A big difference though is that while at least the bits of Sigil we visited in Torment are a festering hive of rot and decay, Numenera is a bright and imaginative place, full of light and colour and crystal and towering bridges atop endless cities. The basic gimmick of Numenera is an SF world of fallen civilisations piled atop one another, leaving behind remnants that walk the line between magic and technology in a very different, but thematically similar way to how Sigil, the city at the heart of Planescape: Torment, connected the multiverse and allowed for anything to be around any corner. It doesn't take long to realise two things - first, that this is the perfect setting for a Planescape style game. Let's get hands on with the only game this year allowed to use any variant of a 'mysterious amnesiac' story without being pelted with rocks and rotten fruit. Planescape Torment fans should need no explanation as to why, but though I apparently have no self-control, it at least puts me in position to tell you whether the current beta is worth your time now or whether you should wait. It's simultaneously one of the RPGs I've been looking forward to the most, and the one I've deliberately learned the least about. So much for my big plan to try and avoid spoilers. Turns out you can't play Torment: Tides of Numenera with your eyes closed.

Tides of numenera trainer