Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Lowell locks and loads up the Pokémon-inspired game that's been the talk of the town since it launched on Steam and Xbox Game Pass last week...
You might’ve heard about this little game called Palworld by now – it seems like everyone and their Growlithe is playing this Pokémon-with-guns crafting adventure. I largely ignored it leading up to its beta release as it seemed more of a gimmick than an actually compelling game, and only booted it up because I got commissioned to write a few guides for it elsewhere.
I played for about a dozen hours so far, and now I’m of the opinion that I’d rather explore the half-finished Palpagos Islands than Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Paldea any day. Surprisingly, Palworld serves as a great blueprint for what Game Freak could do as it continues to make attempts at an open-world Pokémon game.
For over two decades, I’ve been a massive Pokémon fan and, in recent years, an even larger critic. Here at Nintendo Life, I’ve interviewed professional Pokémon players, reviewed creature-collectors like Temtem and Japan-exclusive Pokémon donuts, and wrote relatively scathing pieces about Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. In no way do I think that Palworld is superior or more innovative than Pokémon as a whole. Palworld boils down to an amalgamation of many different game genres with few of its own original ideas and a mediocre, floaty battle system. Pokémon is quite literally a genre and childhood-defining series that spans decades and rakes in billions.
That said, Game Freak has failed to design a compelling open world with Pokémon in it – although Pokémon Legends: Arceus came close – whereas Palworld excels at it.
Scarlet and Violet’s Paldea region provided very little reason outside of capturing the Pokémon themselves to explore the world. Sure, there were Gimmighouls to find, Tera raids to participate in, and Tera Pokémon sparkling in the distance, but the only progression earned from seeking out every nook and corner was more Pokémon and items rotting in your boxes, most of which you never used. Otherwise, this could all be skipped on your way to defeating the Elite Four.
In no way do I think that Palworld is superior or more innovative than Pokémon as a whole...That said, Game Freak has failed to design a compelling open world with Pokémon in it...whereas Palworld excels at it.
On the other hand, I can’t go five minutes in Palworld without thinking, ‘Man, I hope Pokémon introduces a mechanic like this someday,’ because there’s just so much it does right that keeps me logging back in to forage, build, and adventure out into the Pal-infested islands.
The main strength of Palworld’s open world is the feeling of an unexplored frontier, which serves as a foundation for the base building and survival mechanics. To press onward, you have to build a base which serves as a fast travel point and a place to rest up your Lifmunks and Pengullets. In turn, this makes finding a great place to set up a new base with wood, stone, and ore in abundance an adventure in and of itself. As I play, I keep stumbling upon great little locations with surprisingly good views that I get the incessant itch to move my base to, adding another hour to my playtime.
I truly believe Pokémon needs something like this if it continues with open-world adventures. Game Freak’s juggernaut isn’t even a stranger to base building. Way back in 2003, Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire had Secret Bases, which amounted to a fun distraction given they had no significance in regards to defeating villainous Team Magma/Aqua or reaching the Elite Four. In retrospect, I’m a little surprised Paldea (and Hisui even) had no form of it with so much empty space to fill.
With base building, scouting locations to build up a little house and a workbench on which to set your spare Tandemaus to crafting PokéBalls from the acorns your Lechonk sniffs out would make any future region far more interesting, as you’ve now got a purpose other than crafting TMs to catch hordes of the same Pokémon. And much like in Palworld, there’s an inherent joy of designing your own little home, and even more if you have to defend it from destructive Klawf with your own PokéArmy.
Palworld does a great job of all this by giving its Pals utility both at the base and as you explore. The duck-like Pal Fuack – yes, that’s its actual name – can water fields that grow food and help transport resources. Cattiva raise your character’s carrying capacity, meaning you can haul back more treasure from exploring with one or more on your team. Crafting the right item enables Pals like Direhowl to be ridden as a mount, and others allow you to fly across the massive map after progressing far enough along the technology tree.
Wouldn’t it be awesome if Fighting-type Pokémon increased your carrying capacity, and Ghost types made you harder to spot when sneaking up on shiny Pokémon?
If you think this sounds like a more comprehensive version of the HMs Pokémon used to have, I agree. Yet in Scarlet and Violet, Game Freak allocated all traversal aspects to legendaries Miraidon and Koraidon, meaning there was no real reason to seek out Pokémon to make your adventure smoother. While in no way, shape, or form do I want HMs to come back, these abilities are directly tied to crafting a specific item and to the Pals themselves, making progress through the open world, learning new recipes along the way, far more compelling.
Wouldn’t it be awesome if – for example – Fighting-type Pokémon like Machamp increased your carrying capacity, and Ghost types made you harder to spot when sneaking up on shiny Pokémon or avoiding an overlevelled Snorlax? I certainly think so.
I realise Game Freak beats to its own PokéDrum like a particularly self-absorbed Rillaboom and won’t change its development plans to match trends, but Palworld has so many great ideas that would slot right into a Pokémon adventure. I do hope, however, that they see the massive player numbers Palworld is bringing in, and take a long, retrospective look back at the Pokémon series to see which mechanics they’ve already had would translate into an open-world title.
After all, I would much rather play a Palworld-like game if it starred my favourite Pokémon Cubone, rather than developer Pocketpair's gun-toting knock-offs.