UNDERNEATH Primordia - a Review, Finally

[emptyindustries]

I've been meaning to make a short video on this for my webseries. Finally got around to it. What an amazing game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX7DJb08C3U

If you like the video, be sure to give it a 'like' and show it to people who haven't played the game!

[Mark Y.]

Thanks for the nice review!

[Kalyth]

Played the game in its entirety yesterday (I was sick at home) and today I'm depressed. It really hit me for its dark mood and inevitableness (don't even know of that word exists in English). I also felt like it was BaSS + Machinarium, as I wrot in my own review (http://kalythblog.wordpress.com/2013/03/06/primordia/, it's in Italian though).

Great game.

[emptyindustries]

Originally posted by Mark Yohalem:

Thanks for the nice review!

Wow. If I'd know the designer was going to see it, I would've said a lot more about the game!

Originally posted by Kalyth:

Played the game in its entirety yesterday (I was sick at home) and today I'm depressed. It really hit me for its dark mood and inevitableness (don't even know of that word exists in English). I also felt like it was BaSS + Machinarium, as I wrot in my own review (http://kalythblog.wordpress.com/2013/03/06/primordia/, it's in Italian though).

Great game.

It depressed me as well. I have constant manic depression, and I have to say that for a few days, the game was a sort of comfort zone. In the end it stuck deep. Haunting. Beautiful, dark comfort I can hardly describe.

[Mark Y.]

Yikes -- I hate to think of depressing people! For myself, I've always thought Primordia is actually an uplifting, though melancholy, story about how one person (err, robot) can face overwhelming forces -- entropy, violence, his own innate prejudices, to name a few -- and overcome the twin impulses of giving into despair and giving into rage. There's plenty about Martin Luther that I find unlikable, but I will borrow from one of his great creeds and say that a story about the world ending is not depressing if it shows a person can respond to the world ending by planting a tree. Such a story is sad, but uplifting, since it helps teach us how to plant trees even when the world isn't coming to an end.

But it does seem like most people just find the story depressing, so I'm probably just odd. :)

[Kalyth]

That's a nice tale indeed!
In saying it depressed me I'm admitting Primordia's power to get you into its setting: you can't look at Blade Runner and don't think about what being humans means, so you can't play Primordia and don't think about how FUTILE (said by Horatio's voice) and useless everything is if humanity has to vanish someday.

Still, like most of sci-fi, it can be a "future vision" we can do something to avoid.
So, goal 100% scored for you!

[emptyindustries]

Sometimes I like to believe that, in looking up at the stars at the end, Horatio is hinting at the suggestion that humans may have left and colonized other worlds. The story was profound, in the fact that there are SO many ways to interpret it. Yohalem, you're definitely the type of person who should be designing point-and-clicks. I only wish I could somehow direct more attention to the genre, which once flourished.

With that said, I gain nearly 6-8 new subscribers every day. My channel is growing, so at least more people will be hearing about your game.

[Mark Y.]

"Horatio is hinting at the suggestion that humans may have left and colonized other worlds. . . ."

There are a couple other hints as well. :)

[Oh_Man[TFE]]

I would have been impressed if Clarity and Crispin died. But I got to save them! Best ending ever! If you got one of the other endings I would not blame you for being depressed. :)

[Mark Y.]

Thanks!

[Mords- Founder, Wormwood Studios]

Originally posted by JordanUnderneath:

Sometimes I like to believe that, in looking up at the stars at the end, Horatio is hinting at the suggestion that humans may have left and colonized other worlds. The story was profound, in the fact that there are SO many ways to interpret it. Yohalem, you're definitely the type of person who should be designing point-and-clicks. I only wish I could somehow direct more attention to the genre, which once flourished.

With that said, I gain nearly 6-8 new subscribers every day. My channel is growing, so at least more people will be hearing about your game.

"it'll make you feel something different" Best recommendation we could've hoped for I think. Thanks for making this vid, I'm glad you liked the game. :) Also I think the chances are pretty good that I can rope Mark into making another adventure game with me.

[emptyindustries]

Originally posted by Pinback:

Originally posted by JordanUnderneath:

Sometimes I like to believe that, in looking up at the stars at the end, Horatio is hinting at the suggestion that humans may have left and colonized other worlds. The story was profound, in the fact that there are SO many ways to interpret it. Yohalem, you're definitely the type of person who should be designing point-and-clicks. I only wish I could somehow direct more attention to the genre, which once flourished.

With that said, I gain nearly 6-8 new subscribers every day. My channel is growing, so at least more people will be hearing about your game.

"it'll make you feel something different" Best recommendation we could've hoped for I think. Thanks for making this vid, I'm glad you liked the game. :) Also I think the chances are pretty good that I can rope Mark into making another adventure game with me.

That sounds fantastic. Wish I had waited to make the video now; I have almost 600 subscribers. Be sure to alert me about your next game and I'll do a 5-8 minute, in-depth review.

[emptyindustries]

So I've decided to produce a completely new review of this game. I now have over 1,000 subscribers. I'm going to review it in its entirety, and hopefully, you guys should get some extra sales if people are interested. Much bigger audience now, much finer quality.

[Mark Y.]

Awesome, thanks!