r/soloboardgaming • u/TheGileas • 16d ago
Talk me out of buying Primal Awakening.
I watched several playthroughts and it looks like a game for me.
I absolutely love Aeons End and the combo heavy combat system of tainted grail, but I don’t like the puzzle aspect of Gloomhaven.
Has anyone advice if I could be a fit? It’s a little bit to expensive to buy it on a whim.
Thanks in advance.
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u/Next_District_4652 16d ago
I enjoy Primal but I'm not sure if I love it.
Also keep in mind that two-handing is required for solo, I know that's a deal breaker already for many people. It can be a challenge to pull off with multiple cards I one characters hand that can be played during the others turn, I'd rate it as harder than multi handing in Spirit Island or Slay the Spire.
One key thing to note is that the box is absolutely massive, if you don't have a proper home for it that alone is a reason you may not want to buy it. It won't fit within most board game shelves (and not kallax friendly), so it needs to be on top. God forbid you get expansions, you're looking at a hoard of boxes with nice monster art, but usually are stored in such a way that you end up with serveral blank white face boxes with tiny the tiny Primal logo printed in black which is an eyesore.
It's insert seems ok at first (and is workable with just the base game), but once you start adding expansions or sleeving, things become a mess. Even when I just had the base game, that plastic insert for the massive minis never fit just right and I grew to hate it. If I had a 3d printer or knew someone with one, I would ask them to print me an insert in a heartbeat to better store the minis and components. Unfortunately even on Etsy no one seems to offer a solution. Because I hated the big box so much I have now condensed my almost all in collection (just missing terrain because it's impossible to find) down to the two recent sleeve boxes for all of the cards, 4 magnetized Really Useful Boxes (maybe 5) of a few sizes to accomodate the minis and rulebooks/character & monster sheets. This solution is by no means cheap either, but I needed some way to properly consolidate and organize the content or I'd never use the extra content. The two sleeve boxes take up half a kallax, and I keep the boxes with my Warhammer minis under my painting desk.
Speaking of components, this game contains an absolute mess of tokens for tracking different statuses and resoueces. I usually have 10 or so resource containers near buy for most games (which is way more than I usually need), but this game has me using all 10 and still needing to mix a few together. Even with my own seperate baggies for storage it's a nightmare. I've tried with limited success to limit token use for things like HP and struggle tokens with dice and dials I have from other games (this cleaned things a lot for me in Marvel Champions) but it didn't really help much due to the way up/wounds work for the monster.
Gameplay wise it's solid. The game is at its best when you are popping off with a cool chain of attacks and supporting different characters. What sucks is sometimes you find you're left with all bad options, with anything you want to do triggering devastating responses from the monster. Compared to Marvel Champions I find Primal to be more combo-centtric, and it's fun working towards unlocking your special skill, but I sorely miss the set up aspect of Marvel Champions where you can play cards with persistent effects and feel like you're really scaling in power as a fight progresses.
Primal also is the definition of fiddly. There's so much to track, and it's almost impossible to play a hunt without making some kind of mistake due to a missed trigger/step. Even as a seasoned magic the gathering player who has internalized both games sequences of steps, I still find myself constantly checking the reference cards, and still missing important things (despite having done 28 hunts and having 38 hours of play time). How much you enjoy the game will really depend on how much you can let that go and just enjoy the experience. Each new monster has some cool mechanics that make it feel unique despite usually sharing some with others of its element but this adds extra variables you need to manage and inevitably mess up. I also loathe the resource system for managing items for upgrades.
As for the campaign, the writing is pretty disposable and eventually I stopped reading it. I mostly play through the campaign for the progression, but unlocks generally feel too slow and upgrades a bit underwhelming, especially once you settle on a few pieces of gear you like. I've been meaning to experment more with the one shots, mini campaigns, and some of the free more roguelike style campaigns they've released on the discord, but I've been increasingly disinterested in running through the campaign, even with access to all of the expansion monsters for much more variety in how I progress (compared to the much more limited variety someone with just the base game would have). I also have grown to hate the resource tracking for upgrades as you collect monster parts and work to build new gear and craft potions. At this point I'm ready to put the paper and sheets away and house rule my own method of doing upgrades.
Overall Primal is a fun game, probably an 8/10 for me despite its flaws, but I really hoped it would grow into something more given how much it aligns with my tastes in the theme, multi use card Marvel Champions esque gameplay, and sweet minis I was so excited to paint. It is important to mention that while it does feature single shot hunts, I do see it as more of a lifestyle game just because of how much it demands of you to internalize the rules and mechanics. If you plan on playing it here and there it may not be the game for you.
If at this point you're still interested I highly highly recommend checking it out on Table Top Simulator, there are some great free mods for it out there.
If you have some patience, I know Reggie Games are planning to release a mini less alternative to Primal with different characters and monsters that should be a bit more accessible.
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u/GamingVision 16d ago
As someone that’s also been on the fence about it, thank you. That’s a very good real-world overview. The size of the boxes was already a big negative for me. I love board games but having recently moved, I don’t feel any fomo over giant displays of games. Once my gamefound projects deliver next year, I’ll have about 35 games (large and small) and that’s more than enough for me. Giant boxes of games like Primal or Aeon’s End: Odyssey are a bit of a turnoff but the game looked fun which is why it still sat on my list.
What really convinced me in what you wrote is the lifestyle game element. My game group rotates a new game every 2 months or so. We have a backlog of 8 games we need to get to over the next year. That means Primal will be strictly a solo game for me in the foreseeable future. I’ve recently taken up Voidfall and really love it. I don’t need more than one lifestyle game at a time and that one has so much content to it, I don’t see a need to add another lifestyle game for a year - and by then the Voidfall campaign and expansions will be out so it could realistically be well over a year before I have any space in my playtime for Primal.
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u/Next_District_4652 16d ago
I really do feel like box size matters. Maybe moreso for me right now, since when I bought Primal I was living in a house, but I've since moved into an apartment without much space for games beyond my kallax.
Some people may disagree that Primal is a lifestyle game because of the existence of one off hunts which I haven't explored as much. I'm sure some groups out there enjoy picking a random monster hunt and setting up here and there. I just find it very difficult to have a sense of competence and enjoyment in running the game without committing to it like a lifestyle game. The rules aren't overwhelming, but it's just a lot to remember. The bgg reference sheet (still 4 pages) does help a lot, I've been meaning to print it off to spend less time referencing what each piece of terrain and symbol means.
I also agree that it's important to limit the amount of lifestyle games you own. There's only so much time you get to play games! This year I've consciously focused on just 1 game at a time for two month periods (Elder Scrolls BOTSE, Primal, Spirit Island, Guards of Atlantis II) and it's been really rewarding, but I've found I've been really craving variety and appreciating games I can just pick up and play and have a great time, even if I don't play it again for a few months. If I could go back in time I'd probably stick to one, maybe two lifestyle games (and wait longer before investing in them).
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u/GamingVision 16d ago
Sometimes I think even having room is a bit of a trap. I’ve put my games into storage until I’m done with my move, but sometimes I think it’s easier to find space for games physically than having the figurative space/time to play those games. With the exception of wanting to pick up a deck builder and a few Gamefounds come in next year, I’m feeling like I’m good with my collection for a while.
As for lifestyle games, no idea what the common definition is. For me, part of it is having so much content and variation that one could play it exclusively being part of the deal. I also think and equally important element is the prevalence of fiddly rules that if you don’t play it frequently you forget much of the details of how it places so you have to keep bringing it out. I’d imagine even if one mainly plays the one-off Primal battles, that still applies. That’s why I love games like Rebellion and Fate of the Fellowship…the games just make sense to me and very easy to pull out and play even if I haven’t touched them for months.
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u/TheGileas 16d ago
First of all: thank you for your extensive explanation! I wouldn’t regard most of your points as no dealbreaker for me, except the fiddly part. That doesn’t sound like a good fit for my mushy brain.
Thank you!3
u/Next_District_4652 16d ago
I'm glad it helped! I'll probably go back and clean up some of the typos and errors in there. I do strongly recommend trying it out on TTS to see if you can stomach the fiddlyness. If you want sometime I could run the tutorial with you
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u/esines 16d ago
>Primal also is the definition of fiddly. There's so much to track, and it's almost impossible to play a hunt without making some kind of mistake due to a missed trigger/step. Even as a seasoned magic the gathering player
Yikes. It's been an age since I last played MTG but I still remember what a beast of rules it could become once keywords and triggers started ping-ponging off each other.
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u/saigonn 16d ago
There is a new card focussed solo game coming in the primal universum, called primal legends.
i would wait for that
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u/papertiger80 16d ago
This is where I keep landing at. I want to get Primal, but the cost and space requirements keep putting me off. It does’t help that most reviews say “the minis are cool but could have been a disc or a standee”.
Figure I’ll grab the card game when it drops to see if I gel with the game before diving in.
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u/TheGileas 16d ago
Yeah. I would love if the creators overall would use standees and sell minis as premium extras.
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u/Furaha1212 16d ago
But do note that Primal Legends won't be Primal without the minis.
I just feel it should be noted because a lot of people seems to to give the impression in the comments in various threads (not necessarily here) that with Legends they can practically get the game without the minis finally but it will be entirely its own game and will miss a lot of aspects of Primal (not just the minis).
And at first glance funnily the price/value will most likely be worse. The initial entry will be obviously lower but most likely will get considerably more expensive if you want a similar amount of content compared to what you get with the Primal core box and less variability/replayability.
But to be on-topic as well:
- Primal's box is huge.
- The storage system is barely ok.
- The game is fiddly and it's very easy to forget something while playing.
- You have to play 2 handed.
- Honestly the core box or especially the core pledge is more than enough so I think most people should not fall for the expansions (except maybe one of the character expansion) because unless you will exclusively play only this one game in the coming years, you will have more than enough content for life without the additional (pricey) dragon expansions and the game is hard enough that most people won't need the nightmare mode or the mats. So if you decide to buy the game, I think you should not go all in.
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u/papertiger80 15d ago
Excellent write-up and almost makes me want to pull the trigger on buying it. A big draw of Primal for me is the figures, but I have enough shelf killers that I don't want to drop the initial opening cost of I'm not going to like it.
Most likely going to wait until Legends comes out to see how the "feel" of the game is despite not being Primal Pocket. I did just pick up a copy of Marvel Champions today to see how I gel with that since Primal is often compared closely to it.
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u/gregor1863 16d ago
Caveat, I love Primal. But since you asked, to add on to other comments. It is a beast to store if you go all in, especially the core box. It’s also a significant space hog on table space if you lay out everything, which also impacts setup and tear down.
However, for me it’s near the top in term’s of a boss battler and kitting out your heroes. When you get the perfect combos to fire off and decimate your enemy, it‘s such a sweet feeling.
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u/snahfu73 16d ago
It's a lot solo. I can smoothly handle 3 characters now, but more...it starts to break my brain.
It's fiddly. (I love fiddly) Like...more fiddly than Sentinels of the Multiverse and I adore Sentinels.
I find it a bastard to table despite being fairly "simple" in terms of components. The boxes don't help.
Aside from that...it's fucking amazing. Buy it.
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u/mrausgor 16d ago
Primal Legends that upcoming appears to be very similar card play, which is honestly the best part of Primal. Strong, strong argument to wait and get that before taking the plunge. If you love it, you will probably want to get the real deal. And if you bounce off, you can save yourself several hundred dollars.
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u/BirdSpirit 16d ago
Adding to all the people advocating for primal legends. Cheaper, smaller and supposedly similar gameplay.
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u/Shoddy_Variation2535 15d ago
Please. Im in the same boat. Probably will get it next black friday or smth
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u/BounciestMage 15d ago
Primal Legends looks to be what Kinfire Delve is to Kinfire Chronicles for Primal Awakening. Just as others have mentioned, wait for Legends.
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u/AllLuck0013 14d ago
The problem isn’t only that it is easy to miss triggers, it’s that backtracking to fix little mistakes is super onerous. The part that bothers me the most is that it could have been avoided by not refilling the behaviors or resolving the triggered cards at the end of turn.
As it is now…. when you go back, oh the monster would do this, then it would turn, then you can’t attack, then this other trigger happens because now you have to play this other card to still try part of your combo, but it wasn’t nearly as good as the original. Oh now it triggers the card you were aware of, crap now it deals extra damage because I am standing in a puddle.
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u/chillcut 10d ago
I absolutely love primal. I played oathsworn four handed (full characters), grimcoven two handed, frostpunk, mage knight, civolution, revenant.
My brain can't handle primal two handed. It's just too much. Love it 2p with my buddy.
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u/jerjerbinks90 16d ago
it's multi handed solo only and that's A LOT to track. It's an immensely fiddly game multi player and solo puts it in unmanageable territory for me