Epsilon Games’ Destination Primus Vita Episode One: Austin is a Promising Adventure

By: GeekyGamerGirl87

https://youtu.be/TABUvBx_MGs

Developed by Epsilon Games and published by Green Man Gaming Publishing, Destination Primus Vita Episode One: Austin, is the first episode of a six-part episodic Sci-fi adventure exploration puzzle game. When I first looked at the trailer for the game, I was drawn in by the characters and the play of the game. I love puzzle games and lately I have been really into the sci-fi genre. This made my decision to cover the game a lot easier. The game is completely mesmerizing and gives a great challenge. However. before I begin my review; I would like to say thank you to both Epsilon Games and Green Man Gaming Publishing for providing me with a free copy of the game to play.

The backstory of the game sounds straight like something from a sci-fi film, and that’s what drew me into the game even more. The story goes that in the year 2353. The Shatters (an alien race) stole most of Earth’s water which almost ended humans. Fast Forward to almost seven centuries later – or for those of you like me who may want to be more technical it would be 691 years later— In the year 3044, the humans have selected a six-person crew to recover the stolen water from The Shatters on Primus Vita. The lucky crew – also known as crew 121 – will have to be put into a cryo-sleep for four years just to get to Primus Vita, but don’t worry they will be monitor by NIM, an AI who has been put in charge of not only making sure the crew stays alive while sleeping, but will get them mentally prepared for the voyage by running simulations for each of the crew members.

There are six crew members in total and each crew member will be getting their own episode. The crew members are: Austin – a renowned scientist and older sister to Coby. Coby – The Lieutenant of the crew and the younger brother of Austin. Hayao – A very eccentric and peaceful scientist. Artemis – A soldier who appears to have a big personality, and childhood friend of Austin and Coby. BrX – who is the designated muscles for the team. Then there is Geny – Who will be handling all your communication needs. In this episode you will be playing as Austin.

I will admit, when I first started the episode, I was a little annoyed with Austin; which is a good thing. For me, if I can’t feel some type of emotion towards the character it makes me less likely to like the game. So, the way that Austin talks in a bit of a condescending tone drove me bonkers. I found myself –like with most of the games I play—talking at the character like, “What is your problem?” However, as the game progresses, you start to see why Austin is the way that she is, and it made me say, “I don’t like your condescending tone of voice, but I get why you are the way you are.” So, not only did the puzzles in the game pull me into the game, but the developers did a great job of grabbing my attention with the character’s personalities.

Although, I am captivated by the personality of the characters, I will admit there was an issue I also had with the characters. The one issue I had with the characters, is during the talking scenes where you encounter just the character; it could be used a little bit as nightmare fuel. The reasoning is they don’t seem to be natural looking or at times come off as emotionless when it comes to the facial expressions. Like when the character was angry the eyes didn’t really change much, so I will admit I was a little creeped out by it and at times amused. It’s a little rough but again because the story is so well written, and the art style is just gorgeous to me, it wasn’t a deal breaker to stop me from playing the game.  Although, I hope that in future episodes this is corrected, and the characters get more of a natural feel to them in terms of expressing their emotions. Although, I also did chalk this up as them being apart of a crew going into a dangerous situation, so they were trying not to let their emotion show. I supposed it can be left up to interpretation at this point.

As stated before, this is an exploration puzzle game and I absolutely love that the game really makes you explore the level. You will have to explore the level to find clues, G.I. badges and sometimes to talk to other crew members. Finding these clues help you to solve the puzzles that you will encounter. At first, when I started the game the first puzzle was a little simple, and in my head; I immediately said to myself “Oh well, I guess that these are going to be easy puzzles.” I will let you know now that the puzzles, are not easy and in fact they pick up in terms of difficulty. I think because the game has you searching for the clues to the puzzles as well as finding collectibles, it really makes you explore every nook and cranny and I can’t stress how much I love that.

I really enjoy that the game challenges you and makes you think, and if you can’t figure it out completely, the game will also indirectly give you hints to solve the puzzles. This is done by seeking out your crew members. Some of the crew members will give you a vague clue or a clue within a clue so to speak. Other crew members will straight out give you the solution. It should be noted that this isn’t on all the puzzles. It’s like the developers  were saying, “Why Yes, we know the puzzle is a little difficult. However, we still want you to figure it out all by yourself.” And then other times the developers were saying “We’re not offering you any type of a hint but the clues you’ve been given. You’ll have to figure this one out on your own.” However, this has made me appreciate the game even more.

The game also at times will offer quick time scenes. I’m not going to lie, I really thought the game could have did without the quick time scenes. Yes, it adds a little something extra to the game, but it just felt a little awkward and strange to me at the same time. The scenes are usually not all that long –I think the longest I did might have been six buttons—and they’re not exactly quick. They are more so slow motion and you hit the corresponding button or key. It gives you more than enough time to respond to the situation. Therefore, I did feel the game could have done without them.

In the turns of controls, you can use either keyboard/mouse or gamepad. For me, I personally chose to play with the keyboard/mouse. Everyone has their preference when it comes to gaming, and for me the keyboard/mouse is usually my go to for these types of games. There was that; and the fact that the game showed me keyboard and mouse controls, which left me to believe that this was the only set of controls. As stated you can play with the gamepad as well, however to see the gamepad control scheme you will have to access it in the menu screen.

Therefore, I would have like to have a toggle system added, so if you hit a button on the gamepad, or press a key on the keyboard the controls would show up accordingly. I would have even been okay if they showed both sets of controls in the beginning. When I did play the game with the gamepad, I had difficulty interacting with objects, which made me switch back to keyboard and mouse.  Also, another thing I wanted to point out is when it comes to running. It says to press the Shift key to run. I think they should have explain that it is a toggle action. You only need to hit shift key once to turn on the running and again to turn it off. You don’t have to hold it down to run.

For those of you who suffer from motion sickness when it comes to gaming. Please play this game with caution. There are options to adjust certain motions in the game, but it could also make you a bit queasy. I know this because I have motion sickness when it comes to gaming. I usually use motion sickness bands and that helps me. So however, you combat your motion sickness you may want to do that before playing the game.

The first episode only has eight achievements that you can collect. Of course, as this is an episodic game, the achievements will do one of two things. They will either increase as the other episodes release or the eight achievements you see for episode one will carry throughout the entire game. I am hoping more achievements might be added, but if not, I am totally okay with just the eight.  When it come to trading cards, there are not any yet. This is an episodic game and I suspect that if it does well, the developers may consider adding trading cards when the game is towards releasing the last episode, if not when the last episode releases. Again, this is not a confirmed thing; more just a speculation of what could occur in terms when it comes to the trading cards. I have seen games in the past release trading cards months after the game has been released. Then there is the chance that trading cards will never be added, so if you are a trading card collector and want to see the option, I will suggest letting the developers know.

Overall, Destination Primus Vita Episode One: Austin is a fantastic game even with the minor issues I saw with it. I am really looking forward to continuing the story of Crew 121. I know this is an awkward time to mention this, but I notice they are Crew 121, and it brought up another question that I hope gets answer. Where there 120 crews before them or are they just simply called Crew 121. I notice that Destination Primus Vita Episode One: Austin also has a deluxe bundle which you can purchase here Destination Primus Vita Episode One: Austin Deluxe Edition which includes the soundtrack and two comic books for the price of $13.99 USD. I wonder if the question is answer in the comic books, because I am all about back story and I want to know if there were others before them. However, if you would like to play Destination Primus Vita Episode One: Austin but not interested in the extras ; you can still do so by purchasing the game on Steam or GreenManGaming  for the price of $7.99 USD.

For those of you who are interested in a gameplay video. I have included a gameplay video below for your viewing pleasure. There is no voiceover in the gameplay video because, I have written an in depth review of the game.