‣ 8/10 – Why has this never been done before?
‣ Thoughts: Somehow a big soup of previous survival games thrown together managed to become a unique experience. If you described Palworld on a piece of paper, it would feel like the most generic survival game out there. But they achieved a near perfect early access title of its genre.
Yes, in terms of gameplay ideas, world design and visuals this is not unique. But it is crazy how twisting the Pokemon formula and adding more spice to it redefines the entire monster hunter gameplay loop. The developers clearly know how much they should push the grindy aspects of a survival game. Although some late-game areas are a complete wasteland with tons of useless empty space, the first 30 hours or so will be an addictive ride.
I think many have voiced their opinions about whether or not this game should exist, but I think some competition is always healthy. I hope they continue updating Palworld because it has some great fundamentals. As an early access title, it might be the best steam has ever had and stats back that up quite a lot. To those saying, it will lose players quick, you are probably correct. This game highly requires frequent updates and loads of bug fixes and patches. Under the cute, fluffy creature hood you can find so many gameplay breaking glitches that it is amazing I had so much fun regardless. And that just shows how well done the overall gameplay loop of this unexpected survival game is.
All in all, Palworld has clearly tapped into a market unforeseen by many other developers. In order to keep the flame toasty, they have to use the capital gained from the massive success and pour it back into the project. Only with passion and love will this blossom into a perfect Pokemon competitor. The foundation is amazing, but the endgame and lack of content in that area is dreadful. Iron, being the most dominant material for all of progression, is a big mistake and must be automatized in some capacity, like wood and stone. In any way, I will gladly keep revisiting the game if the developers throw big updates at a reasonable pace, but for now I am done. It was a fun ride.
‣ Thoughts: Somehow a big soup of previous survival games thrown together managed to become a unique experience. If you described Palworld on a piece of paper, it would feel like the most generic survival game out there. But they achieved a near perfect early access title of its genre.
Yes, in terms of gameplay ideas, world design and visuals this is not unique. But it is crazy how twisting the Pokemon formula and adding more spice to it redefines the entire monster hunter gameplay loop. The developers clearly know how much they should push the grindy aspects of a survival game. Although some late-game areas are a complete wasteland with tons of useless empty space, the first 30 hours or so will be an addictive ride.
I think many have voiced their opinions about whether or not this game should exist, but I think some competition is always healthy. I hope they continue updating Palworld because it has some great fundamentals. As an early access title, it might be the best steam has ever had and stats back that up quite a lot. To those saying, it will lose players quick, you are probably correct. This game highly requires frequent updates and loads of bug fixes and patches. Under the cute, fluffy creature hood you can find so many gameplay breaking glitches that it is amazing I had so much fun regardless. And that just shows how well done the overall gameplay loop of this unexpected survival game is.
All in all, Palworld has clearly tapped into a market unforeseen by many other developers. In order to keep the flame toasty, they have to use the capital gained from the massive success and pour it back into the project. Only with passion and love will this blossom into a perfect Pokemon competitor. The foundation is amazing, but the endgame and lack of content in that area is dreadful. Iron, being the most dominant material for all of progression, is a big mistake and must be automatized in some capacity, like wood and stone. In any way, I will gladly keep revisiting the game if the developers throw big updates at a reasonable pace, but for now I am done. It was a fun ride.