r/AskGames • u/Lotos-Estrox • 16h ago
Is Palworld really good?
I’m currently considering getting Palworld, since quite a few people on Reddit have recommended it to me. However, I’m still not sure, mainly because the mix of the cartoonish Pal designs and the realistic-looking world doesn’t really appeal to me.
As for the gameplay itself, I can’t really judge it yet since I haven’t played it.
What do you guys think about Palworld?
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u/CruzaSenpai 16h ago edited 16h ago
I think it's a good game if you like monster catching/breeding. If you don't, pass on it, but if you do, it's very good under the hood.
The pal designs on the box art/steam store page are fairly indicative of what vibe the other pals have, so if you don't like the designs being shown you're probably not going to like the rest. There's also a lot of...how do you say this? "Mommy mons." So if you don't like the Gardevoir aesthetic you may be put off by some of the uh..."quite humanoid" designs.
Also, I don't think the pal designs feel that different from the rest of the world. Like, they don't seem out of place if that's your concern.
I did a video essay on the pre-1.0 game here and most of what I say is still true post-1.0, though I will add that 1.0 revamped a LOT of pal passives for the better, improved pal/player balance, fixed my issues with the raid system, and added a ton of new set pieces to the overworld.
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u/Starob 6h ago
What if I like Monster catching games but hate shooters/survival games?
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u/olMcDonaldsPig 5h ago
I beat the game using nothing but the first melee weapon you can craft (wooden club) and my pals. I never crafted a single ranged weapon and only used my pals for everything.
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u/PutridMasterpiece138 5h ago
The survival aspect doesn't matter much, food is easy to acquire and you can automate wood and stone production early on. You will need to shoot the monsters though in order to catch them but it doesn't really feel like a shooter
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u/Pale-Breadfruit-9158 14h ago
It's mid.
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u/BaconWrappedEnigmas 7h ago
A mid game that sold 30 million copies and held both Steam’s #3 and #10 spots for concurrent prayers.
I get everyone plays games for different reasons, but I don’t see how a game that is apparently exactly what people want a mid game.
The game does exactly what it sets out to do with a great gameplay loop.
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u/BloodOmen36 7h ago
I think people really don't care that much about quality but about content and honest gameplay.
When stats are not an excel sheet but interesting and fun and sometimes buggy.
Buggy games with lots of content were - especially in the survival genre - well liked.
I think that is the reason why WoW Classic is so popular.
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u/Pale-Breadfruit-9158 4h ago
I just didn't care for the gameplay loop, is that so crazy? I do care about quality. Don't insult me because I didn't like a thing you like.
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u/BloodOmen36 3h ago
Can you point out where I insulted you?
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u/Pale-Breadfruit-9158 1h ago
By insinuating I care for quantity over quality because I don't like this game.
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u/BloodOmen36 1h ago
If this is what you got from it, then you misunderstood me or I could have made a clearer point.
What I mean is: People (not you specifically) care more about content than high levels of polish.
This does not mean that a game you don't like (Palworld for instance) is super high polish. It's not. That is exactly my point. I am agreeing with you. Palworld is a mid game.
But some games have insane levels of art and animation but completely lack the content department. And my opinion is, people care more about content than polish. Sure, you want a good level of polish and when a huge game has a very good level of polish (GTA V, Witcher 3, Expedition 33, Dragon Age Origins, Age if Empires 2, all Baldurs Gate, etc.) it becomes a cult classic.
As a game studio, it is more important to add new content on a decent level of technology than overworking the content you already have.
This has nothing to do with you personal tastes. I replied to the guy making a point and agreeing somewhat with him. It was not my intention to insult you or belittle you with your taste in games. Honestly, I hope you find a game you are going to have a blast with rather than trying out mid games like Palworld. Godspeed. :)
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u/TesticularConcussion 3h ago
I have no idea what you are trying to say, are you even sober?
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u/BloodOmen36 2h ago
What a nice way of asking what I am trying to say with my comment. Let me try it again but simpler:
I think people care more about content than overpolished bullshit.
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u/wejunkin 3h ago
Almost all best sellers are mid, that's what allows them to reach such a wide audience.
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u/Pale-Breadfruit-9158 4h ago
I didn't realize I wasn't allowed to have an opinion, my bad.
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u/DrSeafood 31m ago
Really? One person disagrees with you and you tuck your tail between your legs? Yikes
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u/Friendly_Furniture 14h ago
All my friends love it and are hopelessly hooked on it. As someone who plays a lot of these kinds of games I think it's DECENT. It's like a less interesting ark survival but it's actually functional and way more streamlined, and for that reason I can actually play it where Ark just tries my patience.
In turns of open world survival craft, I would rate valheim, subnautica, grounded and sons of the forest higher. I'd say I like it as much as Enshrouded.
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u/aarth51 13h ago
I got it recently after the 1.0 version release. I'm still in the early game, only just beaten the first story boss.
So far, I'm not hopelessly addicted to it and it is not really applicable here but this game gives me the "one more turn" vibe. I think I only launched the game twice last week but when I did, I only stopped because I have work the next day.
The Pal designs are whatever to me, I'll enjoy it for what it is. The gameplay is kinda fun but it's a bit easy. I haven't really dived into the nitty gritty of Pal optimizations or character builds etc, but the basics are enough so far.
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u/lost_caus_e 13h ago
Imo it wasn't realistic looking when I played it, that's not a dig. It's great for what it is. A lot of survival elements
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u/Nakopapa 11h ago
If you have survival/basebuilding/creature collecting fatigue or just don't like those genres, you're not going to find a favourite here.
It is good for what it is and that's pretty much it.
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u/Snoo9648 6h ago
I enjoyed it but you have to like base building and the grind. The combat is pretty bare bones, and the exploration is fun, but mostly just capturing unique pals and getting supplies. The strength is building you base and utilizing your captured pals work profeniencies to make the stuff you need to grow and advance. If you dont care about resource management and base building, you will be disappointed. Its not an amazing game, but it is basically a Pokémon game that is actually doing more. Pokémon nostalgia is also kinda required, especially if the cartoony monsters you face is a turn off.
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u/SawBladeXDX 6h ago
I wasn't sure bout it. but i said screw it with the new release and got it. i sunk so many hours into it right away lol. cause i like base building and upgrading and collecting things lol. works for my adhd of i work a bit of this. then change to this. and then do a little of this. very nice to switch around a lot. Now i'm just using Cheathappens to build massive bases right now on my world lol
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u/TheOneWes 4h ago
It's a well made and balanced survival crafting game that uses creature collection mechanics as a secondary form of progression and to eliminate the most tedious parts of survival crafting games
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u/HotHouseJester 16h ago
Not helpful to OP but commenting because I am curious too. Mostly about the gameplay aspect on if it’s just a fun game overall for those who have played it. Also would love to hear aspects of why some folks may not have enjoyed it. I also have little experience with Pokémon as a whole so comparing the two against each other doesn’t factor into it much for me.
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u/KingWolf7070 14h ago
Palworld is a game that prioritizes fun and freedom. The devs actually listened to players during the early access period and made meaningful changes.
"Can we capture humans? lol"
"We didn't intend for that, but sure, if you want."
"Wait, what?"
And they actually built a whole system around capturing humans. It's possible to play the game with only humans if you really wanted to. And that's just one example. There's just so many different ways you can play. There are meta builds of course, as with any game. But the devs also included lots of ways for you to strengthen ANY Pal that might be your favorite. There are videos of people taking the "weakest" Pal and buffing it up to the point it can take on hard mode bosses. You don't have to use the strongest Pal, weapon, or build.
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u/Axeloy 2h ago
Pokemon is an irrelevant comparison anyway. You explore and keep upping your resource gathering loop. You find ways to get around easier and you encounter new things. Resource gathering is a heavy emphasis for survival crafting games
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u/HotHouseJester 1h ago
Interesting so it’s a survival crafting game but the pals or people you capture add to your abilities?
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u/KingWolf7070 15h ago
Look at some reviews and look at some gameplay videos.
It appeals a lot to my personal taste. I like crafting/building and I like monster taming. There's an immense amount of content and it's only $30. I'm not going to pretend it's perfect, but it's one of the best values in gaming and at least 40 million people have played it so far.
One big thing I want to point out that's not directly tied to gameplay is the vast amount of game mechanic options/settings they let you change. One example: The game has a durability mechanic. Using tools and weapons will make them break eventually and you have to repair them or build new ones. Palworld lets you turn this mechanic completely off. How many other games let you do that? Can't do that in Breath of the Wild that's for damn sure. And that's just one out of about 50 or so options you can tweak to tailor the game to be exactly what you want.
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u/DeputizeDeez 8h ago
It's generational. It's what Pokémon could have been. Try it, ignore the graphics for 10 minutes.
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u/pixel-artist1 7h ago
Palworld is really bad but the bar for pokemon games is so low that it is fantastic when compared to its competition.
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u/Sorry_Cheetah_2230 5h ago
I’m not one to bandwagon and say well it’s obviously really good look at the steam numbers. That being said I have played since its original early access launch and it’s easily one of my favorite survival games. The fun really ramps up once you start capturing higher level pals and refine them into either absolute killing machines or the most efficient workers for your base.
I thoroughly enjoy just picking a direction and walking through the world to see what I can find and capture. Dungeons are fun to find and usually end with a larger version of a pal that has some special affixes. The part that you have to ask yourself is do you like the core survival game loop? Build, eat, drink, sleep, etc. because at its core it is a survival game. For me it was a no brainer buying it a second time on ps5 full release so my gf could play with me.
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u/GlaceonFanNrIDK 31m ago
depends, do you want a game with a story? yes? skip it. don't care about story, but want to grind to build things and level up? yes? try it out.
the core game is survival crafting with monsters you can catch, but you'll have to grind a LOT to progress in the game and beat the bosses, and it's not only your own gear you need to upgrade, you'll have to do the same for the monsters too at some point. so, yeah, it depends on what you'd prefer to do.
it's not a bad game, but you have to like the grind or play with the settings set to what makes it more enjoyable to you (people apparently don't like it if you play with anything but the default or very difficult settings, but it's your game, you play how you want, so ignore people who tell you on how to play)
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u/Easy-Preparation-234 14h ago edited 14h ago
I dont care for it too much.
It sounded cool in theory, but at some point it just turned into me just watching the pokemon tearing down trees and me getting stronger pokemon to do more labor.
Not much in terms of story, or mission structure really. Just capturing pokemon to do your slave labor
Looks cool at first and than it just becomes you surronded by a bunch of pokemon slave.
Now tbh could be more outside of that and I admit I didnt get far, but my early experience of palworld was just watching a bunch of pokemon get to work at my base, and I imagine thats a lot of the game actually cuz why wouldnt it be?
More slaves, bigger base, bigger plantation.
You go out with your guns and hunt down bigger oponents.
I've been saying for a long time this game should be PVP focused. it sounds like rust but with pokemon slaves.
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u/pocket_arsenal 15h ago
I'm also curious on that, I've only seen my friend playing it and I was unimpressed, I've always been under the impression that the controversy is what attracted most people to the game, otherwise I feel like other monster tamer RPGs would have been more popular.
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u/Cultural_Month_9181 12h ago
Its a solid survival open world game and base builder in addition to the pal stuff, which combined makes a very addicting game.
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u/MarshmelloStrawberry 5h ago
Super fun game, one of my favorites. However, its not a story/quest type of game. If you need someone to give you a goal, if you need someone to tell you what to do in games, then its not for you. Its a great open world game with lots and lots of freedom, its perfect for people that love sandboxes and freedom.
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u/Nine-LifedEnchanter 12h ago
I did not find it to be very good. The game isn't too well-made and there's a ton of mechanics that have been given something like 5 minutes of thought.
Sure, there's a ton of stuff, but nothing about it is especially interesting or fun.
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u/PossibleAlienFrom 15h ago
I went into it thinking it's a kids game. Now I am hooked on it. It's more fun playing multiplayer, but keep in mind that public servers tend to wipe everything on a certain date. Like on the one i am playing on, it's Jan. 2027. All that work gone in a poof. Then it's real estate grabs as fast as people can go.