5 Reasons Why Pokemon Fans Should Be Excited for Palworld

January’s looking to be a bit of a quieter month, but there’s one game releasing in the next few weeks that might very well keep us occupied for a while. Here’s why you should be excited for Palworld.

It’s a Multiplayer Pokemon Game

I mean, need I say more? Pokemon fans have been clamoring for a Pokemon MMO game for years, or at the very least, improved multiplayer functionality. While Nintendo has lagged behind in that regard, Pocketpair seems primed to deliver just that with Palworld.

You can play Palworld with three other players in a session, where you can properly explore the world together, capture Pals, trade, and battle with each other. In addition to that, you can also set up a dedicated server to allow for up to 32 players to join in at once. That’s pretty crazy, and really gives us an idea of what a proper Pokemon MMORPG could look like if Nintendo ever decided to go that route.

Not only that, Pocketpair has promised to look into increasing player capacity per server going forward. There won’t be any PvP at launch, but that’s a feature that’ll come along later.

A Dark Twist

What really grabbed my attention with Palworld was the fact that it’s a lot more adult and darker than your typical Pokemon game. Everything looks happy and shiny on the surface, but if you take the time to actually watch the various instructional videos and look at the screenshots, you’ll see that the game can get pretty morbid at times.

For instance, when you capture a Pal, you can either use them in combat, get them to work or farm for you, or y’know, eat them. Yes, you can eat your Pals in Palworld. That’s pretty grim, if you ask me. But I, for one, have always longed for the day my character would be able to eat a Slowpoke in Pokemon, so really, this is a dream come true. Anyway.

Let’s also not forget the fact that you can get Pals to manufacture guns for you in a factory. The game also doesn’t shy away from violence, allowing you to pelt them with bullets and proper weapons like guns and a bow. It’s actually quite refreshing to see a mature Pokemon-like game, and that alone is enough to get me hooked.

Lots of Different Weapon Types

Speaking of guns, there are tons of different weapon types to check out in Palworld. The ones we’ve seen so far are not particularly interesting, and are mostly conventional weapons like guns and bows as mentioned above.

That being said, the fact that you can use grenades, rocket launchers, and automatic rifles in a game that’s taking inspiration from Pokemon is pretty jarring, and makes for a more interesting title. At this point, I should mention that Crema’s Temtem tried to do the whole Pokemon MMO thing a few years ago. The problem was, it felt way too derivative on top of being a little buggy. Palworld may look like a Pokemon clone, but it’s clearly going for a very different vibe.

Capturing Mechanics are More Involved and Dynamic

Speaking of Pokemon, the Pal capture mechanics in Palworld are much more involved and in-depth than your typical Pokemon game. Similar to Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Palworld lets you capture Pokemon in real-time out in the open-world.

You can sneak up on them, throw Spheres at them from afar, and various factors will determine your capture rate. Injuring them helps, being close to them also helps, and you’ll also want to pinpoint their weaknesses before going in for the capture. It’s all pretty standard stuff, but doing all of this in real-time instantly makes captures feel a lot more interesting right from the start.

There’s Farming and Jobs

Finally, and this is the most important one for me personally: there’s a farming sim element in Palworld. We don’t quite know the extent of it yet, but you’ll be able to put your captured Pals to work, as mentioned previously, and get them working in a farm. Or a factory, if you’re feeling particularly sadistic on any given day.

But let’s keep it wholesome and family-friendly. Your Pals can work on a farm to help you grow crops. Every Pal also has different attributes that make them suited for different kinds of jobs. For instance, you might find a Pal that’s more suited for mining, and you may want to send them out into a cave while your other Pals tend to the crops.

The point is that Palworld seems to have a lot going for it. There are plenty of mechanics here that sound amazing when put together; it just remains to be seen whether Pocketpair can actually pull it off.

Palworld is set to be released via Steam Early Access on Jan. 19, 2024.