PRIM REVIEW - WHEN TIM BURTON MEETS MONKEY ISLAND IN THE AFTERLIFE
Ever wondered what would happen if Tim Burton decided to make a point-and-click adventure game about teenage rebellion in the underworld? Well, PRIM is here to answer that question with more style than a goth their Instagram feed.
DADDY DEATH ISSUES
Meet Prim, your average teenage girl dealing with typical teenage problems: dead mom, absent dad who turns out to be literal Death, and being grounded in the underworld. You know, the usual coming-of-age stuff. It's like "My Super Sweet 16" but with more skeletons and less expensive cars.
BURTON-ESQUE BEAUTY
The game's black and white visuals are prettier than a cemetery at midnight. Every screen looks like it was hand-drawn by someone who really gets the whole "beautifully macabre" aesthetic. The art style sits somewhere between Edward Gorey's darkest dreams and the sketchbook of that one kid in high school who was really into The Nightmare Before Christmas.
POINT, CLICK, AND CRINGE
The gameplay is smoother than a freshly polished tombstone. Two-button interface, logical puzzles, and an inventory system that doesn't make you want to die (again). Though fair warning: Prim's English voice acting is about as subtle as a banshee at a library. The German dub apparently hits different, so maybe Death speaks better German than English.
CARDS OF FATE
There's a card game mini-game that shows up more often than your relatives at a funeral. Some folks love it, others would rather be actually dead than play it again. It's like Top Trumps had a baby with a ouija board - simple once you get it, but might make you want to summon spirits to help you through it.
BEYOND THE GRAVE
The story hits harder than expected, dealing with themes of loss, family, and teenage rebellion with more grace than a ghost doing ballet. It manages to be funny without losing its heart, and emotional without becoming melodramatic. Plus, you get a spider that lives in your eye socket as a pet, which is arguably the coolest thing since sliced bread (even if the bread is slightly moldy).
CONCLUSION
PRIM is like the lovechild of LucasArts classics and a Hot Topic store, in the best possible way. It's a beautifully crafted adventure that proves the point-and-click genre is far from dead - it was just hanging out in the underworld with Death's daughter.
8.8/10 - Like having coffee with Death, but he turns out to be a really awkward dad just trying his best.
We at NLM received a key for this game for free, this however didn't impact our review in any way. Though we might need therapy after playing that card game for the hundredth time.