Revealing much more than that is to gingerly dip a toe into spoiler territory, and would take several paragraphs to fully explain every point. When He leaves a body, it suddenly gains its own consciousness, entirely separate from The Changing God’s, and that’s where you come in as said new consciousness. His actions are either revered or reviled throughout the world but always having a tangible, massive impact on current events. There’s a dude called The Changing God who has lived for centuries, injecting His consciousness into a new shell whenever He feels like. Just trying to give a rough outline of this game’s story would take up half the article, so I’ll try and boil it down to some really simplified essentials. Indeed, if you’re not familiar with the source material (and I was not, going into this), even the game’s title is a kind of an enigma to figure out. It doesn’t come as a surprise that Torment is based on a tabletop RPG, that being the world of Numenera. What is moral in a world that dispenses with so many of the cultural norms that we know and accept? Though I have some qualms with the design and gameplay, these are largely overshadowed by an enthralling and profound narrative.
It’s a melting pot of science-fiction, fantasy, theist philosophy, RPG player agency, and a dash of “Sweet Jesus, what the hell is that thing?” The world itself is bizarre in the extreme, but it goes far beyond the idea of, “it’s strange, which is what makes it unique.” Having such an unusual setting allows for some truly intriguing narrative moments, and presents to the player choices that force them to consider the nature of morality. I’ve played many a strange and lurid game before but nothing quite on the level of Torment: Tides of Numenera.