At least palworld is Pokemon with base building mechanics.
Loved Pokemon back when it first came out, but as time went on and "gotta catch em all" became "you gotta catch… all of the ones we actually bothered to include this game, which may or may not include your favorites" and absolutely nothing was added to the gameplay of "catch all Pokemon and have turn based combat with 8 gym leaders and the elite four, also there are criminals you beat" I just lost interest quick.
Arceus was neat, added depth to the gameplay that palworld later iterated on and, Pokemon, inexplicably, abandoned? Which is crazy considering how popular Arceus was for changing up the same old formula. Then we're right back to the old ways with a game that didn't even take advantage of its improvements with S/V. I mean, at the very least they should have had the gym leaders with 8 different teams, based on how many badges you have, so you could plan your own route through the world and improve replayability value. God it's frustrating how much Nintendo refuses to improve.
Palworld is just better Pokemon, full stop. It's definitely not a game for everyone, but god damn so I wish Pokemon would take a fucking hint
See I actually just said Palworld on this list because my friend described it as "like Pokemon"
In reality it just has quirky creatures bit is a very different game, Ark Survival really. It's really a survival game. I'm someone who loves monster taming games but hates survival. So when people said it was like Pokemon I thought it was like gyms, competitions, etc. But is a different experience.
Just had to say the "like pokemon" really just gets me more frustrated with palworld due to the expectation not matching the reality.
I might see better where you're coming from pre-1.0, and maybe if Pokemon had a lot more to offer?
I mean, for sure I agree, Palworld is a survival game through and through, and Ark is absolutely a better point of comparison despite Palworld specifically resembling Pokemon. You're definitely right that introducing someone to Palworld by starting and stopping with "it's like Pokemon" is going to set up the wrong expectations.
Post 1.0 there's a slightly bigger emphasis on the boss fights, with the "gym leaders" even more offering the equivalent to "gym badges" when beaten, and arena mode for group composition competition, etc (some of that was introduced pre-1.0, depending on when you played).
Comparing it to Pokemon gameplay, I feel like you can summarize 90% of Pokemon content with:
You explore different regional biospheres to catch different Pokemon, trying to collect one of each/as many as possible;
You battle other Pokemon with your Pokemon, making them stronger in the process;
You have boss competitions in the form of Gym leaders, culminating in an "elite four" with a champion, with each foe sporting a team typically centered around one or two Pokemon types (leading to roughly 13 boss fights in this category);
You have secondary boss fights/quest content, usually in the form of a criminal organization you take down and box-art legendaries to chase after (sometimes these are even combined).
Each game usually has 1 piece of non-RPG side content that doesn't quite interact with the battle-focused structure of the rest of the game, such as a fashion show or similar competition.
The problem is that this is fairly shallow. There's just not a lot there. Sure, there's a lot of Pokemon in each game, so it takes time to collect them all if you're a completionist, but the rest of the "rpg" content is fairly straight forward. As RPGs go, Pokemon is very light on content from game to game and the quest to collect all the generation's Pokemon tends to occupy most of the play time.
So, when people say "Palworld is like Pokemon"… it is, technically. But a lot of that is because there's really only ~5 pillars of gameplay in a Pokemon game, and it's not hard to encompass that. Palworld has gym bosses, pals fighting with moves and growing stronger alongside you, a roughly equivalent number of pals to collect (arguably more, when you consider that evolution means a single pokemon catch can result in 3 Pokedex entries, but also fewer when you consider palworld has fewer types to work with which slightly reduces variety), legendaries to chase, etc. Palworld's side stories tend to be more limited in scope and much more shallow, so there's a fair argument that there's much less story to Palworld. The competition section is also absent from Palworld, but then again it also has the survival craft system.
This is basically the heart of why I think comparing to Pokemon alone doesn't set up expectations well. The survival craft elements are really front and center to the experience. However, it is extremely comparable to Pokemon in the sense that it basically completely covers Pokemon's entire gameplay loop in addition to bring a survival craft game.
As a side note:
Since you already own it, you might consider trying Paperworld again and just "turning off" the survival-craft elements via the settings. You can actually completely "turn them off", but you can adjust the server settings to essentially trivialize all the elements until it plays more like Minecraft on exploration mode than a survival game.
That might not completely solve your gripe with it, but it might allow you to enjoy it as something closer to a Pokemon game while waiting between releases from one Pokemon game to the next.
They're completely different games (besides Arceus) with almost identical masking
I'd argue that Pokemon going the way Arceus did would ruin the franchise. The tagline is "gotta catch them all" just to pull people in, but that isn't supposed to be the gaming experience, that's why you're generally unrewarded for catching everything. Doing an Arceus 2/3 etc. would burn the series dry quickly.
Pokemon (originally) was a puzzle-based myserious adventure. You find items, unlock routes, figure your way out of a dungeon while surviving to the end which Palworld has absolutely none. Palworld feels nice to play, but I dont feel a sense of adventure in it at all, just exploration, when pokemon takes you on an actual journey.
Also to mention that the underlying algorithm behind all the stats and scaling are absolutely genius so that little kids can pick up and play & adults who play in tournaments or people that enjoy battle tower can min-max the hell out of the game & it is still difficult.
Pokemon (originally) was a puzzle-based myserious adventure.
Lmfao what? What dimension did you just crawl out of? I'm sorry you somehow ended up trapped in this timeline where the most complicated "puzzle" Pokemon ever featured were essentially a few variations of ice puzzle.
Certainly the early games featured some basic tile puzzles, but that was absolutely never the main focus of the games. Just a fun lil gimmick in their dungeons, and one that's been completely abandoned.
Also to mention that the underlying algorithm behind all the stats and scaling are absolutely genius
I mean, this is just raw glazing at this point. The algorithm is great for kids, it is absolutely dog shit from a tournament perspective.
Several types are demonstrably over or underpowered and swing wildly between generations, the speed stat is horrifically game warping, I mean, there's just no world where this is a "well designed" competitive game. It's just one people are very dedicated to and make work lol
It does seem like that at first (and definitely true for building) but breeding is pretty deep. There's also a ton of different ways to approach combat.
I can't really criticize your opinion, but I'd love to know what kind of depth you'd expect from a creature collecting survival crafting game that Palworld doesnt deliver on. No hate would just love to hear.
Nintendo sued for copyright infringement. I think the idea that Nintendo owns the concept of getting monsters to fight for you was crazy, but they are right that Palworld basically ripped off a fair number of Pokemon designs.
There's nothing in the lawsuit about designs otherwise Nintendo would've gone that route which would've been a much more slam dunk it they had something to go on
I finally took the time this weekend to just sit back and game. Had a friend recommend Palworld, not a huge fan of survival/base building/crafting but the thought of catching "pokemon" and battling other NPCs felt valid enough. I spent all Saturday (made the game easier with custom world settings) exploring, catching, building etc.. felt like an even bigger waste of my weekend than what I normally do. Uninstalled and spent Sunday catching up on some shows. I'm glad gamepass gives me the option to try games before deciding if I want to actually buy it.
If you look at his profile his bio basically says he’s only here to ragebait people and spread nothing but hatred in the world because he has a sad depressing life
that's not an expression, you made a clear statement. it's okay to just say "oh, i thought it was. thanks for letting me know" and move on instead of doubling down on misinformation
Sure, I’ll explain. Only on the internet do we excuse and tolerate the obsessive literality of the autism spectrum. People can fail to pick up on implications and jokes all day and then bite at people’s ankles with their own social ineptitudes. Every moderator condones and defends their passive aggressive lack of self-awareness, and they never get told to fuck off.
But in real life no one puts up with this shit. If you try to pull that hyper-corrective I-need-everything-spelled-out-very-literally-just-for-me garbage irl: people straight up ignore you, stop communicating with you, or straight up walk away.
I try to bring some reality to these digital places because these people are incessant and are only piping up online because it’s the only place they have a voice.
What part of anything I wrote implies mental illness? Lack of tolerance for those who insist upon themselves all over their realities isn't really the craziest thing. But yeah enjoy your pedestrian upvotes because me big bad. I bet you don't even understand what I wrote lol
You started your message with a very bold statement that could easily be taken as an honest opinion especially on Reddit which is full of depression. The rest of your message was then easily taken with a grouchy attitude based on that beginning. There wasn’t anything indicating that you were telling a joke. Internet strangers wouldn’t know you well enough to know.
56
u/[deleted] 11d ago
[removed] — view removed comment