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Whatever, I'll say it: Its dinosaur Planet Zoo. At least, it has all the promise to be that and the dev team has shown enough care and dedication that I believe they can get it there. Just needs more assets, bug fixes, god willing workshop support.***
And of course there's the other brontosaurus in the room, its main competition. To me Jurassic World is just a vessel for the IP and at a certain point just feels like throwing down the same assets in different order without any real way to build your own unique park and buildings that feels cozy and your own. They aren't dinosaurs that live their silly little lives and love to play they are Jurassic Park(tm) dinosaurs. You don't build your own park, you're building Jurassic Park(tm) and Jurassic Park(tm) facilities. And unlike Prehistoric Kingdom, it has a set "triple A game" shelf life where support will end in the near future while Prehistoric Kingdom will keep on evolving and growing.
I love the core gameplay here. I love the customization. I love that the dinosaurs feel like authentic, fun little creatures. I was personally willing to pay on release to try it in early access. I really feel positive about the direction of development, and have healthy expectations in purchasing this early access title. If you think the price is a bit steep for something so early in development, at least consider getting it on sale. I think if you've been looking for an authentic dinosaur park builder and not a Jurassic Park(tm) product, you'll really enjoy it.
***EDIT: As of August 2022, the developers are releasing workshop support in this next month's major update.
This will let people export their user-made prefab structures just like Planet Zoo while maintain the ability to edit and tweak prefabs however you like, or even export entire park set-ups. Hard to overstate how reassuring this step is, significantly reducing the barrier to entry to learn the game and build a unique and fun park on your own. Also, they added new dinosaurs and new playing animations for existing animals. THE DINOSAURS. PLAY. TOGETHER. MORE. 10/10, no notes.
EDIT 2, Sept. 2022:
So. Funny thing. Workshop access DID get added quietly. Immediately, workshop support has taken this from a "shows a lot of promise, give it a try" to "I genuinely love this project and can't wait to see its new content." And get this. Naturally, some of the more creative members of the community actually recreated their own copies of buildings in Jurassic Park Evolution 2, as well as some from the original Operation Genesis on the way. So if you feel like maybe you're missing out on that Jurassic Park feel after all you can totally build a park to fit that aesthetic. Pretty neat, if I say so myself!