InXile has announced that they will not be honoring several stretch goals for their Kickstarter title Torment: Tides of Numenera.
According to a detailed post on the InXile forums, developer Eric Schwarz addressed several rumors regarding the scrapping of "The Toy", a stretch goal companion for the game that was achieved at the $2 million mark for Tides of Numenera. Schwarz noted that the dev team has focused on making all of their companions dynamic, stating "that the more far reaching and reactive our companions were, the better they felt and the more justice it did to the original Planescape: Torment."
This, however, led to a trade-off of adding more companion conversations, banter, quests and story endings, as well as voice over work, which prompted InXile to cut The Toy, and another possible companion named Raistrad, from the game.
Schwarz did leave the door open for them to return, although it would be in the form of DLC. For backers of Tides of Numenera, the DLC will be distributed free of charge.
The Toy was not the only piece of stretch goal content altered for Tides of Numenera. One of the larger stretch goals at $4 million, the city called The Oasis of M'ra Jolios, was also greatly reduced in the game's development. While not cut completely from the title, it's role was reduced in favor of a new city hub called "The Bloom," which has been prominently featured in several gameplay demos and videos for the title. What role The Oasis has now is still unknown, but it is no longer a major city hub.
A third stretch goal, the Voluminous Codex, which was touted as a customizable in-game journal and lore compendium, is also being changed into a "lore compendium outside of the game." according to Schwarz.
The Torment: Tides of Numenera Kickstarter began back in 2013, and was touted as the "spiritual successor" of the isometric RPG Planescape Torment. Based on the Numenera setting by Monte Cook, the project raised over $4.1 million and had a high caliber development team that included the likes of Chris Avellone, Patrick Rothfuss, George Zeits and Brian Fargo, as well as many members of the original Planescape Torment team. The game has been delayed from release, with InXile focusing on console versions of the title and several other changes before a full-scale release.
Many of these delays and even gameplay changes has lead to speculation that InXile was having internal struggles over the direction of the game. Brian Fargo, in a recent interview with Gamasutra, confirming that the game has been cut down from its original scope and that the game's entire focus and mechanics have changed several times during development.
Regardless of the rumors and speculation, Torment: Tides of Numenera is slated for release from early access February 28th.
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