Ryan H.

Primal is my next review in line, and some people were asking what I thought so far. Arnold has done this from time to time, and it seems to be enjoyed by our members, so here are my notes and impressions as of now:

Graphics:

Amazingly detailed characters- Jen and Scree are some of the best drawn characters seen on PS2.

Background- Dark and macabre, lush and inviting- changes by level. Highly detailed architecture but natural masses could have used a bit more work.

Very nice lighting effects- real time shadows- shadows move in realistic and impressive way- heat waves distort surrounding air, very realistic flame effects.

Gameplay:

Mostly exploration based- not enough combat?

Gameplay is like tag team- switch between Scree and Jen- often boring, but still unique.

Imbalanced- Scree has several abilities, but can't fight. Jen can fight, but not enough diversity in other abilities as of yet.

Fetch based- Bothersome. Most quests so far involve finding X object to solve Y problem.

Sound:

Goth rock/opera- very dark, lends itself to the atmosphere.

Most music only audible during combat and cutscenes, needs more amdient music... could change in latter stages?

Control:

Combat is cumbersome- use R buttons for combat- awkward and unwieldy. Thankfully, combat is easy as hell.



That's all I have now. Look for the review tomorrow or Wednesday!

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hawkster

Hey Ryan, be intersting to see what you think about Primal......Hows the review coming along??? Hope I will be posting more here now too!!!!


Later

Ryan H.

The review is coming along just fine. I would have had it up last night, but another project (the one that actually pays the bills) required some serious attention, and the fact that my PC decided to freeze up on my every 2.4 seconds didn't help.

Either way, look for both my review of Primal, and an in depth preview of Syphon Filter: Omega Strain tonight (assuming we update).

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Arnold K. (Admin)

Yeah assuming my two main editors don't disappear randomly on me.

DLX

Primal is okay
i played it a while ago so from what i remember it was a solid game.......the graphics were really good but the gameplay lacked quality

by the way Australian PS2 Mag gave it a 7/10 (January)

Ryan H.

Well I just reviewed it (it's on the main page now) and gave it a 7.5. Arnold saw it as an 8.0 or so game, so we basically agreed on the whole. Anyway, check the review, my full impressions are obviously there.

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hawkster

Good review Ryan, I would personally give it an 8, but I am still playing the thing and it has not been thrown out the window yet!!!

Barret Wallace

I would agree with Ryan's review after playing the demo. I thought Primal was a decent game but it didn't seem to be anything special. I personally did not like the control setup having to use the shoulder buttons to fight.

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Gabriel013

I got annoyed when Jen was low on energy so I'd stick her somewhere safe, swap to Scree to go and get some, she'd follow and get killed

Controls during combat are a pain.

A very fair review Ryan

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Ryan H.

Thanks man, I try. It's nice to know the readers of PSXE appreciate all the hard work of Matt, Arnold and Peter, and that you're tolerant of me.

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