Palworld is undoubtedly a hit, but a lot of that can be attributed to the game releasing when there was relatively no competition. In addition, it received an increase in visibility caused by many curious to see if it would fail like The Day Before. However, Palworld took the world by storm and exceeded everyone’s expectations.
Palworld lets you take on the role of a human in a world of Pals. This allows you to be a trainer who catches Pals and puts them to work. You can be a poacher, friend of pals, or just an industry titan, but the decision is ultimately yours. Now that the dust has settled and the good feeling on an initial release is over, we’re here to let you know if it’s good.
More Than Just Pals With Guns
Palworld’s combat isn’t just about fighting with guns, as the trailers would have you believe. If you choose, that is a part of it, but you’ll be dealing with each Pal’s powers and abilities more than anything else. Each Pal has their own powers but can be taught more, and utilizing their strengths and weaknesses helps you progress through the story. You can’t avoid battle regardless of how hard you try as a pacifist. You need to fight to get pals, maintain a base, and travel the map.
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You start with a simple stick but continue to upgrade until you have guns. Your fighting ability isn’t really enough to get through the game, just enough to defend yourself and help your Pals. You need to train them, as you would in any monster-capture game, because they don’t automatically level up with you. A level difference can be pretty big here, so it is a lot of grinding if you want to take on the harder bosses.
The downside of combat is that early access severely hinders coordination. There are a lot of bugs, so Pals often don’t attack or won’t listen to your commands. I’ve had to return a pal and send it back out just to get it to fight. While that’s annoying, it’s not game-breaking or so bad you’ll want to quit.
The random base attacks also have bugs; unless you’re in a flat area, the enemies won’t know how to get to your base. This breaks immersion quickly because they won’t even fight you if you get close should this happen. Overall, the combat is fun, but not so much that it’s the main reason you’ll keep playing. It’s still better than that found in Pokémon, which is sluggish and dull compared to Palworld.
From Shack To Shining City
I think building a base in Palworld is a lot more fun than building in any other game. Don’t be fooled by the humble starting shack you often see in trailers; Palworld lets you grow your dominion into a nice village. You can keep your village homely and kind or just make a factory. There are a lot of options for decorating and building everything you need in the game.
You’re not making this alone either; Pals will help you during construction, depending on what they can do. You’ll find your work times shortened by Pals eager to help you build anything and everything. A huge part of the game is learning to rely on your Pals to handle certain buildings while you’re off doing other things.
The only downside I’ve seen is that if any construction is too close to another, the bugs and glitches come far more frequently. The game can’t handle sleeping beds next to each other, so be careful here. Otherwise, it’s easy to build your dream area.
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I like having a nice ranch, but I have seen others make realistic factories, and it’s incredible what the game lets you build.
The Pals Are Friends Made Along The Way
I honestly believed that Pals wouldn’t be anything more than recycled or discounted Pokémon. It turns out there’s a lot more to each Pal than Nintendo ever bothered with. Some Pals are more helpful than others, and their personalities are important if you want them to do tasks well. Some Pals are more into fighting, while others are great for working around your base. Of course, there are slackers who are better off butchered, sold, or sent away.
The point is that Palworld’s Pals aren’t just cute companions; they’re sentient beings with needs and wants. Feeding, grooming, and socializing with your Pals affect their happiness and, in turn, their performance. A well-cared-for Pal is a loyal comrade and productive worker, while a neglected one can become disgruntled and even rebellious.
You also decide how hard they work and what they think of you. A poacher is liked as long as they take care of their Pals, but overworking Pals causes them to get stressed. You decide what they’re up to and can force them to work long and hard hours, even depriving them of sleep. The game gives you a lot of freedom in this sense.
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Crafting Is A Whole Experience
The crafting system likely borrowed a lot of inspiration and experience from Craftopia, another game from the developer. It’s really in-depth, and you will find that there are a lot of things to make. Many games mess this up by giving you too much all at once, but Palworld gives players just enough at a time that they get used to each new item and know it well enough to learn more by the time the next tier unlocks.
Palworld is a masterful blend of survival and industry. You’ll scavenge for basic materials, refine them into complex components, and eventually build everything from weapons and armor to complex machines and even terraforming tools. The world reacts to your creations, with your factories spewing smoke and your biodomes transforming barren landscapes.
What’s impressive is the range of possibilities. You can craft gadgets to capture more elusive Pals, design specialized equipment for your loyal companions, and even build automated hunting bots to handle the grunt work. The sense of progression is addictive, constantly unlocking new recipes and expanding your industrial reach.
The game is not perfect, and there are many issues with glitches and bugs that you’d expect from early access, but it is very close to perfect, and there is so much more coming with updates in the future. There’s also a lot more to the game, but we think this gives a good idea of what most people expect. We think this game is more than worth your money and time, and it will give Pokémon a huge run for its money.
