Firstly, I was so excited for Palworld, in what seemed to be the perfect amalgamation of both Pokémon and Ark. The game starts off more similar to Ark. As you awake on an island with nothing on you, as your tasked to make it on your own. A few survival basics need to happen before you go around capturing Pals. You need to collect some basic resources and make a base, even if its just temporary. So without further ado lets get to my Palworld First Impressions…
The Graphics of Palworld
Graphics are bright and vibrant. The vivid colors of the world and the Pals really pop. The lush environments are breathtaking, and just promote exploration like in ARK. The world is made up of different environments, these include snowy mountains, rivers that lead to the wide ocean, and much more! With the game’s fast travel mechanic making it easy to traverse to places you have previously visited. Player’s need to take advantage of it and explore all the map and it’s beauty. The user interface, HUD, and main menu layout and color scheme is very similar to Ark. With the main menus, and color scheme looking like a near knock off sometimes. However, Palworld does improve on Ark’s HUD etc. The pals also walk in front of you so you’re not constantly looking back to make sure you haven’t lost anyone in your party.
Starting out
Creating a world will see you faced with four settings. World Name, Multiplayer (on or off) and difficulty. With the game having numerous different advanced options you can tweak to cater the difficulty to your exact play level. Allowing the game to be accessible to the most players possible. This allows the game to target players of all skill ranges. Like most survival games your first task is to hit a tree. Or collect loose branches off the ground but that’s not fun! The real enjoyment comes from knocking the tree down with your bare fists, Minecraft style! Palworld guides you with a tutorial system that displays multiple objectives to help establish you with the games mechanics.
The Future of Palworld
I really do think Palworld is going to be the next icon of both the monster taming and survival genres. There has been some big releases in both genres over the past coup[le of years. Releasing when Ark 2 is still a while aways, might be a great opportunity to pick up some survival players. Players that will see similarities in Palworld and ARK. Releasing in early Access the developers can remain in close contact with the community playing and ensure they build the best experience possible.
Sadly, there is no cross play/multiplatform at the moment of writing. The developers have made clear that they intend to get to a stage where Palworld can be played by anyone together on any platform. However, in this stage of Early Access only 4-8 player multiplayer is available. Which is more than enough to let players have a taste of what’s to come in the future.
Steam Deck Performance
The game performs perfectly on the Steam Deck. With the game being classed as playable, on the Deck, from day 1. Battery life lasts moderately well with a capacity of 2 ½ hours on high settings. The bright vivid colors of the landscapes, Pals, and their attacks really pop on the Deck’s display. It’s a perfect on the go game as well. I found myself picking it up numerous times throughout the day as I was reorganizing my house ready for when my daughter is born. It was perfect to pick up and treat myself to a little 20 minute break as I explore that next area, capture the next Pal, etc. The space needed for the game is 6.8gb on Xbox Series X/S and an increased 20gb on Steam.
Included in Game Pass
Xbox users were delightfully surprised to hear that Palword was going to be dropping onto Game Pass. As soon as it hit Early Access Xbox players would be able to jump into the world of Pals for the low cost of a subscription to Game Pass. The game is incredibly worth a subscription on its own.
Summary of Palworld – First Impressions
So that was my first impressions on the breakout game that is Palworld. Be sure to check back next week for the full review! Until then why not try out these other articles: Red Dead Games Ranked, Best Lego Games Ranked, Dredge Game Review, and Evolings Game Review.
Links
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