I got it on Xbox, plays just fine. Just the controls might be a bit different than one might think. Combat is more QTE than anything. It's not so bad once you get the hang of it, but fuck, read my edit above....fuck.
Just to clarify, I really like it. It was just, I was the female and damn it, I should have gone to the male as the kid/baby monkey in the beginning. It's like Dark Souls 100,000 BC or whatever it is (not really, but still).
This game is one of the most incredible experiences I've had in a very long time, if not ever. Just the feeling of going from being a clueless fragile primate who only climbs trees out of fear of what might lurk on the ground, to running around in a strong, armed group scaring predators away, is just amazing. Last night I spent several hours just going on a long journey, taking my entire tribe with me to seek out new lands. So much happened on the way, we were all dying by the time we reached an oasis, and that feeling of just finding a place full of food, rescources and safety was just great.
I think the whole "form couple, make babies" mechanic gets a bit old and could use some automation after a while, but man, I'm digging this game. I hope a lot more people will discover it. It deserves to be played.
I've put about 6-7 hours into this game on ps4 so far and I like it quite a bit, it's pretty interesting, and for games that let you figure things out on your own it's pretty straightforward early on since the things you have to figure out are sort of a natural instinct, since you're evolving as an ape, you realize that you have to try to find food, or find a way to cure food poisoning, or heal wounds etc. I will say that at times the mechanics can be a little slow and that could be a little annoying, like when you eat you have to hold down x and it takes time. It kind of makes sense but at the same time after a while it's just something you want to get over with. A little rough around the edges but overall a pretty decent game, I don't know if it's worth asking price though. I'd certainly say it's worth $20, but not sure if it's worth much more. But you can see the difference between this game and something like Assassin's Creed 2 in terms of budget making a difference in the final product. Because this game can certainly be better but I think budget holds it back from being better.
I got the game for free, back when Patrice launched his game studio and announce the game, people who signed up for his newsletter early on were promised a copy of the game for free. So I got it that way, I'd have bought it anyway though. If you're interested in it and think you'll like it, give it a try, if you're on the fence then wait for a price drop.
Damn this game requires some serious investment to get into lol.
I am enjoying it though. Got past my first horrible end to my female. Now I only use males walking around. Found a male loner that I recruited into my tribe, evolved once. Now he's an elder and I still got him backing me up. He's gotten some kills on the big sabertooths even. We've been through a lot, going to suck when I lose him. He doesn't even have a max health bar but throws down hard.
Love tricking those sabertooths (Machaidorus (sp?)) into killing other animals. Dodged one earlier and ran up a tree so it was angry and took out a boa instead. Found one panther sabertooth that wouldn't go away though, had to climb through the trees and escape. He killed a boar but that wasn't enough for him I guess.
Got a nice spot now with mangos/dates nearby and a nice pool under a cave with all kinds of plants. Has to be the best place in the early area to settle.
This would've been a day 1 purchase for me had it been on Steam. Not gonna get it on console because it seems it's way too short for $40, plus, I'm sure mods could really make this game special.
This would've been a day 1 purchase for me had it been on Steam. Not gonna get it on console because it seems it's way too short for $40, plus, I'm sure mods could really make this game special.
Watched a bunch of streams on it at release. First guy I saw that beat it, pretty sure he was the first to do so on twitch, had at least 50 hours played, and still didnt have all the trait tree unlocked. Took him 3 or 4 days playing 12 to 16 hrs a day. It isnt short, especially going in blind. If I didn't spend so much on the kids for Christmas, I would have got it on PS4 on the 6th. Gonna have to wait till next month.
I'll admit that in a *hopeful* sequel they get bought my Microsoft or someone else and get a bigger budget to overhaul the UI/controls. I'd say the controls moreso than the UI. The controls, not exactly in terms of input, but in terms of how they work remind me of The Witcher 1, which was terrible. Still, it's passable and the concept is excellent. It has so much potential it's ridiculous. Just needs to be realized. But I'm still going to try and power through it and finish it nonetheless.
I'll admit that in a *hopeful* sequel they get bought my Microsoft or someone else and get a bigger budget to overhaul the UI/controls. I'd say the controls moreso than the UI. The controls, not exactly in terms of input, but in terms of how they work remind me of The Witcher 1, which was terrible. Still, it's passable and the concept is excellent. It has so much potential it's ridiculous. Just needs to be realized. But I'm still going to try and power through it and finish it nonetheless.
Dude I honor you. This was like my most hyped game of the year that I tried so hard to want to get invested. Like I said, GREAT CONCEPT but it really needed a lot of Alpha/Beta to bake out those controls in a competent manner. Curious to see how far you take it, good luck!
I'll see what I can do and hopefully report back successful . I will admit I'll have to take breaks with other games in between, but I really like the concept/idea of the game for sure.
Well I'm almost to unlocking the first of five (5 is the end) of the evolutionary species, Orrorin Tugenensis. I meant to post this after I got it but it's taking a bit more than I intended.
First things first, if you want to know the Evolutionary Feat breakdown, I found this on reddit (SPOILERS):
Befriended a hungry outsider to have a new clan member
Befriended a thirsty outsider to have a new clan member
Befriended a poisoned outsider to have a new clan member
Befriended a scared outsider to have a new clan member
Befriended a injured outsider to have a new clan member
Astute Dominator of the Crocodile
Made the Thorbjarnarson's Crocodile kill the African Buffalo
Made the Thorbjarnarson's Crocodile kill the Dorcas Gazelle
Made the Thorbjarnarson's Crocodile kill the Eastern Green Mamba
Made the Thorbjarnarson's Crocodile kill the Black Mamba
Made the Thorbjarnarson's Crocodile kill the Hyena
Made the Thorbjarnarson's Crocodile kill the Black-Backed Jackal
Made the Thorbjarnarson's Crocodile kill the Machairodus
Made the Thorbjarnarson's Crocodile kill the Miocene African Otter
Made the Thorbjarnarson's Crocodile kill the Giant Warthog
Made the Thorbjarnarson's Crocodile kill the Miocene African Horse
Astute Dominator of the Elephant
Made the Miocene Elephant kill the African Buffalo
Made the Miocene Elephant kill the Thorbjarnarson's Crocodile
Made the Miocene Elephant kill the Eastern Green Mamba
Made the Miocene Elephant kill the Black Mamba
Made the Miocene Elephant kill the Hyena
Made the Miocene Elephant kill the Black-Backed Jackal
Made the Miocene Elephant kill the Machairodus
Made the Miocene Elephant kill the African Rock Python
Made the Miocene Elephant kill the Miocene White Rhinoceros
Astute Dominator of the Hippopotamus
Made the Hippopotamus kill the African Buffalo
Made the Hippopotamus kill the Eastern Green Mamba
Made the Hippopotamus kill the Black Mamba
Made the Hippopotamus kill the Machairodus
Made the Hippopotamus kill the Miocene African Otter
Made the Hippopotamus kill the African Rock Python
Astute Dominator of the Hyena
Made the Hyena kill the African Buffalo
Made the Hyena kill the Dorcas Gazelle
Made the Hyena kill the Eastern Green Mamba
Made the Hyena kill the Black Mamba
Made the Hyena kill the Black-Backed Jackal
Made the Hyena kill the African Rock Python
Made the Hyena kill the Giant Warthog
Made the Hyena kill the Miocene African Horse
Astute Dominator of the Jackal
Made the Black-Backed Jackal kill the Dorcas Gazelle
Made the Black-Backed Jackal kill the Eastern Green Mamba
Made the Black-Backed Jackal kill the Black Mamba
Made the Black-Backed Jackal kill the African Rock Python
Made the Black-Backed Jackal kill the Giant Warthog
Made the Black-Backed Jackal kill the Miocene African Horse
Astute Dominator of the Machairodus
Made the Machairodus kill the African Buffalo
Made the Machairodus kill the Thorbjarnarson's Crocodile
Made the Machairodus kill the Dorcas Gazelle
Made the Machairodus kill the Eastern Green Mamba
Made the Machairodus kill the Black Mamba
Made the Machairodus kill the Hyena
Made the Machairodus kill the Black-Backed Jackal
Made the Machairodus kill the Miocene African Otter
Made the Machairodus kill the African Rock Python
Made the Machairodus kill the Megarian Banded Centipede
Made the Machairodus kill the Giant Warthog
Made the Machairodus kill the Miocene African Horse
Astute Dominator of the Otter
Made the Miocene African Otter kill the Thorbjarnarson's Crocodile
Made the Miocene African Otter kill the Hippopotamus
Edit (2019/10/23): I actually lost my save file and originally got this information from an online friend, and from what I've seen I don't believe this is true. It seems like the Otter kills the Green Mamba.
Astute Dominator of the Python
Made the African Rock Python kill the Dorcas Gazelle
Made the African Rock Python kill the Hyena
Made the African Rock Python kill the Black-Backed Jackal
Made the African Rock Python kill the Machairodus
Made the African Rock Python kill the Miocene African Otter
Made the African Rock Python kill the Giant Warthog
Astute Dominator of the Rhinoceros
Made the Miocene White Rhinoceros kill the African Buffalo
Made the Miocene White Rhinoceros kill the Eastern Green Mamba
Made the Miocene White Rhinoceros kill the Black Mamba
Made the Miocene White Rhinoceros kill the Hyena
Made the Miocene White Rhinoceros kill the Black-Backed Jackal
Made the Miocene White Rhinoceros kill the Machairodus
Territorial Dominance
Established a new Clan Settlement for a clan between 2 and 3 clan members
Established a new Clan Settlement for a clan between 4 and 6 clan members
Established a new Clan Settlement for a clan between 7 and 9 clan members
Established a new Clan Settlement for a clan between 10 and 12 clan members
Established a new Clan Settlement for a clan between 13 and 15 clan members
Established a new Clan Settlement for a clan between 16 and 18 clan members
As well as the world map, and don't let it fool you, it is definitely a good sized game:
Some tips that I've learned:
1) Do NOT go out with a female unless you've had two babies already. Reason being is that babies = reinforcements of genes
1a) Always carry two babies on you for Neural Progression Points (skill points to upgrade genes)
2) Have all your kids right away. Breed/mate/couple with all available adult fertile females ASAP. There can be some reasoning to hold off, but I prefer not to do so
2a) Everytime you have a kid (or do a new generation (not Evolve, though that does it too) it resets all the predators. So unless you like fighting off stalker cats 24/7, don't do one here, one there.
3) Genetic diversity. Don't have one male breed with all the females, incest is a no no in this game, despite what National Geographic tells you
4) Do everything 2-5 times to get the evolutionary feat
5) Lean on combat at first, IMO, and reinforce it, so that successive generations are easier and you can fuck up those stalker tigers that will fuck you up if you suck
6) Basalt choppers, make a lot of them (2-3 at least) and place them where you need to. They can make a sharpened stick quickly
7) Granite grinder, while it has very limited uses, the main use is to use it to grind Khat leaves into paste to protect against cold (and bone injury if you're dumb and jump off high cliffs/trees) Cold is most important
8) If you get food poisoning while going for Omnivorous, eat it, then drink water to clear it. Then eat more, then drink water to clear it. From whatever source meat/mushrooms/etc. Don't just eat all the meat chunks/mushrooms at once then drink water.
9) Take a battle buddy with you, preferably an elder. They still hold their own and can deal with the bullshit once you get them up. Make sure you cure them of bleeding ASAP with Kapok Fiber. Some people prefer to roam around with the whole clan and group intimidate, that can work, but fuck is that risky.
10) If you get food poisoning, eat/drink something that cures it (Mushrooms/Coconut milk cure food poisoning)
11) If you get poisoned, eat/drink something that cures it (Honey/Snails[mollusks])
12) If you get broken bones, stop jumping/dodging off trees, and make sure you're using grinded Khat leaf paste first =P. This has never been a problem for me
13) The AI is dumb as shit, but you can jump down/crawl up walls and your follower hominids will *teleport* to you to a degree, so you don't need to lead them up the worst path imaginable
14) Despite millions of years passing, everything at your various camps/settlements will still be there. Sticks/etc do not go away. Some meat does rot yes, but even other things will stay forever that I've seen (Like thorn bush barriers/etc.)
Lastly, some videos, because reasons:
Shows you how badass you can be later on (I'm not there yet)
Well I'm almost to unlocking the first of five (5 is the end) of the evolutionary species, Orrorin Tugenensis. I meant to post this after I got it but it's taking a bit more than I intended.
I'm not even close to the endgame. Maybe once I unlock Omnivorous and the ability to stand on two legs plus some other shit, then I'll feel better. I'm still too scared to go to the Savanna biome until I've unlocked most of the Jungle biome. Jungle-Savanna-Ocean. Though there's technically some smaller ones within that.
This is not a quick game at all. You could rush it, but you sure as hell wouldn't really beat it. You'd just be some un-evolved ape destined to have your ancestors enslaved with Barnam and Bailey.
I'm not even close to the endgame. Maybe once I unlock Omnivorous and the ability to stand on two legs plus some other shit, then I'll feel better. I'm still too scared to go to the Savanna biome until I've unlocked most of the Jungle biome. Jungle-Savanna-Ocean. Though there's technically some smaller ones within that.
This is not a quick game at all. You could rush it, but you sure as hell wouldn't really beat it. You'd just be some un-evolved ape destined to have your ancestors enslaved with Barnam and Bailey.
The UI doesn't bother me, but the controls in some contexts can be cumbersome.
Definitely would benefit from a bigger budget. Supposedly planned as a trilogy as well, which is heartening, provided they get the proper funding.
Edit: And hopefully if there's a second/third they let you full on attack instead of just defend/counterattack. I get why it's such but damn I'd like to ambush irascible/predator animals instead. And prefer not to have stalker cats just jump you instead of being visible (though some like panthers are usually visible beforehand, others just jump you once you make contexual actions like making sharpened sticks, then they jump you).
So:
15) "Hunt" (counterattack) down all the predators around you first, preferably with a battle buddy(elder like stated before) that way the area is clear and you can go around doing as you please until you make a new generation/Evolve
15a) Give your elder battle buddy a sharpened stick. However, take it away/stack them with yours once you need them to drink/eat since they won't if wielding something
Awesome, finally evolved to the next species, Orrorin tugenensis. Awesome. That took some time for sure. Almost have omnivore as well, have the genetic mutation for it and everything now.
I bought this game out of curiosity. To say it's different is an understatement. Graphics are good and play control seems tight. I haven't gotten far. Actually i have no idea wtf to do. The questions and thoughts which arose after 5mins of playing i do wish to share however blunt..
1.) Why in the fuck would anyone?
2.) What kind of drugs were being used to come up with the idea for this game? Send some over
3.) "In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey" -BECK
4.) If there isn't a sequence where aliens visit and alter the DNA of primates to make them more intelligent in order to use them to mine gold, then this game is purely fiction
5.) Producer: "Guys? We are going to make a game about monkeys."
Damn this game requires some serious investment to get into lol.
I am enjoying it though. Got past my first horrible end to my female. Now I only use males walking around. Found a male loner that I recruited into my tribe, evolved once. Now he's an elder and I still got him backing me up. He's gotten some kills on the big sabertooths even. We've been through a lot, going to suck when I lose him. He doesn't even have a max health bar but throws down hard.
Love tricking those sabertooths (Machaidorus (sp?)) into killing other animals. Dodged one earlier and ran up a tree so it was angry and took out a boa instead. Found one panther sabertooth that wouldn't go away though, had to climb through the trees and escape. He killed a boar but that wasn't enough for him I guess.
Got a nice spot now with mangos/dates nearby and a nice pool under a cave with all kinds of plants. Has to be the best place in the early area to settle.
Would suggest waiting for a heavy discount. When I say the UI is so bad I'm not kidding, part of the problem is you need to understand what the UI expects in order to proceed and once you start recognizing how tedious it is to do basic stuff between your right and left hands within your first hour you will be questioning whether the game is worth continuing because of very troubling mechanics.
Game could be absolutely amazing but I would steer anybody from paying full price.
Basically there should be an Evolutionary feat for "The Beginnings of War". Because fuck, you can drop almost anything at this point. Still one more Evolution to go (Taung Child) to go and then the final one which ends the game. Should have it beat this week.
Can even take down a sabertooth with an unsharpened tree branch at this point.
Basically there should be an Evolutionary feat for "The Beginnings of War". Because fuck, you can drop almost anything at this point. Still one more Evolution to go (Taung Child) to go and then the final one which ends the game. Should have it beat this week.
Can even take down a sabertooth with an unsharpened tree branch at this point.
Dunno, it doesn't have a clock on it. Just some stats for how far you've walked on 4/2 legs, how many animals you've killed, births/deaths.
Feels somewhere around 40 at this point though. (Edit: There is actually Player Time in the Evolution menu, I just didn't notice it. I'm at 48 hours right now)
I still haven't gone to the Savannah yet (and then the Ocean). Just explored all of the woodlands, but didn't bring my clan there yet which is what I'm doing now. Just going straight to the Savannah entrance to park my clan then clear it solo, which is what I've been doing lately.
I just load up on bleed resistance/broken bone resistance/heat or cold resistance and I'm good. I should get every achievement by the time I'm done as well.
Edit: Stats so far are:
Landmarks discovered: 49 (there's 72 total)
Claimed Territories: 29
Established Settlements: 18
Killed Animals: 107
Walking on 4 legs: 81km
Walking on 2 legs: 53km
Climbing Distance: 7km
Swimming Distance: 0.7 km
Couples: 41
Generations: 12
Filiations: 76
Babies: 114
Mature Genetic Mutations: 30
Recruited Outsiders: 2 (can only recruit when you're down hominids/lost one to death basically)
Wounds: 1
Poisonings: 40
Bleeding Injuries: 7
Shields: 370
Deaths: 1
Dead Babies: 0
Okay, almost done, unlocked Australopithecus Africanus' (The Taung Child). Got Apex predator achievement, so I just need to unlock the final evolution and I beat the game and 1000/1000 it. First game I've done that to in a while actually.
The end is definitely wearing on me. I stupidly got a bit lazy since I got to the ocean and, even though I had suspicions this happened, I confirmed them. I settled a place in the Ocean and made a new generation without bringing my clan over. Big mistake, like I thought would happen. All your clan mates die, you take the hit on evolution (which is -225,000 years for 9 deaths). So I just started as an elder male with one adult male/female.
On the contrary, this did allow me to unlock all but one of the recruitment evolutionary feats (since random hominids not in your clan don't show up if you're at max clan size), but it doesn't make up for the -225,000 year difference. Though I still did a few more things and unlocked Taung child after that, so whatever. Plus I didn't have to move my whole clan from the freaking woodlands bordering on the jungle to the ocean. Which is a lame ass trek. I recruited 3 males/females, mated, new generation and I'm back up to full clan. Didn't take long, so it worked out I guess just pissed me off initially. My fault for being lazy.
Now most of the evolutionary feats I need are the Ugh-level Astute dominator ones which means I have to get certain animals to kill other ones. Probably my least favorite thing to do later on. It's cool at first, then it's just blah. I have enough of a couple other things to finish up that I should be able to do those and unlock the final evolution and beat the game though.
Taung Child also gets jack shit for advancement over Lucy, which is kind of stupid, but whatever.
I'm at 55 hours currently.
Also discovered every area in the game, so there's that.
Final post other than replies. I beat it, got the final evolution. Where you turn into an early "human" pre-neanderthal and the game ends. Now that would have been the fun part, unlock fire, make fur 'clothes', etc. Guess that'll be in the sequel part of the planned trilogy, if it gets made.
But I'm done. 55-60 hours'ish, didn't check final time. Probably 58'ish going by my last post.
Final post other than replies. I beat it, got the final evolution. Where you turn into an early "human" pre-neanderthal and the game ends. Now that would have been the fun part, unlock fire, make fur 'clothes', etc. Guess that'll be in the sequel part of the planned trilogy, if it gets made.
But I'm done. 55-60 hours'ish, didn't check final time. Probably 58'ish going by my last post.
I stumbled upon a documentary on Curiosity Stream today called Out of the Cradle. The first part of it was almost like being back in the game, so it kinda reinforced how well thought out this game is. I'd recommend watching it if you have an interest in the subject matter.
Oh, and it has sole pretty nice CGI done by Square Enix. Didn't know they did stuff like that, but cool to see.
so yesterday i watched Super Bunnyhop's video on this game. it looks so cool.
i finished Final Fantasy VII Remake and am wrapping up the 100% so I'm looking for new games, so i just bought this on a whim. it's going for only $20 on Green Man Gaming at the moment.
first impressions are, it's alright, kinda cool, kinda trippy. like if you made an open world RPG out of the start of 2001: A Space Odyssey. def feels low budget, but well done. this is gonna be an interesting one...
for some reason i can't use my controller, which suck bc it recommends you play with a controller. X360ce doesn't like the Epic engine runtime EXE i guess. oy the pains of PC gaming.
first impressions are, it's alright, kinda cool, kinda trippy. like if you made an open world RPG out of the start of 2001: A Space Odyssey. def feels low budget, but well done. this is gonna be an interesting one...
for some reason i can't use my controller, which suck bc it recommends you play with a controller. X360ce doesn't like the Epic engine runtime EXE i guess. oy the pains of PC gaming.
finally got a controller to work! there are a few fixes on youtube but they didn't work. what did work was just copying the x360ce files directly from my Dark Souls III folder to this one.
so yeah initial thoughts are this is a lot of fun. just hanging out as an ape. spent my first day walking around and looking at plants and rocks and stuff. there is a lot of time spent analyzing things a la Metroid Prime. this is how you evolve, slowly learning skills, growing your memory, etc.
animations are kinda stiff but the game can look very pretty in certain points. i ate a berry and just kept eating all the berries i saw. soon i got sick and the screen was all wobbly and psychedelic. then the sun started to go down and i got bit by a mamba snake, which gave me some poison and upped the woozy effects. it was very nerve wracking! i also ran into a wild boar, which i thankfully never saw, as i managed to jump onto a tree and climb into a safe spot. once away from danger i slept it all off.
when i woke up i got back to the task at hand, finding a lost monkey child and bringing them back to camp. i had to calm him, and there was a calming mini game, and a button to push to calm them down. you couldn't just hammer the button over and over tho, you have to wait a bit after they cry out, then you call, and do it more as a delayed call and response. i thought that was a neat little puzzle.
after that its back to camp and explore some more. it really is fun to be going through the trees in a jungle. can't wait to get some climbing upgrades.
. I will admit I'll have to take breaks with other games in between, but I really like the concept/idea of the game for sure.
www.xboxachievements.com
.. my loss
