It's no secret that Genshin Impact is inspired by Breath of the Wild. In fact, many gamers were outraged at this fact when Genshin Impact was first announced. But Breath of the Wild's success has led to many other inspired games as well, such as Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Some fans point out the art styles are suspiciously similar while others think the open-world aspects closely mimic those of Breath of the Wild.
And now that it has nearly started its own genre of gaming, Palia will combine these open-world exploration elements and turn them into a massively multiplayer game, bringing together players from all over the world, surpassing the stigma of being a "Zelda clone" the same way Genshin Impact did.
Palia's Open-World Exploration
Much like Breath of the Wild, exploration will be only second to the community simulator that is Palia. The game features a massive open-world, and though it may not be quite as large as Breath of the Wild's map, Singularity 6 says in a press release, it will feel less empty. Instead, it will be filled with other players and neighborhoods, which act as Palia's version of guild systems. So while exploration might be inspired by Breath of the Wild in the same way the Genshin Impact was, what's discovered along the way is what will make Palia special.
Still, players will find obvious similarities between Breath of the Wild and Palia, such as combat being an optional part of exploration. The are many bosses in the Legend of Zelda title that players can simply choose not to go head-to-head with, including the Divine Beasts. The same can be said about Palia. Hang gliding will even make an appearance, as shown in the gameplay trailer. It's all a part of making Palia as relaxing yet enticing as possible.
Palia's Cooperative and Multiplayer Elements
While Genshin Impact has some cooperative elements, it doesn't come close to a traditional MMORPG, and many fans have criticized how limiting Genshin's multiplayer mode can be. Sill, players can come together in maximum teams of four to fight bosses and complete domains to gather loot for character leveling. It looks like Palia will be some of the same, at least in the way of cooperative loot. Like Genshin Impact, players can certainly complete the quests on their own, but Singularity 6 encourages collaborative gameplay to enhance Palia's experience.
Also like Genshin Impact, Palia will connect players no matter what server they're on. Perhaps one guild will focus on dungeon crawling and gathering loot, while another neighborhood is focused solely on the farming sim aspect of the game. Palia will connect players based on their interests and gameplay styles no matter where they come from.
Players will also notice that the main town in Palia closely resembles Mondstadt from Genshin Impact and its surrounding areas. But similar to how Mondstadt is the main city only at the start of Genshin Impact, players won't be limited to this town, though they will revisit it during quests and the main story repetitively. Like any open-world game, players won't be limited to only small chunks of the world. Instead, players will be completely free to climb, swim, and hang glide throughout Palia as they please, and this world will grow as time passes, much like how players are patiently awaiting the region of Inazuma to join Genshin Impact's map.
But what makes Palia stand out against the bunch is how players will come together and shape its world through the communities and neighborhoods. So while it may seem like Palia could be just another "clone" in the same genre, players will find that this open-world isn't as barren as the worlds of Breath of the Wild and Genshin Impact and instead will be filled with hundreds of others in a virtual simulator.
Palia is currently in development.