lawful, lie and mess around and you become more chaotic. If you help others without looking for personal gain, you turn good. Threatening and blackmailing people for selfish reasons make you evil.
Wisdom (I mean the stat. Seriously, try to keep it high) is important to understand the world around you and to recover lost memories, intelligence is useful as well. And don't neglect charisma. These are not dump stats in this game like in Baldur's Gate.
Remember that you can talk to your party members... do this regularly, you can learn from them. Dak'kon can teach you a few things if you're a mage for example. Talk with each of your companions and try to find out about their past, it might be helpful to you.
You are constantly walking in your own footsteps, whether you know it or not. You will find things you've left behind in your previous lives, some accidentally because you lost them, some on purpose. You will meet many people you've met before. Some will tell you everything, others pretend that they don't know you, for various reasons. Some will help you, others will use your condition for their personal gain.
I can assure you that you will be surprised on more than one occasion.
The game takes place in a city called Sigil. It is said it lies in the center of the planes (consider them to be "dimensions") and is connected to each of them through portals... you need to have a key to see those portals and pass through them, though. This key can be a physical key, a piece of trash, a thought you have, a memory, a word you say or a song you are humming.
Belief is able to shape reality. If enough people believe in something, it happens. If enough people believe someone exists, he will. Maybe you will encounter someone in the game who came into being because people believed he exists.
Beyond personal preference, there is something like truth. Some games are good (or bad) whether you like them or not. I personally like a few games that are, as a matter of fact, quite bad. I just happen to like the setting and can accept the shortcomings.
Rome - Total War: Barbarian Invasion (the first Add-On) is such an example. The new game mechanics, from hording to religion, are so poorly implemented that they can nearly be considered broken. It had potential, but it was wasted (it is even worse than the basic Rome). Compare that with the old Total War games or even Medieval 2, which are much better and well-rounded games. I like Barbarian Invasion because I'm interested in the migration period, but I know the game itself is a heap of dung without a lot of corrective modding (and even then, many problems are hardcoded).
I hate Planescape: Torment. And this is the reason you should trust me when I say it is good. Try it and finish it at least once. It is worth it.
PS: I'm sorry if this post is a bit tough to read, but I'm not a native speaker and short on time, so I can't streamline it further.
So, this post should be safe for anyone. I can't guarantee this for the following posts however, so be careful.
I have to confess: I personally HATE Planescape: Torment. I hate nearly every part of it, from the setting to the characters. I never really could get into it because it just isn't my style.
So... why am I creating a topic about it? Am I just an attention whore?
Well, not really. The reason I'm writing this is because I want you to try Planescape: Torment. And I want those who tried it but didn't like it to try it again.
"Why?" you might ask. Well, admittedly, I think quite a few people will regard playing this game as torment at some point. Just as I did.
But that's not the reason I want you to play it. I want you to play it because it is good.
From the pure gameplay perspective, the game is far from perfect.
1. Character customization is nearly non-existent.
During character creation, you can distribute stats and that's it. You can't select your race, gender, class, alignment (changed during the course of the game so not really a problem)... not even your looks or portrait.
Of course, this is necessary to make the game make sense. And considering what the game wants to be, this is not really a problem. But still, gameplay-wise, it is a little shallow.
So you inevitably start as a fighter, but can change to a mage or thief later... not a dualclass, but a real and complete switch to another class. So you can effectively choose your alignment, stats and one of three classes. From this standpoint alone, the replayability value is extremely low.
2. Combat is nearly non-existent.
Yes, there is combat in the game. But it is so easy that it can barely be considered as such. There is barely any opportunity to use tactics in battle and the enemies are so wimpy that you can dagger them to death as a mage.
Yes, Planescape is more about story than about combat, but such easy battles make it even worse, because they feel so redundant and stupid that they could have been left out completely.
3. The game is set on rails.
While you have way more freedom in expressing your character than in Baldur's Gate, the course you take is pretty much set. Baldur's Gate 1 offers freedom to roam the lands and has a rather loose connection between the necessary steps in the story (Nashkell Mine, Bandit Camp, Cloakwood, Baldur's Gate, etc.). Baldur's Gate 2 offers you less freedom (almost none, except some sideways, but at least you have those) and has parts where you are just drawn from one place to another. Planescape: Torment is much worse in this regard, as the order of things you do is pretty much predetermined.
This lowers the replayability value quite a bit. But on the other hand, while the physical course is set, your alignment really does make a difference, much deeper and more convincing than in Baldur's Gate.
This increases replayability, so it evens out. But still, the "rails" are annoying.
4. The game flows a bit slow in the beginning.
I'm talking about the first part of the game, after you leave the mortuary and enter the first part of the city, shaped like a donut and consisting of four areas.
Again, this is purely from a gaming point of view. Story wise, it makes perfect sense to feel a bit lost in the beginning. But this deterred quite a few players from playing further. It's hard to make a decision here. At first, I was convinced that this should be changed, but looking back from the end of the game, it's perfect the way it is... story wise.
Many players don't know where to start at this point and lose interest. Story wise, this is brilliant. Games usually take you by the hand and give you a reason to go on, but PST requires you to bring a certain drive to unravel your mysteries with you. It just leaves you there, just as confused as your character and with only some vague clues where to go and what to do.
As you may have noticed, I've already started praising the game I hate so much.
And I don't only hate it because the gameplay is shitty, the reason I hate it most is because of the setting.
I'm not known for my broad taste. I like "normal" fantasy settings, good (or lawful neutral ;-P) guys in shining armour with sharp swords fighting legions of ugly, evil bad guys. I like it simple.
PST is not so simple. The whole setting is weird, the characters you encounter are strange and the protagonist looks like a hobo with dreadlocks. I can't relate to anything of it.
And parts of the game even made me feel sick. Which is even worse because everything is described so vividly. The smell of fluids used to preserve the corpses in the mortuary, for example, or a similar treated liver you obtain later in the game, and it's jelly-like texture still turn my stomach by the thought of it. I have no problems at all with blood and gibs and exploded heads, but the mortuary was just too much for me.
But that is what makes the game so good: the descriptions. The characters you talk to are so vividly described that they nearly come to life before your eyes. This leaves room for your imagination and is fun, because you have some descriptions to go by. Try to imagine some Baldur's Gate characters... how does Belt look like? Or Scar? Try to imagine how their faces look like. I bet you can't even give some of them a voice.
I just played through BG1 and can't do it. But I can still remember that smelling storyteller from PST even though I've last played through the game I-don't-know-how-many years ago. Maybe six years, but I really don't know.
Let's sum it up:
1. The gameplay is shitty, that is a fact.
2. I absolutely hate the setting, that is my personal opinion.
3. The story is so f***ing good that I still heartily recommend it. PST can't be regarded as a game. It is a piece of art.
So I hope I've made you a bit curious now. Let me serve you the aforementioned "spoilers" (which aren't really spoilers) now.
The game is about a character called "The Nameless One" because... well, he doesn't have a name because he can't remember it. He wakes up in a mortuary and can't remember who he is, because every time he "dies" he loses all his memory and returns to life. So he doesn't know who he is and why he is in this condition, but as it seems, a few people he comes across seem to recognize him. As it seems, each of his "incarnations" was different. Sometimes he was an evil motherf****er, sometimes quite a nice guy, sometimes powerful and sometimes pretty much insignificant.
This time, *you* decide who he is and what he does. Your actions effect your alignment and the outcome of this game. Be honest and keep your word and you become more lawful, lie and mess around and you become more chaotic. If you help others without looking for personal gain, you turn good. Threatening and blackmailing people for selfish reasons make you evil.
Wisdom (I mean the stat. Seriously, try to keep it high) is important to understand the world around you and to recover lost memories, intelligence is useful as well. And don't neglect charisma. These are not dump stats in this game like in Baldur's Gate.
Remember that you can talk to your party members... do this regularly, you can learn from them. Dak'kon can teach you a few things if you're a mage for example. Talk with each of your companions and try to find out about their past, it might be helpful to you.
You are constantly walking in your own footsteps, whether you know it or not. You will find things you've left behind in your previous lives, some accidentally because you lost them, some on purpose. You will meet many people you've met before. Some will tell you everything, others pretend that they don't know you, for various reasons. Some will help you, others will use your condition for their personal gain.
I can assure you that you will be surprised on more than one occasion.
The game takes place in a city called Sigil. It is said it lies in the center of the planes (consider them to be "dimensions") and is connected to each of them through portals... you need to have a key to see those portals and pass through them, though. This key can be a physical key, a piece of trash, a thought you have, a memory, a word you say or a song you are humming.
Belief is able to shape reality. If enough people believe in something, it happens. If enough people believe someone exists, he will. Maybe you will encounter someone in the game who came into being because people believed he exists.
Beyond personal preference, there is something like truth. Some games are good (or bad) whether you like them or not. I personally like a few games that are, as a matter of fact, quite bad. I just happen to like the setting and can accept the shortcomings.
Rome - Total War: Barbarian Invasion (the first Add-On) is such an example. The new game mechanics, from hording to religion, are so poorly implemented that they can nearly be considered broken. It had potential, but it was wasted (it is even worse than the basic Rome). Compare that with the old Total War games or even Medieval 2, which are much better and well-rounded games. I like Barbarian Invasion because I'm interested in the migration period, but I know the game itself is a heap of dung without a lot of corrective modding (and even then, many problems are hardcoded).
I hate Planescape: Torment. And this is the reason you should trust me when I say it is good. Try it and finish it at least once. It is worth it.
PS: I'm sorry if this post is a bit tough to read, but I'm not a native speaker and short on time, so I can't streamline it further.
47
Comments
to get the most out of the story of PST it seems you have to play as lawful good, and go heavy on the wisdom stat, and in that respect it does seem like it does restrict you if you want to get all you want out of the game, but in the way the story is told and the way the character is revealed, to me at least, it seems this is the way to really play the game (of course im leaving out any spoilers). the combat isnt the best i will give you that, but as far as the setting goes i actually rather liked it. when the nameless one wakes up in a strange place not remembering who he is or where he is, i think it does serve a purpose that the player also is in a sense confused and lost in a strange world that is so unlike the traditional fantasy environments. i liked the bizarre locations and the strange characters and the very detailed descriptions. i felt like i was discovering the world at the same time as the character was.
while i did disagree with some of your points, i want to thank you for sharing your thoughts, i always do enjoy reading about how other people see and enjoy the same games that i play, it always gives me a new perspective on the game and story in general. im also glad that in spite of the games drawbacks you were still able to see the wonderful story beneath it. i agree that this game is a piece of art
That said I think it still works better as a game then say, a novel or a movie would. The game does a good job letting the player determine TNO's newest life while still keeping a coherent story by having the player struggle with the past lives TNO has led. It strikes a balance between customization and good storytelling, something not many games succeed in.
As old PS:T gamers had pointed out back in BIS forums, this game is more an interactive story book than an RPG.
I've used rather provoking words ("you *should* listen to me", "I *hate* PST", etc.) in order to grab attention and direct it to this game. I hope this post was successful and convinced at least a few people to try this magnificent game.
Yes, you will miss quite a bit of interesting information with a low wisdom stat. But apart from a few items that require certain alignments, all alignments seem quite equal to me. The power difference is insignificant and as there are no challenging battles, you don't really need power.
Well, not all of it is opinion. The combat is too easy and this brings many problems with it. Because of the nonexistent difficulty, your power doesn't really matter. Your stats are more important for the dialogues than for the battles.
I'm not talking about "challenge" here. Not everyone needs challenging games to get a sense of accomplishment. But a RPG works differently than a first person shooter and the power you acquire throughout the game should mean something. It doesn't in PST and that *is* a problem. It doesn't hurt the story and the enjoyment one can get out of it, but gameplay wise, purely gameplay wise, it is just bad because this aspect of RPGs (becoming stronger through experience and items) is meaningless.
Quite a few of the gameplay flaws only come to surface on the second playthrough, like the rail problem. You won't notice it on your first playthrough and the lack of customization probably won't bother you in the beginning either.
While the gameplay should enhance the replayability value, it hampers it in PST. Story wise, PST offers more replayability value than BG, because your alignment and your choices matter much more. But when a mage can knife his enemies to death with ease, why should you try it again as a fighter?.
Dualclassing wouldn't break the story and considering that The Nameless One breaks AD&D rules anyway, why can't he be a multiclass character? Considering his history, it would even make sense if he could be a fighter, mage and thief at the same time.
Sometimes, gameplay and storytelling clash. As I said before, the slow beginning is brilliant story wise. But many people are so confused in the hive area that they loose interest. Most people I know stopped playing somewhere before the catacombs. I wouldn't change the game however, as I don't know how it could be done better. In my opinion, the best way is to tell people that it will be confusing and maybe boring and that they should just try to go on. This is a fitting description indeed. More story book than RPG because the RPG part is slightly lacking.
As I said... story wise, the game is brilliant. Gameplay wise, it has flaws (just as Baldur's Gate, which is a prime example for unfair encounters and a certain requirement of metagaming by the way).
I never pulled out my monster manual and every note I put down were storylines and their outcomes. My players grew accustom to employ their spells by effects and not by reading the rules blocks. Lots of D&D old timers love the way those campaigns work, it was confusing for "new" gamers (those who'd played a few years), but very accepting for female gamers (cause they don't have to worry about the mathematics, just chat all the way.)
If I focused on how to make combat fun rather than story building, I would distract gamers from the story and they would begin to thumb through books instead of listening to every details I laid down before them.
All in all it's just play style.
I respect the OP's opinions - particularly for the fact that he has taken the time to explain the things he doesnt like (rather than just a I hate PST). As others have mentioned, PST is more like an interactive book than a RPG - and that's not necessarily going to be to everyone's taste.
That said, I don't think that PST is on rails any more than other games. In BG you are railroaded to Nashkel, then Cloakwood, BG, Candlekeep, etc. PST has side quests too, many of which are very interesting and actually add to the story, rather than being just bonus xp, gold and items. Discovering more about Dakkon's background for example - you could go through the whole game without even finding it out if you just focused on the main plot.
Also I think that alignment is very well done in PST. In BG 1 & 2 I find it very difficult to be properly evil - generally my only option is to be an obnoxious idiot if I want to lose reputation. There are almost no rewards for being evil. I find that PST evil is done more intelligently, with chaos vs law actually being implemented as well.
I just couldn't get into it. Not because of the story line but because The Nameless One walked backwards everywhere. Seriously, was obviously a horrible bug, but honestly he walked backwards.
It was very irritating lol.
Of course, a fighter still does more melee damage... but when my mage daggers everyone to death without issues, does it mean that my enemies explode when hit by a fighter?
The thought of playing a thief seemed equally absurd to me as the backstab would be weird overkill in so many cases. Well, when I said "railroad" I meant it physically. Each time I play BG1, my path is different. As I said, you inevitably end up at the same spots, but the space between varies and that adds to the replayability value.
Sometimes I go to the Gnoll Stronghold, sometimes I go to Ulcaster, sometimes I enter the Firewine dungeon. Each time feels a bit different.
Of course, storywise PST offers more freedom. Your choices influence the story more than in BG1, but don't change your physical path in the slightest.
Discovering Dak'kon's background is interesting, I agree. One of my favourite parts of the game.
Indeed it does. I haven't thought about that, but you're right. You can play evil if you want and it makes sense and is easy (gameplay wise) to do so, but the game is so compelling that you almost feel the same remorse as The Nameless One. Just fantastic.
I had the same problem once, but I don't know what caused it and how I fixed it. Nowadays, you can probably easily find a fix on the internet, so that shouldn't be a problem.
Wish I could enjoy it as much as other people seem to have...
What's odd is, eventually my first play through was amazing. It was one of the best gaming --or literary-- experiences ever. Yet, I haven't gotten through the game a second time.
So long story short, I disagree that PST sucks. But I get where you're coming from!
Maybe it's a matter of timing. Or moon cycles. Or what you had for lunch..
The thing that got me enthralled in the Icewind Dale series was the rough-edge feel of the graphics (everything is made blurry by snow or (under)darkness). Oh, and that music! That music!
What about Planescape:Torment? Everything not related to the mechanics. A very trivial example is the fact that you can talk to the character in your party and get different reactions according to many factors (alignment, wisdom, previous interactions, current situation, etc.). In Icewind Dale, your characters are pure placeholders and there're no NPC. In Baldur's Gate, you have no control on the interaction with or between NPC's (meaning you can't trigger them yourself, they happen, or they don't happen). That alone was worth a few hours exploration, for me. I loved giving pep'talks to Nordom until he became a war-machine.
Planescape:Torment is not about D&D mechanics. When you get more anxious about the size of the list of dialog options than about the result of a few dice rolls, it's clearly not about D&D anymore (especially not AD&D²), but about story. In many regards, as has already been highlighted, it is more a gamebook (like Joe Dever's Lonewolf series) with a nicer engine, than a video-RPG. It appeals to a very different kind of taste. I think I'm privileged to have loved all three franchises, with their specific features and stories.
Nevertheless, I love the game, the characters and the story though it might have been better if they used an engine other then the infinity engine, one more suited to adventure type games with little combat.
This one was a pleasant surprise
Regarding the OP the story was so good I barely noticed combat myself. If they used rock/paper/scissors to solve combat I probably wouldn't care; Yes, that´s how much I enjoyed the story.
The real problem of Planescape, to me, the first time I played I had a CTD bug very near the end when you're firing the cannons. Going back to previous saves didn't solve it. i only managed to complete it on my second playthrough.
Really that's a major selling point of PST:EE to me if it ever happens. Active developer bug killing for goodness
5/10
Try harder.
I found your post insightful. It was a pleasant read, and a well thought out criticism laced with real positives.
But PS:T, god I love it. Not the gameplay, though (I hate it when the characters just get in their own way and don't fight), but the writing and the characters. Morte is such a fun character. The humour is so morbid and strange like the whole planescape universe. The XP outcome is the same whether you a lawful good or chaotic evil unlike in Fallout 1 or 2 where you get lower XP sometimes by solving a quest the "bad" way. You have all kind of crazy characters, mighty ones, and strange ones: one with his digestive system vice versa..., one who is cloaked like a zombie to infiltrate the morgue, a barkeeper who has storaged your eye which you can just implant to yourself, a man as a living torch in a bar and so on.
I tried BG1 once but the opening was so boring and the story just don't got me even after a couple of hours. And besides I don't like low level games that much. BG2 was much more interesting in the beginning with the kidnapping and that you had to find out why and who was behind it. But still, there is nothing special about and it couldn't catch me.
But in PS:T the beginning is already fun. I mean, you wake up from death in a morgue and a floating skull is talking to you, read a whole text which is tattooed to your back (and letting specific points out...), and making saucy jokes about the female zombies ("I want to get in one coffin with her!"; or after visiting a whore Morte want's to get laid, too, and the TNO replied: "Morte... I don't even want know how you going to that" or how he makes fun of Morte by mentioning how cool it is to walk around, swing the arms and catch a deep breath). How crazy is that? Every other RPG with its "u must save him/her/us/world/whatever" just loose. In PS:T it is about you. About the nameless one (that's the reason you should never be able to get more customizations options at the beginning). And as you undiscover his past you meet crazy events and all sorts of messed up characters.
That is not why I hate other RPGs (I still like other titles –like The Bard's Tale because it's also something humourous special–) but that's why I love PS:T. My personality is kind of chaotic, maybe that's another (or THE) reason why I like PS:T that much.
Only thing I didn't really like about PS:T was how I couldn't romance Fall-From-Grace, and Annah trying to force herself on my TNO.
As you said, the fights, and by my opinion i add the interface of character records, items and everything else related, are pretty bad shapped on PS:T.
The history script is the BEST one that i saw in my whole life, and when i say this i mean a comparison with any RPG alike kind of game that i played. And dude, i played A LOT OF AWESOME RPGs, like Baldur's Gate, Mass Effect (the end of ME3 doesn't count), Final Fantasy series (FFVI/III from PSX/SNES is the best one), Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Terranigma, Legend of Zelda, Super Mario RPG, Demon's Crest, among MANY OTHER GODLY GAME SCRIPTs.
As everyone can see i dare to put PS:T above many godly titles without fear.
You even understand that the character creation that you don't like is an important part of the history script.
So, to end, you doesn't dislike Planescape: Torment, as almost everyone else here, you have a deep respect for a near divine history plot developed and a high frustation with the careless code work made with the shit interface and battle system (which could be A LOT better, it's an version of the infinite engine there, and baldur's gate made an obvious better use of the engine capacity).
The only difference between you and most of the fans of PS:T is that while the complexity of the game resources bother you, those same complexities please us. I respect your opinion and the tons of insightfull, agree and like you get show that most of the members of this forum share my view of your post.
If one day PS:T get an enhancement (which i doubt for the moment with the current work on the sequence of the game, Planescape: Tides of Numerena), let's play it again and see the game reach it's full potential