Planescape: Torment
by
Abstract: Although scholars and critics often cite aspects of audiovisual design and quick-twitch gameplay as the primary means by which players immerse themselves in a game’s fiction, Planescape: Torment—a highly rated computer role-playing game with dated graphics and sound—proves a counterexample to this discourse. In this chapter, Evan Torner discusses the importance of literary framing, affect, and narrative reincorporation—elements derived largely from novels and tabletop role-playing games—for the game’s achievement of that oft-heralded but ever-elusive aesthetic ideal of immersion.
This essay may be found on page 53 of the printed volume.