The 'Pokémon-with-guns' game Palworld launched on Xbox, PC and Game Pass yesterday and while it's already surpassed one million sales, it's also making headlines for certain other reasons...
As highlighted by IGN, some Pokémon fans have taken to social media and other parts of the internet to share the "similarities" between Palworld monster designs and Nintendo's famous franchise, claiming it's "not a coincidence" and accusing certain 'Pals' of being blatant "rip-off" of Pokémon designs.
Although there are monster-catching elements in this new release, Palworld is described as an "open world survival and crafting game". Some other commentary online has also pointed out how this isn't the first game to feature Pokémon-like designs, referencing games like Temtem and Coromon.
Here's a sample of the comparison posts doing the rounds on social media as well as some other commentary:
If you would like to learn more about Palworld and see if it's worth your time, be sure to check out our sibling site Pure Xbox. The team has "thoroughly enjoyed" the preview build of the game so far. Here's a snippet of its hands on:
"What immediately stuck out to us were the game’s open-world elements though, combining the likes of base-building, crafting, farming and exploration. Because of these, Palworld doesn’t feel like your bog-standard Pokémon clone by any means. Yes, you catch Pals, train ‘em up and everything you’d expect from the 'gotcha' loop - there’s even a Paldex of sorts - but Palworld plays much more like your Valheim and Ark survival games, and there’s even a hint of Breath of the Wild’s gliding, climbing and stamina bar too."
What are your thoughts about Palworld's monster designs? Will you be checking this game out? Tell us in the comments.
[source ign.com]
Comments 136
I don't care, I'm loving this game!
Nintendo e Pokemon Company: hey that illegal, cease this immideately
Yep, they sure as hell ripped off some designs, but you know what they didn't rip off of the Pokémon games? Having a rushed development!
Seems like a dumb thing to be mad about. Does it look like a shameless knockoff? Yeah, sure, but it's not exactly hurting anyone by being that.
And I actually really, really like that Goodra / Lilligant / Meganium fusion.
Sure, but what's with all of the hate? I said this earlier today on the other article about Palworld, but it seems like no one at NintendoLife is actually playing the game, but they're more than happy to throw criticism at it. Play the game first, please.
I don't play pokemon, and I recognized some of the designs! However... Jigglypuff with a Gun is worth saving!
Pokemon fans don't understand copyright, nor what theft actually is.
i dont get how people are mad about this its hilarious
Pokemon didn't have to be console exclusive. Although this game feels way better.
The game is fun as hell!
The designs are way cooler then some modern Pokemon anyway. Another NL article influencing hate on another game.
Don't care, Hoocrates supremacy!
Sincerely, they took many Pokemon designs and improved upon them. They even look like their possible evolutions.
We have Pokémon at home.
Nah the poke fans are just in shock there's a game with more than 2 lines of code that actually works.
Yeah, the clear similarities gave me a good laugh- but the game looks infinitely better graphically and performance-wise than Scarlet and Violet at least 😜 perhaps the two companies can learn from eachother...? I jest.
Going to say that it's POSSIBLE Nintendo and TPC have a case on copyright infringement, but I'm guessing they rather have this fizzle out than get the suits involved. Then again, they have a case against DeviantArt recolors, so...
It’s funny how the community seems more supportive of this game’s lazy monster designs than ScarVi’s actual efforts
@somnambulance what actual efforts?
@NatiaAdamo I think they'd have to prove that a game that plays nothing like Pokemon or any Pokemon Spin-Off is cutting into their sales. It's not as simple as it is with ROMs & hacks. Even if they did, it'd be a horrible look attacking another monster game and show not only that they have a monopoly on anything with monsters, but show that they WANT a monopoly on it too.
Yeh, Nintendo should just sue these people for copyright breach. There’s been barely any effort on the part of the developers to even bother trying to differentiate between their rip off monsters and the real Pokemon.
What’s the point of Nintendo going to all the time, effort and expense of trademarking all the Pokemon if they’re not even going to try and enforce it?
props to palworld, no actual criticism on the gameplay or any bugs or performance. just a fun game that happens to pull in pokemon designs lol
my friend play hours of this last night and enjoyed himself, gonna give it a try later today
Pokemon fans need to set their sights on Gamefreak and Pokemon Company for releasing an cash grab game. These people will only come together out of jealousy because of other developers wanting to make an Pokemon like game of their own but not when something truly matters like broken Pokemon games pushed by Gamefreak.
I think people need to be reminded that every Pokemon design ever is also based off something that already exists. I'm sorry, but TPC does not own Anubis or kitsune or cats or anything similar because they made Lucario, Ninetales, & Meowth - that's not how that works.
they complain about the pal designs yet don't complain about the gameplay, because it looks and runs better than S/V and actually works without major game-breaking bugs. This game makes S/V look like a licensed kid's game from the 2000s despite being in Early Access. It's sad how neglected the mainline games have become lately, and how a small dev team can make a better game than the highest-grossing media franchise in the world.
@shoeses I want to see you design meowth from a regular cat. And then not be angry when I blatantly rip off that design.
@Chibi Copyright/trademark protects against that exact property, not knock-offs. Unless they really do have a carbon copy of a pokemon, suing them would be a waste of time.
This is game still looks like an absolute fever dream.
They're made by AIs, OF COURSE they're rip-offs.
The company behind Palworld owns NFTs and want to dabble in AI.
@RADMO Oh I do apologize, Meowth is based off the Japanese beckoning-cat (that I can't spell the actual name of), a different pre-existing thing based off a regular cat. Purrloin is just a regular cat. But I won't get angry at you or the other people screaming not knowing of any mythologies or legends who think Pokemon invented dragons & fairies.
I bet it runs better than the recent Pokemon games GameFreak has released.
@shoeses listen, I wasn’t “screaming” at you. Just wanted you to think about my response for a moment. If I designed squirtle, which we can all say is based off a turtle, then why should it be okay to blatantly rip off my design because my main insipiration was an actual thing that exists?
@RADMO So by your logic, no one can make a blue turtle because Squirtle exists. So the character Slash from TMNT is a rip-off of Squirtle and needs to be removed from all media, because he is a blue turtle. And you want people to take your screaming at these devs seriously.
Many games are similar and "copies" can actually lead to the games they're based on being better. I don't understand why these people are so angry.
@MsJubilee Yes it does by far. I enjoyed Scarlet and Violet but there's no getting around the fact the games run like crap still.
I'm instantly more connected to the monsters in this game than I have been with the Pokémon franchise in the last decade, maybe.
Nintendo had plenty of chances of shaking it up and didn't, there is no crying now. I guess it's time for us to move on from Pokémon, unfortunately, nostalgia isn't cutting it anymore
Instead of just being happy to get another game that's so similar to what they like xD and probably better in some ways
Literally bootleg Pokémon. Even if it is good, it's a bootleg.
Loving what i see, so Congratulations to the developers for this big succes, i will buy it too when i get my salary.
This game has the potential to go on for a long time, with future DLC added with more regions and creatures to discover.
*EDIT:
Just got this game on steam, Pfff this game is sooo good, man. It scratches alot of itches lol.
@shoeses yeah if the squirtle rip-off shot water out it’s bumbum and had a goatee, then that’s fine. Hahaha.
Look dude, if somebody is going to rip off my designs, they better do a better damn good job at it to cover it up. Not just be straight up lazy about it.
How can you say this game rips off Pokemon when it runs at a steady 60fps / 1080p?
(runs)
@McBurn That's the thing none of the critics or articles point out though - outside of catching monsters, it plays nothing like Pokemon. If anything the 'copied homework' as NintendoLife put it was copied from ARK - the same game but instead of dinosaurs there's monsters. Even then, most of the designs give off Neopets and Spectrobes vibes more than Pokemon as someone who loves anything with monsters as the focus.
c:Nintendo-Ninas.exe
@KayFiOS Oh That's why its being sold in early access AND ripped off designs right?
It's creatively bankrupt. comparatively Gamefreak take the time to come up with their own designs for new Pokemon.
The success of games like this is a creative dead end. These developers have no ideas of their own, they can only steal and copy. They're parasites and you'll never get anything inspired or truly new from them.
If there's any indicator gaming is stagnating it's this slop.
So when that guy says their not playing anything that “blatantly” rips off Pokémon does that mean that they don’t play games that are monster catchers (yo-Kai watch, MHS, temtems, etc) or are they talking about games that you would see on the App Store where they don’t even try to hide their ripping off Pokémon?
Palworld monster designs are definitely bordering on blatant rip-offs but I don't think they are infringing on copyright, at least not yet.
@Gaymer90
Daedream and Hoocrates alone are amazing enough make pokemon designs now look like reject Robopons. The only one I've raised my eyebrow at so far is the "definitely not meganium" grass type
@B_Lindz
This.
I think the designs are supposed to be tounge in cheek and the Palworld hate is looking really petty, especially with the current pokemon landscape, the way it is.
This game reminds me of those Chinese knockoffs on the android store.
Regardless of the quality of the actual game, I think there's no denying the monsters here take heavy inspiration from Pokemon.
This article didn't even cover the blatant Eeveelution rip-offs, e.g.:
https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=600034106&sxsrf=ACQVn08OOwhV6FT1HAnFyWtu4wPFcJFTHQ:1705740358296&q=palworld&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjOhYqByuuDAxWXS0EAHfR4CusQ0pQJegQICBAB&biw=393&bih=688&dpr=2.75#imgrc=B7ne8JKrL29ljM
This game looks amazing, the character design is really hitting home. Cute but will still fight.
I just realized it's out now but not for Switch, so yeah. Definitely giving it a try!
I was hoping at least one tweeXt would mention Totoro Electabuzz with a minigun, that's probably my favorite
If it turned out the game blatantly took monster designs from an artists deviant art account or something without permission then that would be under the belt.
But from a mega corp? Nah they don't need defending.
Given that most of the hype are due to GamePass, it will fizzle out in a week or two when another game arrives.
@B_Lindz playing the game means buying the game means rewarding the company for ripping off designs.
Not going to.
@Dr_Lugae If there's any indicator gaming is stagnating, it's the Pokémon franchise lol
You're criticizing these people for being creatively bankrupt for using existing Pokémon designs, when the last entry gave us Wiglet! Roughly 35 designs are just reused Pokémon from previous gens.
Also, what's the difference between releasing an early access game and releasing an unfinished buggy mess as a full $60 game? If anything, early access means that it's still being actively worked on, but the dev team probably needed a little more funding to to keep developing their game, meanwhile Scarlet and Violet's development team was already hard at work on the DLC by the time they had to release a patch to fix a few of the issues the base game had...
On a totally unrelated note, did you know Pokémon is the most financially successful media franchise? Freaking wild isn't it?
@Savage_Joe Have you actually playrd ScarVi?
@KayFiOS Just look.at the developers last game Craftopia which is STILL in early access, looks like the money it got didn't bring it to completion did it?
Scarlet and Violet are complete games, the games main mechanics and scenarios deliver a complete experience and an adventure woth a story and ending.
Just because Palworld is shameless and taking money for a literal unfinished prpduct doesn't mean you have to project on Pokemon. You don't have to be the biggest studio to release a completed game, so don't try and excuse scammers.
People like you lower the bar of whats acceptable and that's why this trash is topping steam and grossing over $1m in early access.
Zealous fans from Pokemon - of all franchises - calling parts of Palworld's design lazy and corner-cutting is laughably tone-deaf; it's like the rest of us are all in on a joke that they don't get.
They are really looking for scraps with the Lucario comparison. Lucario looks like a generic furry, any bipedal dog will be similar to it.
@Dr_Lugae You immediately lost me at "Scarlet and Violet are complete games." Ride that corporate meat into the sunset my dude.
@KayFiOS They are though. By all traditional regards they are complete games, they delivered exactly what they promised pre-release so you don't really have any ground to stand on here.
You're trying to call them incomplete in order to bat for a game that is literally releasing incomplete by design. You've got your tongue up Pocketpair's scamming butthole for no good reason it seems, as you accuse Pokemon of something only Palworld is guilty of.
TBH, if the creatures created in Palworld were Pokémon, people would say they look lame and unoriginal.
They have done a really nice jobs with the designs imo, even if they have definitely taken a lot of inspiration from Pokemon. The models look really nice from what I have seen.
The world using Unreal Engine default assets and textures everywhere puts me off trying it though, plus the mixamo-like animations. Makes the game look like a prototype to me. The artstyle is just inconsistent right now and all over the place.
Legends Arceus is one of my favourite Pokemon games, Palworld feels closer to that by having a more dynamic character (maybe a bit too dynamic, shooting arrows etc at creatures is definitely a very different approach to Pokemon). So I might give it a go once it is actually complete and out of early access.
I actually don't really like how close the designs are either and the copying there is extreme. Can understand it being pointed out by others. I partly wonder if it's meant to be a joke in that regard, that's it's done on purpose to create a joke out of it. I admit it's a bit funny but not really the greatest idea, imo. I'm sure they could've done better differentiation with their designs.
However, I wouldn't say anything else about the game is a direct copy of Pokemon, the rest is another monster catcher game with some big difference from the most popular one. As Pokemon does not own all future monster catcher games at the same time.
I'm glad people seem to be enjoying the game though. It sounds like they probably put a lot of thought on how to make it fun. I like that aspect of it.
Sigh I'll give the benefit of the doubt to Nintendo Life as I would do with anyone else, but why do we need articles like this to fuel the hate from both sides when people could enjoy their preferred game between these two if not even both in their own right instead?
That said, I'm happy to see that this comment section isn't just about that and that there are several people here genuinely happy for Palworld regardless of how much "inspired" its designs are and without feeling the need to use its success just to bash Scarlet and Violet!
@B_Lindz You don’t have to play the game to see some of the creature design rip offs. That’s all it’s about. There isn’t much criticism coming in the form of its gameplay. Pokemon clearly needs competition in the “monster taming” genre so they start making games than run higher than 15 FPS but there is ZERO excuse for a few of these blatantly copied designs. Please learn to read and focus on what is actually being justifiably criticized.
This feels like the Genshin Impact debacle all over again. There is definitely a group of Nintendo "fans" that think Nintendo has ownership over everything under the sun even though Nintendo takes inspiration from others all the time as well. They also believe Nintendo did absolutely everything the gaming industry has to offer first even though that just isn't true either. It's more than a little annoying to be honest.
Are the designs similar? Sure but here's the thing. Pokémon has been around for so long that they have a Pokémon design that is based on just about everything under the sun. Heck isn't there a Pokémon that looks like a Keychain!? Anyway my point is that it's a little unfair to expect completely original designs at this point for this genre. What do people expect them to do? Come up with some unique way to make a Pal out of a dog? There are only so many ways to make a dog monster design!
@KayFiOS Pokémon is allowed to riff on their own designs. That’s a horrible, ignorant argument. I can’t believe I have to explain that there are all different kinds of real life animals that look similar but are slightly different depending on the region they live in. The problem is palworld copying designs that aren’t theirs. The gameplay is different enough it doesn’t deserve too much criticism but no amount of “bUt PoKeMoN sTagNanT” justifies blatantly stolen designs.
@Korgon If you can’t see that a few of (not many but A FEW) of these designs are straight up stolen you need to see an eye doctor. There are still plenty of ways to make unique creatures. That is the most creatively bankrupt excuse I’ve ever heard.
@somnambulance SV is the first gen that I didn’t actually buy. Many reasons:
-Graphical and gameplay glitches that GF have left mostly untouched for a year…
-35 “new” Pokemon are actually variations of older Pokemon (Wiglett LOL).
-Paying $100 or the European equivalent to get the full experience. I did that in Gen 8 and was left disappointed.
-GF learned nothing from Gen 8 games about how to properly make open world games with good performance and still made Paldea bland and uninspiring, with the games rarely hitting 30fps in the open areas.
Is Pokemon SV really the best a billion dollar franchise can do?
You (and the other fanboys here) will say “but you haven’t played SV”. Well, you haven’t played Palworld!
You will also say “graphics don’t matter, SV are fun games to play”. Guess what? So is Palworld!
You are saying that “Palworld is a blatant ripoff of Pokemon”. The only “ripoff” Palworld is making is the pokemon designs and animations. Gameplay wise is a completely different beast. And I really wish GF copy Palworld’s gameplay for once. Nexomon and Tem Tem copy even more things from Pokemon and you are turning a blind eye.
You are berating Palworld for THE EXACT SAME reasons that people like me refuse to play Gen 9 Pokemon games. And failing to realize that is almost comical.
@Aawill91
I literally said that the designs are indeed similar...soooo...not sure what your getting at.
Its honestly kind of sad and embarrassing seeing you guys have a hissy fit over this game. It's obviously not a scam, it didn't "rip off" Pokemon, and people are enjoying it. Do better.
@Korgon Yeah and if you could actually read you would know I was criticizing your creatively bankrupt excuse of “there are only so many ways to make a dog monster design” when Pokémon literally just did it again with Dachsbunn. Stop making half baked excuses for blatant ripoffs and go back to school to work on your reading comprehension.
The positive side of games like these is that Pokemon may get actual competition, which in turn means Gamefreak have to put more effort in incentivising people playing Pokemon over these Poke-likes.
@Aawill91
Wow. You seem very upset about this topic. Maybe take it down a notch!
I don't what to tell you man. Pokémon designs have certainly started to just blend together to me at this point. A dog is a dog. You can change the color of its tail, make it big, make it small, whatever but its still a dog. Simple as that.
Is Baldur's Gate "creatively bankrupt" because elves in that game still look like elves from every other media? Of course not. There are only so many ways to make an elf look unique from every other elf out there.
And while Palworld has similar monster designs to Pokémon it plays literally nothing like Pokemon. It's not just a shameless rip-off like you think and if you just can't see that well then I don't really know what to tell you.
@Korgon THIS. Just because something is/looks similar, doesn’t mean it’s an exact clone. Both Genshin and BOTW have different mechanics, story, etc, and the same goes for Pokemon and Palworld. The designs are similar, yes, but from what I’ve seen, some of them actually look better than/improve on current designs. Now, this is coming from someone who hasn’t been able to play, but I do think it’s a genuinely good game.
Plus, the character customization look really good, so that’s already a plus for me.
pathetic copying of designs.. if this was music or standup comedian doing this much copying they would be disgraced outta the industry
Ehh yes it does look very much like Pokemon in design but it seems to do it better .. And yeah the pokemon or pal designs do look alot like pokemon but actually...cooler tho the the more recent designs? Also the game looks put together graphically much better than the last few Pokemons on switch
The game is really fun. I bought it yesterday on Steam and went to just try it out. Next thing I know, it is 4:00am
@Buizel
When I saw and caught that, the first thing it reminded me of was Carbuncle from the Final Fantasy series, not an Eeveevolution and still looking at it, it looks more like Carbuncle
Honestly couldn’t care less.
Bought it this morning! Can't wait to play it. I love the defensiveness of some Pokemon fans here. Acting like it's completely original and created the monster-taming genre when in fact, it didn't. I really love how some are calling this a scam and are saying that Scarlett and violet are complete games. Yea, complete games that are full of bugs and glitches and run at 10FPS. Did I mention that they are a full $60 and there's expensive DLC that also runs like trash? Some people are funny
Ah yes. The first™ Pokemon clone to have ever existed. Which has replaced the other first™ Pokemon clone to have ever existed, Tem-Tem.
@Korgon Pokemon has several Dog designs and none of them are actually similar to each other. There isn't one way to draw a cartoon dog.
Growlithe =/= Houndour =/= Lillipup =/= Furfrou
Hell there's 3 new dogs lines introduced Scarlet and Violet that don't even share any design similarities between each other barring being dogs despite being in the same game. Like Greavyard has a big bear trap shaped jaw that no other Dog Pokemon has.
In terms of sheep Mareep and Wooloo don't follow the same conventions. But there is a sheep in Palworld that blatantly invokes Wooloo's design, that's creative bankruptcy and having no ideas of their own just copying.
It's actually insulting to the creative arts that you'd try and say that there isn't multiple ways to represent things, and yeah BG3 is arguably less creative than any series with more original races. The fantasy genre is getting less creative because everyone Is just copying Tolkien as if his ideas are some kind of rulebook of a genre that is supposed to be fantasy.
People shouldn't only be copying specifc Pokemon to make cartoon animals. Have some originality, really!
I watched my son play it yesterday - It reminded me of Ark: Survival/Valheim/Fortnite/Breath of the Wild/Genshin Impact/Pokemon all mashed together into something.
@Savage_Joe I’ll be playing Palworld tonight, but it is important to note that a lot of complaints that people have about the industry in AI and NFTs has been used by the publisher of Palworld and, from what I’ve seen in previews, Palworld is also a somewhat buggy title that launched in “early access” likely as a tactic to get forgiveness for any jank. I’m going to try it out, but I’m not going to throw it praise for designs that are rip-offs. At least there’s Pokemon-likes that try with their designs. It may be a fun game though and I will give it credit where credit is due if I enjoy it, even if there are certain things about it that somewhat tasteless. My issue with the game prior to trying it though isn’t with the game though. It’s been an issue with people using Palworld as a soapbox to trash on Pokemon for being creatively bankrupt while this game clearly and distinctly rips off Pokémon’s designs.
I’m not going to support the technical state that ScarVi launched in, but I will say that the game is the biggest leap forward we’ve gotten from the series since Gen 5, even with jank. I wouldn’t call myself a Pokemon fanboy, as I was critical of Gen 6-8 and I’m really harsh on the Gen 4 remake. However, I did truly enjoy the Gen 9 titles (ScarVi and Arceus) and feel that the internet was harsher to the titles than they deserved. Again, I’m not saying ScarVi is technically a marvel. It’s not. It does have jittery animations and frame rate drops. If that’s enough to dissuade you from a game, I get that. However; ScarVi is the first time in a long time that the mainline series got a deeper grip on narrative, characters, and the feeling of exploration the older games had despite the simplicity in their structure and its a shame that the game has received such an aggressive stance from series fans.
@Korgon It’s upsetting that you consistently can’t read or understand anything at all. I already state the gameplay isn’t the issue. The issue is a few of the designs are clearly rip offs. How can you not see that? And a dog is a dog?? All dog Pokemon look distinctly unique yet somehow palworld has two dog Pokemon that are carbon copies of Pokemon that have existed for literally over a decade. Baldur’s Gate is a horrible example because it’s based in D&D/fantasy. Of course elves look similar to elves from every other fantasy game. You have consistently displayed an inability to comprehend what I’m saying and give examples of things that make no sense at all and do not apply in this situation. It’s truly pathetic how you can defend blatant rip offs and defend it with “well every possible design is already taken”. You have no imagination and no brain cells.
Yes, it totally rips off Pokémon and I am all here for it. After scarlet and violet they’ve kinda shown they don’t care about tainting the brand and are just after the money. So a new more exciting risk taking competitor is very welcome.
@Dr_Lugae
I didn't say there aren't multiple ways to represent things. I'm just saying it's a bit unfair to expect completely unique designs on something that has been done over and over again.
Again take my BG elf example. You got your standard elf, a wood elf, a dark elf, a half elf, and probably more I'm just not thinking of. All of which have different behaviors, skills, backgrounds etc. However the basic design idea is still the same. A human looking creature that has pointy ears.
I'm not trying to insult anyone (unlike the other guy that is very clearly upset at me 🤣) or insult the creative arts. I'm just saying I don't think it's fair to expect completely unique designs for stuff that has been done many many times before.
And honestly it is pretty impressive just how many ways the Pokémon company has designed a dog. I'm not trying to take anything away from that. Hopefully that clears my point up a bit.
I just shrug my shoulders; it's not my job to police this. Considering I can't even play this game (Nintendo and Mac user), I don't even have the choice whether or not I silently support one or the other (and let's face it: no one would even notice if I chose).
This game looks like fun and well polished...people need to calm down...i don't see the complaining with the thousand zelda likes and metroidvanias that exist
Hopefully this game gets copyright claimed to non-existents.
Did they have help from AI? Yikes
I honestly am fine with the designs in Palworld. Also would be cool if this gets a physical release.
I don‘t care if it plays differently. They knew exactly that they were stealing designs it‘s just a shame that in today‘s world nobody seems to care. Make it so that people have a feeling like they are familiar with it and it will sell. Much like pop-music in that regard.
wow… it’s almost as if this game is a parody of Pokemon! 😱😱😱
I don't care if people want to play this bootleg Fauxèmon game, but I wouldn't waste my time or money on it.
So I looked into the design of all Pals and I can easily say that some of those designs are very obviously stolen from Pokemon - most often combined several body parts from like 3 different Pokemon and sometimes recolored. It is not always visible at the first sight, but sometimes is - and those are the designs where Nintendo might have a chance if they decide to act.
For example, Dinossom is a mix of Goodra, Meganium, Serperior and Liligant (shiny form), including some of the details. Just wow.
Now, there is a big difference between genre inspiration and specific plagiarism. We are talking about stolen designs, not about gameplay/game concept or anything. I like many monster catching games but the art style is always different. Palworld on the other hand, not so much. It does not matter if the designs are cooler/adorable/better (which is very subjective anyways). What does matter is that there are visibly stolen designs or whole parts of them.
So if Nintendo lawyer ninjas want, they can try something. Even if they do not succeed, they should try. Otherwise there will be more thefts and people will think this is ok, and then more shady clones will be on the way. As an artist, I do not support art thievery. Anyone who defends the theft in Palworld is simply a troll or a thief also. Criminality is not ok.
I think that Nintendo/GF should now take the time to collect all evidence, describe all problems and take the neccessary step when Palworld creators will have some attractive money to pay them.
But let's see how it goes and if they actually care at all.
Allegedly the game is super fun and people are loving it.
The game also looks incredibly more developed and polished than any of the disrespectful aberrations defecated by GameFreak. Good for PalWorld.
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Pokemon ripped off animals why isn't nature suing them?
Thankfully it looks like they didn't rip-off Pokemon's terrible performance, ugly visuals and snore inducing gameplay. Let GameFreak/TPC keep those ones to themselves.
@DonkeyBrainKing Competition isn't good if one of the competition is dependent on stealing stuff from the other. Without stealing Pokemon's design this uninspired crap would be no where.
Compare something like Digimon or Yo-Kai Watch has creativity and can produce their own designs independently. Digimon would continue to create its own monsters if Pokemon never existed because it was never 'competing' by just taking Pokemon's designs and changing them a little.
If Pokemon didn't exist Palworld wouldn't have its designs to pillage from. In a world without Pokemon, Palworld would steal from Digimon or Yo-Kai Watch. But really that's just how garbage it is, you can't rely on this developer to actually create anything original.I don't really see what value they're bringing with their asset flip open worlds and stolen designs.
@DonkeyBrainKing I sincerely doubt NL are going to review a game not on a Nintendo system. You know, what with the whole Nintendo bit in thier name...
Anyway, I'm going to eat some waffles now...
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Nah Palworld is fine. Pokemon fans actually need to worry about the quality of their own game first.
I wonder if pokemon took character designs from another game from a smaller studio and altered them with AI just enough so that it didnt ring copyright bells if people here would feel the same.
@Pickettfury They sure don't mind Palworld doing it.
@Ponyolovesgames It's nothing like Pokèmon. The creature designs are similar just like they were in the Nexomon games and Coromon but nobody made a fuss about those plus the gameplay is exactly the same too. Palworld is an Open World survival and tbh given the way the creatures are designed I believe it was done on purpose to be a satire and it definitely wasn't made by A.I, oh and there's no NFTS either despite what he thinks.
This game is just in the same genre as Pokèmon. This isn't the first game to share similarities with another game and it won't be the last and I look forward to seeing what the developers add to the game in future.
@DonkeyBrainKing “ some money to NL to NOT review the game and write dumb articles day after day shaming it?”
The game is not on switch… just xbox and pc
@NinjaWaddleDee “ Pokemon fans actually need to worry about the quality of their own game first.”
Amen
Pokemon fans are psychotic and will defend mediocrity, so if this Palworld is making some angry, have at it, lol. 😂
You can barely even call it subtle.
‘ plays much more like your Valheim and Ark survival games, and there’s even a hint of Breath of the Wild’s gliding, climbing and stamina bar too."
<shudders>
I doubt there's any real legal ground for the Pokemon Company to sue or anything, but it is a blatant rip-off and the artists should be embarrassed to have had anything to do with it. It's certainly not work to be proud of.
Apparently a single person 'designed' all of the Pals.
It's probably a game nobody would talk about (at least not as much as they are doing right now). So I guess the developers have been clever getting a lot of spotlight. It's not even on Nintendo consoles but it's on a site about Nintendo. People tend to be so in need of expressing their opinions online that it's actually pretty easy to catch attention through controversial topics. And because of this the game is probably going to sell a lot more than it would have with a more anonymous/original design.
Bought this game on steam, this game is just sooo good Pfff. Didn't find any bugs, and the fact you can command your Pals to do litt everything. Collect stuff, or do some mining, you can feed them, give some love for better friendship. The battles are also satisfying.
This scratches every itch wat i wanted in a game like that, i seriously hope the developers keep supporting this game, and build it even further, or create a special island in the future, just for some battle/tournaments against lots of online players.
I also love the fact you can choose to play solo in your own world and invite a friend if you want.
Even simple grinding is lots of fun and the fact you Pals can do that for you, while you are doing something else and come back to your base and find louds of stuff you need, collected by your Pals.
*EDIT:
they confirmed it with the roadmap, so thats nice. Pal trade, online Tournaments, raids etc.
A lot of ignorance on show in many comments, especially the early ones.
Just because a company is huge doesn’t mean it’s okay to copy their designs. Nintendo is a big company because of the fact that they’ve done most things right over the past 40 years. They’ve taken risks, invented, avoided safe sequels, hired the right people and promoted the right people. Few companies stay at the top or near the top for that long in any business. They didn’t make it there by stealing other people’s ideas but by being original.
If a company takes the easy/lazy route of copying from other companies and gets away with it, it hurts the whole industry including us players in the end.
Props to NL for this article, lifting things like this is what game journalism is about. And please ignore those whining, even if they’re loud. They’ll grow up. Hopefully.
@B_Lindz They are probably salty, because it's not available on the Nintendo Switch.
@The-Chosen-one That is the problem with this developer and why I won't be supporting them on Steam. I tried it for free via GamePass on my XBOX and that's about it.
Palworld is a literal reskin of their previous game Craftopia, which has been in Early Access like forever and is pretty much abandonware at this point.
Another game AI: Art Imposter is also a game stuck in Early Access and pretty much abandonware.
These devs are terrible and don't finish anything. So they won't be getting a dime from me.
Lowest common denominator tat.
This game is like if Pokemon Legends Arceus, BotW, and Valheim/Rust had a baby. It's really good guys. If you can play it I highly recommend it. The designs are pretty good for the Pals, obviously they were heavily inspired by Pokemon but you know what they say about imitation. Anyways it feels like Arceus but with way more content and can actually run above 30 fps lol Gamefreak better be taking notes. Oh and it's 30 dollars, which is how much Arceus should have been...
Taking "inspiration" from the world's most lucrative media franchise is such a euphemism. Ironically, there's the narrative that only indies are injecting creativity into the industry.
But there's also the other side of that coin like with this game. Let's say the various indies that have obviously copied other games too much have done it in a way that would survive in court. Saying that it's thereby okay is like saying that someone who merges lanes six inches in front of your car is a perfectly upstanding citizen simply because they didn't hit you. There's that extra buffer of deference both when driving and when designing a video game. Before the indiepocalypse or whatever, there were enough lanes that every developer could stay in theirs. Opening things up has allowed for grifters like these people to proliferate. "At least it's not an asset flip!" Let's have some higher standards. Plagiarism is bad, but being derivative is also bad (albeit less so).
Good! Pokemon has been sitting on its laurels for too long. It's past time for other game developers to push them to do better.
The game is so much fun. Game Freak study and take notes. The way they use the Pals is much more exciting then Pokemons and the actual fighting is exciting and not easy even on normal. Pokemon have always been som ridiculous easy that community had to come up with selfimposed rules to make it challenging.
And here you work together with your pals, crafting and defending you base. Pals are very much alive and fun to watch.
And much, much more even though it is still a Game Preview!
Another game that will be here today, gone tomorrow because it fails to create its own identity. Not worth getting up in arms about.
Putting aside how tasteless the concept of "Pokemon with guns" is in the first place, and the default Unreal assets and shady business model, I do agree that this game has managed to make an overworld that looks more like what people want from their 3D games. Pokemon's delivery on that front has been a big failure this gen. However one thing Pokemon has always maintained is appealing creature designs, that are consistent with its tone and world building. It's stupid to justify Palworld on the grounds of Game Freak being creatively bankrupt; the creative side is literally their one clear strength, it's the technical side where they're shamefully cheap.
4 million copies sold in 3 days.
https://www.gematsu.com/2024/01/palworld-early-access-sales-top-four-million-in-three-days
Not as impressive as Scarlet and Violet's 10 million copies in 3 days, but still a very strong start for a literal nobody.
Everything really is embarrassingly similar and I would definitely be against this, but since its Gamefreak we are talking about, I am ok with it. The end justifies the means, I guess. GF exploits the fact that there are many young players, who dont care about the quality of their games, so they had this coming for a long time now.
After the whole Genshin “controversy” after people comparing it to BOTW and after this, I’ve learned that Pokémon and Zelda fans don’t understand what a copycat/theft is.
Also have to laugh at people who haven’t even played the game scream and cry “it’s a rip off” and are sue happy and then calling out the comments who don’t agree with them as “ignorant” and they need to grow up just because they have a different opinion lol. People really need to get a grip over Nintendo and Nintendo doesn’t care if you defend them or not.
Meh, surely not going to support a company what just copies something from a popular franchise and calls it a day. I don't like guns either so the game isn't for me anyway. Hope they get sued.
@Cameron_Poe
Best comment by far.
@CielloArc Most of the players are on Steam, and after only 3 days it's become one of the most successful games of all time on Steam, even beating juggernauts like GTA 5 and Cyberpunk
@Lady_Galadhiel https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/s/zGYAslcJCM
Funny how people conveniently leave that out. Pokèmon was far from the first Monster Tamer and a lot of the Pokèmon designs are clearly inspired by games that came out before it.
@shoeses Mickey Mouse's original design entered the public domain this year. However, any later versions of Micky Mouse that are still owned by Disney cannot be ripped off without violating copyright. The same principle applies here: Real animals are public domain, as far as their "design" goes, but to copy the designs that Nintendo made (or make slight alterations of the designs that are only slightly distinguishable) violates copyright.
@Summer235 What made me laugh is the fact that guy literally only just joined to say that. I'm going to assume most of the people defending Nintendo have law degrees seeing as they seem to know so much and see themselves as legal experts.
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