Japanese publisher CAPCOM has been on a roll these past few years, releasing multiple excellent titles that have come to be considered among the best entries in their respective series, like Devil May Cry 5, Monster Hunter Rise, and Resident Evil Village. The publisher, however, hasn’t been idle when it comes to new properties, as it has been working on the multiplayer third-person action game Exoprimal for some time.
With the game set for release this Summer, CAPCOM is about to allow players worldwide to try out Exoprimal with an open beta on PC and consoles that features cross-play support and a small portion of the experience, bigger than what was offered last year during the Closed Network Test but still not the entirety of what the game will offer. And, as I spent more time with it, I couldn’t help but feel how its success will greatly rely on how it will be supported after launch.
What Exoprimal seems to get right is the gameplay, although the map design doesn’t feel particularly exciting. The open beta only features a single mode called Dino Survival, a PvE mode with sprinkles of PvP thrown in that pits teams of five players against one another, challenging them to complete a variety of missions before the opponents. These missions, which range from simple dinosaur culling to protecting objectives, are set in moderately intricate maps that don’t seem to influence gameplay too much. In Dino Survival mode, the game itself guides players from one objective to the other, so map design feels pretty much inconsequential, but things may change in the final game with other play modes.
What Exoprimal seems to be lacking in map design, it makes up for when it comes to combat. Unlike similar games, players are not stuck with the Exosuit they pick before a game begins but can change it on the fly at any time. This unique option is well-woven into the experience and doesn’t feel included just for the sake of it, as the different nature of the mission objectives requires some flexibility. In Dino Culling missions, for example, Tank Exosuits like Roadblock are not particularly useful but are almost required for missions that require players to defend an objective.
Truth be told, Exoprimal makes it very easy for players to adapt to any given situation, given how greatly all Exosuits are designed. I did notice this back in the Closed Network Test, but this is way more evident in the Open Beta, as all launch suits are available in this new test version. While they are grouped into three general groups – Assault, Tank, and Support – they couldn’t be more varied. In the Tank group, for example, the aforementioned Roadblock and Murasame couldn’t work more differently. The first is a defense-oriented Exosuit capable of putting up a shield and taunting dinosaurs to make them focus on it. Murasame, on the other hand, is more offense-oriented, featuring katana attacks with great range and a counter ability that can be unleashed after enough damage has been blocked. The same goes for Assault and Support suits, as Assault suits Deadeye and Zephyr, for example, specialize in different areas of combat, ranged and melee, respectively. With so much variety, finding the best suit for one’s own playstyle is rather easy.
With hordes of dinosaurs going after the players, combat obviously feels very chaotic and a little simplistic, much in the vein of Koei Tecmo’s Warriors series. Still, it’s not without depth, especially against bigger dinosaurs like Triceratops and T-Rexes, and it feels fun enough. However, the main question is how long such an experience can stay fun. The open beta did feature a first glance at the progression system, which grants in-game currency, emblems to customize one’s profile as well as combat perks by leveling up both the player and the different Exosuits, but I feel the game, much like any live service game, needs a solid and rewarding progression system to be successful. As we are still a few months away from release, CAPCOM will surely talk more about the matter in the coming weeks, but if things stay as simple as the open beta suggests, I honestly don’t see too many players sticking around in the long run.
With its solid Exosuit, combat design, and decently varied missions, Exoprimal has much potential, but how the game will be supported after launch will make or break it. Live service games have been dying left and right lately, and only a select few continue to thrive, so CAPCOM will really have to bring things up a notch if they want Exoprimal to succeed where others have failed. Thankfully, we won’t have to wait much longer to see if the Japanese publisher will succeed, as the game will release on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Xbox One in a few months, on July 13th. The game will also be available on Xbox Game Pass from day one.
Tested on PC. Open beta early access provided by the publisher.
