Previously, I reviewed Palworld in a very unconventional way by our usual standards. In keeping with the style of that piece, and making a two-parter out of them, here’s another listicle on the subject that will probably be more text-heavy than the average.
The Opinion
This also means that now, we come to the rambly part, which will hopefully be kept coherent thanks to the format. I have a lot of thoughts about the game, and maybe equally many regarding the discourse surrounding it. But to start, let’s address:
1. The Popularity
There have been some debate – if you can call it that – on the internet as to why Palworld has been as popular as it is. There have been some fair arguments, such as the game itself being fun, or that it’s riding on the coattails of a few survival games that came shortly before, such as Valheim and V Rising. Sure, these contribute, but they are definitely not the main reason. Because the answer to that has been obvious from the start: the way it’s been inexplicably called Pokemon with guns.
In fact, this was the sentiment when the earliest trailers for Palworld was released – some of which have since been made private, probably because they showed off features that don’t exist in its current iteration. No doubt the online media had something to do with this, since nothing feeds the internet algorithms like the biggest franchise to ever exist.
Now, don’t get me wrong, the game is definitely fun. As mentioned earlier, Palworld combines the best of a few games, or even genres, to end up where it is at. But I would be hard pressed to agree that this game rose to popularity without the implication that it took Pokemon, a mostly family-friendly franchise, and parodied it with unbridled gun violence and dark themes. And as mentioned, the mismatch is what makes it fun, at least initially.
The Palworld story is wild.
Dubbed “Pokémon With Guns”, the game has sold 6m+ copies in past 4 days (making its developer Pocket Pair over $100m on a ~$7m budget).
Some details on the game development process:
◻️ CEO Takuro Mizobe worked at JPMorgan Securities before launching… pic.twitter.com/x9PG3UsrhI
— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) January 24, 2024
There’s a post on X, previously Twitter, attributing a quote to Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe which goes along the lines of “Americans like to shoot things”. This was, in context, to justify the existence of guns in the game, as for it to be successful in the world, it had to be successful in the US. I could not find the source of the quote, but I’ve seen it being attributed to an interview Mizobe did with Wired Japan. Having not seen the line being mentioned, I’d say take the veracity of the quote with a pinch of salt.
2. The Controversy
Continuing directly with the point above, if Palworld was a game that’s suffering from success, another part of the suffering comes from the allegations of plagiarism. Many of it are unfounded at best, with detractors only having a case with a handful of pals at best. The rest, half don’t bear a resemblance at all, and claiming otherwise would be Dhalsim levels of stretch. The remaining half, you’ll have to squint really hard to see the similarities. But for those, I’d argue there are only so many ways you can make a fantasy sheep or penguin.
I went through the entire 111 list of Pals in Palworld to see what seems like a Pokémon rip off compared to not, because I’ve seen a lot of people talk about it but no full comprehensive list. Here’s what I found (it’s a lot) 🧵 pic.twitter.com/EPSpBvC9hD
— Cecilia Fae 🍂 (@CeciliaFae) January 21, 2024
Sure, there is convincing evidence floating around on the internet like the way Direhowl is basically Lycanroc, with the 3D model being ripped from a Pokemon game and tweaked. Same argument for Azurobe being a mix of a Serperior and Primarina. I’ll link the former here, and it’s a long thread that’s only a small part of the whole discussion. It would make for an interesting read when you have the time.
Maybe they're brothers? #Palworld #Pokemon #Lycanroc model from SV. pic.twitter.com/KnGSozfJGQ
— byo (@byofrog) January 21, 2024
If anything, this would be what The Pokemon Company would work with if a suit is to be filed against Pocketpair and Palworld. And indeed, VGC reports that two anonymous game artists think so, and quite strongly at that. But to quote a line by one Dr Sternhardt from Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (and dating myself in the process), “Evidence is easy. You’re surrounded by it. PROOF… Now that’s hard“.
While we’re on the subject of “inspiration”, why is everyone so fixated on Palworld Pals’ similarities to Pokemon? Clearly Pocketpair has a wider world to draw from, rather than the literary well that some “Pokemon fans” seem to dwell in. That Grizzbolt that people keep comparing to Electabuzz? Are people really thinking that’s where the idea came from, rather than My Neighbour Totoro? And are people really thinking Anubis looks like Lucario, and not, y’know, the original eponymous Egyptian god?
If Nintendo or indeed The Pokemon Company were to file a suit against Pocketpair for Palworld, that would have happened years ago, back when the first trailers were shown. To say that the company’s legion of lawyers are efficient would be an understatement, and to only release a statement after Palworld has launched would be uncharacteristic of them. In fact, here’s an example of the swiftness you can usually expect when the Company has a clear case to work with.
3. The Developer
Of all the reasons to pan Palworld for, this is probably the most valid one. While claims of plagiarism is pushing it, comments about the game lacking originality are fair, especially when you see what other titles Pocketpair has under its belt. And then there’s the worry that, once the studio finds the next great mix of existing ideas, there’s a not unsubstantiated worry that Palworld will be abandoned for it.
For context, Pocketpair has four games to its name, at least on Steam. Of the four, three are still in early access. And of the three, one of them – Craftopia – is basically Palworld with normal animals instead of Pals, very broadly speaking and devoid of all nuance. The game has since gotten two updates since the monster collecting title was released, but notice the two year gap between the recent 24 January update and the one that came before it.
As mentioned, there are worries – and not unfounded ones – that the studio will abandon Palworld for its next big thing just like Craftopia was seemingly forgotten. Also worth pointing out that the latter got its early access launch in 2020. Compare this to Baldur’s Gate 3, which got its early access release in the same year, and was fully released last year to critical acclaim.
If you want to know more about Pocketpair, it’s probably best to give this blog post and the Wired Japan interview linked above a read. Both are in Japanese, but machine translation does a good enough job that you’ll get enough of it. And while they paint the picture of a maverick of a developer, it also doesn’t exactly scream reliability.
4. The Future
And finally, the success of Palworld despite all the issues listed above is sure to have sent ripples across the gaming industry. But it remains to be seen whether this will actually result in positive or negative effects.
On one hand, part of the discourse of Palworld being Pokemon with guns is that it would shake things up enough so that Nintendo and Game Freak would do better for their next game. One would hope, considering the reception of Scarlet and Violet minus financially. But at the same time, if anything in this world is too big to fail, it would probably be the literal most successful franchise in the world.
Similarly, I worry that the success of Palworld would encourage larger developers to adopt a similar strategy. Don’t get me wrong, early access is not always a bad idea, and Baldur’s Gate 3 is definitive proof of it being a great idea. But as usual, big name publishers are notorious for learning all the wrong lessons, and we start seeing the likes of EA and Ubisoft churning out early access titles en masse and not finishing them in a timely manner, if at all.
After all has been said and done, the addition of Palworld into this world is probably a good one. Now that I think about it, it’s the desire to experience this good and the threat of it never leaving early access – as well as a very rare instance of me succumbing to FOMO – that I bought Palworld in the first place. I don’t particularly regret it, and it still being in early access gives me hope that it will be better with time.
But at the same time, the developer having three early access games simultaneously does not inspire confidence, even if Palworld is the newest of the lot. I didn’t even need to go as far as to look at Pocketpair’s track record to come to this conclusion. I can probably convince myself that I got my money’s worth to some degree. But having crossed the line of buying an early access title for the first time, I only wonder when will the time come when I place my first pre-order for disappointment.
And on that bombshell…
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