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Is Far Cry Primal an Underrated Gem?

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Kevin Shields

Member
I'm a big Far Cry fan and I loved 3 and 4 (and 2 for what it was) and I think they have some of the best gameplay around and get overlooked cause "oh Ubisoft is shit".

I'm wondering how Primal is since I love the shooter aspects of those games and the freedom of approach they have and that looks like it's missing in Primal. Although I saw some videos of Primal and it looks downright gorgeous. Do you think Primal is underrated like I believe (especially) Far Cry 4 is?

It's 35$ at GameStop and I have some credit. A couple questions going in if you all would indulge.

How is the world/exploration compared to 3 and 4?

Is the gameplay severely hampered by no guns (especially freedom of approach)?

Is there an actual story?

Are the main missions good or are they glorified side missions?

Thank you all!
 
I didn't like it at all.

Felt very simple and repetitive.
World felt uninspired.
Story felt nonexistent.

I was poised to love this game but came away disappointed.
I never finished it.
 
I absolutely loved Primal. Its still standard Far Cry in a lot of ways but they do quite a bit to change up the formula. The game is gorgeous visually, and not having vehicles makes the map feel pretty massive, even though its basically the same size as Far Cry 4. Lots of focus on melee abilities though of course you have ranged attacks like bows and spears.

Also yes, there is actually quite a bit of story to the game, and in typical Far Cry fashion it gets pretty fucked up.

I highly highly recommend it.
 
As someone who has very much enjoyed the entire series, I couldn't get into it at all. I was not a fan of the weapons, couldn't get into the story, wasn't too big on the world. I couldn't bring myself to finish it.
 
Yep great game, I'm sure plenty of people hated on it for no reason thanks to the media shitting on it. Still sold a ton so hopefully we will get more spin-offs like Blood Dragon.
 
I loved the graphics and running around looking at shit in the world but the combat was so repetitive and boring to begin with that I couldn't stomach more than a couple hours. I got it for like 15 bucks so not too bad of a loss anyway. Great concept with poor execution imo, which is the case for a lot of Ubisoft games unfortunately.
 
It's good. If you love the series, then $30-35 is a reasonable price for it. It feels very much like Far Cry, in that it seems like some aspects of it were ripped straight from 3 and 4, but I think this one is more streamlined. For all the crap Ubisoft gets (deservedly sometimes), they do drop interesting experiments like this.


How is the world/exploration compared to 3 and 4?

Very different. It's a large world, and there's a lot to see/animals to ride. It's fairly beautiful, but your mileage will vary depending on how much you like the BC concept. There's a lot to see though I feel.

Is the gameplay severely hampered by no guns (especially freedom of approach)?

Sort of I guess, but it depends entirely on if you use all the tools at your disposal. If you are, then no, there's a lot of variety, and it's more interesting at times than 3 and 4 because those games made it easy to fall into a trap of using the same 3-4 weapons and wiping out camps, which could get repetitives- silenced sniper rifle basically made all camp takeovers easy, for example.They give you a lot to play with considering the main weapons are made from rocks and sticks. Animal use is a big focus, and the bow remains the most useful weapon. Melee combat is functional but boring.

Is there an actual story?

Yes, and it's interesting enough, but highly basic (which fits considering the tribal aspect of the game). Personally I felt the previous games had highly basic stories as well- arguably 4 had more depth than it was given credit for though. They apparently consulted with experts to try and develop the language to be based in reality (it is all subtitled).

Are the main missions good or are they glorified side missions?

They're good, but I'm not entirely sure what you're asking here- if you mean is it hollow side content, then no? But I can't answer that without knowing your criteria fully. There's enough to do, but again, it may be repetitive depending how much or how little you like the FC3 formula, because it's basically that, with cavemen (and other tweaks).
 
No, definitely not.

It's a beautiful game with a lot of great atmosphere, but there's really only about 5 hours worth of content in it, I would say. It gets really, really repetitive very quickly.

Would have been great as a $20 expansion to Far Cry 4.
 
Kevin Shields said:
How is the world/exploration compared to 3 and 4?

Is the gameplay severely hampered by no guns (especially freedom of approach)?

Is there an actual story?

Are the main missions good or are they glorified side missions?

Thank you all!
Click to expand...

The exploration is about on par, there are some unique areas and it looks great. (as others have said, mounts make this better too.)

Gameplay is not hampered by lack of guns at all. Spears can be thrown, there are grenades, aerial attacks with your owl, your bow, and a sling that can be nasty. Melee feels great, too.

There is a full narrative, yes, with plenty of side content.

Main missions are mostly good, some feel fetchy but for the most part they advance the story. For $35, I'd say go for it.
 
KiefbladeMaster said:
Gameplay is not hampered by lack of guns at all. Spears can be thrown, there are grenades, aerial attacks with your owl, your bow, and a sling that can be nasty. Melee feels great, too.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty confident most people that think the combat / gameplay is boring weren't actually using most of the tools in their disposal and were just running around with clubs trying to bash stuff or using a bow and arrow every once in a while. You actually have a lot of different ways to attack
 
Obliterator said:
I'm pretty confident most people that think the combat / gameplay is boring weren't actually using most of the tools in their disposal and were just running around with clubs trying to bash stuff or using a bow and arrow every once in a while. You actually have a lot of different ways to attack
Click to expand...

Really, though, there are a ton of options at your disposal!
 
I liked it a lot, but some of it may have to do with it being the first Far Cry game I really dove into. The weapons in the game were surprisingly satisfying to use. The melee combat looked bad in gameplay footage, but feels better when you actually execute it. There's nothing like making a good bow kill or a good spear kill from a distance. On the whole, it got me into the FC series. I picked up Far Cry 4 after I beat it and that was fun too, but I liked Primal's spin on the game more. Staking enemies down with bows and spears is more of my thing than guns. Echoing a similar point, the lack of transportation makes the game feel bigger as well.
 
Obliterator said:
I absolutely loved Primal. Its still standard Far Cry in a lot of ways but they do quite a bit to change up the formula. The game is gorgeous visually, and not having vehicles makes the map feel pretty massive, even though its basically the same size as Far Cry 4. Lots of focus on melee abilities though of course you have ranged attacks like bows and spears.

Also yes, there is actually quite a bit of story to the game, and in typical Far Cry fashion it gets pretty fucked up.

I highly highly recommend it.
Click to expand...
Agreed. Loved it.
 
John Cowheel said:
I liked it a lot, but some of it may have to do with it being the first Far Cry game I really dove into. The weapons in the game were surprisingly satisfying to use. The melee combat looked bad in gameplay footage, but feels better when you actually execute it. There's nothing like making a good bow kill or a good spear kill from a distance. On the whole, it got me into the FC series. I picked up Far Cry 4 after I beat it and that was fun too, but I liked Primal's spin on the game more. Staking enemies down with bows and spears is more of my thing than guns. Echoing a similar point, the lack of transportation makes the game feel bigger as well.
Click to expand...

Totally agree. I've liked all the Far Cry games and the change of pace here was welcome. The Bow and Spear kills were, as you said, very satisfying. Then again, I'm a sucker for any game with a solid bow and arrow.
 
It was another Far Cry but with worse combat and a reused map.
If I'm being honest, I think it was overrated by a fair segment of the community.
 
I also really liked 2 - 4 and I bought Primal on sale during the holidays although I haven't started it yet. I might dive into it in February to whet my appetite for Horizon Zero Dawn.
 
I enjoyed it, but like every Farcry game it ran out of steam before the end. Ubisoft need to shirnk these games down - they fill them with so much repeatable, identicial content and it's just not fun. Like the second island of Farcry 3, you could easily take half of Farcry Primal out and it would be a good game.

I shouldn't be playing in survival mode, and before I even defeat the first major boss hero have every skill I could want unlocked.
 
It is great and really captures the vibe of primal age. Also it has hilariously bizarre characters. Then again I got it for 8€. $35 sounds like way too much tbh.
 
It has its moments when you're hunting or infiltrating an enemy camp but aside from that it's very repetitive and dull. I struggled to get to the end.
 
I loved FC3 and FC4 but hated Primal. Felt like a DLC add on to FC4 without all the weapons which made the previous games fun. Can't wait for FC5!
 
I played about 3 hours of it and just got sick of the map/objectives. The whole gameplay loop wasn't enjoyable anymore. And I have the Platinums for FC3 and 4.
So I'm not sure what went wrong. Maybe it's purely the setting/weapons.
 
It's a decent game, nothing more, nothing less. If you're looking for something to scratch a FarCry itch it'll do the job. Best not to play it right after 3 or 4 though; though it does some interesting things, it still very much adheres to the formula.
 
I finished it, which is rare. I suppose the core gameplay loop entertained me enough, in addition to the skill tree. It looked good on PC, after the HD patch.

I would have bought some DLC.
 
Wow. The hate is strong with this one.

I loved Primal. Felt like Blood Dragon, in that it used the same framework of past FC titles, but was thematically different enough to earn its worth.

Also, you could have a pet saber-tooth tiger. Rawr.
 
It's a good game if you play in Survivor Mode and deactivate most of the HUD. Then the level / sound design really shines, because you can listen to the animal cries, to the sound of a flowing river and human grunts to navigate through the world. It's one of those rare games where you don't really need to be guided by icons or pathways on the ground.

This and the setting is fresh, not many games have offered that. However, I see this game more as a follow-up to Blood Dragon and not a full main title. Maybe the game would have gotten more love if it was framed like that.
 
It wasnt bad but I found it got very repetitive after a few hours. With Far cry you get better and better guns as you progress, but with primal you only have 2 melee weapons types as I recall.
 
i really liked it. never finished it because i got side tracked by other games, but i want to return to it some day and give it a full playthrough.
 
The game is gorgeous, i tried it with the HD texture pack and wow, really nice visuals! But the lack of firearms and vehicles is a real problem for me, it gets really boring soon.
 
>> How is the world/exploration compared to 3 and 4?

About the same, I guess. There are little caves, waterfalls, places of interest to explore.

>> Is the gameplay severely hampered by no guns (especially freedom of approach)?

I'd say the combat is hampered, but not the freedom of approach. There's basically three main weapon types: clubs (short range heavy damage), spears (mid range mid damage) and bows (long range low damage). Plus some side weapons like traps, bombs, and throwing knives.

You can go into most fights and just bash everyone to death, but doing this gets old fast. But you do have some freedom in how you approach it, and in my opinion, thes stealth approach in Primal was even more fun than in FC3 and FC4. I think Primal was just better designed around stealth and has fewer enemies. In FC3 and FC4, the stealth approach got pretty frustrating towards the end because of the sheer amount of enemies and their firepower.

One of the cool things about Primal is the owl companion, which you can fly over enemy territory to scout it out. And if you upgrade that skill tree, your owl can takedown individual enemies or drop bombs on them. You can also send your animal companion (wolves, bears, tigers, etc.) into enemy territory to wreck shit and distract everyone. All while you stay hidden and stealthy, heh heh.

Basically the combat sucks, but there are other options. There's some different gameplay features which are cool.

>> Is there an actual story?

Yeah, but it's not much more detailed than growing your little tribe by conquering two other tribes.

>> Are the main missions good or are they glorified side missions?

The main missions are pretty good, they're definitely much more fleshed out than the side missions.
 
It's a beautiful game. I enjoyed it for the setting and the animal companions, but the combat and side quests do get a bit stale after awhile. I loved FC3 and didn't like FC4 much. I didn't like the setting in FC4 - all the areas looked the same except for the on rails trips up the mountains.

Also, I wish it had weather effects like rain. It's always sunny in southern Oros.
 
I loved parts of it. The world is great to explore, the animal buddies can be a lot of fun if just a bit buggy, and the usual Far Cry loop still holds up surprisingly well.

The combat? No way. If you're gonna go melee focus, either having a dedicated dodge or block button should be absolutely mandatory. There is neither in Primal and the combat suffers for it. Every fight turns into shooting your bow while running backwards, so you're kind of forced to stealth large parts of that game. Stealth can be generally fun, but it was the variety of approaches that I loved about 3 and 4 and being so limited this way made me pretty bummed.
 
It's good. Don't let GAF sour you on this game. Refreshing change of setting. Granted, it does get repetitive but this is a Ubisoft open world game so that's to be expected.

Oh and I'll also agree with the poster above me who dogged the combat system. It's functional, but the lack of block and parry is baffling.
 
A gem, no. But it's an enjoyable game that's worth playing if you liked Far Cary 3 and/or 4 and want more. Its platinum trophy is very obtainable and actually fun to go after.
 
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