Palworld, from developer Pocket Pair, dropped last week into early access and has taken the video game charts by storm. I have played about 8 hours between GamePass and Steam versions in singleplayer. So here are my impressions on the game.
The Rundown
Now I just want to make this clear. This is not “Pokemon with Guns”, this is like Ark with Pokemon so to speak. So you gotta focus on hunger, temperature, armor and the like. Story is super simple: You are find yourself on a island inhabited by human and these creatures called Pals. Near your feet is a tablet saying that; the towers are the key. Each tower is inhabited by leaders of the Syndicate. During your journey, you can build a base, workbenches and start capturing Pals who can work in your base. Each Pal have different abilities such as: Handiwork, Watering, Kindling, Transport. Now I’m not about to get into the legalities of the Pal designs. Do I see the similarities between Pals and Pokemon, sure. Is that enough for legal action, I could not tell you. So far, I like the designs and they showcase the varieties of each type
Pros
I was blown away at how well optimized this game was out of the gate. Draw distance was super solid, barely saw any texture pop in or anything. Base building feels good and with the right materials you can have a makeshift cabin up in minutes. Your palbox (a combo of pal storage, base computer, and fast travel spot) can be upgraded through missions which lets you expand Pal job slots and number of bases. Fast travel spots are easily spread out and you can find inactivated ones on your map. Pals have abilities outside of their move set. You can unlock Pal gear which allows you to use them as mounts or a team based maneuver
Cons (or Nitpicks)
Raids are a pain and really show the weakness of your base building (Nitpick). The ability to capture human NPCs and put them to work is a complete and utter no go for me! Having more control on a Pal could do would be nice. Something like a chore board or something. World and story is a bit threadbare at the moment (Nitpick). A “Hold to Throw Paw Sphere” option would be awesome (Nitpick).
Conclusion
For being a week old, this game has massive amount of potential! I’m really enjoying the gameplay, base building and exploration. It feels so satisfying to find an egg or a chest. Capturing Pals in different areas and expanding the map. So far, I highly recommend it! If you are interested in checking it out, the game is currently on GamePass (Xbox, Cloud and PC) and Steam. I’ll do another article when it reaches 1.0. If you want to see the first 40 minutes of gameplay, check out my video here:
