Arcanum vs Planescape: Torment

[Fenril]

Planescape torment for the setting and writing and dialogs. Also for the story in general and style. Some very good touches here and there give it a good mature feel. Yeah I loved it.

Arcanum for more rpg goodness in general, alot more gameplay value and in spite of not being great the combat and character development is still way better than PS:T. Also arcanum can be quite the long game and it stays somewhat consistent until the end which is a big plus for me. I loved it a bit better.

I voted arcanum. Tough choice though.

 

[OSK]

ARCANUM IZ TEH GRATEST RPG EVA

 

[Thrasher]

I'm going to do a point-by-point comparison rather than just "I think Torment/Arcanum is the best game!"

Main Quest: PS: T > Arcanum
Combat: Arcanum > PS: T
Dialog: PS: T > Arcanum
Side-Questing: Arcanum > PS: T
C&C: Arcanum > PS: T
Graphics: PS: T > Arcanum
Setting: PS: T > Arcanum
Character Design: Arcanum > PS: T
Puzzles: PS: T > Arcanum
Exploration: Arcanum > PS: T

PS: T = 5 wins
Arcanum = 5 wins

Story: PS:T > Arcanum
NPCs: PS:T > Arcanum
Music: PS:T > Arcanum
Atmosphere: PS:T > Arcanum

PS: T = 9 wins
Arcanum = 5 wins

 

[Xor]

Torment because it has a better story, better characters, and there are fewer inappropriate dungeons.

 

[Zhirzzh]

I'm not sure I agree with your position on music. Arcanum and PS:T both have very good soundtracks that are hard to compare.

I'm also fairly sure that "Main Quest" meant story in that case.

 

[Thrasher]

Well, let me put it this way, I got the PS:T music as MP3s, and played it for weeks, while it still had an affect on me.

Never bothered for Arcanum, though I agree its music was good. But nothing nearly as affecting as Torment.

But it's emotionally tied to the better NPCs and story and is a probably huge part of the reason, for me at least.

Main quest - could be really good, but still a crappy story and vice versa...

 

[Thrasher]

Basically - PS:T is better RPG art. Arcanum is better RPG mechanics...

 

[Dabrinko]

PS:T had better voiceacting and characters in general.

Gar was the only cool voice in Arcanum.

 

[Thrasher]

stupid troll

 

[RainSong]

edit your post mofo

 

[Lim-Lim]

PS:T, because Arcanum's RPG system (spells, stats, etc) is crippled.

 

[Jaime Lannister]

Main Quest: PS: T > Arcanum
Combat: Arcanum > PS: T
Side-Questing: Arcanum > PS: T
C&C: Arcanum > PS: T
Character Design: Arcanum > PS: T
Exploration: Arcanum > PS: T

When you edit out the non-RPG parts, Arcanum wins 5 to 1. Arcanum is the better RPG, and that's what the poll is asking.

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

Main Quest: Arcanum

WHAT ?!! I sort of understand the rest, although I don't necessarily agree with it. But you can't seriously tell me you think Arcanum's extremely forgettable main plot is superior to Torment's story.

Also, comparing Arcanum's NPCs to Torment's is like comparing a bottle of warm coke to a glass of fine champagne.

Apart from personal taste, think about it for a sec. It was a pretty good quest, and I quite enjoyed how it actually turned out, not to mention the twists and turns along the way. There must have been what? 3 or 4 total twists to the plot? And these were actually where your conceptions are totally turned upside down.

I am not saying that I don't find Torments plot pleasing, but sometimes it was a touch too whacky for me, and I have never gotten into the whole "Bloodwars" thing. Perhaps it is because that wasn't really my "era". I was gaming much earlier, and the newer DnD settings flew right by me.

The fact that little actually changed by what you said...that didn't overly impress me either. After all, what else did the game have going for it? Surely a game with as much text as this would have thought to include many different ways of completing missions. No, none of that is present. So it was more like a storyboard in which, no matter what you said, it all went exactly the same way. I still like the game, but to me, Arcanum destroys it as an RPG and I also prefer the setting, the overall plot (which can be changed with player interaction at various points) and the writing wasn't too shabby either.

The fact that I could go and play the game in a number of different ways, even having wildly different journal entries depending on the character and choices shows which game is the best RPG. Torment is an adventure game more than anything, a fun one, but a crap RPG.

 

[Helton]

Main Quest: PS: T > Arcanum
Combat: Arcanum > PS: T
Side-Questing: Arcanum > PS: T
C&C: Arcanum > PS: T
Character Design: Arcanum > PS: T
Exploration: Arcanum > PS: T

When you edit out the non-RPG parts, Arcanum wins 5 to 1. Arcanum is the better RPG, and that's what the poll is asking.

Main Quest: correct - PST
Combat: correct - Arcanum
Side-Questing: wrong - PST
C&C: wrong - PST
Character Design: correct - Arcanum
Exploration: wrong - PST

PST: 4
Arcanum: 2

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

Main Quest: PS: T > Arcanum
Combat: Arcanum > PS: T
Side-Questing: Arcanum > PS: T
C&C: Arcanum > PS: T
Character Design: Arcanum > PS: T
Exploration: Arcanum > PS: T

When you edit out the non-RPG parts, Arcanum wins 5 to 1. Arcanum is the better RPG, and that's what the poll is asking.

Main Quest: correct - PST
Combat: correct - Arcanum
Side-Questing: wrong - PST
C&C: wrong - PST
Character Design: correct - Arcanum
Exploration: wrong - PST

PST: 4
Arcanum: 2

C&C Torment? Seriously, everything else can be a personal opinion, I can understand that, but there is only one way to go with this one. Perhaps you can outline all the C&C in Torment?

 

[goatvomit]

Arcanum. It had the sheep...

 

[poocolator]

Arcanum. It had the sheep...

Oh boy, that's reason enough.

 

[Thrasher]

Main Quest: PS: T > Arcanum
Combat: Arcanum > PS: T
Side-Questing: Arcanum > PS: T
C&C: Arcanum > PS: T
Character Design: Arcanum > PS: T
Exploration: Arcanum > PS: T

When you edit out the non-RPG parts, Arcanum wins 5 to 1. Arcanum is the better RPG, and that's what the poll is asking.

All the other things are important in making it better. Setting, story, and NPCs in particular, IMHO.

 

[janjetina]

Music - Arcanum
C&C - Arcanum
Character Dev - Arcanum
Sidequesting - Arcanum
Combat - Arcanum
Plot, Setting - Arcanum
Main quest - PST (by a fraction)
NPCs - PST (also, by a fraction)
Dialog - PST

To people giving C&C to Torment...tell me, how many endings does the game have? And what about Arcanum? Exactly.

Music - in the same quality category
C&C - definitely Arcanum, with its multiple endings affected by player's choice
Character system and development - Arcanum's system is more elaborate, however PS:T's system, although basic (stats and alignement), was integrated in a game so well, the game itself being kind of a huge character generator, that I have to give PS:T a point
Side quests - PS:T - all the side quests are in some way connected with the Nameless One's fate and other important themes, like the nature of planes and belief
Combat - They are both bad, and in the case of bad, less is more, so PS:T is better in that department
Plot, Setting - PS:T by far
Main quest: PS:T by far
NPCs: PS:T by far
Dialog: PS:T by far

It should also be noted that Arcanum was a buggy mess until Drog got to fix it.

 

[Helton]

Perhaps you can outline all the C&C in Torment?

Yeah, sure, let me get right on that.

 

[BethesdaLove]

To people giving C&C to Torment...tell me, how many endings does the game have? And what about Arcanum? Exactly.

Retarded. The whole multiple endings feature is overrated. You have 1! ending. You walk into the bosses lair and talk or fight him. Thats all. The rest is counting off the sidequests you have done -.-

Now build 3 sidequests into Torment and let you walk into the lair of that green thingy. You get some additional pseudo intellectual dialog about existencialism for an alternative "ending". Like the greent thingy is a god and can grant wishes... Expl:
1. you choose death because you are tired
2. you get immortal and live on in sigil
2a. obligatory biowhore option: pregors the female sidekick
3. you get mortal
4. you talk the green thingy into killing itself xD
5. while talking about some shit a third force appears reveals the Truth(tm)
6. and so on and on and on

Same location, an extra page of dialog, some workhours. Done! Über-ArPeGe

Now that I think about it, this super awesome feature should have been in BG1 so you would be able to join Sarevok or talk him into killing himself xD.

 

[Black]

No one likes you CF

 

[Emotional Vampire]

No one likes you CF

 

[Helton]

But that's okay.

 

[Emotional Vampire]

Emotional Faggot

That was pretty clever!