Torment: Tides of Numenera Delayed Till 2017

Torment: Tides of Numenera is one of the games I was most looking forward to this year, owing to the dense RPG being based on Monte Cook's excellent Numenera pen-and-paper game. Now it's one of the games I'm most looking forward to next year, owing to inXile delaying it for polish and localisation.

A Kickstarter update explains the decision:

All said and done, our combined iteration and localization efforts are looking to be a 6-month process. So, we have two paths open to us, a bit of choice and consequence, if you will. Those of you who have been following our updates know we have been hinting towards a late 2016 release, and we could crunch and rush to get the game out around November. But doing so would mean both sacrificing the quality of our localization and would lead to a less polished game for the nearly 100,000 people total who have backed the game. Therefore, in the interests of giving everyone the best experience, we will be releasing Torment in early Q1 2017.

Too many RPGs like this have come out and been littered with as many bugs as they are finely written quests, so I'm more than happy for it to be delayed if it means a more stable game. It's not all bad news: the same update also mentions that the current beta version is now available to all backers.

Those who didn't back it can still get it via Steam Early Access, though I'd suggest holding off. What's there is still early doors in terms of combat balance and in terms of how complete its world is. Richard Cobbett broadly agreed with me when he played it upon first release.

Should you pick up a copy now though? I’d say the best answer is whether or not you already know the Numenera universe and so will be visiting a known quantity, in which case your feedback could be invaluable. There’s only a small part of the game on offer anyway. If you’re coming to it fresh, as most people did to Planescape back in the day, I’d hold fire until its finished. Games only get one chance to make a first impression, and Torment: Tides of Numenera feels like a game that warrants a bit of patience.

I do know the Numenera universe, but still, it's not yet for me. I am excited for the pains inXile are going to in order to turn those pen-and-paper systems into videogame mechanics, however.