Palworld review: Far more than just ‘Pokemon with guns’
Palworld is a controversial yet highly successful indie game that has taken over the industry, but is it worth the hype or another Pokemon clone that will pass us by soon enough?
First revealed back in 2021, Palworld quickly caught the attention of Pokemon fans for its obvious similarities and even more obvious differences. Sure, it featured cute creatures that you can catch and command but it was the inclusion of mature themes like slavery and animal cruelty that got people talking.
Three years later, Palworld finally launched into early access and its success has been undeniable. Despite complaints about alleged plagiarism and accusations of AI generation being used it has sold unbelievably well even managing to become Steam’s most-played game.
The question is if Palworld is a genuine Pokemon contender that can keep up with the highest-grossing entertainment franchise of all time or if this is another passing trend that we’ll all forget about in a few months.
Palworld – Key details
- Price: $29.99/£24.99/€29.99
- Developer: Pocketpair
- Release Date: January 19, 2024
- Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC
Palworld is not just Pokemon with guns
The nickname ‘Pokemon with guns’ that so many fans have given Palworld is not a great description of it. Instead, Palworld is more so ‘Ark with Pokemon’ with it clearly taking a lot of inspiration from Studio Wildcard’s survival game.
At its core, Palworld is a survival crafting game that follows the norms expected of the genre. You gather resources and then use them to expand your base and get better gear. You progress through an Ark-inspired technology tree with higher-tier crafting recipes requiring more resources that are harder to get.
The unique twist comes from its Pals, wild creatures that can be caught and commanded to either fight or work at your base. While this certainly shares a lot in common with Pokemon it takes a satirical twist that sees giant bears wield miniguns and adorable squirrels spray SMGs while sitting on your head courtesy of Partner Skills.
Palworld is far from a serious game and that’s a good thing. Rather than following Temtem’s example of trying to create a better version of Pokemon, Palworld offers an entirely different premise. It benefits greatly from its shock humor and avoids taking itself too seriously. This unique identity will go a long way in ensuring Palworld doesn’t fall into obscurity as so many other Pokemon contenders have.
A vast open world
PocketpairPalworld takes place on the Palpagos Islands, a beautiful fictional land that features everything from rich tropical forests to desolate deserts. This world is extremely colorful and full of life making it a joy to explore, especially once you acquire a Pal capable of flight.
There’s a ton to uncover from the exciting dungeons to mysterious sanctuaries and rare legendary Pals. The Palpagos Islands take time to explore and with Pal spawns restricted to certain areas of the world, you’re given a strong incentive to see everything on offer without it feeling forced.
Palworld’s open world also benefits greatly from its use of Unreal Engine 5. Despite utilizing a fairly simplistic art style, Pocketpair has done a great job of taking advantage of the engine’s main strengths as evidenced by its gorgeous water reflections and vibrant landscapes.
Palworld isn’t redefining video game visuals by any means but it’s easy on the eye nonetheless.
Communication breakdown
On your adventures across the Palpagos Islands, you’ll encounter plenty of Pals to fight and catch. Unfortunately, this is where Palworld’s biggest flaw comes to light, its infuriating AI. When the combat works as intended it’s fine, albeit uninspired, but when things go wrong it can get seriously frustrating.
It’s not uncommon to throw your Pal to start a fight and for them to mindlessly wander around disinterested in your commands. Equally, they will sometimes just stop attacking altogether for no apparent reason. This can be especially annoying during boss fights where you want to focus on dealing damage and dodging attacks, not micro-managing your dysfunctional team members.
Palworld’s combat in general just isn’t that well implemented. Telegraphed attacks from enemies are extremely inconsistent often resulting in you taking unavoidable hits. There were even a few times where I got taken out by an opposing Pal while it was being caught as it would somehow attack me in the Pal Sphere or immediately lash out at the exact moment it escaped.
On higher difficulties this will get you killed and force you to repair your gear over and over, using up valuable resources in the process. It’s unfortunate because the Pal’s unique Partner Skills are a lot of fun but outside of that there’s not much depth to combat. This is currently the area that needs the most work if Palworld wants to continue thriving.
Expanding operations
When you’re not exploring the Palpagos Islands you’ll most likely be working on your base. Base building is an important part of Palworld’s gameplay as upgrading your base is essential for obtaining the best gear as well as getting the most out of your Pals.
After placing down the Palbox you are tasked with completing various challenges to upgrade your base’s level. Higher-level bases can hold more active Pals letting you expand your operation and further automate important processes using their powers.
These powers are called Work Suitabilities and determine how a Pal can contribute to your base. There are 12 in total with some examples including Kindling to ignite furnaces and cook food, Mining for gathering ore and stone, and Handiwork for crafting items either at a workbench or later on a production line.
This is essentially the core gameplay loop that Palworld is built around. You acquire resources, use those resources to upgrade your base, expand your base with better technology by leveling up, and repeat. It’s simple but effective and frankly even a little addictive. Especially when the eventual reward is that you can create guns and literal artillery weapons to go hunting with.
Though Palworld’s gameplay is a lot of fun, a few areas still need some work. Most notably, it’s far too difficult to command Pals to perform a specific task often seeing them instead prioritize a task they are not proficient at slowing down your base considerably.
A smaller issue is that the building itself is rather basic making it difficult to create complex structures. Plus leveling up right now consists almost exclusively of mass-catching Pals which grows tiresome after a while. This can be worked around by using the customizable difficulty sliders but this feels a little cheaty and more viable methods to grind experience would be much preferred.
Unique yet familiar
A big talking point of Palworld is its alleged plagiarism over specific Pal designs. While claims that Lamball and Wooloo look alike despite both just being based on sheep are a stretch some other Pals are a little too familiar for mere coincidence.
Take a glance at Cremis, Dumud, or Azurobe and the similarities aren’t hard to spot. Even so, these are the exceptions to the rule and they still mostly pass as highly inspired designs. The majority of Pal designs are either unique or at least a different take on something Pokemon has already done.
Some of its strongest unique designs include Eikthyrdeer, Cawgnito, and Relaxaurus. The stand out though is Chillet, a massive frosty weasel who is just too cute to ignore. Do yourself a favor and catch a Chillet as soon as possible because you won’t regret it.
The real proof that Palworld has nothing to hide though is that it even exists in the first place. Those familiar with Japan’s copyright laws will know how strict they are. If Nintendo or The Pokemon Company had a serious case, Palworld would have been taken down years ago. History proves that these companies don’t play around when it comes to copyright infringement.
Verdict – 4/5
For an indie game that was made on such a modest budget, Palworld is incredibly impressive. It’s expansive and features an addicting gameplay loop that keeps you coming back over and over. This combined with the adorable Pals and compelling exploration goes a long way to explain why it has been so successful.
Even so, it’s hard to overlook the frustrating AI and lackluster combat. Given how centric combat is to the gameplay this is a big problem and means Palworld falls short of being something truly special. Despite this, Palworld is still a lot of fun at its best and that fun comes at an extremely reasonable price.
