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Palworld: Why this Pokemon-with-guns game broke records

Palworld starts with the player being stranded on an island called Palapagos Island

Image courtesy of Pocket Pair
Image courtesy of Pocket Pair

Opinions expressed by Digital Journal contributors are their own.

Palworld is an action-adventure, survival, and monster-taming game that seems to have taken the gaming world by storm out of nowhere. Despite being in early access and having been developed by a studio that most hadn’t even heard of before, it’s responsible for breaking more than one record in the gaming world.

Today, I want to take a closer look at what many thought was going to be simply “Pokemon but with guns.” This includes reviewing several mechanics where it shines, places that I hope the full release works more on, and whether it really is just a ditto copy of Pokemon, or if it has enough different features going for it to warrant all the recognition it got. 

So, without further ado, here’s why Palworld broke so many records.

Welcome to Palapagos Island

Palworld starts with the player being stranded on an island called Palapagos Island. Players quickly learn that this island, or maybe the entire world, is inhabited by creatures called “Pals.” What follows is a quick and easy tutorial that familiarizes players with the third-person gameplay and several mechanics that will be used throughout the player’s journey.

Of course, that isn’t to say there isn’t a story in Palworld at all. As you discover more about the secrets of the island you’re stranded on, you have to go up against an evil organization of humans hell-bent on killing you, along with several Pals who would like nothing better than to take you down.

Not all is bad on this natural island, as there are a lot of things to discover too. This includes eggs, ores, new materials, hidden chests, and so much more. In this game that effectively imitates urban warfare, no place is safe but the most dangerous places hold the best rewards.

Freedom of choice

After that? Well, that’s up to you. As Gamingflaws put it, “Finding, fighting, and capturing Pals is one the biggest highlights of Palworld.” However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t more to the game. At its core, Palworld is about choice. Do you want to enslave all of the Pals on the island and force them to work for you in a makeshift factory? Go for it. Would you rather go the route of becoming the very best like no one ever was and collect all of the different species of Pals to turn them into your friends? Also possible. 

It’s this freedom of choice that attracted so many players to Palworld. While Pokemon has been going on for years now, and recent games are gravitating towards allowing players more freedom like challenging gym leaders in whatever order they want, all mainline games are still very linear. Here, however, the whole island is your oyster.

Survival of the fittest

Did you notice how I called Palworld a survival game alongside all of the other genres? That’s because survival plays a huge part in the overall game. When you aren’t fighting off the group of evil humans who have a dangerous habit of using assault weapons against children and animals, you’re saving yourself and your base from the harsh creatures and weather conditions of the island.

Speaking of building your base, building things in general by collecting the many resources scattered around Palpagos is a crucial part of Palworld. It’s also the thing that sets this game apart the most from Pokemon. 

Of course, you don’t have to do all of the building, as that’s where Pals come in. You can treat Pals as fair friends who are well-fed and get lots of rest, or you can tap into your inner dictator to increase efficiency at the cost of your Pal’s physical and mental well-being. It’s very interesting to be faced with the dilemma of whether to keep a Pal you caught at the very beginning of your journey or to hack it to pieces to harvest its meat and avoid starvation.

However, the thing that many consider to be Palworld’s biggest strength is also the cause for the biggest complaint I have about it. Grinding to collect the materials for some late-game builds takes way too long. That isn’t even mentioning the fact that every time you want to ride on a Pal’s back, you have to craft an entirely different satchel, making things repetitive quickly.

So, why is Palworld popular?

With everything being said and done, why exactly is Palworld such a hit amongst fans? Well, the way I see it, most people gave Palworld a shot thanks to the Pokemon With Guns title. However, the freedom and exploration aspect of the game probably hooked them, leading them to recommend it to more people.

One thing led to another, and eventually, word got out that a brand new game based on Pokemon was out and it didn’t hold back any punches in terms of what you can do. After all, Pokemon was a huge part of so many people’s childhood, and while the formula of Nintendo’s gigantic IP has remained child-friendly, the player base has since then aged. Palworld appealed to that same grown-up player base.

Something I have to give the developers credit for is how they were able to adapt to the unexpectedly large number of players on the fly. Not only did they release patches that fixed a lot of technical problems with the game, but players have also been given a loose roadmap including which additions and changes they can expect from future updates.

While I can’t say for sure whether Palworld will continue to be huge in the gaming scene, especially since the 1.3 million player count drop on Steam is another broken record that suggests the popularity might have been a fad, giving the long-standing Pokemon a run for its money is definitely something to be proud of.

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Written By

Jon Stojan is a professional writer based in Wisconsin. He guides editorial teams consisting of writers across the US to help them become more skilled and diverse writers. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his wife and children.

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