The full release for Torment: Tides of Numenera is rapidly approaching, and with it fans have noticed that some content planned via stretch goals have been cut from its final release, via its PlayStation 4 trophy list being published.
The content not making it to the final release include companions named “The Toy” and “Riastrad,” the Italian localization, and more surprisingly: the game’s crafting mechanic.
“The companion roster has been slightly reduced from our initial plans,” inXile’s Eric Schwarz said on the game’s official forums. “Throughout development on Torment, our philosophy has always emphasized depth and reactivity in our storyline and in our characters.
“We know you would not be satisfied with anything else. During development, we found 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 trade-off meant we were able to add more companion conversations, banter, voice-over, quests, and story endings. We did not want to leave some companions feeling shallow, with storylines that felt incomplete, or be forced to shove them into the late game.”
With regards to our Italian readers, the game’s Italian localization was cut because it would reportedly cost “hundreds of thousands of dollars”, which is a bit staggering when the studio considered how many copies they would sell in the country. If you’re a native Italian and want a refund, inXile is offering refunds via their support team.
Finally, the crafting feature was cut because it started to feel like MMORPG-style crafting. “We had some early design done, but everything ended up feeling like an MMO-style system, and that just didn’t fit Torment’s gameplay,” Schwarz noted. “Instead, we repurposed those resources, adding significantly more and better Cyphers and Artifacts to the game.”
As for how this content will make it back into the game post-launch, Torment: Tides of Numenera creative lead Colin McComb issued a public apology, via Eurogamer. “We should have communicated the cuts earlier, when they happened,” McComb said. “Unfortunately, because we were busy finishing and polishing the game, we neglected to reach out to our community and explain the changes that were necessary. Please know that we absolutely and sincerely apologize to our backers for that lack of communication.”
He also teased up content that was flat-out scrapped from the game, adding: “We are currently considering ways to integrate ideas that didn’t make it into the initial launch, and we promise that any potential future expansions or content will be made available for free to all backers.”
Torment: Tides of Numenera will launch on February 28th for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The game has several different release versions, including a day-one edition and a limited collector’s edition.
