Palworld
Image: Nintendo Life

Less than a week out from its launch in Early Access on Steam and Xbox, Palworld has proved itself to be a massive commercial success for developer Pocketpair and has dominated gaming discourse online since the weekend. Switch gamers can't access it on Nintendo's console, of course, but with its aesthetic parallels to Pokémon, it's been the main talking point for many of us as we await the first Nintendo Direct of the year and the inevitable Pokémon Presents showcase at the end of February.

Palworld's well-worn 'Pokémon-with-guns' descriptor, coupled with a very successful marketing campaign — seriously, it feels like this was Promoted in our feeds for the last decade — has led to downloads in the millions and fiery debate online, with legions of fans coming to its defence from allegations of plagiarism and asset theft. These accusations suggest that Pocketpair — who has form when it comes to making games which look an awful lot like other games — may have taken its search for inspiration too far in this case, with certain Pal models that appear too close to certain Pokémon counterparts to be coincidence.

The jury's out on that point at the time of writing, and for its part, Pocketpair is confident that it's on a firm legal footing. Beneath all the chatter, though, is a game which many people are playing and, apparently, enjoying. Having sampled the game on Xbox, and given its relevance to Nintendo and Pokémon fans, Team NL sat down to discuss what we make of Palworld and the circus around its release...

Palworld, then — what is it exactly?

Palworld launch trailer
Image: Pocketpair

GAVIN: I think we should start by establishing what type of game Palworld is. I’m sure most readers will have seen the furore and some pics and footage, but what is it exactly? Is it a 'Pokémon clone'? Ollie and Alana – you’ve both played the game via Game Pass. How would you describe it?

OLLIE: It’s a survival game, first and foremost. The Pokémon influences are certainly there, but there’s also a ton of Fortnite too; crafting, base-building, stuff like that.

ALANA: Yup, it’s exactly that. A blend of monster-catching, resource-farming, base-building, combat, crafting, etc. It’s a big mish-mash of popular genres in a very big world. 'Pokémon-with-Guns' is a little reductive (I don’t even have a gun yet!), but the monster catching is really just one aspect of a much bigger experience.

GAVIN: Looking at footage, it looks very much like Fortnite in terms of third-person controls and mechanics. Does it feel anything as good as Fortnite in practice, control-wise?

OLLIE: It’s been a little while since I’ve played Fortnite, but I would say yes. In short, there’s nothing here that hasn’t really been done before, whether it’s in Fortnite or other, similar survival games, but the core mechanics are mostly sound.

GAVIN: So it doesn’t immediately feel like some janky knockoff the moment you move the character.

ALANA: Not immediately. The character movement did immediately remind me of Fortnite, though. I think another point of comparison would be Ark, which is a little more survival-y. At least from the single-player content, Palworld is really just about fulfilling objectives and doing whatever the heck you want, basically. If it’s close to a Pokémon game, then Legends: Arceus is probably the closest comparison – the off-centre camera perspective, the way you can catch Pals, the crafting.

GAVIN: The comparisons to Pokémon (and we'll get to the sus monster designs) seem clear. Mechanically, though, are there any systems that feel like they’ve come from Pokémon rather than a crafting/survival game? I’m thinking of battles, evolving monsters, things like that.

ALANA: Combat is nothing like standard turn-based Pokémon at all. It’s basically like the auto-battling mechanic in Scarlet & Violet. You throw a Pal at another Pal, and it will attack, using skills and whatnot. You can also attack the Pals yourself. And from what I know, Pals don’t evolve at all. But you can breed them and fuse them together. I haven’t gotten far enough to do that, though.

Palword Xbox Series X screenshot Cattiva
Image: Nintendo Life

GAVIN: I read that you can feed them to each other?

JIM: I read that you can eat them yourself. Also, put them to work? I haven’t played the game, but it certainly seems a little less cuddly than the Pokémon battling to which it was compared prior to release.

OLLIE: Yeah, you can kill them, eat them, feed them to each other, all that 'good' stuff. Bizarrely, you can actually catch human characters, too. There’s a vague ‘wanted’ system if you do so, but fundamentally, you can recruit human characters and have them work at your base, much like the Pals.

GAVIN: Hmm. It sounds like it’s touching on jokes we’ve made about the world of Pokémon since the very beginning around how Pokémon are treated, if it's okay to eat them, etc. Does it have a narrative thread beyond the basic setting? Does it use any of these subversions and in-jokes to say anything interesting, or anything at all? I think I probably already know the answer to this one…

OLLIE: Ha, no. At the start of the game, you name your island, create your character, and you’re dropped into its world with a list of objectives plonked in the top right corner. There’s really no overarching narrative to speak of — at least not one that's evident in the early stages — but I believe there is a nefarious group not too dissimilar from Team Rocket. We’ve mentioned a few games that Palworld can be compared to, and fundamentally, it’s really just a mish-mash of genres and games cobbled together. In terms of meaningful narratives, there’s nothing here.

So we’re not looking at a subtle commentary on the moral issues brought up by the world of Pokémon, then. Gotcha.

ALANA: The only thing, as Ollie mentions, is that enemy group – or groups? One of the main story objectives is to go around beating these top Pal trainers that stand at various towers across the world. And each of them are part of a different group or organisation. Why you have to fight them, what they stand for, etc. is of little consequence or meaning. It’s just an excuse to go around and fight ‘Gym Leaders’ or ‘Alpha Pokémon’.

GAVIN: So we’re not looking at a subtle commentary on the moral issues brought up by the world of Pokémon, then. Gotcha. To be fair, Pokemon narratives aren’t dynamite most of the time, but from the outside Palworld makes you wonder if there’s some hook or essence beyond the Pokemon-with-Guns novelty. It would seem not.

We should remember and mention, I suppose, that this is an Early Access release, so who knows what grand plans Pocketpair might have for the final product. The influx of cash from the game's early success could have a positive transformative effect — it's possible.

Comparisons, controversy, 'copying'

Palworld Xbox Series X Screenshot Dinossom
Image: Nintendo Life

GAVIN: Moving on, Let’s delve into the controversy surrounding Palworld. Obviously, it’s a massively popular game, no doubt helped by it being on Game Pass, and those Pokémon comparisons have attracted a hell of a lot of attention, including allegations of asset copying and theft provoking a response from Pocketpair's CEO.

Now, I’m one of those OG 151 dinosaurs who effectively hibernated after Pokémon Yellow, but looking at some of the comparison pictures popping up on social media, with models and meshes that bear more than a passing resemblance to some well-known Pocket Monsters, what do we make of those comparisons?

OLLIE: Alana is probably more well-versed in Pokémon than me when it comes to individual creatures and designs, but from what I’ve seen so far, I think it would be foolish to look at the Pals and not come to the conclusion that the developer didn’t at least study Game Freak’s work closely. Now, I couldn’t say that they definitely copied or plagiarised anything, but they look too similar to be a coincidence.

ALANA: Yeah, there are way too many similarities between many of the designs for me to brush it off as just inspiration. Dinossom has exactly the same face, colour scheme, and body type as Meganium, for example. There’s another Pal that has an almost identical mouth and eyes to Galarian Meowth. Cobalion and Lucario also have some very similar lookalikes. A lot of people are defending many of these designs on shard or similar inspiration – Lucario is partially inspired by the Egyptian God Anubis, and the Pal called Anubis looks pretty similar to the fighting-type Pokémon. So it can be muddy, but it’s a bit weird when you can point at almost every single Pal and point at it and go, “Oh, hey, that’s Eevee!” or similar. Other Pokémon-inspired games like Coromon, Cassette Beasts, etc., have iterated on the Pokémon formula without being so derivative in their creature designs.

JIM: I think we are almost past the point of calling it 'inspiration' now. I have seen comparisons to the likes of Digimon or other creature-catchers in recent days too, but there are model videos out there which reportedly (and I’ll stress, reportedly — none of us are experts) show a near 1:1 proportion match between Pokémon and Pal. Sure, there can only be so many designs for ‘cute mouse fella,’ but when the proportions and features are this close, something feels off.

Palworld launch trailer
Image: Pocketpair

GAVIN: I think one of the side effects of this whole episode will be a renewed appreciation for just how talented Game Freak’s artists are when it comes to fresh creature designs.

JIM: Let’s not forget that Palworld’s devs, Pocketpair, have hardly been at the forefront of ‘fresh’ designs in the past, either. There was Craftopia which looked to be one Sheikah Slate away from being a Breath of the Wild clone and then an Among Us-like called AI: Art Imposter. Yes, Palworld might not be quite as Pokémon-y as we thought before it was released, but the studio does have a history with this sort of thing.

GAVIN: I saw a tweet from erstwhile NL video producer and lovely chap Jon Cartwright, which showed the studio's next game, too. 'Inspired' is definitely one word, though perhaps not the appropriate one.

OLLIE: This is the thing, Pocketpair has a history of 'copying' other, well-known games, and Palworld is no different. It’s not even just the creature designs, too. It’s everything. There’s not a single aspect or feature of the game that hasn’t already been done elsewhere. That’s why it’s proven so popular, because there’s very little room for error when all you’re doing is reusing successful mechanics from the past. For many, that doesn’t seem to be an issue; if it’s fun to play, that’s apparently quite enough.

GAVIN: But is it fun to play? It doesn’t sound like it.

There’s not a single aspect or feature of the game that hasn’t already been done elsewhere. That’s why it’s proven so popular...

ALANA: It’s… extremely addictive. The loop of checking off boxes, crafting, catching, collecting, etc. is a tried and tested gameplay loop that people will eat up. And, as Ollie says, it’s done using a bunch of well-worn mechanics all mixed together. Kids at schools are playing it; I’ve seen people talk about their “non-gamer” partners picking up and playing it because it’s fun. And I think mechanically, yeah, it all works.

OLLIE: I’m not a huge fan of games that put heavy emphasis on survival and crafting to begin with, so for me to sit here and say, “No, it’s not fun,” seems somewhat redundant. What I will say is that basic actions like combat and traversal certainly feel ‘functional,’ but not necessarily ‘fun.’ I imagine that many folks are probably enjoying aspects like base-building, levelling-up, exploring new territories, stuff like that.

'Pokémon for adults'? What even is that?

Palworld Xbox Series X screenshot house
It's all about owning a house, right!? — Image: Nintendo Life

GAVIN: Okay, on to the final topic I've seen being discussed: ‘Pokémon, but for adults.’ From what you've said, this seems to lack the depth or ambition to properly explore what an ‘adult’ Pokemon game might be, and we've explored noteworthy elements that might excite jaded Pokémon fans in a soapbox the other day. Is there anything here that we think could be interesting if examined by a developer with greater ambition, perhaps?

OLLIE: From what little I’ve played, I’d say probably not. I think Palworld is a great case study of how to take successful game mechanics and cobble them together into something relatively satisfying and addictive. But for me, that’s really all it is. I don’t think Nintendo or The Pokémon Company are going to be tripping over themselves looking to see why Palworld has proven to be so successful.

JIM: I think that the idea of Pokémon being 'for kids' is way off in the first place. Sure, I bet that it still has a huge younger audience, but let’s not pretend that the competitive scene is anything less than massive at this point. If by ‘Pokémon for adults,’ we mean, 'it’s got guns in it,' then that brings up enough problems of its own…

GAVIN: For me, the idea of an ‘adult’ Pokémon game – or an adult version of any kid-friendly series – feels like a slight against young gamers. As if the thing crafted for kids is made for idiots who can’t follow a proper story, or appreciate deep mechanics, or deal with weighty themes. Nintendo is at the top of the tree with that Pixar-style ability to bring in everyone with a central theme/mechanic that resonates with massive cross-generational appeal. Game Freak struggles mechanically and is tied to a very specific formula, but I’m not quite sure what people would want from an ‘adult’ Pokémon. Not to dismiss the opinions of players who, evidently, are enjoying Palworld a lot, but I wonder whether frustrated Pokémon fans with an axe to grind are a factor in some of the buzz and the ‘passionate’ response to this one.

If by ‘Pokémon for adults,’ we mean, 'it’s got guns in it,' then that brings up enough problems of its own…

ALANA: That’s how I feel too. I am someone who’s a little fed up with Pokémon, and Palworld, as addictive as it is, is missing something. It feels soulless. The art is very video game-y, the gameplay is derivative, and it doesn’t really have anything meaningful to say. And the thing is, 'Pokémon for adults' doesn’t really sell – Shin Megami Tensei was a demon-catching game before Pokémon, and it’s not hugely popular. And there have been other indie studios that have attempted a more 'mature' take on Pokémon like Monster Crown that take the wrong kernel from that concept. Palworld doesn’t even feel like Pokémon for adults – as you say Gavin, that dismisses all the kids who play games. If Palworld is derivative of Fortnite and Ark – two games hugely popular with kids and teenagers – then what are we saying? 'For adults' is a silly, nebulous term.

GAVIN: It’s funny thinking back on the irony of how Fortnite became the monster success it is through co-opting trending elements from another game, and it’s now become a template. It also highlights how, though Fortnite obviously owes a huge debt of gratitude to PUBG, Epic brought a hell of a lot of its own ideas and talent to the table. Even something like Genshin, which attracted a fair amount of criticism at first, feels like it had ambition beyond what I'm sensing from Palworld after this conversation.

Closing thoughts

Palworld launch trailer
Image: Pocketpair

GAVIN: Okay, wrapping things up – any final thoughts?

OLLIE: One thing I do want to mention, and I know we’ve banged on enough about this regarding Scarlet and Violet, is performance. Palworld, for all its limitations and issues, runs well, and it’s something many, many people have brought up when defending the game online. The Pokémon Company is cruising along quite nicely on the sheer popularity of the IP, but if something like Palworld can release and run as well as it does, then there’s really no excuse anymore.

JIM: I have seen very similar calls around the fact that Palworld is a full game. You pay upfront (or get it through Game Pass) and then there are no DLC purchases, loot boxes, or other bonuses that have become commonplace in so many yearly-release games now. Look, saying, “It runs well!” and, “You don’t need to pay extra to play it!” shouldn’t be huge positives, but that’s the gaming landscape we’re in, I suppose.

OLLIE: I’ve seen that too, but I would bet my Switch that as Palworld transitions from early access to full release, we’ll start seeing a few questionable business practices seeping in.

JIM: Just let me know when I can catch Pals with Thanos…

GAVIN: On Switch. Okay, thanks for your time, everyone.


Have you played Palworld? Is it something you'd be keen to try on Switch if Pocketpair were to port it? Let us know your thoughts on this one below — and please keep in mind our Community Rules.