Full Review

*newly updated, thanks to ChromeKiller's suggestions*

First off, this game is fantastic! And I'm picky about the games I like, so that's saying a lot.

This is the first Playstation game developed by SCEE's Studio Cambridge.
You play a rock chick named Jen that has to leave the realm of Mortalis (our world) and travel through four worlds aligned either with Order or Chaos, trying to restore balance and find her boyfriend, Lewis, in the process. She's helped by a strange companion, Scree, who's a cool little gargoyle that can climb walls and do other fun tricks. You can switch between Jen and Scree to play either one, and a lot of the puzzles can only be solved by judicious use of each one's powers. Jen gains specific demon powers in each of the four worlds that she retains through the rest of the game, making it increasingly complex.

Jen first visits the world of Solum, a wind-torn, snowy world of ruined buildings. Jen gains the ability to transform into her Ferai form, which is a kind of angry, super-strong beast with horns, and lethal claws.
Next, Jen and Scree travel to Aquis, which has sandy beaches, but they spend most of their time underwater with the inhabitants who have built cities on the ocean floor. She can become an Undine, a fish/mermaid hybrid who fights with tentacles of energy. This world features 3-D travel since Jen can swim any direction.
Jen continues on to Aetha, a rainy world with rickety villages and foreboding castles built onto the tops of steep mountains. Here, she gains the power to become a Wraith, which is like a vampire. She has energy whips and can slow down time for brief periods.
Finally, Jen and Scree must go to Volca, a dry, burningly hot world where the inhabitants live in active volcanoes. As they travel deeper into the main volcano, Jen becomes able to take on her Djinn form, becoming a fire-snake-girl. She also gets the best weapons here - giant flaming swords.

What is so great about Primal? Well...
1) The plotline is detailed and engaging. It really draws you in. I won't give anything away here, just to say that there are mini-plots within the main plot, and they all tie together to form a satisfying climax and ending to the game.
2) The characters aren't just "good" or "bad." They have depth and personality. Even the supporting characters that you only meet for a few scenes are true individuals with personality quirks.
3) The worlds are incredible and enormous. There's so much to see and you're allowed to run around and pretty much explore as you like. Plus there are "easter eggs" in the form of Tarot Cards embedded throughout the game, so you get an extra layer of involvement, trying to find all of them. If you do, it unlocks a secret feature on the disc.
4) Speaking of secret features, a new one is unlocked on the disc each time you complete a world. These secret features include a "Making Of" documentary, an interview with the musicians, and other cool things I won't give away.
5) This game has a great soundtrack by 16volt. The fight music is thumpin', and the ambient background is also great. 6) The voice acting is quite good - the game developers signed on Hudson Leick (Callisto of Xena) and Andreas Katsulas (G'Kar of Babylon 5) as Jen and Scree, respectively, and they get great banter going. I actually laughed several times at how Jen would taunt Scree and then Scree would later make a comment that cut Jen down to size. Usually the voice-overs are a part of the game you don't notice, but in Primal, the voices and their acting styles really make the game more enjoyable.
7) The game has great puzzles that are satisfyingly difficult without being obnoxiously impossible. A lot of puzzles involve "thinking outside the box" and using Jen's new-found demon abilities to behave in a way that a normal human could not. Other puzzles require you to pay careful attention to your surroundings and see how your actions could affect inanimate objects. Also, the game doesn't require you to backtrack endlessly if you happened to miss picking up a specific object, since the required objects for each puzzle are generally nearby.
8) There's practically no "load time" between scenes. The official website says that this is due to "streaming technology." I just say that I like being able to keep on playing, and not be constantly interrupted each time I leave a building or encounter a new character.

Some people have commented that the hand-to-hand combat in this game is sub-par. It's true that it's not on a level with a pure fighting game, like Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter. But that's not what this game is about. The fighting is only one aspect. Still, if you only play adventure games for the fighting, this might not be the best choice for you. But personally, I enjoyed the combat. Jen has some cool moves (if you take the time to learn them, since she gets more and more advanced and new moves unlock), and four totally different styles and weapons in each of the four worlds. The controls are pretty much the same for both Jen and Scree which allows for seamless play and easy switching between the two characters. There aren't a lot of complicated button combinations to remember for any of the moves, and switching between demon forms is as easy as pressing a single button. (Also, time stops during the cool little graphic of Jen switching forms, so that she can't be hurt if you choose to change in the middle of a fight.)


I highly recommend this game. It's fun, thrilling, engaging, and addictive! Now if only they would hurry up with the sequel... (Studio Cambridge, are you listening? Make a sequel!!!)