Home Games Replay: Primal
Replay: Primal

Replay: Primal

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primal
Oh, this takes me back to my younger years. Those were the days; when the biggest problems in my life revolved around balancing school work with the stuff that I actually enjoyed. Maths or Final Fantasy X? History or Primal?
I was always good at history so, naturally, through sheer delusion and pride, Primal always won out in that particular contest. It truly broke my heart. For a long time, I was obsessed with this game; it was just that different. In Primal, the main protagonist Jen (Hudson Leick) is a loud, brash, social and academic outcast who gets dragged kicking and screaming into the storyline of the game with only one purpose: to save her boyfriend, Lewis. After a performance at the local club, she and Lewis are attacked, leaving both in critical condition at the local hospital. From there, Jen’s spirit is brought to a place called the Nexus, a hub of sorts between the four main demon realms of Oblivion. While here, she learns that chaos, our antagonist Abaddon, has been doing his thing and everything is far from how it should be with a cataclysm on the horizon. She also discovers that her boyfriend Lewis’ spirit may have also been brought there by the forces of evil. From here, the player proceeds to journey through the realms setting things right along the way, all the while looking for signs of the wayward boyfriend. Jen’s sole travelling companion on this quest is a gargoyle named Scree (the late Andreas Katsulas), which the player can switch between. He acts as adviser, walking medi-pack and guide as you navigate your way through puzzles, hordes of enemies and numerous sub-stories.

In Primal you have the ability to shift between four uniquely powered forms which help you traverse the varying climates and enemies demonform2you encounter. ‘Ferai’ have enhanced senses and jumping ability, ‘Wraith’ have the ability to alter time, ‘Undine’ have the ability to breathe underwater and the ‘Djinn’ are a shower of giant, volcano powered, fire wielding assholes. Ultimately, what the game has are fantastic characters, intriguing story and just absolutely breathtaking production values. Jen has a modest bust, isn’t dressed as though she was caught heading to the beach and isn’t doing things anyone’s way but hers. Scree is well-spoken, dignified, hilarious and a soldier throughout.

If I told you the number of sleepless nights I had trying to work out how to progress during some stages of this game, well, you probably wouldn’t believe me. If you passed a door and didn’t spot it in the abysmal lighting, or if you killed a guard but didn’t pick up the key they had on them, you could be stuck in an area indefinitely; stuck there, running around like a headless chicken and wondering how you managed to break the game. If there was ever a game I replayed more, I can’t remember it. Quite possibly repressed along with a few others that occasionally surface to give me nightmares. Last week, I picked up the PS2 controller and put on Primal as though I’d only solved these puzzles yesterday, instead of the near ten years it’s actually been. I instinctively knew my way through the dark maze, testament to the four days I spent wandering around it because the TV was already dim to begin with. I may as well have been looking at a black screen. I played while listening happily to the 16 volt soundtrack blaring in the background. I cheered when Hudson Leick (Callisto) made a Xena: Warrior Princess reference. It was all exactly as I remembered it being.
Which, unfortunately, is not all roses, because while it has all of the things that really draw me to a game, it also has a far from stellar combat system that got me killed more than once and is responsible for not just one broken controller, but two. Switching between enemies is on par with navigating the dark maze as the camera angles freak out on you; half the time you can’t see what’s happening but you just know that even if you could, you’d still be either lost or about to die. Fighting in the game is maddening sometimes. Clunky. Badly designed. More than a little bit of a mess at points.
Thankfully, despite its many issues, Primal is a game that came around when characters had large triangle boobs and happy endings and it gave us characters that had substance; it gave us victory and tragedy all rolled into one. I get to the end of the game and always feel a pang at the underwhelming reception it got. Had it been better in those lacking areas and more enthusiastically received, there could have been sequels. Instead, the planned sequels were cancelled so they could concentrate on another game (side note: screw you Jack Bauer).
If you look really hard online, you can still find the concept art for the sequel that never happened….and it’s awesome.

Were you a fan of Primal? Let us know in the comments!
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