Torment: Tides of Numenera beta kicks off later this month

InXile Entertainment clearly wasn't kidding when it said that the beta release of Torment: Tides of Numenera, the spiritual successor to the great Black Isle RPG Planescape: Torment, would go live “early" in 2016. The studio announced today that the beta version of the game will be available to Kickstarter backers on January 17, and will go live on Steam Early Access on January 26.

“The beta will start you right in the beginning of the game and is quite lengthy for an early beta. It covers the game's introductory sequence (some of which you may have already seen a portion of in the alpha) as well as most of the first major location of the game, Sagus Cliffs,” inXile boss Brian Fargo explained in a new Kickstarter update. “Sagus is a very old city that was built on top of ancient structures that predate the return of humanity to the Ninth World. It's split into five main districts: Circus Minor, Cliff's Edge, Caravanserai, Government Square and the Underbelly. As you might expect from a city location, it is rich in lore to discover, characters to talk with and obviously quests to complete!”

The beta may contain a feedback form like the one included with the alpha release, “as it turned out to be an excellent way for us to gather feedback in a way that was easy for us to parse and implement,” Fargo said. “Many points from alpha feedback informed our design decisions during beta production, iteration is after all key to making our games.”

Associate Producer Thomas Beeker also took some time in the update to talk about “the unusual items of the Ninth World,” how they differ, and how they're best used in the game world. The beta test won't include all of the items in the Sagus Cliffs area, he explained, but will offer a “a great cross-section of mundane items, Oddities, Artifacts and Cyphers for you to use and experiment with.”

Torment: Tides of Numenera is expected to be out later his year. In the meantime, enjoy the new screen.