My friends, before I begin today, I would like to note that I've made a horrible mistake. I bought Mass Effect 3. I know, I'm a monster. It's just that the original Mass Effect was such a beautiful piece of artwork that I felt compelled to try out the other two. Don't worry, though, the only thing more human than making mistakes is the ability to rise above those errors and become better off for it.
That said, I could have just done Potawatomi today, declared it broken (which it is), and left you all with that, but I simply wouldn't feel right clicking on that red square with the number "3" in it until I've delivered at least some kind of real review.
Now, let's talk Primordial.
This is a side scroller from DigiPen Singapore. Quick thing to note before I start, this game actually led me to play it to completion, so on that merit alone, it should be given some kind of praise. Granted, it's not a very long game, but still, it gave me no reason to ragequit.
Let me get the praise out of the way first. Yes, this game is insanely linear, and yes, there's not much room for thought when solving the puzzles, but those are both good things. That's what the game is designed to be; it's a slowly paced journey through the game's universe that values fun above all else.
I really appreciate how some of the puzzles force you to stop thinking in "game logic" and approach the situations as if you were in the real world. Instead of conveying a few mechanics and then trusting the player to remember them and forget all else, it almost seems as if the designers started the game as just a straight path, threw in a couple obstacles, and then thought "what would my first instinct be when approached with something like this?" Then, they designed the level accordingly, and the final product feels great.
Now, there were, of course, areas of the game that were not all good. The aesthetic is a good place to start: the sound direction is great. The music in the background is immersive, fun to listen to, etc. All the sound effects feel satisfying to listen to.
The visual style has its ups and downs. On the one hand, the characters are all drawn quite lovably, but on the other, both background and foreground objects are sometimes colored in pitch black. That ain't cool.
And then there were the real problems: two in particular. First, some of the jumps are a bit unfair to make. If I demonstrate that I know how to solve a problem (e.g- jumping over a spiked gap), solving that problem shouldn't be too difficult. Second, the loading times make P.U.S.H seem lightning fast. I mean my god, I thought the game had crashed when I got to the first loading screen.
Oh well. Final verdict: it's a competently put together game that's worth checking out. I will say, on a more personal note, that I would have been willing to accept this game's flaws and issue it my seal of approval if it had had some sort of narrative or themes or something to make it more than just a running and jumping spree. Certain design elements, specifically the ending wherein you fall into a bottomless pit which brings you to the credits, are very similar to those in Oniro, which had far and away the best narrative of any game on this list so far. Perhaps it's only for that reason that I ended up craving some sort of exploration into the world portrayed, but as it stands, the game just kind of feels like a demo rather than a completed project.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay primeval.
Links
Potawadoesn'twork: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26616
Eat all the bunnies: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25987
