Primal Survivors is not exactly a copy of Vampire Survivors like so many games try and be, but does have much in common. This time around, the game is a twin stick shooter, although you do have the option to autoshoot. Choosing that option though will take away your ability to aim and so it is a major tradeoff and will affect your play style throughout the experience. It may be that you will find it worthwhile to switch between the options though, because experimenting may lead you to finding out you enjoy the game better a different way.
As with all Vampire Survivors inspired games, the screen scrolls endlessly in all directions, while you can find powerups along the way, before you fight a boss. Boss fights will lock the screen in place, including the hazards, and you will be able to unlock a new upgrade once you defeat said boss. The boss fights are an enjoyable part of the game, and in higher difficulties, there will be ore phases and life bars to deal with.
One thing that Primal Survivors does well is give you multiple upgrade paths to create a build that works for you. The elemental abilities can be upgraded multiple times, while you can also experiment with weapons as well. It can take time to find your build for each run, but it is satisfying when you do.
Primal Survivors has five skill trees to upgrade, which is done by collecting bones. These are also used to get additional spirit animals and unlock the Cursed Survivor mode. The latter sounds impressive but is a lackluster hard mode that does not offer much besides a psychedelic filter that is more of an annoyance that just gets in the way. To be honest, when it comes to additional content, Primal Survivors has a lot less than would normally happen for such a game which is disappointing.
