Planescape: Torment | The Nature of Man 

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I think it's a testament to how much of a masterpiece this game is that I can *vehemently* disagree with your point and still enjoy this great video.

"Endure, in enduring grow strong" "What a flawed man sees his hands make broken" "What can change the nature of a man?" "What do you regret?" This game made me look into myself and gave me deepest RPG experience ever it changed my nature

I gotta say, wow, this was extremely well written

Willfully trying to not do the same mistakes is change. Its true that the bad and the good in us are always there but forcefully leaning to either is a willfull choice regardless of circumstances. So a person trying to be a better person is changing regardless of his nature. And i do understand that what you meant by changing is to change in nature which arguably could change as well 🤔

Belief Belief can change the nature of man

This resonates with me way too much. The majority of my depression is based around hatred for the monster I was in my past. It haunts me and I honestly feel like it always will. This video is comforting in a way because it tells me that is fine. I have moved past punishing myself. I mean I even self flagellated at my lowest. I truly sought to somehow atone for my sins through pain. I believe it is due to this desire for punishment that I developed a masochistic side. Even resorting to paying a girl to hit me repeatedly. The thing that finally managed to help me break the cycle of punishment was tripping on lsd, in the deeply introspective experience I rationalized that I had essentially served a prison sentence due to all the punishment I had inflicted upon myself. My outlook was much more positive after this experience. Though when I am in those lows again I am still haunted by that past, I suppose that is good as I never want to commit those sins again. It is just a never ending task trying to hold back the flood of self loathing that sneaks in when I least expect it.

It brings me such a pain to see that this video has this measly little views. I've just finished the game, first time ever, and, unfortunately (or fortunately) I cannot give the answer to the final question yet. Sure, I agree that faith can change the nature of a man, but it only works in planescape universe, as in our world faith can only be a catalyst for your own actions. And this concept is the most beautiful in its simplicity of many game's core themes that I've played. Hell, it is no secret, that some games are on par with best pieces of literature, and laconic brilliance of torment's idea supersedes many of them. I've always felt like *almost* letting mistakes go is the right way to go, and now I have new perspective to reflect upon, to experience. This game is a proof to me, that it is not embedded idea that should be perceived, but rather your own view and judgement upon it. Thank you for your video.

Currently playing this game and I cannot get enough of its story. I'm glad I found another video on it. I subscribed. Good work on the quality of the content.

You know. I also thought that nothing can change the nature of a man on my first playthrough. Many years later I replayed and found out that regret changed my nature.

Torment vids on youtube are ever so rare, and yours is among my favorites that I've seen. Just replayed it a few days ago and I love the game, it's probably the most haunting gaming experience and Avellone's ability to make you feel like the biggest piece of shit there is is certainly something. I can also empathize a lot with TNO because I've done my fair share of things I'd gladly forget, even though they're not even comparable at all but you get the drift, and that really made the experience even better, and more painful, in the end, which made me fall in love with it even more. It lives up to the incredible amount of hype it garnered over the years and there truly isn't anything like it out there, it's a one of a kind experience and everyone should at least give it a shot. It's also the only game I can't see myself playing anything but a good character to atone for all the terrible things my past selves have done, and I can vividly remember everything about Deionarra's sensory stone. It still eats at me after all this time and I almost came to tears when I first found out what the practical incarnation did to her, but that just goes to show you how powerful the writing is, and why so many people persist talking about it 20 years after its release. Easily one of my favorite RPGs of all time, right next to VtM: Bloodlines and KOTOR II.

You truly outdid yourself with this one! Damn I love you!

The ending was beautifully said. Thank you.

Sharing our torment was a brilliant way to intro the game

You, can change the nature of one and only one person. Yourself. You can choose to changed

I played this game when it came out and my mind was not ready for it. I think it was also responsible for my first notable ASMR experience. When reaching the mind trap at the end of the game, I happened to have the Bronze Sphere on me when talking with the Practical Incarnation. I learned nearly everything about why everything happened, including the summation of the Practical Incarnation's memories up until the creation of said Sphere. When I read through the part about learning my true name and the comfort it provided, that's when I felt the intense ASMR tingling in the base of my skull. Similar to the way it's described when TNO recalls a memory. I even wept a little (no tears of blood, tho). After a story-rich game full of "find out wtf your situation is", piecing little bits of the puzzle together as you go, learning more from companion dialog, and just generally experiencing the storyline... in one motion, everything was made clear and the Practical Incarnation willingly surrendered to you so you could make things right. It was a rather intense moment of too-late-but-worth-it character building for TNO; that in spite of doing everything to rectify his misdeeds, all was moot because he was always meant to suffer his fate. And he finally accepted that, and this gave him strength. After merging with his mortality and being pulled to the lower planes, I wasn't worried about how he would hold up against the Blood Wars; I was curious how the Blood Wars would hold up against him.

Damn, excellent video. One the most intelligent video essays on a game I've seen.

Thank you Lead. You've put into words the emotions I've searched the words for. Video games are art ❤️

It's wild to see how far you've gotten. Keep it real and don't let the pressure of succes ever pull you down

>not even a charisma boost >shows footage of getting a charisma boost

Man, you deserve so much more for this one

The video essays you do about games a deep as this act as bandages for me. I apply them as best i can, and it often helps me.

I just finished this game and started watching this video. Masterfully done my friend, awesome analysis.

I really enjoy looking at the symbolism in games like Final Fantasy 10 and now specifically Planescape after finishing it. Something I’ve always came back to during my play through is the ouroboros, or the snake who infinitely eats its tail. Every one of the main characters in the game, and most certainly the player, is trapped in some kind of infinity, forever arriving back to the place they so desperately wanted to escape from. It is in Morte’s nature to always lie, so he will always lie, and whether or not he grows from that, it will still be apart of him. Dak’Kon will forever be a slave (to the Illithids, to TNO, and to his own faith) even if escaping for a time. Hell, he always carries with him the Unbroken Circle of Zerthimon, an artifact that by its nature can never be broken. Grace, who escaped her nature of lust of the body returned back to that same lust, but instead, lust of the mind. Ignus will forever be chained to his hatred for TNO, and Vhailor too will be chained to his immortal servitude to the undying JUSTICE. And of course, the nameless one is doomed again and again and again to forget his memory and return to the evil nature of the first named one. There are tons of other symbols in the game too, to shout out. In Deinorra’s sensory stone, she feels a serpent in her heart that distributes poison through her body (poison kills from within, not without), as it jumps in front of her made flesh. Only for that serpent to, like the ouroboros, return back to the place it so desperately needed to escape from (in her heart) The symbols you see in the antechamber of the Fortress of Regrets are spirals along the ground in multiple areas, a spiral that never has an end, but only ever cascades into non-existence. The ancient era weaponry needed for your escape. the chamber in which you fight Ignus/Vhailor features a design on the ground that sort of encapsulates the whole game. There are two lines that sprout from the same point, intersecting back and forth, one black and one white, that move and dance with each other until both meeting at the same point at the very end. A representation of the endless nature of TNO, of a nameless one who is good and one who is evil, both trapped within a cage of barbed iron. There are so many more things like that but those are my favorites.

Excellent philosophy, man. I'm always happy to watch philosophers on youtube.

Excellent EXCELLENT video sir! I am getting the Mark of Torment upon my flesh today in Ink. This is the reason, because I will never be able to rectify the past, but I embrace it. I will always carry with me this mark; figuratively and literally now. The sadness, the sorrow, the wrongness, the REGRET, I will carry with me. Dramatic aside, I have the deepest conversations with my friend who has also played through the game several times about the nature of the Human condition because of this supremely poignant game. It took me YEARS to understand why he smiles at the end before going back into the Blood War - he has a chance to atone.

Beautiful. Thank you. This was amazing.

Dude, awesome analysis. Certainly put some new perspective on my own (I'm a "regret" guy). Your level of insight is impressive.

amazing video as always! :) tis a shame that this has so little views for the quality of your videos, keep up the good work!

I had never heard of this game before your video and probably never would have. I may never play it but your video and insight has allowed me a glimpse into all the game had to offer and allowed me to learn something from it when I never would have prior, and am greatly appreciative of your work. This divide between the need to remember and the need to forget reminds me of the book "The Giver", and how they gave one person the job to remember the horror of the past and guide society from these memories while the rest of society was allowed to forget the past and live in blissful ignorance. You've helped connect the dots in my mind and expand my perspective, and I wish you the best in all your future works and endeavors.

First off, loved the video. I've known about this game since it came out. Just now I realized that it was part of the D&D Universe and I'm now intrigued. See, I put off learning about this game until this exact moment. I think it's also at this exact moment that I was able to appreciate the message of this game, in an emotionally mature manner. The way in which the story is constructed is masterful and your analysis of it puts it into a wonderfully useful perspective. It also makes me think of friends I have at work who have done some pretty....nasty things. Also some of the reprehensible things I've done have come to mind. I'm in the process of working thru my past, looking at how I've been hurt and also how I've hurt others. Thank you.

Oh my god i needed this video

Very well made video, but my problem is that your main point of never forgiving yourself is wholly dependent on the belief of nature over nurture. I believe that if a person loses all of their memories like the Nameless One, they become an entirely new person. The old one is dead, and their actions should be treated the same as those of dead men. The experiences that led that past self to make mistakes are gone, and while they can be recreated they also might not be. Saying "nothing can change the nature of a man" implies that nature has much more influence than I believe it does. This is also my gripe with several episodes of Black Mirror but that's a whole nother can of fish

This game certainly got you thinking, great work!

This is probably my favorite video of yours

I do think that suffering can change the nature of a man. Maybe not suffering alone, but what one will do to end it. And that change does not necessarily have to be for the better.

This really touched my heart i would love to get a print out of the script for my wall really moving

Growth is change. Your conception of "moving on " is also rather idiosyncratic, it seems. Not gonna Inigo post, but I hope that you beat yourself up a bit less in a few years' time. I seem to agree and disagree with a few of your opinions in this video, and I'd say that shows it's a good video. Nice to see someone reflecting on themselves through art instead of just focusing on trying to "solve" some "puzzle" objectively whenever they look in the art's "mirror".

10:26 I immediately heard, "Ah, Chosen one! What do you need?"

Belief belief is what changes the nature of man That is the repetitive theme pounded into your head throughout planescape torment I cite as proof the philosopher you can convince that he doesn't actually exist and he ceases to exist The Modron lost in the plane of limbo The githzerai companion when he starts believing in himself his blade becomes stronger when you believe it him but he becomes a better companion Falls from Grace believes wholeheartedly in the philosophy of the Society of Sensation And I can go on and on

This is the best video on RU-vid

"go to him Trias, you forget the face of your father."

Anything can change nature of man

You choose to live in torment, when the most important thing is forgiving yourself. In forgiving yourself you are not forgetting your past actions but acknowledging them so you don't fall for them again. Forgiveness of yourself can change the nature of a man; acknowledging is not forgeting your past. and so can many other things change the nature of a man like TNO mentioned at the end game.

I never realized it before, but the game actually lacks the first answer that comes to my mind when asked "what can change the nature of a man?" Effort

Great video! Keep up the good work; subscribed.

“what can change the nature of a man?” “Regret.” Personally the most prescient answer to that question for me personally. Whole lotta regret which hopefully is used for a positive reorientation of oneself, which is often easier said than done. Hard road to traverse and come to terms with what stares back.

Gonna start playing this today

I gotta play this again!

Amazing content

Just came across your channel. I subbed based on your self reflection. Also, this game rules.

When I heard the intro I thought, no, that’s not what you should do.. By 6:18 I thought, yeah, you’re right about that.. Except there might be higher highs and definetly lower lows. Rock bottom doesn’t exist.

that's my secret cap, i reflect on my mistakes all the time

thank you.

Your old videos are underrated.

...the greatest ever journey down the bottomless rabbit hole of humanity... ...I can't think of a bigger concept... unprecedentedly epic in gaming history... ..."faust"... "divine commedia"... (or "the tragedy of man") among games...

Great video. I think we all know why we really wound up being drawn to this game. Its much more than the game.

the game and the video are both inspiration for self reflection. since you've bared your mistakes, i'll state some of my own. i've said things that i regret to my family, or handled situations with them the wrong way. my biggest mistakes were ones of love and lust. in highschool i confessed my feelings to a crush in a completely moronic and terrible fashion that makes me cringe anytime i think of it, involving a passed note and a declaration that i would "give her the best kiss i possibly could" in a misguided attempt to kickstart a relationship. there's one mistake i made in this same vein that i told myself, after i realized what i had done, that i would take to my grave without anyone else ever knowing. i understand that these things are not something that should be forgotten, in fact, they should be remembered and cast in shame. but to make mistakes and grow past them, to be willing to say "i did wrong, and i never want to do it again," is a mindset i admire in others, and that i want for myself. to make mistakes is human, but so is acknowledging them. to seek forgiveness-even if you never get it, making right by others, feeling regret, remembering what you have done. in the end, only you can forgive yourself of your actions. funnily enough, this video had me thinking of Jesus, despite me not being a christian. one of the stories in the bible says that he saw every sin committed by humanity, from our beginning to our end, and still he sacrificed himself for us. god loves humans despite the atrocities they commit upon themselves. you can lead a terrible life, causing pain to yourself and others, yet you can still enter heaven by acknowledging your actions, confessing, and forgiving yourself. Jesus and god have already forgiven every human that will live, so we decide our own fate with our guilt when we die. sorry for the mega-comment, just had a lot to say.

beautiful video

Well, that's just, like, your belief, man...! (read this in Big Lebowski's voice)

23:24 Gary Plauche had no such regrets even in his final interview. When asked if he would do it again he responded "oh yes,." As a father should. Jeffrey Doucet was a monster. The fact that certain rich people get a 20 year sentence for feeding these monsters that they might serve 5 of is a shame on this society. The sentence should be death publicly by hanging with the camera zoomed in on their face with no bag over it right before they are dropped.

People will never forget how you made them feel. It doesn't matter that it was a joke. It doesn't matter that you were drunk.

Whats the song at the beginning? It's so hypnotic!

In my case Suffering can change the nature of a man since I saw the suffering of my companions specifically Dak'kon who my character enslaved I played more on a neutral/minor evil side but after finding out the truth of Dak'kon's suffering i felt Disgusted with myself and promised him that I will free him and my regret that let me in the fortress was exactly that "I regret that my friends had to suffer for me to come there" thus suffering of oneself or others can change the nature of a man

I cannot share my gravest mistakes. Not even to myself. Self reflecting on who I was makes me want to eat a bullet. The awful disgusting things I’ve done.

I waited one year to play the game and then watch this video

Nice!

Eh, accepting eternal punishment is the exact opposite of moving on. You're just stuck in place forever then, wallowing endlessly in the past with nothing, literally nothing, ever coming in the future that could change it. The simple fact that The Nameless One has both good and bad incarnations is solid proof that man's nature can change. My answer would be age. As time passes, you experience successes and failures, love and hate and all the other options, none of which alone would be sufficient. You change from an accumulation of all these experiences, and because of this "age" is the most comprehensive answer. But there is another side to the meaning of "age". It refers also to your surroundings, to the time-period and context you find yourself in. Who you are is defined by those around you. A person's tolerance of those different from them or their openness to new ideas for example can be very different depending on when they are born and how they are raised. Yes. Age is the answer.

wow, i dont relate to this outlook at all. but its interesting to hear about.

If Dark Souls 1 was an RPG with the depth of Planescape torment it would be my all time favourite game... :(

From what I am hearing, all beings are the same being

11:40 The problem is that this doesn't confirm or justify with certainty what he's saying is the truth, because it takes an infinite regress of him seeing The Nameless One or other people making the same mistakes so he doesn't end up in circular logic. The entity can be eternal and have knowledge of errors over millennia and still err.

I haven't played this game, but consciously I can't bring myself to agree with what can change a man. I've always said that any experience can change him as long as they are willing to let it. In my eyes, you are a changed man. Yes, your past defines you, but your present is who you are. A wrong deed shouldn't be forgotten, and should be redeemed for, but the redeeming changes how that experience defines you. As I'm saying this, I've realized that by pure coincidence, I am currently making a dnd character who is in a predicament where he is unable to see any side, and is convinced that he cannot be changed or forgiven. He wants to do good, but can't help but feel like he's been forced into the role of the Trancendant one, while still wishing he could be the Nameless one. It's not that he can't be the Nameless one, but rather that he can't see himself as him, and so is perfectly willing and expecting to end his existence in every way before he will change.

I forgave myself, simply because life itself is already a punishment. There is no point in regret, all you can do is to live with consequences of your choices.

Fuck me this was amazing

I love this game and this review. That said fuck you for reminding me that I've done awful shit.

IM PERFECT PLEASE BELIEVE ME PLEASE T_T DED

The inmate was lying. You shouldnt have asked him what he did but when asked, its common for people who are ashamed of their crime to claim they caught a man in bed with their wife or avenged the abuse of a family member.

I'm sorry none of you have ever played this game properly until you played it on a Gateway Destination 36 inch computer monitor. No Exceptions!!

How is your nature?

People in the comments literally ignoring all of your reasoning just to tell you that youre wrong.

So what is a "nature", huh?)

What can change the nature of a man? 15 answers - all of the above ^_^

lots of similarity to christian philosophy on the human nature goin' on right here.

What a bunch of bullshit you said at the start of this video. You speak with certainty of someone who knows nature of reality and consciousness while you're just saying something you like the sound of.

Came here for a review, but ended up listening you not shutting the fuck up about your ex girlfriend or whatever.

This is just a bad reading of the game. Fun philosophical argument I guess but not at all supported by the text

What can change the nature of a man? As a 30 years old to me its experience and/or regret.