First Impression: Story & Combat
With regard to both story and combat, Primal shares a lot in common with another PS2 game, ICO. To wit: Primal's story is more about the journey and less about the combat. Fighting does play a role, of course. But it isn't necessary much of the time as you can simply avoid it. This may sound contrary to the tv commercials, which show a transformed Jen ripping demons apart with her glowing, magical vambrace claws. But it's true. There is a very good story here along with strong characters and dialogue that support it far beyond the realm of a combat-adventure game. I mention this, not to detract from the fun of fighting games, but as a counter to dismissing Primal based on its fighting system. Do so and you're missing a very good game.
The story involves a young woman who must travel the four realms of Oblivion to save all of reality from the growing forces of chaos. Her constant ally in all of this is a stone gargoyle. Each of the four realms is a HUGE environment that you will find are easy to get lost in. Seriously. Use the maps, they are a big help particularly when visiting Aquis -the water realm.
Primal's combat system appears simple, and it *is* from a strictly 'mechanical' standpoint. There is no vast number of multiple button-mashing combo moves to choose from. There are four offenses (counting one combo) and one defense, and additional combos are executed at random according to how precisely you succeed at using your attacks. The subtlety (and real key) to fighting in the world of Primal is observing how your opponent fights and then using your best moves to maximize your success vs. that opponent's style.
Characters & Voice Acting
Jen: a human female (age: mid-twenties). And Scree: a living stone gargoyle. Both characters are interesting, have depth and are well designed. The voice acting is also excellent straight across the board. The voice actor for Scree is the actor who portrayed G'Kar from Babylon-5. Both his and Jen's voices are perfect for their roles as are the others throughout the story.
The characters' budding friendship is also evident and feels 'realistic' for wont of a better term. It's very easy to care about Jen and Scree. The supporting characters also have interesting personalities and they succeed as well, whether the intent is that you like them or hate them.
Dialogue & Cut-Scenes
Excellent voice acting and character design are a good start, but many times they can fall flat when the dialogue is uninspired or laden with tired genre cliches. Thankfully this is NOT the case with Primal. The dialogue here is excellent and flows naturally throughout the game (both in the cutscenes and the actual in-game play). The cut-scenes themselves are beautiful and at times: humorous; disturbing; charming; and inspiring. AND they accomlish all that while actually advancing the plot and providing clues.
Graphics
This is one of the most beautiful games for PS2. Primal is a game that Sony should have had
for PlayStation-2's initial launch because it definitely shows off the capability of this platform. A few examples:
- 1.) Shadows that move and change angles when the characters are standing next to an open flame, or when Jen stands near to Scree when he's carrying a torch. Shadows even shift between walls and floor.
2.) Reflective floors and 'real' mirrors.
3.) Rocks and dust debris as characters move.
4.) Several different animations (with different dialogue) when characters open doors. The designers could have made them all the same, but they added extras here to make even the mundane stuff look 'real' too.
Pros
A good story, outstanding dialogue, characters you can care about, excellent voice acting, creepy and scary monsters (the first time a wraith knight zips right up to you, you'll know what I mean), bizarre supporting characters and props, cut-scenes that DO advance the plot, huge and lushly created environments, and puzzles that require some real thought, -all of these make Primal a winner.
Cons
Occasional clipping, sometimes affecting enemies and making it easy to beat the living crap out of them. But nothing serious. No bugs or crashes.
Final Comments
Tomb Raider, Indiana Jones and ICO fans, and anyone else who likes a good story with puzzle solving and some combat mixed in will enjoy Primal.
