Primal tells the story of Jennifer Tate, a 21-year-old woman searching for her boyfriend through a series of demonic realms. As the story develops, more is revealed about Jen's past and her relationship with her boyfriend, as well as the nature of the demon worlds. In Primal, the player can control either Jen or Scree as they navigate the realms of Oblivion. As the game progresses, newer demonic forms are obtained, which prove invaluable in solving various puzzles and combat. Control can be switched between Jen and Scree at any time in game. When in control of one, the other will be operated by AI, performing various functions depending on the situation. During play, the characters can interact with one another, performing actions such as asking questions, or siphoning energy. When in control of Jen, the player may transform into one of four demonic forms for various purposes, depending on the situation (provided the forms are unlocked). When in a demon form, Jen experiences a boost in attack, defense, speed, attack range and access to abilities unavailable in a human form. The tattoo on Jen's back also glows when in a demon form, corresponding to various forms. Defeating enemies involves weakening enemies to the point where their hit points reach zero, at which time a finishing move must be performed to kill the enemy. While the moves differ in style and time taken, the final effect remains the same. Enemies can be finished off before the health bar reaches zero, and doing so leaves more residual energy. While Jen can remain in a demonic form indefinitely, taking damage will reduce health. However, hit points here are represented by demonic energy. When an enemy is killed, the remaining energy can be drained through use of Scree, who can store the energy for when it is needed. Jen can then call on the energy, siphoning it off to replenish her own. Scree can store a vast amount of energy, but also has limits as to how much. When in control of Scree, the player is invulnerable; Scree, being a gargoyle, cannot suffer damage, making him an effective scout. Scree is capable of climbing on stone walls, a necessary ability when traversing the realms. Scree can also store drained energy from dead enemies, which can be used to replenish Jen's demonic health, though he must remain immobile when doing so. Scree is revealed to be the long-lost Abdizur, who disappeared following an encounter with the lord of Chaos. In Solus, for a temporary amount of time, the player possesses a life-size statue of Abdizur via Scree, to combat Belhazur when Jen's powers are not fit to do so. The player may also possess other statues in an area under given circumstances. The player may also happen across various energy crystals, which can be stored and used if Scree's energy reserves are not enough and the player is at low health. These crystals are kept throughout the game, the only exclusion being when revisiting previous scenes, at which point they are reduced to a default amount. This means that the crystals function as extra lives, to a degree. If Jen is in human form, her health replenishes automatically if she is not in battle (human form only; demon energy must be replenished by either drawing on Scree's reserve energy or, failing that, by using a crystal). While in human form, Jen's health represents her presence in the demon world. If she loses all her health while in human form, she is returned to the human world, where she is in a near-death state. When this happens, the player must direct Scree to the nearest rift gate within a time limit (not seen on screen, though the voice of Arella warns the player that time is running out). If Scree does not reach a rift gate in time, Jen dies, and the game is over. Throughout the game, constant saving can prove onerous, particularly if the player wishes to backtrack and revisit certain areas. Provided a save game is present, the player may do so, and can revisit nearly all of the locations, once they have been unlocked via an in-game cutscene.
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Maybe one of these days Sony will tap into their potential IPs in need of a remake, and I think the adventures of Jen and Scree should be up on that list.
While setting up my account here I finally found and remembered this childhood classic of mine.
The worlds in this game are large, vacant, and ominous. They don't really register as lived-in spaces since they're so depopulated, but they're sort of wondrous as game spaces. They take the premises of their worlds: all some flavour of tyranny, from a manufactured underwater epidemic to an undead French Revolution white terror (my favourite), and manage to model them into something strange and overwhelming. Manouvering these worlds and solving environmental puzzles isn't exactly thrilling, but it usually involves taking in the surroundings and builds a real sense of sprawl, where the world keeps unfolding and it feels like there are always dark tunnels under your feet.
Scree and Jen are archtypes, the smack-talking tough girl and the wise voice of reason there to provide exposition, but they're very well performed. The dialogue is wonderfully managed, developing the plot and their interpersonal dynamic convincingly. It's sweet and funny without ever playing down the seriousness of their circumstances. Their relationship is something that could be grating, and in modern development would result in non-stop banter and quipping, but the characterization is kept focused and dignified. Moreover I thought the cutscenes, while awkward in the way cutscenes in games almost always are, were fairly well directed, at times using unusual angles and editing rhythms to appreciable effect.
Looking at these strengths, perhaps a buddy point-and-click adventure would have been a better venue. As an action-adventure game, which is what it actually is, it's a pretty poor effort. I don't know if I enjoyed playing the game, but I enjoyed my time with it, if that makes sense.