Pocketpair, Inc. has announced the release of Palworld, a new game that offers a Pokémon-style adventure with survival crafting features and, unexpectedly, guns. The developer is also renowned for Craftopia, an early access game that combines parts of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild with a dizzying assortment of crafting aspects.
The Pokémon series is well-known for the bright, colorful creature that populates its locations and gives the franchise its name. These charming creatures have brought delight to millions of admirers across the world and sold a staggering number of products, ranging from plush animals to action figures to sleeping bags. The wide appeal of the franchise’s hundreds of various pocket monsters has led to Pokémon having its most lucrative year yet in 2020.
This triumph, however, has not gone unnoticed. Pocketpair unveiled Palworld on June 5th, a very familiar-looking game about collecting and catching fantastical creatures. While the eponymous Pals will undoubtedly appeal to Pokémon aficionados, Palworld is taking its creature in areas Nintendo probably never imagined. The game allows you to hunt, consume, and even poach rare Pals, and it incorporates survival themes rather than Pokémon’s turn-based RPG foundation. The crafting features are comprehensive, and feature weaponry, which may be utilized in the game to participate in firefights with human foes. These weapons may be made with the assistance of Pals, with all the ethical ramifications that entail; one especially startling clip on the game’s Steam website shows a line of funny squirrel-like Pals laboring on a conveyor belt to make assault guns.
Palworld isn’t the only Pokémon tribute that has lately made headlines. Temtem, an MMORPG with typical monster-collecting gameplay mixed with the social possibilities of an MMO, rose to prominence in 2020, earning a PS5 rerelease in December. Unlike Palworld, where the namesake creatures can lay down their lives to offer cover for players during a gunfight, Temtem opted for a more friendly and benign tone that was much closer to Nintendo’s source material.
Fans have pondered on the dark repercussions of Nintendo’s bright and happy universe for as long as Pokémon has existed. For the most part, this supposition has been a lighthearted way to pass the time. However, when Palworld is released in 2022, fans will be able to explore their dark theories like never before, as well as finally experience the Pokémon shooter that Nintendo is unlikely to provide.
