Poll: Primal

[Necromantic-Nerd-of-Doom]

Okay so I'm kinda obsessed about this game. I just freakin love it! I searched for it and I couldnt find any threads for it so I apologise if it has been posted before and I just didnt find it.

So for all those who have not heard of what it is...

Primal is a combat/puzzle game developed by SCE Studios Cambridge in 2004. The main charactor is Jennifer Tate (or Jen), who has to journey through the different realms in Oblivion to search for her missing boyfriend called Louis (although mostly she is spending more of her time trying to save the realm that she is in from the forces of Chaos).
There are four realms in Oblivion.
Solum: Occupied by the Farai and allied with order.
Aquis: Occupied by the Undine and allied with order.
Eatha: Occupied by the Wraith and allied with chaos.
Volca: Occupied by the Djinn and allied with chaos.

The Forces of Order
The leader of the forces of order is a deity called Arella. She is the femenine and good deity who is responsible for Jen being in Oblivion and sends her to the different realms to restore the balance between chaos and order.

The Forces of Chas
The leader of the forces of chaos is Abaddon. He is the masculine and evil deity who kidnapped Louis and is trying to overturn the balance of chaos and order to his favour. However he seems to be unaware that in doing so he will destroy Oblivion.

As the story develops, more is uncovered about Jen's past and her link to her boyfriend and the demon worlds. Shortly after entering Solum, she gains the ability to change into the form of a Farai (although she still looks considerably more human than an actual Farai). This change that she can bring on at will (as long as she has the appropriate demonic energy) brings new advantages to combat (and sometimes puzzle solving) such as increased agility, strength and different weapons that appear as an energy from the demonic vambrace that she wears. As she progresses through the different realms, she gains the ability to change into the forms of the inhabitants.

 

[Juan Regular]

I bought it back then, hoping for a funny action adventure with a good fantasy story... and got repetive gameplay, unlogical puzzles and a mediocre and not exactly well written story. Played through once and never touched it again.
But the graphics were nice. Escpecially in Eatha.

Don't get me wrong, it's by no means bad. It's average.

 

[WlknCntrdiction]

I remember playing the demo, that's about it.

 

[Resistance205]

Primal was one of the best games iv ever played the combat was new and original and i loved scree he got his ear cut off!

 

[zirnitra]

I always thought Primal should of been more successful than it was. it just seemed like a really well rounded game but then the gameplay did seem a little off. I remember playing the demo and if you pressed this button you turned into a ghost could fly off for miles to be stuck in a wall somewhere off the map.

 

[Necromantic-Nerd-of-Doom]

I kinda thought the combat was a bit crappy. Dont get me wrong, it was good. But bashing L2 and R2 gets kinda painfull after the first 30 enemies or so.
I always thought it'd make a good movie or something though. The plot was worth it being made into a move (if a little predictable).

Another aspect I loved about the game was the music. 16Volt made such awesome combat music! It really made the feel of the game alot more interesting. The City of Prague Orchestra also did a great job in making the entire game feel very spiritual and other-worldly.
Its funny how people seem to view it in the same bucket as DMC. I like DMC but its considerably different to Primal. A distant cousin at best.

 

[Eyclonus]

I haven't played through it but I've played every world and the two parts of the end battle as Jen (Ferai and Fish-Thingy). I liked the animations, atmosphere and story, but some of the puzzles were just poorly thought out.
For example in the water world I had trouble with one specific puzzle where the map told me my objective was on the other side of a door which I couldn't open for some reason.
There was no clue how and it seemed from what I could note of the environment that the switch was on the other side.

The combat whilst nice and violent was hampered by those retarded controls... And the parry system thingy was just annoyingly difficult and lead to another reload from checkpoint.

I will say other than those two issues I really enjoyed the game, despite the extreme level frustration. Which is weird 'cos most people who get exceptional frustrated with a game for ridiculous points will hate it through and through but I do like it and play it occasional at mate's places.

 

[SeaCalMaster]

It was a decent game. I kind of felt like I was playing a movie, though.

 

[Necromantic-Nerd-of-Doom]

Did anyone notice an almost Final Fantasy feeling to the ending or was it just me?

 

[jezz8me]

I played the demo when i was about 13-14 i loved it so much but could not find it and the MA rating did not allow me to buy it.

I am a sucker for half-demons and similar things though. Hell i loved DMC2. I liked that this game wasn't a DMC clone though it was quite different and new.