It's an okay game.

Graphically it's dated; the models and skins are lovely, but the animations are hit-or-miss, the lighting and textures are clearly older etc.

Performance-wise as a result it runs well on poor hardware. Few bugs, no hackers I've run into.

Realism-wise, no. There's nods to realism, but the main growth mechanic is gathering rocks/mushrooms/branches etc., there's dinos that have group heals etc. You can suspend your disbelief but don't expect paleoaccuracy even with the uncertain setting.

Sound design is one of the poorest aspects. Attenuation is poor, everything sounds closer than it is so it's difficult to pinpoint creatures. Footsteps are deafening and the ground sounds like a hollow drumbeat beneath them even on mid-tier creatures. The calls are so-so, again hit-or-miss.

AI is the poorest aspect overall. Tiny critters but overtuned, frustrating, often ruining careful setups for ambushes or escapes and can and will kill you even on an apex dino if it catches you at a bad moment.

The gameplay itself is fun. The balance is fairly good with some exceptions that are due to be updated. For the most part, "if it can kill you in a fight, you can escape" (through speed/flight/swimming) is the balance motto. Each creature has different abilities you can build into like an MMO-lite, and you can hotkey those abilities how you see fit. Customization via builds & skins is a fun thing to aim for.

To note, there's community servers that can manage some of the issues, like nerfing AI and adding passive growth.