• Mission: Unleash and control four different demon-fighting forms

Jen and Scree work their ways through four different demon realms all superbly detailed, restoring or creating order and improving their skills for the last titanic fight. The game requires equal amounts of battle skills and thought - Only Jen can fight, but it takes Scree's talents as well to overcome some of the ingenious obstacles in their path. As the game progresses, Jen acquires special demonic powers in each realm. The player switches between the to characters - depending on what skills are needed.

Primal is a winner at many levels. The characters, Jen and Scree, are delightful. Jen is a rocker who is determined to work her way up and make good. Scree, a spirit torn from his body and thrust into a statue, plays the part of the wise straight man. The dialog between them is full of little twists and barbs, but it is clear that a great deal of affection builds between them as the story evolves.

The realms of the story are immense and beautifully illustrated; their civilizations believable and interesting. The only flaw in the world building is that there are only a few characters other than Jen and Scree that achieve any personality. Animation and movement control are excellent. This isn't one of those RPG's where the controller is the real opponent.

Primal is rated as mature - primarily due to blood and violence. Jen's language has a rough edge as well. From my viewpoint, none of these factors is extreme - parts don't go flying everywhere, etc., but the Primal is definitely pitched to the 15+ age group. Even so, this is really too good a game to miss.

26 of 30 found the following review helpful:


PRIMAL!(sexy half-demon goth rock chick runs for Lara vote!)  Mar 07, 2003 By Mista Mista
Primal progresses through four realms in the Parallel world of Oblivion. In Each realm her appearence changes dramatically and each realm is ruled by either the forces of order or chaos, and something major is messing up the balance.

Unusually, unlike other games, which claim to be deep and fantastical and try to be as complex and open-ended as possible, Primal sesigners have devised a storyline, which is stuck to throughout the game, wearing it's linear nature with pride.

Reasons for buying it:
-Deep, dark and huge.
-Broad, intultive puzzles.
-Very nasty monsters.

Reasons for leaving it:
-Vague sense of being unfaithful to Mrs Croft
-Not a game that gets along with natural light.
-Where's the mini-gun?
(AS YOU SEE DIGGING HARD FOR BAD POINTS!)

Graphics/visuals: Gorgeous. Slinky characters, near-edible textures!
9.4/10

Sound: Alf soaring and dramatic. Decent acting!
8.9/10

Gameplay: Simple, fun. Combat a teeny bit simplistic.
8.2/10

Life span: Huge and linear. The save-anywhere option is great.
8.6/10

OVERALL SCORE AND THOUGHTS:
I give this 8.8/10 (88%)

-A finely crafted adventure, which reveals its depths gradually, unfolding at a pace to suit even the most fantasy-challenged.

11 of 11 found the following review helpful:


A fine gothic action-adventure with great production value  Aug 08, 2005 By The Reverend
A very good-looking game with awesome sound, awe-inspiring visuals and a deep plot that will keep you busy for anything between 15 and 30 hours - you set the pace. There's no need to rush, because the different worlds are very detailed in terms of architecture and overall design and seem to welcome you to take look around to relish the cool atmosphere. The difficulty level is easy-medium. The game is action based but also has puzzles, which however are simple enough to avoid frustration (with very few exceptions, where you need to look a little closer at your surroundings).
The game is divided into 4 episodes. Each is a different part of the alternate world, Jen has to discover in order to find her lost boy-friend (abducted by demonic creatures). The episodes show a great deal of variety: from lost underground civilizations in eternal snow to medieval castles and villages in the rain to underwater worlds and Egyptian temples and tombs - you'll be there.
Jen's sidekick is a gargoyle named Scree, who has special abilities like turning to stone (you guessed that one), possessing statues and using them to fight larger enemies or create bridges/smash doors, etc. and climbing stone walls. Jen is the fighter: she learns different moves as she discovers and unleashes different demonic forms of herself, each one connected to the area she's in (e.g. she can become a water-dwelling demon once she gets to Aquis, an underwater civilization). She can also climb ropes and squeeze through tiny cracks in walls, Scree is too big for. Even though they need to work as a team to solve some of the riddles this game is far from ICO. It's a lot easier and as mentioned above more action oriented.
The fighting system is fun for the most part. Only few moves do not seem to have the desired effect and feel sluggish or delayed. Since each episode introduce a new demon form with new abilities, you may switch to that one form you like best. Jen's last incarnation as a fiery She-Pharaoh has the most balanced and most fun combat - and combat you will a lot in this last episode!
Overall everything in this game is excellent with minor complaints about the above mentioned battle-moves, which are not a big problem, because the game's difficulty is forgiving enough when a fight does not go as flawless as desired.
The sound effects are very well done as is the voice acting, which deserves special mentioning due to the casting of well known actors for the dialog of all main characters.
There is some replay value due to the enormous size of the game as well as numerous unlockables such as behind the scenes commentaries (yup, there's a whole bunch of em).

Have fun playing!


13 of 15 found the following review helpful:


An A for effort...but just barely above average  Feb 07, 2005 By M. VanPortfliet "Matthew san"
I was torn between giving this game 3 or 4 stars, but in the end I decided it earned a 4...if just barely.
This is a beautiful game, with some of the coolest graphics I've seen on the PS2, and I do mean cool. It's not just that they're well done (though they are), but the designers of this game created some really cool worlds to get lost in. I was very impressed by them. I've always been a sucker for the whole "4 elemental realms" thing, which so many games and stories have used, and this game pulls it off perhaps better than any other I have played.
The sound is also done very well, though just as a matter of personal preference, I don't really care for modern rock music when I'm playing a game that takes place in a fantasy realm, even if the main character is supposed to be from the present time. That's mainly just the combat music though...most of it is orchestrated and very well done. Voice acting is pretty good, especially Scree.
The story isn't the most original thing I've ever heard, but it is very good...definitely enough to keep your interest.
So far this game is going for a perfect score of 5, but unfortunately the designers really dropped the ball when it came to the gameplay, in my opinion. Most actions are pretty simple, and I have no complaints about. The ability to change between Jen and Scree is nice and adds a nice element of variety in figuring out how to use their seperate abilities to solve puzzles. The puzzles themselves ranged from simple to only slightly confusing, but were generally really well done and entertaining. So still, all is well.
But then there is the fighting...I loathed the combat system in this game, to the point that it almost ruined the game for me. I felt a feeling of dread whenever I saw enemies just because I hated the thought of having to endure combat. You'd think it would be fun controlling a chick with various demon forms/abilities, but unfortunately no. The combos were hard to pull off or even figure out, combat controls themselves were incredibly slow and un-responsive, and just all around...well, not fun. I think I would have enjoyed the game more with no fighting and just the puzzle solving. I mean, I love to fight, but the controls have to be there or it just isn't fun.
On a final note, I really missed jumping. I mean, I guess it's kind of realistic not being able to take big jumps, but that's just one of the things that make games fun. I mean it is a game, and not real life. It seems like she should have AT LEAST been able to jump while in demon form, I mean c'mon.
So that's my opinion. The controls (particularly combat) were really lacking, but the game did have some really interesting and fun puzzle solving, an interesting story, beautiful graphics, and absolutely awesome worlds to explore. Worth a runthrough. Lastly, there is pretty much no replay value. If you're interested, buy it cheap.

8 of 9 found the following review helpful:


Dark and gothic supernatural adventure  Mar 28, 2003 By Dal
I have played 2 hours into the game so far, and would have to say that I am totally excited to finish this game, its always a good thing to have a game that you really want to keep playing. Reasons why? It has a story that keeps you interested, and characters that arent the same old thing. This game its totally story driven, and dark and awesome. Its about a 21 year old girl named Jen that has a violent wake up call, and finds out she is half demon and has been specially picked for greater perpose.

Graphically this game shines, it has some of the best graphics out on PS2 I've seen, huge levels and crazy detail.

The controls are different but refreshing and new, its not like your typical 3rd person adventure.

The combat is awesome, I haven't actually gotten into many fights but the ones I have gotten into are really fun, but simple.

Voice acting is superb, they seem to have chosen some great voices to put these characters together.

Music is very immersive and dark, they even play heavy metal during the fights!

I was really excited to when I saw the preview on this game, because they haven't released many dark gothic games for the PS2 that shinedall...if you want to play the DMC series I would suggest the first one. So this is definately a great game what I've played so far, I will give a complete review when I finish this game. So, go buy this game!

Aperfectool

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