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Jurassic World Evolution 2 | Review Thread

Bragr

Banned
In the books, Crichton created the raptors to be clearly bigger, more threatening than what they would be. He said he kept the name velociraptor because it sounded nice and created some hybrid monster out of it. It's basically Masrani's vision of things, which also convinced Spielberg for those.

I'd say that Jurassic park has to stay in the realm of the fiction and not be considered as a documentary, because it was never meant to be. Even Horner, wich is head paleontologist consultant on the franchise on the dinosaurs and inspiration for Grant is pushing this weirdness sometimes, while also acting like Dr Wu in his own work (go look at its chickenosaurus project). So some people may want it to be "realistic" (and by this 99% just want fluffy raptors) but it would not be true to the franchise's core, concept and story.

To get back to JW Evolution (as we wandered a bit far from the topic), there was indeed an "outrage" of some fans at the beginning when they released the deinonychus featuring a 1960's look and a crest. I found it brilliant, as it obviously did not look at all like the animal it is supposed to be (just like dilophosaurus) and was shown as a result of DNA combinations. Let Jurassic Park/World creatures be as unique as they are! And if you want to see "scientifically accurate"(yet based on imagination and lots of wild guesses) models, come to a museum where we will show these to you.
So if you had the choice of an accurate Jurassic Park game, and this fantasy monster thing they are doing now, you rather have the fake stuff?

It would be AWSOME to have a legit dinosaur game where people could learn useful theory, that's so much more fun IMO. Sort of how it was with Assassins Creed early on, where you learned about ancient buildings and stuff.
 

Crocwrangler

Neo Member
So if you had the choice of an accurate Jurassic Park game, and this fantasy monster thing they are doing now, you rather have the fake stuff?

It would be AWSOME to have a legit dinosaur game where people could learn useful theory, that's so much more fun IMO. Sort of how it was with Assassins Creed early on, where you learned about ancient buildings and stuff.
If you play Jurassic World evolution, you've got pages of actual data on dinosaurs, digsites, paleontology and such. They even specify the weird body parts linked to the movie and explain it with the story's logic and that's just for like 5 dinos on 76. These are true scientific facts that can make you think about the creatures and their real ecosystems, while artist rendition will always vary.

If you want a "legit" dinosaur game, go play Prehistoric Kingdom. It's basically Jurassic world Evolution with paleocene mammals. It even has Nigel Marven has a narrator (what a feat!). It's a really good game too and i enjoy playing it as it develops. But to answer you, yes i'd go for a "fake stuff" because i want a Jurassic Park game. One that embodies the concept, and not just what a part of the fanbase want.
 

Vick

Member
Yes, but I mean Jurassic World made people think about this sort of stuff, in the 90s there was an illusion it was real, that illusion is broken, so you have to do something else to make it feel real. And that something else, is making it more authentic.
I get what you mean. But those dinosaurs were still more accurate than any other depiction of the time.. excluding Raptors and Dilophosaurus.

The winning idea was to make them look like real animals, believable creatures. The fact they looked so insanely damn good also helped quite a bit:




But they were never perfect. They were sick, got cold, the movie clearly implied they were hybrids not suitable for life million years later.
So the illusion is still intact for me.
 

Kimahri

Banned
This is kind of a weird discussion. There is no denying the positive impact Jurassic Park had on the public perception on dinosaurs. I remember dinosaur books before and after jurassic park very clearly. I still have them. Jurassic Park completely changed the look and posture of dinosaurs, and it brought the idea of dinosaurs as birds to the masses. Sure, feathers were there, but pretty much only for archaeoptryx. I just did a flip through my old books, and that's the only mention of it.

JP took giant liberties, sure, but the essence was a good one. It was speculative, for sure, with animals like Dilophosaurus, but there's a difference in speculative science and and the regressive nonsense we see in JW.

In JP raptors were birdlike, in JW they rolled back on that and scaled up their skin and went away from the leathery skin.

Stegosaurus got it's droopy tail back in JW and got lips instead of a beak. There is tons of dumb shit in JW designs that are not speculative, just completely wrong. And they know it is wrong. They still did it.

If designs had been good, then ok, but they're not. Every single animal that got a redesign for JW looks worse. Just look at the parasaurolophus. It used to look like a plausible living animal, now it looks like a Disney character.

The JP movies had a completely different mentality behind them, and it shows.
 

lukilladog

Member
Palaeontologists knew about feathers when the first JP came out but the public would have revolted if they made a movie about giant birds. They made their dinosaurs look like what the general public thought dinosaurs looked like.

Despite the feathers information being around now for decades, the media still doesn't depict dinosaurs based on science because it's kinda boring compared to what's ingrained in our heads.

The movie artists based their work on the depictions of other artists that were serious about it, I´m not sure whether there was a concensus on the feathers and other bird similarities back then. And while media can do whatever they want, I prefer my science fiction to keep up with the pace of actual science.
 

whyman

Member
So if you had the choice of an accurate Jurassic Park game, and this fantasy monster thing they are doing now, you rather have the fake stuff?

It would be AWSOME to have a legit dinosaur game where people could learn useful theory, that's so much more fun IMO. Sort of how it was with Assassins Creed early on, where you learned about ancient buildings and stuff.
It will be here soon enough.

 

lukilladog

Member
People need to stop thinking that dinosaurs were fluffly. A small number of dinosaurs had feathers. Mostly late theropods.

Imagining all dinosaurs having feathers is not only contradicting knowledge on their phylogeny, but also on evolution of the whole group itself, including their modern day parents. People like Lukilladog complaining about the fact that franchise isn't depicting dinosaurs accurately (which, as explained before, makes no sense) would only be able to complain about the velociraptors' look. Jurassic Park got famous for its amazing special effets and puppets that made millions of people fell in love with dinosaurs, myself included (even chose my career out of it). Yet everyone was knwoing what they were doing when they conceived the raptors, dilophosaurs and all the rest as shown in the movie.

More like a small number of the dinosaurs we know are confirmed to have had feathers. And I should have used the word realistically instead of accurately, and as I have explained before, the movie artists based their work on the depictions of artists that were serious about it. Holding to the mistakes made in the past ruins the whole thing.
 

Crocwrangler

Neo Member
It will be here soon enough.

Like i said earlier, go try it already if you can. It's really nice and playable so far. Had one major bug with stairs once but it was the only time.

As for feathers, lukilladog, phylogeny of the different groups of dinosaurs clearly limits the possibility of feathers as being a thing for dinosaurs outside of Theropods. And by feathers, most would be quill like appendages or phaneras like the ones you'd find in the JP3 raptors. Proper feathers, and dense cover like the one of a cassowary for example if we're reffering to specific feather types, are not considered for many theropods until early cretaceous, with even some late jurassic dominant genus being covered with scales on the belly, neck and back from what fossils shows. I guess people can try imagine sauropods or ankylosaurids with feathers but that's proper science fiction.

In the end, there will always be a sterile debate around that specific topic, because that's the story of a big franchise. At some point, its creators don't possess it anymore. If Michael Crichton was still around, he'd vouch for scaly raptors and weird dilos alongside more realistic species like he depicted them in the books. Horner does the same today (he's behind the idea of the JWFK baryonyx that, to be honest, i'm not a fan of) and lots of fans will shout at him telling he's wrong. He knows, guys. That's his work. He's Alan Grant. He just enjoys it that way. And so do many people too. These two groups just need to find an occasion to coexist. That may be perilous, painful but uh... what i say is that life always finds a wqy.
 

Crocwrangler

Neo Member
Oh and by the way, if you're playing seriously, do NOT attempt to jump a ranger car in the lagoon area. Would give you a trophy/achievement not meant for it, but also a good old bug.
 

Kimahri

Banned
I actually enjoy this far less than the original. I get they want deeper systems and stuff, but I feel like I spend all my time in menu's trying to research shit and getting enough money to do anything at all, and barely any time on actually making an enjoyable park.

I'm not having any fun at all. It's just very, very boring.

I'm incredibly disappointed.

So many things are worse this time arounf. Management is far more confusing and it's really hard to find out what's wrong sometimes.

Also, fuck storms. They've fucked me over too many times now. Finally get shit on track? Have a storm to bankrupt your sorry ass.

Pleade Universal, give this license to someone else.
 

Vick

Member
I actually enjoy this far less than the original. I get they want deeper systems and stuff, but I feel like I spend all my time in menu's trying to research shit and getting enough money to do anything at all, and barely any time on actually making an enjoyable park.

I'm not having any fun at all. It's just very, very boring.
Thought the same after that joke of a Campaign, but i'm now on Chaos Theory 1993 Nublar and, once unlocked the Rex and some extremely useful things in particular, i'm enjoying the crap out of it. Can't stop playing now.

Still, hope they'll add and improve many things which i'm missing from the first one.
 

Kimahri

Banned
Thought the same after that joke of a Campaign, but i'm now on Chaos Theory 1993 Nublar and, once unlocked the Rex and some extremely useful things in particular, i'm enjoying the crap out of it. Can't stop playing now.

Still, hope they'll add and improve many things which i'm missing from the first one.
Well I just discoveref I'm not allowed to hatch the trex since my scientists aren3strong enough in welfare, so now I have to fire some and hire new ones.

Also, my raptors keep dying of starvation because they don't like to eat for some reason.

I'm really struggling to find anything good about this game. The first one wad simplistic, but at least I enjoyed it.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
Well I just discoveref I'm not allowed to hatch the trex since my scientists aren3strong enough in welfare, so now I have to fire some and hire new ones.

Also, my raptors keep dying of starvation because they don't like to eat for some reason.

I'm really struggling to find anything good about this game. The first one wad simplistic, but at least I enjoyed it.

You can research something in one of the 1000 menu screens that allows you to build an additional staff center which in turn lets you hire two additional scientists.

You're gonne need more scientists for more higher-tier research.

It's an absolutely TERRIBLE mechanic, but that's how it works.
 

Kimahri

Banned
You can research something in one of the 1000 menu screens that allows you to build an additional staff center which in turn lets you hire two additional scientists.

You're gonne need more scientists for more higher-tier research.

It's an absolutely TERRIBLE mechanic, but that's how it works.
Yeah, I figured it out. The menus in this game is just full of shit and none of it does any attempt at telling you what you need to know.

IT's been a while since I played a game that did a worse job at explaining its mechanics.

Also, I hate the scientist stuff. It just slows everything down so much. Everything just takes that extra additional step and I am SO bored.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
The scientists
Yeah, I figured it out. The menus in this game is just full of shit and none of it does any attempt at telling you what you need to know.

IT's been a while since I played a game that did a worse job at explaining its mechanics.

Also, I hate the scientist stuff. It just slows everything down so much. Everything just takes that extra additional step and I am SO bored.

The scientists are legit the worst game mechanic I have ever seen in a management sim. EVER. It is so ultra bad I honestly don't understand what the hell they were thinking.

This game sucks, straight up. It's outrageous they're asking 60 bucks for this.
 

Kimahri

Banned
The scientists


The scientists are legit the worst game mechanic I have ever seen in a management sim. EVER. It is so ultra bad I honestly don't understand what the hell they were thinking.

This game sucks, straight up. It's outrageous they're asking 60 bucks for this.
I'm so glad I'm not the only one. Reading reviews or watching youtubers you go in blind as to how horrible it is.
 

Bragr

Banned
I like it, the scientists gets very old, it requires too much micromanagement, but i like that you dont need all the feeders, and i like the new dinos and the expanded customization options. The campaign was extremely weak though.
 

Lognor

Banned
Wait, this game is actually good? Shit. I might need to look into this one. Is this a complicated game or could my 6 year old play it and have fun?
 

Vick

Member
You can research something in one of the 1000 menu screens that allows you to build an additional staff center which in turn lets you hire two additional scientists.

You're gonne need more scientists for more higher-tier research.

It's an absolutely TERRIBLE mechanic, but that's how it works.
I'm at 4 and half stars in Jurassic Park and unlocked 90% of everything with just one Staff Center, however in order to do so i had to train my scientists.

This game sucks, straight up. It's outrageous they're asking 60 bucks for this.
Well, it's better than the first one at launch.

Is this a complicated game or could my 6 year old play it and have fun?
It's super complicated and quite challenging, outside of the Campaign which is actually a Tutorial.
I'd go with the first one if i were you.
 

Bragr

Banned
Now that I have played it more I have to agree with what some of you are saying.

I spend too much time waiting for scientists to do anything, it's starting to drive me nuts. They should have given you 30 scientists, not 8. For every action you perform, you have to wait 30 seconds for them to complete it.

Especially the digging for bones and unearthing the fossils are extremely slow.
 

Vick

Member
Opposite here, the more i play, the more i understand the mechanics, the more i absolutely love it.
Game is super deep, and the sense of progression and accomplishment can be quite incredible.

Especially the digging for bones and unearthing the fossils are extremely slow.
Once you find a winning group of scientists (with their unique characteristics), you feel unstoppable.
On both JP and TLW Chaos i had one with faster digging and one with faster extraction, and it makes all the difference in the world.

Just loving this massive title.. 50 hours in, and haven't even seen the bulk of the game yet (Jurassic World era).
 

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


Jurassic World Evolution 2 reviewed by Leana Hafer on PC. Also available on Xbox and PlayStation.

While I can't quite endorse Jurassic World Evolution 2 as a robust park management sim, the area where it puts its main focus - the dinosaurs! - is engaging. Being able to hop into a tour looping around the raptor enclosure or taking direct control of a ranger team rushing to stop a catastrophic escape attempt during a raging storm creates a lot of the exact, awesome moments I want out of a modern Jurassic Park game. Especially compared to its frustratingly shallow predecessor, Jurassic World Evolution 2, uh, found a way.
 
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Vick

Member
Absolutely in love with it, 100% completed all Chaos Theory and currently on Canada Challenge Mode, on Hard. Challenge Mode truly is the real Campaign this time around, but it's damn brutal on higher difficulties.
Brutal, but makes you appreciate how super deep the game is and how it demands your constant attention and quite an awful lot of planning/thinking every single minute, otherwise it's game over in no time.

In short, definitely not a game i can see IGN review properly.. at all.
 
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