When I first launched Primodia, I thought I made a mistake. I am not into old-school games.What was this doing on my PC?
But it didn't.
After first launch, I closed the game, started playing something else. I don't even know when (or why) I launched it second time, but I think my intention was to play something for several minutes before doing... something else.
I was 'hypnotized' for a long time. It grew on me. It is something really surprising as I am not a big fan of post-apocalyptic scenarios - too many of them these days, not to mention that all of them are much alike and the cause of the 'apocalypse' is always peculiar, hard to believe, and always makes you think 'but the army would have done something about that'.
I'm not a fan of robots either...too cliché I guess. Besides, there's nothing you can do with robots better than what's already been done.
I was wrong both about the scenario and the 'robot' thing.
In other words, once I gave the game a chance, I was totally into it.
Primordia has amazing characters and an amazing story, even though it is simple and pretty straightforward. You don't get to read entire journals, logs or long texts. This is exactly what made me want to find such information. While in many adventure games you find several logs/journals in the first hour of the game, here it is not the case. The world and story/plot is revealed to the player in a progressive manner. You get to enjoy the game (without being "bombed" with tons of texts), become curious about the plot, and, in the end, the curiosity is rewarded. It is a very interesting approach in my opinion, and I prefer it rather than having tons of information and only accessing it when stuck or when the plot becomes too twisted to understand in the absence of reading all stored information.
The main character, Horatio Nullbuilt, is one of the most amusing game characters I've seen since Giants: Citizen Kabuto. A serious attitude, sarcastic responses and a very high self-awareness and lucidity, as well as a powerful personality, combine and form the architecture of a brilliant character. Of course, his 'trusty companion', is essential to making the whole situation ridiculously funny. The relationship between the two is simply a great and witty comedy act.
The gameplay brings nothing new to the adventure genre. The difficulty is rather low (lack of puzzles/mini-games). I really would have enjoyed the game more if it was harder and longer. On most occasions, the player can ask Crispin (Horatio's companion) on what to do next. I found it rather distracting, as even when I was stuck for a while, with Crispin's tips I found the solutions very fast. I think the game is too easy for tips (yes, I know, I shouldn't ask for Crispin's help, but as I said it's distracting...and tempting). While other adventure games cripple your brain, this one barely tickles it. However, Primordia has it's difficult moments.
The voice acting and the music blend together remarkably. They contribute more than in other games to the consistency of the game world. I could go on, but simply stating that they are GREAT should do it.
A very important aspect is the beautiful and subtle philosophical character of the game. It might even put one into a meditative, reflective state, if one is sensitive.
Regarding other design elements, such as GUI, inventory, control etc. I shall not comment. Yes, they have their flaws - the inventory could have been made easier to access, faster item swapping and other matters - but nothing tragic or over-the-top frustrating.
I must admit, this game was...'in your face' for me. I wouldn't even look at a game with this kind of graphics before. It was an important lesson I suppose, and I recommend it to any adventure game enthusiast. Have no fear of pixel hunting...it is not the case.
After I completed Primordia, I had that "I don't want to play anything else... I want to keep playing this!" feeling. You all have it, I suppose, after playing something really good or reading a great book or watching an awesome movie. Last time I had this feeling was after finishing the Syberia...."series".
P.S. Waiting for a sequel...