the visual novel database

Report an issue on this page.

Review of PRIMAL×HEARTS

SubjectPRIMAL×HEARTS
Primal x Hearts - Loli Uncensor Patch
ByHelpfulness: 0
Vote: 5
jaztenchi on 2021-08-11
ReviewSo, Where to start...? Let's Start with something surface level.

CG/BG/Sprites:
Are Honestly Very Great. Top Quality too be honest. It is very apparent there was a lot of care placed into this game. Like how characters expression will change as they talk in game to show changes in emotion instead of one still pose. Or the walking scenes where you're side by side with character walking and talking, meant to invoke closeness and get you attached to that certain girl. The Chibi scenes are especially endearing.
Backgrounds are Very Distinct (The Headquarters for these characters are particularly eye catching)

The only thing really hampering all of this is the framerate. Sometimes certain scenes tend to stutter when some of these elements clash together (Walking Scenes+ Cherry Blossom effect being the most noteable.

Music:
Its pretty nice, but really nothing to write home about except for maybe 2 or 3 tracks. That's honestly better than a lot of VNs are doing now a days... Maybe its just because I've played so many VNs that its easy for me to be able to tell usually which ones are trying to play it safe and which ones are trying to actually do something different. This VN puts itself a bit into the later category because of how it tries to use its instruments in unique ways. Stills feel tame though

System/Gameplay:
As Mentioned before in "CG/BG/Sprites" sometimes the game will try to do too much and start stuttering, but can easily be fixed by lowering certain settings, Kinda a hit to players wanting to experience this game to its Fullest. (BTW I Ran This On 3 Different Laptops/ 1 Gaming PC) of course it ran the smoothest on the gaming PC but still had occasional hiccups. The 1st Laptop was a Mini Carry around laptop. at Worst it had a noticeable slowdown and things grinded a bit during the more demanding parts until bumped too low. The other two Laptops which are Gaming laptops at worse had rare moments of slowdown on Walking Scenes and Chibi CG popping in, but pretty much ran just as smooth as the Gaming PC.

All That aside this game has a lot of nice ideas beside your standard Save/Load/QS/QL/Log. They have a rather interesting "Quick Menu" which I've seen only a few others VNs try to implement to Different Degrees, The ability to adjust volume on certain characters volumes and change font colors for them, and a "Panic Mode" which is also pretty cool. Most of this ruined though kind of by how janky the game runs/performs leading me to chalk it all up to Poor Optimization on the coders part...

Story/Writing/Characters:
The Story Overall to me is Solid. Kinda threw me for a loop how they implemented the plot. With how the Protag tries to bring them together at first. I really digged it. A lot of the Jokes are pretty Solid too. There are a lot more hits than misses with in this VN when it comes to that. This is also Probably the most interesting cast of characters ive ran it to in a while. Its one of those VNs that understand when it need to take itself seriously (but not too seriously) and when it shouldn't. I'm honestly impressed. All of this is sounding good right? Well unfortunately this also how the VN brings about its own downfall.

The Common Route is Faaaaaaarrrrr Too Long. Saving Little for those who like to be surprised by characters they have grown interested in. I realize they're counting on you to become so attached too a character that it doesn't matter if there are no surprises at the end of it all, but more times than not people like the surprise first.

Speaking of characters. The VN shoots itself in the foot by only limiting itself to four girls when there are also two other girls that they've done too good of a job of fleshing out and defining... (The Teacher and Bichi.)

Combining this with what I've just said. Chances are these two characters will be much more interesting to you since they are not allowed and given just about the same amount of time as the other four when it comes to characterization... Basically they've done too well of a job at writing lol.

Also probably the most harshest critique of the game I can give is that
Absolutely None Of Your Choices matter except for 1 when you are presented with a choice of which 4 you'd like...

This could've been a really overall great game if it wasn't for that fatal flaw. This is a VN afterall.. Choices should be extremely important in this kind of a game.... really I'm disappointed.

I would recommend this game too newbies though that want more or people that don't exactly care about choices.

i give this VN a 5.7 / 10, Y'all stay Jazzy now = w=/
0 points
#1 by forever-here
2021-08-11 at 09:56
< report >
(The Teacher and Bichi.)

the teacher is literally made to be a laughingstock. there's no fleshing out with her lol. bichi is debatable imo. you don't announce that you're a bitch as a "joke" or "lie" or whatever but then suddenly back out and say you're actually pure. that's like me saying I'm a pedo but really I'm an old hag lover. it doesn't work like that.

and speaking of jokes, there's that one skit of him with Gomyo at the end of Yuzuki common route that cannot be easily ignored. they are definitely implying that Yuzuki's dad will not accept the mc as her boyfriend if they ever became an item. you don't simply joke that and still make her a romance option. there are more things that I just cannot take the vn seriously and I wanna say that's the main reason I subconsciously alt-tab a lot, which is a horrible sign that this VN should be lower than 5.Last modified on 2021-08-11 at 10:04
#2 by usagi
2021-08-11 at 15:28
< report >
his could've been a really overall great game if it wasn't for that fatal flaw. This is a VN afterall.. Choices should be extremely important in this kind of a game.... really I'm disappointed.

I would recommend this game too newbies though that want more or people that don't exactly care about choices.

There are lot of people who don't care about choices (else Ryuukishi novels wouldn't be considered masterpieces) - and it's absolutely not sign of being newbie or not. Moreover, the only choice moege lovers need is choosing a heroine to date - that's why they read moeges in first place. And if choices are that important to you - I would recommend to switch on interactive books such as The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante or raising simulations. Choces is not what defines a VN genre - they are just not needed in majority of vns and are just there for cosmetic purposes.Last modified on 2021-08-11 at 15:33
#3 by kuretsu
2021-08-11 at 23:57
< report >The lack of options in the common route made me skip almost all of Yuzuki things because i couldnt be engaged in her for whatever reason, so i understand the point in the lack of options. If i had the option to go to the other Student council instead of Gekka, i would have choose it without a doubt.
#4 by jaztenchi
2021-08-12 at 04:39
< report >@usagi probably should have specified that choices are really important to VNs that involve multiple characters to pick from but its not like I was saying there are VNs that don't work without choices (albeit those VNs are usually outliers) it just wasnt relevant to bring those kinds up because this is clearly a "choose blank blank blank or blank" kinda VN so of course choices are important in this.

I can give you that much.

I dont get what youre referencing when you say "newbie or not." Thanks for your thoughts though this is just overall how i felt about the game
#5 by jaztenchi
2021-08-12 at 04:42
< report >@kuretsu Yoooo I completely get what you meant, also it kinda made me think I was on a route i wasnt aiming for too since that section was so focused on her. I was like "what choice did I pick wrong!? and ended up restarting the game like twice because of it until i saw the fabled "Select a Girl" section and everything in me deflated... lol
#6 by jaztenchi
2021-08-12 at 04:52
< report >@forever-here The ONLY reason why its not below a 5 is because ive read worst and know worse lol and also because there was clearly effort and care put into it. there are things in this game id love to see other VNs do. Specifically in the Systems Section and the writing isnt really bad at all. its def engaging for me to read at some points.

now onto Bichi and the Teacher. honestly i didnt care if they were joke characters or not Id still would just like the option especially since they interact with you just as heavily as the four girls youre allowed to choose from. dont tease me is what im saying. lol the game def felt to me like there would atleast be more than 4 choice. i just like how MC and Teacher interacted in their gags and really wanted to see them f*** lol