Primal Survivors | REVIEW | Another PS5 Survivor-like!? Is It Good?

Follow me, Dante, as I venture into prehistory in this new PS5 survivor-like, "Primal Survivors"!!! By the end of the read you'll be able to decide for yourself whether or not it's worth your money ...

Shamans, spirits, and stat stacking are what sets Afil Games' primitive survivor-like, "Primal Survivors", apart from the competition. This mostly top-down 2D game with two ways to play, four modes in each of these ways, custom player builds dependent upon stacked weapons and skills, and RNG based roguelike elements from a three card draw system comes at the player with a glaring question? Are you in it for the long haul, or do you want to satiate your survivor appetite with a short lived session? Both of which are options going in. 

Primal Survivors is, first and foremost, a pixel art style game that harkens back to the bygone era of retro gaming not unlike that of the NES or SNES. It is simplistic with the visuals sporting a mostly 2D design. Allowing for more focus on possible builds, the gameplay itself, and skill synergies in the survivor-like sense. 

In either Primal, or Cursed playlists you will choose one of four modes of play including Bonfire, Bones, Bone Crusher, or Long Hunt. Each of these modes comes with a set 10 -15 minute playtime with up to 3 boss fights depending upon the mode chosen. 

The modes each have a laundry list of percentage based buffs to enemy count, enemy spawns, bone (currency) payout, and other such gameplay altering bonuses. The more lengthy and challenging the mode the harder the enemies will be to deal with. That said, the upside to accepting the greater challenge is a bigger bone payout which will allow you to more easily unlock all key features in the game including permanent elemental skill tree upgrades.

Starting things off in the Primal playlist you will choose your Primal Mode, your Primal Weapon, and your Primal Spirit which will all accompany on your timed mob based fight for survival. The primal weapons you'll be using to fend off the hordes come in projectile and melee types with their own performance stats including things like damage output, and critical hit chance among other things. 

The primal spirits you'll also select from, on the other hand, are animal spirits that gift your shaman a set of specific skills that work on a cooldown timer. These spirit skills come in three per animal within the Primal playlist, and with an added Cursed variant that negatively effects gameplay at chance in the Cursed alternative playlist. 

As with the spirit cursed variant so too will you find a cursed weapon variant, and a cursed mode variant within the Cursed playlist. The modes here are the same as in Primal, but with Cursed effects to statistical benefits, or lack thereof. Same thing goes for the cursed primal weapons.

When it comes down to gameplay it's fairly much the same in both playlists minus the cursed stat nerfs in the Cursed playlist. You start off with a three heart default, regardless of playlist type, that regens ever so often to the ticking down of a heart timer. Getting hit until all hearts are depleted will end the game.

Thankfully with your weapon in hand, which can be operated manually or set to auto-fire, and your spirit skills on cooldown you can begin culling the mob for their XP drops. In doing so you will level up a large red bar that when full will offer up three randomly chosen skill cards of the active and passive type each time the bar is filled. These range from statistical passive enhancements to elemental spells, and even spirit summons. All to the tune of Fire, Earth, Water, Wind, and Dark elements. 

Stacking these as they become available will effect overall weapon, spirit, and skill performance going forward. Mind you there are no duplicates needed to improve any given active or passive skill. You simply pick the next one in the progressive lineup, and gain an extra bonus attack or defense options, accordingly. 

The goal in each and every playthrough is to, ultimately, clear the mobs up to a set amount of levels to make the bosses appear in an attempt to defeat each and every boss. In killing off the bosses you'll collect, from a dropped chest, one of three more powerful skill cards. Continuing to cull the mobs and kill the remaining bosses will earn you bones alongside that. Bones is the currency which unlocks new primal weapons, primal modes, and the permanent elemental upgrades. That, and their cursed variants. 

The upgrades, in particular, come in five different elementally aligned trees that each harbor five blocks worth of buffs, and mechanics enhancements. Some of these help with things like spirit skill cooldowns, damage output, and health regen to name a few. These game changing buffs and skill enhancements that are elementally focused will further buff the performance of the similarly drawn skills during your mob culling session. 

Basically, in gist, stacking buffs upon buffs to create an overpowered build of your choosing. I say, "Of your choosing", because you can only choose two upgrades from each of the five upgrade trees' five main blocks outside of the fifth upgrade with which you can only assign one from one of the five trees' blocks. Synergy, in the end, is the name of the game, and depending upon what build you are going for you'll need to make selections to compliment that.

The Verdict ...

Afil Games definitely tried to do something different with their take on the survivor-like genre. That having been said, I feel through the complexity of it all the game was kind of dumbed down. Usually when a developer applies multiple stat based systems to compliment builds it results in a more deeply involved gameplay loop. That's not the case here. 

The only reward you get for making a good build is an easier playthrough which takes away challenge, and the incentive to replay. The game, despite multiple modes, offers the same cookie cutter experience throughout with the only telltale difference being the time limit, number of bosses, and scaled statistical bonuses/nerfs. 

I think the fault, in regards to the lack of transferred complexity, lies with the lack of variety in the skill cards, and how most of the time those cards were way too easy to synergize. It felt like it took little effort to get to a place of being overpowered once you understood the capabilities of the variety of builds you could use. 

The lack of skill variety, and enemy types definitely did the game a huge disservice. Even the bosses offered little challenge with their basic attack patterns. Initially this might not be the case, but when you unlock the skill trees, the weapons, and the spirits it's smooth sailing each time. I couldn't see myself returning to play this game once I had everything unlocked, and played through each mode one time. 

Had there been an endless mode, a score attack mode with leaderboards, or something that really attracted continued attention outside of the core experience the game could have been better. I think the developer was more concerned with making something anyone can pickup and play rather than focusing on those seeking a proper skill based challenge. 

While all that can sound negative the game operates as a survivor-like should. It's complexity, and stat gimmicks make it a little misleading though. If you don't mind that you might pick it up anyways. It is a budget indie that won't break the bank. What are your thoughts on what I've shared? Do you think Primal survivors is good, or bad?