What Can Change the Nature of a Man?

A few years ago, I played Black Isle studio's Planescape: Torment. You play an immortal amnesiac, who awakes one day in a mortuary, not aware of who he is. Accompanying him is a floating talking skull and a body full of tattoos, including an entire journal on his backside. Your task through the entire game is simple: discover who you are.

The amazing thing about this game was that it almost had more text than gameplay. The game had beautiful scenes, and I'm talking gorgeous and exquisite, and yet invariably, the most amazing scenes were never depicted save in words. I'm not sure whether it was my favorite game ever read or my favorite book ever played.

The game's dialog has been turned into a novel, with explanatory narrative added. See the "Planescape: Torment Novelization" at http://www.wischik.com/lu/senses/pst-book.html. The printable PDF runs almost 500 pages.

If one wants to see a preview, without any plot spoilers, see the game's cinematic introduction at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgqX82-HRYE, and the game's first gameplay scene at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5FkcpmlP1M&feature=related. For the latter, watch it in high quality (click the "HQ" at the bottom-right of the video area), and pause the video to read dialog. I believe also the game's ending cinematic at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRidpOpQfPk is worth watching, and it has no plot spoilers that I can detect.

See also a fantastic description of the game at http://technopedia.info/tech/2006/05/18/what-can-change-the-nature-of-a-man.html.

One crucial question which the game's protagonist is faced with: "What can change the nature of a man?".