Charles Herold @cherold

Planescape: Torment (Windows)

A Crossover RPG

The Good
I hate RPGs. I find them incredibly annoying. Yet I loved Planescape: Torment. The story was amazing, the atmosphere was amazing, the world was amazing, and there wasn't any of that tedious turn-based fighting that makes RPGs so painful. What a game.

The Bad
Well, I still like games that have all dialogue recorded, instead of having to read text.

The Bottom Line
Atmospheric RPG without any of the bits that make RPGs annoying.

By Charles Herold on June 6, 2001

The Longest Journey (Windows)

The most involving story of any computer game, ever.

The Good
This is one of those rare games that can be described as a work of art. Visually stunning, emotionally involving, well-acted and well scored with great dialogue. Wildly imaginative, at times hysterically funny and at times bordering on the profound.

The Bad
The dialogue is terrific but there's a bit too much of it. How long can you stare at a static screen listening to very long conversations? And it has the amnesia problem common to many adventure games as the main character asks people she's known for months the sort of questions you ask people when you first meet. Oh, and the folk tales in it are all dull.

The Bottom Line
This game is like a novel, completely immersive and involving. You never want it to end.

By Charles Herold on June 26, 2000