Pokemon clones are nothing new thanks to the popularity of the franchise and monster-collecting games, but Palworld definitely made a name for itself when its core premise was described as "Pokemon with Guns." Interested parties got to see more of this in action at Summer Game Fest, which saw Palworld's creatures (called Pals) whipping out heavy artillery to take on massive creatures akin to Raid Pokemon seen in recent entries.
It's not uncommon for there to be very similar elements in Pokemon clones either: a certain eye for design to make each unique, a certain gimmick that the Pokemon games haven't tackled yet, and just enough differences to keep the Big N happy. Palworld seems to be walking this line, even dubbing players as "trainers." Where it may be pushing that line is in its designs though. There's a certain, hard-to-define factor when it comes to what makes a Pokemon a Pokemon, and this design factor helps differentiate a lot of clones. It's this certain design factor that has seen many fans argue about Pokemon designs within the franchise and whether they look right or not, but when looking at Palworld, its latest Summer Game Fest trailer shows off Pals that look just like Pokemon.
Palworld is Walking A Thin Line with its Pokemon-Like Designs
To be fair, there are certain creatures that are perhaps just a little too close and some creatures that are entirely unique to Palworld. But many of them look like legitimate Pokemon. The above trailer shows off a Pal that looks almost identical to Wooloo. The only real differences are the eye designs and the color of the little horns, but seeing a trio of Wooloo unleash heavy weapons is a shock factor no matter what. Of course, Palworld could perhaps be forgiven here, as a general sheep design somewhat limits what these creatures look like. However, there are plenty more.
Early on in the trailer, players are seen in the air and to their right is a creature that looks near-identical, at least from this view, to Pokemon White's Zekrom. In the water, players are shown riding a creature that is clearly a Gyarados clone down to the general body shape design and color language (if with a few gold bits). These three are a little too close for comfort, but there are also Eevee-looking creatures, a few creatures that look like fully-black Krookodiles, one that looks like an angry Liligant, an off-beat Latios/Latias, a statue near the end that looks like Lucario, and far more.
What's more, this new Palworld early access trailer comes in just shy of a minute at 58 seconds. If a handful of near-copies are seen and a bunch of similarities, it poses the question of how close unseen creatures, or the equivalent of legendary Pokemon, may come in the full release. For now, fans just have to wait and see, but as the project gets more publicity, it's likely these designs become hotter topics than they are right now.
Palworld launches in 2023 for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.