The Pokemon franchise is no stranger to clones, or imitators. Being an overnight success back in 1996, Pokemon has been aped at every corner. This was particularly prominent in the early 2000s, with other popular franchises like Digimon and even Dragon Quest jumping in on the collecting and battling monsters trend. Though Pokemon clones have become less popular in recent years, that hasn't stopped some developers from trying to put a unique spin on the formula, and the upcoming Palworld certainly does that.
Set to release sometime in 2023, Palworld is one of the more high-profile Pokemon clones out there. Being an open-world multiplayer game, it draws many similarities with the recently released Temtem, though there are a few key differences between the two. Where Temtem is essentially just the standard Pokemon gameplay formula brought into an MMO, Palworld is a third-person survival shooter where players can use their monsters in any way they see fit, giving the player-character some serious Team Rocket vibes.
Palworld Is a Much Darker Take On Pokemon
In Palworld, players are thrust into a fantastical, but dangerous open-world. While exploration is a key part of the overall experience, survival is by far the most important aspect. Players will need to manage their hunger, their temperature, and all the other usual survival game stats, and they're encouraged to do so by any means possible.
In Pokemon, the titular monsters are always viewed as somewhat sentient creatures that have their own personality and motivations. Although the trainer makes them duel each other to the point of exhaustion, it's all done mutually in the pursuit to become the very best. Palworld, on the other hand, makes it clear that its monsters, simply called Pals, are there to be exploited by the player. Players are encouraged to set their Pals to work on a farm and harvest resources, build structures for the player, and defend the settlement from outside attackers. Players can even create a factory, and set their Pals to work in it, creating various resources and crafting materials at a consistent rate. There is no teamwork or equality in Palworld; there is only the player and their underlings.
Eventually, players will unlock the ability to create guns, which is a surprisingly big part of Palworld's marketing material so far. These guns can then be made in the player's factories, and later equipped by both the player-character and their Pals. This leads to some hilariously dark imagery, with little bunny monsters wielding assault rifles and adorably-round sheep holding down the fort with a line of machine guns. In another particularly dark twist, players can even eat some of their Pals and feed them to each other. The juxtaposition between bright, colorful and cute - all things that fans of Pokemon would expect from a clone - and sinister imagery like guns, slave labor, and captivity make Palworld a true stand out for the genre.
The promotional material for Palworld even mentions that players will be able to sneak into prohibited zones and capture a slew of endangered Pals, which is expressly illegal in the in-game world. While they never went as far as Pokemon cannibalism, Team Rocket would be both impressed and appalled by what players are capable of when Palworld finally releases at some stage next year.
Palworld launches in 2023 for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.