Palworld’s astonishing success swelled over the weekend, with the ‘Pokémon with guns’ survival and crafting game shooting up Steam’s most-played games list and selling millions more copies.
Not to mention in a more impressive format. I thought Arceus looked graphically barren and I know there are still plenty of people annoyed at the pop-in in Scarlet and Violet. I know it isn’t really Nintendo’s thing to play into the performance competition but a lot of people just expect better these days and the much bigger scope of Breath of the Wild and impressive level of expansion in Tears of the Kingdom has made even Nintendo fans see that there’s better out there.
I’d generally have to agree. When it came out, I definitely recall saying that I’d’ve grown up a pokemon fan (because Digimon was superior in anime 💪🏻😜) if Arceus had come out back then. That said, there’s still plenty of places it could be better. The lack of many of my favourite pokemon was why I ended up quickly dropping it.
Idk, it’s definitely not some sort of life changing experience or high art or whatever. It is however kinda cute, a little bit funny, has an enjoyable gameplay loop, adequate exploration, and satisfy combat. It’s also pretty cheap.
The monster mechanics are surprisingly well integrated into the world. Just basic shit like pulling out a burny fox to see when in a cave is pretty immersive. Then discovering special mechanics like the boar that rapidly mines by charging rocks has you throw out your pick and start careening around like a loon.
It only really has legs during the discovery phase I think, but that’s fine. Games aren’t bad if they end.
Id hope they use the popularity to improve it further but I really don’t wanna get invested in the same way I have with valheim, they have been mostly resting on their laurels so far and these developers will probably do the same. I hope I’m wrong tho, seems like a game I’d enjoy if it had more depth.
It would be nice, I wouldn’t bet on it though and don’t recommend buying something in the chance it gets better later. I’m enjoying myself atm and wont be mad if it never becomes more than it is.
Hopefully it’s at least a signal to other devs that there is real market interest in base building + monster collection or just open world monster collecting
Yeah, that’s always good advice, I don’t mind missing out on hype since I’d be playing single player anyway. Enshrouded is also out and it might turn out to be the better option too, who knows. Seems like a good start of the year for survival games enjoyers either way.
Nah, it’s actually pretty great. I’ve played hundred of hours of ARK, and this scratches the same “survival-crafting with monsters” itch that ARK does, but with a lot of big improvements (not being heavily PvP-focused, being able to safely store your ‘dinos’ when you’re away, having a reason [loot, npcs, pokedex completion] to explore the worldspace beyond finding dinos or resources, etc).
While that’s part of it, it’s definitely not “just” that.
Sadly, part of it is that the game has released in a fairly stable/polished state, which is considered a positive in the world of broken releases. The multiplayer also just works with little issue as opposed to some problems of yesteryear.
There’s also a perhaps surprising pent up demand for good co-op PvE focused games. They blow-up hard but tend to fade out depending on gameplay quality. Part of this is the streamer effect, streamers like to play group games with other streamers because it helps cross-pollinate their audiences. Sales are also improved due to group/peer-pressure, if someone can pull in their friend group, that’s a lot of sale multiplication.
I also think that the developers tried to make a game that’s fun. A lot of decisions seem to have followed the rule of cool for this type of game e.g. pal mounts, firearms, catching people, automation of survival elements via slavery.
It also manages to have both a clear and guided progression system while maintaining the freedom for the player to just fuck off and do whatever they want while still at least partially progressing.
My only honest gripes with the game are how world saves are handled (they should use the Grounded system in addition to having dedicated servers) and that I for some reason can’t find the exit button on the title screen so to quit I need to alt-f4, for the rare times I need it.
People must be bored, that game is less than mediocre
Or they’ve been dying for a different way to play Pokemon than what Nintendo’s been selling them for decades.
Yup, it’s pretty fun 👍
Bought it last night, have been playing 15 hours straight and I regret the absence of sleep.
But not enough to quit, I haven’t found a dungeon yet.
It’s a blast and brings together the best parts of so many games I love.
Not to mention in a more impressive format. I thought Arceus looked graphically barren and I know there are still plenty of people annoyed at the pop-in in Scarlet and Violet. I know it isn’t really Nintendo’s thing to play into the performance competition but a lot of people just expect better these days and the much bigger scope of Breath of the Wild and impressive level of expansion in Tears of the Kingdom has made even Nintendo fans see that there’s better out there.
Arceus: graphically barren but mechanically superior
Was my take.
I’d generally have to agree. When it came out, I definitely recall saying that I’d’ve grown up a pokemon fan (because Digimon was superior in anime 💪🏻😜) if Arceus had come out back then. That said, there’s still plenty of places it could be better. The lack of many of my favourite pokemon was why I ended up quickly dropping it.
Idk, it’s definitely not some sort of life changing experience or high art or whatever. It is however kinda cute, a little bit funny, has an enjoyable gameplay loop, adequate exploration, and satisfy combat. It’s also pretty cheap.
The monster mechanics are surprisingly well integrated into the world. Just basic shit like pulling out a burny fox to see when in a cave is pretty immersive. Then discovering special mechanics like the boar that rapidly mines by charging rocks has you throw out your pick and start careening around like a loon.
It only really has legs during the discovery phase I think, but that’s fine. Games aren’t bad if they end.
Id hope they use the popularity to improve it further but I really don’t wanna get invested in the same way I have with valheim, they have been mostly resting on their laurels so far and these developers will probably do the same. I hope I’m wrong tho, seems like a game I’d enjoy if it had more depth.
It would be nice, I wouldn’t bet on it though and don’t recommend buying something in the chance it gets better later. I’m enjoying myself atm and wont be mad if it never becomes more than it is.
Hopefully it’s at least a signal to other devs that there is real market interest in base building + monster collection or just open world monster collecting
Yeah, that’s always good advice, I don’t mind missing out on hype since I’d be playing single player anyway. Enshrouded is also out and it might turn out to be the better option too, who knows. Seems like a good start of the year for survival games enjoyers either way.
Nah, it’s actually pretty great. I’ve played hundred of hours of ARK, and this scratches the same “survival-crafting with monsters” itch that ARK does, but with a lot of big improvements (not being heavily PvP-focused, being able to safely store your ‘dinos’ when you’re away, having a reason [loot, npcs, pokedex completion] to explore the worldspace beyond finding dinos or resources, etc).
It’s a fun game with a nice mixture of looting & leveling, survival, base optimisation and progress, exploration and fighting.
I also like the humor of paldex entries hahaha.
It’s just the “pokemon with guns” hype
“Pokemon with guns on PC.”
That’s a great sales pitch.
While that’s part of it, it’s definitely not “just” that.
Sadly, part of it is that the game has released in a fairly stable/polished state, which is considered a positive in the world of broken releases. The multiplayer also just works with little issue as opposed to some problems of yesteryear.
There’s also a perhaps surprising pent up demand for good co-op PvE focused games. They blow-up hard but tend to fade out depending on gameplay quality. Part of this is the streamer effect, streamers like to play group games with other streamers because it helps cross-pollinate their audiences. Sales are also improved due to group/peer-pressure, if someone can pull in their friend group, that’s a lot of sale multiplication.
I also think that the developers tried to make a game that’s fun. A lot of decisions seem to have followed the rule of cool for this type of game e.g. pal mounts, firearms, catching people, automation of survival elements via slavery.
It also manages to have both a clear and guided progression system while maintaining the freedom for the player to just fuck off and do whatever they want while still at least partially progressing.
My only honest gripes with the game are how world saves are handled (they should use the Grounded system in addition to having dedicated servers) and that I for some reason can’t find the exit button on the title screen so to quit I need to alt-f4, for the rare times I need it.
I played a bunch over the weekend, didn’t even get to use a gun yet… the game is so much more than that.
Sorry, you’re wrong. It’s good.
Sorry, you’re wrong. It’s bad.