Palworld

Arcade survival third-person action game set in a vast open world with a key mechanic of taming unusual creatures called Palows. They resemble Pokémon in appearance, but in lore, they are ordinary animals — they can be used, captured, sold, or defeated.

Combining ideas from different genres, Palworld is not limited by its setting; it offers a journey from stone axes to bazookas, from primitive camps where everything must be done manually to complex factories run by employed prisoners. These are the very Pals. They will become helpers in routine tasks, companions in battle, beloved pets, or wild animals used for food. Additionally, the game features resource gathering, processing, a construction system focused on developing your own base, and upgrading technologies.

At early access, the world of Palworld is unknown, except that it takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting. Events begin some time after a global catastrophe, and the civilizations we know have vanished into oblivion. The protagonist’s biography is typical of an adventurer eager to explore every hidden corner of the world. Having gathered available maps, he chose an unexplored area and set out to study it.

Encountering a strange protective barrier, the protagonist suffers a shipwreck. Waves carry the unfortunate explorer to an archipelago not marked on any map. This is true "terra incognita" with traces of artificial origin — mysterious creatures, artifacts, portals to other dimensions, ruins of the Ancients, and a giant World Tree in the center.

The plot and storytelling were not the focus of early access for Palworld. There are a couple of characters to talk to, as well as story bosses and factions. The former have their own stories of arriving on the island and gaining a personal army of Pals, while the latter follow a peculiar code of honor. Quests typical for such games were absent. Lore was explained through scattered notes and item descriptions found throughout the world. A full storyline was planned for the final version by the developers.

The action takes place on the Palpagos Islands archipelago, consisting of many islands of various sizes, classified into four types:

The world is open immediately, but movement is limited by the level difference between the protagonist and each zone. The higher the level difference, the greater the chance of dying from a sneeze by the natives, who deal a lot of damage and have high health. On the map there are fast travel points scattered around, a teleport to your base, and a choice of respawn point after death. Over time, flying on Palows becomes available, like in "Zelda". The map is interactive, serving as both a navigation tool and a hint system, visualizing Palow habitats, treasures, bosses, etc. Aside from nature, the world content is small — a few raider bases, tower-like structures, and dungeons.

In Palworld, there are more than a hundred Palows, each with its own characteristics, strengths and weaknesses, a set of abilities, and most importantly, an element (water, fire, earth, lightning, and others, a total of nine). Interactions between elements resemble "rock-paper-scissors", where some elements are stronger against others but weaker against a third. For example, fire Pal attacks will deal more damage to ice Pal, but less to water Pal.

Attributes (attack, defense, stamina, health, carrying capacity, work speed, and food consumption) define each Palow's personality and improve as they level up. This includes training and battles, completing quests that affect experience gain, using useful equipment, and even weapons.

In early access, Palows had their own skill system:

Palows are not just companions and fighters. They are reliable helpers around the house, predisposed to certain tasks: resource gathering, tending to plantations, carrying loads, and so on. Developing the base, where automation is built on Palow labor, adds a unique economic strategy to gameplay. But they also need care: feeding, washing, giving rest, and monitoring mood. A monster suffering from "depression" can cause chaos.

There is a breeding mechanic for Palows aimed at obtaining only desired skills and characteristics. By choosing a pair with suitable traits, feeding them sweets, and placing them in a secluded spot, after some time the player receives an egg, which can be incubated and grown. The result of breeding is unpredictable, but it is "inherited" from the chosen Pals. After a few tries, the right combination will appear. During breeding, there is a chance to get a completely new species.

In early access, Palworld offered a poorly tuned but standard "entertain yourself" attraction: explore the world, collect Pals, unlock new technologies and develop, build new bases and workbenches, defend against enemies. Despite initial variety, patterns quickly become predictable, reducing gameplay to repeating similar actions.

All activity grants experience points, which accumulate into levels. As the level increases, the character earns technology points, which are used to buy blueprints for crafting new tools, weapons, various devices, or structures, as well as attribute points. Distributing these points across 5 attributes — health, damage, stamina, carrying capacity, and work speed — helps the player survive more easily. There is no auto-leveling — neither for the world, nor for the protagonist, nor for the Pals.

Starting with wooden clubs and stone axes, in 20-30 hours, the player advances to crossbows, rifles, and even missile launchers. To craft weapons, you need to gather the necessary materials, but crafting in early access was simple. There is an inventory where the protagonist holds collected loot, and distributes weapons and first aid items into slots. Excess items are stored in chests.

The main goal to complete Palworld in early access was to defeat the leader of each of the five factions. To do this, it was necessary to invade the Tower of the same name, defended by their group, and fight the personal Pal and the boss himself. Along the way, factions could pursue the player for breaking their code of conduct and also invade their bases. Such violations included attacking ordinary people, faction members, or actively exterminating Pals.

Palworld can be played with 2-4 friends, either by hosting your own game server or on dedicated servers, where up to 32 players can run around. Multiplayer requires creating a new character, which remains linked to the world or server where it was created. That is, each new server or co-op mode will have a separate character with its own progress.

Besides joint activities like upgrading the base and resource gathering, both modes allow trading created Pals, exchanging items, and joining existing guilds. PvP multiplayer was added later and has its own rules. As well as transferring characters between different servers and platforms.