Every major franchise is bound to have its imitators. Pokemon is by no means an exception. There's tons of other games out there that are all about collecting cute, magical monsters and leading them in battle against other monsters. Generally, Pokemon imitators stick to very similar themes, being very family friendly and focusing on adorable creatures instead of complicated stories. However, one Pokemon imitator that seems determined to break that pattern just got announced. It's called Palworld, and in this open-world survival game, players can both collect monsters and craft guns and other realistic military equipment to wage war with other Pal owners.
There's no doubt about Palworld being a vastly different imitator. Palworld blew up on Twitter as soon as the game was revealed, with users making all kinds of comments about the shocking blend of adorable Pokemon-esque monsters with militarism and heavy weapons. That Twitter response has already defined Palworld's reputation; it'll always be known by potential fans as Pokemon with guns. However, that can't be the game's whole identity. If it markets itself that way and its mechanics really focus on that combination of two facets, Palworld might not have enough completely unique ideas to sell players on its premise.
Palworld Could Be Trapped in Pokemon Comparisons
On the one hand, Palworld is at risk of being the butt of a running joke in the Pokemon community. The combination of guns and Pokemon results in really extreme tonal dissonance because most people never imagined that anyone would ever make a game like Palworld. The fact that someone is actually trying to do it could stay laughable to some people. On the other hand, developer Pocketpair Games risks facing criticism for attempting this blend of genres. After all, there's certainly something unsettling about the way player characters grab their Pals and use them as living shields in spite of their obvious distress. The idea of actually shooting guns at Pokemon-like monsters is a little troubling too. Some might find Palworld's design callous or distasteful.
That means that Palworld needs to find a way to describe its central concept as something other than "Pokemon with guns". If Palworld can present an interesting story and a well-constructed setting that make Palworld's seemingly incongruous building blocks make sense together, then maybe the video game community will pause for thought and give Palworld a try. After all, Pokemon has a long history of developing beautiful, engaging regions and fun if simple stories that draw players into the world. That's what Palworld really needs to learn from Pokemon other than filling the world with cute monster companions.
Making Palworld More Than Pokemon
Outside of that, though, Palworld needs to establish itself as a well-rounded game in its own right. If it's going to focus so much on players using guns, for example, Palworld needs to come up with diverse weapon options and fun gunplay; it can't just rely on the shock value of shooting at Pals to justify the presence of guns. The same goes for the other survival elements of Palworld. Crafting and resource collecting seem like a great way to differentiate Palworld from the turn-based combat focused Pokemon games, and so Pocketpair Games should make sure to create a sophisticated survival system that rewards players for doing more than fighting Pals.
Odds are that Palworld will never totally escape its Pokemon comparisons. The Pals are just too close to Pokemon in premise for the game to ever totally stand on its own. The other ideas that Pocketpair Games is pairing with the Pokemon concept are probably the studio's best bet in making Palworld feel like a truly fresh game. Palworld is a little bit of a shocking take on the Pokemon concept, but it's also an interesting take on the survival genre. Maybe this game has more to offer to its genres than the game community expects.
Palworld releases for PC in 2022.