Exoprimal Is No Dino Crisis, But I’ll Take It

Exoprimal is the new multiplayer third-person shooter IP from Capcom. With many hits under its belt and a focus on reviving classics, it’s been a long time since the developer put forward a new IP. The game’s concept of a sci-fi world and mechas banding together to battle hordes of dinosaurs was interesting; thus, everyone awaited it with anticipation. 

When the game was first teased, fans drew comparisons to Capcom’s classic Dino Crisis franchise; one fans have been demanding a revival of for quite some time. Seeing the new game sparked hope but was ill-founded as the game is pretty different. Although it is indeed an enjoyable experience, the bias of it not being Dino Crisis would be hard to get rid of.

Exoprimal Is Quite Weird But Over-The-Top Fun

I’ll be honest, Exoprimal is a weird game, even more than you would expect at first, and it’s all intentional. The concept of a futuristic sci-fi setting mixed with prehistoric dinosaurs felt like a crazy twist, but wait till you see how it is carried out in the story. Despite being a multiplayer-only game, it has a convoluted lore going on that is slowly revealed to you as you complete a set number of matches.

The gist of the story is the world went through mass destruction at the hands of dinosaurs that just started raining from the sky. To combat this, mechas called exosuits were developed for exofighters. The player is a said exofighter and travels through a time-bending portal and arrives on Bikitoa Island with some companions. It is sort of a post-apocalyptic setting where they are greeted by an AI Leviathan.

The AI sends you through portals into an alternate reality back when the dinosaurs assaulted the world. In a nutshell, an AI with unknown intentions sends you floating through time and have you fight hordes of dinosaurs for amusement and watch you compete with other alternate realities. On top of that, you have dinosaurs just pouring out of the sky. Weird is an understatement for this premise.

Alongside the straight-up crazy setting comes crazy fun gameplay. Battling hordes of dinosaurs has never felt more satisfying. Similar to other hero shooters like Overwatch and Team Fortress 2, Exoprimal features distinct character roles in the form of exosuits. You can be a tank and aggro enemies to defend your party, wreak absolute havoc as a DPS or maintain the flow of battle as a support role.

Not gonna lie, wasn’t expecting much but..this game kinda rocks?
by u/ShovelFace117 in exoprimal

Although only 10 suits are available right now, they possess unique gameplay and also feel fairly balanced and equally fun to play with no significant meta feeling for a select role. Tanks have their shields, DPS have both melee and ranged options, and Supports can hover around and heal allies or sabotage enemies in an AOE. It also has extensive customization options. The game did a good job balancing its units.

Exoprimal has a single “Dino Survival” mode so far and plays out as a PvEvP. You form a team with friends or randoms to battle enormous numbers of creatively designed dinosaurs while completing certain objectives to progress. Simultaneously, a second team is doing the same and it’s a race of sorts. It serves as a setup for the final combined PvPvE scenario, and the initial progress can facilitate this encounter.

In an age where live service games have become a target of criticism due to their predatory mechanics and lack of content, I was quite skeptical about Exoprimal, but it turned out to be quite better than I expected. A hilarious setting, watching dinosaurs rain, excellent adrenaline-fueled combat with flashy abilities, fun-to-use characters, and an ingenious mix of elements. It can be a good long-running adventure if properly supported.

This game has potential…
by u/Stormtron49 in exoprimal

Capcom Still Has A Lot To Do 

I’ll admit Exoprimal is loads of fun with friends and is a game worth going into, but that doesn’t mean it’s free of flaws; it has quite a few of them that can be problematic down the road. When the game was showcased, it felt a lot similar to Anthem. Although the game ended up being quite different, it shouldn’t repeat the mistake others before it did and ended up suffering.

After playing #Exoprimal for some hours:

I had fun, but it does have some big issues that I fear, will make a lot of people drop the game after a few games, and to be honest… You cannot blame them.

Let me explain the reasons. pic.twitter.com/PXQzOiq7wn

— Shincry Hitless Hunter (@Shincry) July 15, 2023

The foremost thing to mention is the integral problem that plagues long-running games; lack of content. So far, Exoprimal only has a single game mode, a select few maps, and enemy types. Although the gameplay is creative with a unique take on progression, playing the same thing over and over starts to feel repetitive and boring regardless of how good it is.

Capcom has unveiled a roadmap that looks quite suitable and it promises continued support and content for the game, which is a good sign, but whether it’ll stay fresh, consistent, and appeal to the fans remains to be seen. Speaking of appeal, the next problem is pricing. Since it is a live-service game, battle pass, and microtransactions are a given, but the initial $60 price tag seems like a tall order.

$60 Entry fee worrying to anyone else?
by u/o___Okami in exoprimal

For a multiplayer game that will have plenty of income sources in the long run, the initial pricing is a turn-off for many fans. And because of this, Gamepass became a blessing for this game as it’s the perfect entry to benefit from it. Moving on to some other balancing issues, it seems the game’s weirdness of concept has seeped into the gameplay to some extent too.

The problem of variety and distinctness is quite evident. You quickly burn through the limited enemy types available. Soon, their moves, behavior, and placement are committed to memory, and other than the fun moves and flashy combat, your thrill of challenge slowly fades away when playing PvE. In addition, Exoprimal has an awkward matchmaking system.

The game lacks any concrete skill-based matchmaking for now. Some players play just to annihilate dinosaurs, and then some play to annihilate players. You wouldn’t wanna be crushed in a one-sided assault against more experienced and competitive people. More suitable matchmaking would truly benefit the different kinds of gamers. This brings us to the next problem of choice of game type.

You cannot select the nature of the last stage, whether it puts you directly against the enemy team, or has you competing for objectives indirectly. A choice would give players a lot more freedom and flexibility. Overall, I think the game holds considerable potential and is super fun to play, but the repetitiveness quickly kicks in and Capcom needs to make sure the game stays fresh and well-fed with content.

Dino Crisis’ Revival Is Long Overdue

Capcom and dinosaurs go way back. After the legendary Resident Evil, the industry giant started experimenting with different concepts, one of which was mixing Resident Evil’s survival horror feel with the crazy thrill of Jurassic Park. This was the start of Dino Crisis, an exceptional series that depicted dinosaurs pretty realistically for its era.

The game featured glorious 3D real-time environments rather than the pre-rendered one of its inspiration. In addition to the excellent design, the dinosaurs’ behavior and sounds depicted a solid feeling of dread. Your prehistoric foes featured a surprisingly impressive AI that adapted to your actions, fueling the excitement and horror and the game brought many ingenious mechanics like visible signs and health loss of bleeding injuries.

Ingenious gameplay mechanics, scary dinosaurs that were also clever and crafty, a meaningful story to keep you hooked, and a time-bending twist in the sequel. Imagine all of this recreated in Capcom’s RE Engine. Survival horror’s return creates the perfect opportunity. Dino Crisis 3 did take the series downhill, but that is no reason to despair as the first two games are perfectly fit to be revived, and a remake can fix the third, too.

I want a Dino Crisis remake in the RE engine so bad.
by u/zhinotakux in gaming

I’ve strongly stressed this point countless times that Dino Crisis deserves a resurgence, and I’m not alone in this demand. Fans have missed no opportunity to voice this desire. It’s because Capcom did such an excellent job with its remakes, we’re sure Dino Crisis would receive the same glow-up. Had it been poor remakes, no one would have wanted their favorite classics to be ruined.

Let’s be honest, we all were disappointed when Exoprimal turned out to be unrelated to Dino Crisis. It is a fun game full of potential no doubt, but it’s no Dino Crisis, something we’ve long awaited. Although Exoprimal should continue to receive content and updates to appeal to its fanbase, it shouldn’t be Dino Crisis’ replacement and the classic deserves to see the light of day once again.