Palworld is the Premier Little Guy™ Simulator
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- Опубліковано 3 лют 2024
- My name is Thane Bishop, and I need to talk about Palworld.
Not just about how this game is fun, or cute, or plays well mechanically, but also all of the comparisons that have been made, both good and bad, if I think those comparisons matter, and how this is the game I've waited a decade for.
Help support me and my work! - / thanebishop - Розваги
the Nintendo rant was so based, I completely agree with "who cares that palworld is copying Pokémon" sentimentn
Nintendo copied ponyta of ‘Holly the ghost’ and many other big franchises. People just think pokemon are original because they saw it while being so young that they weren’t capable of comparison yet
Personally I do agree.
But I will point out that there are stuff that you dont want as precedents.
Like if it was a small fan game then that is one thing, but given how big palworld got the (whether rightly) they end up being seen as a case/example.
Honestly there are definitely designs that are just "copied" (however they did it, with models are just recreating).
The best one is the "serperior copy" with its hair, it's designed so weirdly and happens to look exactly like primarina's hair, which there really isnt a logical reason it should.
However even then palworld devs admitted to outside work being hired. So even then, it wouldnt be clear.
Well that's where you are wrong. It's not about Nintendo, it's not even about Pokémon. It's about artists' copyright claims and Pokémon Company doing nothing about it is further putting artists in a bad spot. They work for them, they sold their ideas but Pokémon Company not suing Palworld shows no respect for those ideas, for those artists. Art takes time, its science -based and most of the times takes more time than other scientific projects. I am both a biologist and a composer and I know the inside outs.
I don’t even play Pokémon anymore but this is an L take copying shit is not cool
@@TheKastellan copying other as being a precedent since the begining of thz gaming industry.
The thing about palworld that I love is that it actually gives you the CHOICE of caring for your little guys. So many plots in the Pokémon universe is about mistreating Pokémon and how terrible it is and how your such a good person for loving yours but your literally gain friendship by WALKING. In the process of giving us the option to mistreat the little guys, palworld has also made loving them that much more impactful, as a darker shadow is made by a stronger light.
That's a really good point, actually. I love having evil options in games. God knows I'll never bloody pick them, but man, it makes being good feel all that much better.
I'm stealing that, that's good shit
I get into the game and expect myself to be the next Pablo Escobar but i just can't bring my self to force the little guy to over work they look so happy to help you non of my base have podium and i stock the medicine for them while it profitable to have them overwork it's not worth it
Pokemon's "Friendship" system seems to be a little buggy. There's an entire layer of bonus effects with high/maxed friendship that most people don't know exists, because it doesn't even work most of the time.
Μeanwhile in the pokemon anime pokemon ARE used the way that Pals are used in Palworld, yet. you dont get to do it in pokemon games at all. You cant put Machoke to carry stuff, scyther to catch stuff, guarados to fill a pool with water, a fire pkmn to light a fire etc.
The amount of times I've watched my Pals helping out and just thought, "aww thanks buddy." I love this game
Same! Out loud, verbally, I have thanked my pals when they've been helpful. I've got my 3 favorite pals in my party; an Anubis named 'NuNu', a Katress named 'Katy', and a Ragnahawk I named 'Sparkles' cause he was a lucky pal I caught. I also spoil them rotten with the good cooked food I make while I just nom on random bread and berries I've picked up along the way.
@@lexysteinberger7725 yeah it's crazy that I feel attached to these little buggers, but I am. When one gets beat up defending the base I genuinely feel bad for them lol. Love your names by the way 😂 I can't wait for Xbox to get the rename capability
Exactly. Even though it's an option and has a real benefit, I can't bring myself to butcher extra Pals.
@@vichraev.5386 Same
☺I remember first cooking something and having foxparks run over to help me without prompting and i realized how much i was going to love the premise of the game
"my brother in christ, you designed the camp" 💀 damn
All the Christian rhetoric has me rolling. Top tier use of christianese
LEGIT UNDERRATED MOMENT
"My brother, you build the auschwitz"
Yeah, I love having the option to be an evil ruler, but that's just because it makes choosing to be a benevolent one a choice, not because I actually use it.
@@FelbloodStreamingI have yet to see a base that can handle the inhumane work order, it just isn't optimal compared to the normal setting.
... and he WANTS THAT GUN
I was rolling on the floor
When I first played Palworld, every time I placed down a new structure, I'd tell my girlfriend to look because my little guys were rushing over to help and it was so fun. "Oh lawd he comin'! Look at 'im!"
I feel what you're saying on a deep, personal level.
Yeah, Scarlet and Violet are the last Pokemon games I'm personally taking a chance on. I played Sword and enjoyed it well enough as "another Pokemon game" but everything outside of the basic Pokemon experience was disappointing and we should be beyond that after 20+ years.
Scarlet and Violet having the perfect opportunity to shake things up with their more open world design and then straight up not doing so while also being possibly the jankiest games since Gen 1
I didn't get the DLC for SwSh, I'm not getting it for S&V, and I probably won't even get the next mainline game, period, unless it actually reviews well.
It's really great once you have a couple pals, and decide to plop a new building down. They just all drop whatever they're doing and suddenly the whole team's there to help. Side note, but it's also awesome that, at the base, you can let out one of the 5 pals you take with you, and they just start doing tasks with the others
something about the screenshot at 23:48 really gets to me. "they're cheating somehow, i just can't pinpoint how."
when i first played palworld, i was fully expecting it to be addictive. but i wasn't expecting it to be genuinely FUN and addictive. it looked like slop-- but it played well, and it was good-- i thought, how? why is *this* the game that makes me happy, and not the dozens of other, objectively better-made passion projects that have been rotting in my steam library for weeks?
and to me, it's simple. not to sound like a pretensious art critic, but a lot of games these days are... 'art.' they are meant to be played through and experienced. there is a coherent 'meaning' or 'moral' to them-- whether that be in story, art design, or to my point, *gameplay.*
games-- games made with purpose, or intent, try and make their gameplay 'intentional', for lack of a better word. a game like minecraft will let you build whatever you want, but character customization is limited, because that isn't the intent of the game. genshin impact will have you fighting massive flashy bosses, but the landscape cannot be changed, because that isn't the intent of the game.
this is-- in my opinion, a good thing. games *are* art, they have meaning and intent and a purpose behind them. (i mean, i've been obsessed with cyberpunk 2077 for years, and if that isn't a game with a purpose, i don't know what is.) palworld's purpose is different, though.
its not telling a story, there is no grander intent/reason for why it exists. the passion behind it isn't for any specific pal or boss design.
it's just... a game. you collect little guys and make stuff. it's a base human instinct, elevated.
and i think that's why it feels like it's cheating. sure, we've all dreamed of a game where you collect little guys and make stuff. but it hasn't been created because of it's simplicity. an indie company could never make a game like palworld in a decent amount of time, and the pokemon company has clearly showed they don't care about the consumers. so when palworld just... pops out of nowhere, reaches inside our collective consciousness and goes, 'hey, here's the game you all dreamed about,' it feels... like cheating?
the reason we feel like this is more philosophical than i'm willing to get into here. (this essay is long enough, anyway.) but i think we feel betrayed.
i think-- a lot of us are just staring at palworld, and the pokemon company, and thinking 'it was that easy?'
I think part of what blew me away when digging around for this video was how much this game publicized itself before its early access release. There's multiple trailers from two years ago showing off the same finished Pal designs, and the same concepts for Pal abilities that I'm using to clear the towers. And somehow, I just never heard anything about it until the day it released. Part of me almost thinks that maybe because of the style or genre, no one took it seriously, or thought it would ever actually be a thing.
@@ThaneBishop yeah. i think we all assumed it was too good to be true. (or that the pokémon company would sue them into oblivion.)
I wonder if some of what drove the post, whether they realized it or not, is because it launched the same day as TLOU2's remaster and stole any thunder from that, might have just threw them for a loop that something out of left field completely overshadowed it.
There’s also the facts that AAA companies keep releasing similar broken / bugged stuff with shitty micro transactions or Day 1 DLC and thinking better graphics or a good soundtrack will make up for it
The Head said it himself. He doesn't care about being unique or special. He wants to make games that are FUN first. If Fun means lack of originality then so be it. And he was right.
Palworld is PokeArk: Breath Of The Exiles. And yet it puts all those systems together and makes it FUN
It feels like there is a certain emotional reaction people have when they play a game where you're expected to torture your Pals to make them work. That's how it was marketed. "Look guys, you can overwork your creatures and butcher them and it will be hilarious". But then you actually play the game, capture a Cattiva and it WILLINGLY starts to help you craft arrows and mine the Paldium nodes next to you. I looked at mine and I remember how it felt. It just clicked what this game was actually about.
Palworld is indeed the cure for loneliness! In the early days of Minecraft I would enjoy just walking around and "bock bock bock" at my chickens, to which I asked the creator Notch if that was normal. He actually tweeted back and said "no, it not normal." However, this video makes me think I'm really not alone in just running around a vibing with my little guys.
Yeah, i too always have a whole zoo in every single minecraft game i play. I assure you talking to them is normal. 😂
To be fair though, Notch is a piece of shit so I would probably say if he thinks it isn't normal then it actually is lol
"I'm going to hit you with a real car"
This caught me insanely off guard and I laughed out loud.
Great video I've never seen your channel before. Palworld is fun and that's all I care about as an abused Pokemon fan.
I had my first night in palworld hungry, cold, and surrounded by darkness. I ended upcatchign a foxsparks that fixed two of those immediately and after beating a lamball to death and gathering firewood, helped with the third. I love that little dude and it also being a flamethrower is actually fucking rad.
Also, there are a pleasant variety of fox pals in this game, from Foxsparxs to Wixen to my goal Kitsun and a couple I am sure I forgot in there.
I'm building a fox team as soon as I finish my team of plants and team of BEES!
@@unclaimedusername6608there’s foxicle if you want to diversify from fire types
@@unclaimedusername6608Foxcicle is a beauty too. One of my favorites in my base are Vixy for their partner skill 👍
That's so cute
Best part about Tanzee with a gun is that it's an AK-47 of all things
Tanzee: I'm the captain now
AKM
Reminds me of that video where they gave a real chimp a gun.
@@Zorro9129 The real one or the one from a movie? Theres 2 clips of that, the more popular one is a movie scene
@@ZeallustImmortal The real one.
My Pals are always happy, and well fed, unless they get stuck due to pathing. I also give them jelly sandwiches, a bit better than baked berries more nutrients and more sanity. Whilst still being very easy and cheap to make :D
Are they better than pancakes?
I have a bunch of milk because the second I saw mozzarina it was cowboy role-playing time, but it's getting a bit tedious to keep making food.
pancake is better because it decrease sanity depletion.
but pizza is way better than those 2, you can set to cruel workspeed and the pals are still ok. Finally with cake brutal workspeed can be maintained
@@qwertyrewtywyterty thanks
@mahoganydoughnut6082 I'd say Salad once your able to make plantations of lettuce and tomatoes is the best by miles easy to make with the grown products really high satiation 87 I think. Decent sanity buff 11 I think and gives a work speed booste for a about a day. So feel like it can work your pals at brutal + speed buff
Jelly Sandwich is good while travelling. But Pizzas are the absolute best food for Pals working in the camp. Though it does kinda sucks that it shares ingredients with Cake.
Pokemon vs Palworld
Champion for 100 years and is a billion dollar company against the underdog with a dream.
"Let's see how this match ends Cotton"
"And please for christ have safe search on"
And now you're making me morbidly curious, thank you!
And just a small tip: Make shields. They are life savers. Even if the shield only has 100 health, it does not transfer the damage to you. So even if something hits you for 500 damage, your shield takes the whole hit. It essentially acts as a buffer for your first hit! And it recharges faster than you heal passively, so it helps you stay in fights longer!!
Shields are an absolute lifesaver, especially for going after any higher level pals and for boss fights.
Also for any telegraphed/delayed attacks enemies do, you should definitely try recalling your pals before the attack hits. It requires extra attention and tends to be easier in co-op, but maintaining the health of your strongest/most effective pals helps a lot.
Finally, the higher tech level gloves for pal gliders = better gliders. Galeclaw has been my favorite so far, it gives such a nice speed boost even over pretty flat terrain, and can really carry you a long distance. My playtime has been split across two different servers so I haven't gotten access to some of the later-game mounts otherwise I might traverse with them more often.
as a Furry, fair warning, that rabbit hole leads to the wild world of weird shit Furries make. i'm not against possibly ending up with another furry to hang out with, but i have seen some shit and not all of it is safe for all audiences.
just consider that my PSA to you.
@@MrRukrio1 Don't worry, I know how deep this rabbit hole goes, I've been furry for over 12 years :3
@@Xyler94 EYYY. probs closer to 14 here myself.
@@MrRukrio1 my icon is my Fursona, Marble Fox, :3
Its a bit funny that here, 21:52 it looks like wixen just flips off the pal just before the defeat screen.
True haha. That, and the dragon going to sleep after its victory over Thane Bishop. Such sassy pals
That line about the "Pokemon Survival game we've wanted for a decade" is basically my thoughts on Palworld in a nutshell. It's the game we've wanted since Minecraft came out and people are just pissed that it's NOT a Pokemon game, it's a unique IP.
It pulls so many good systems from other games, puts a pokemon spin on them, and did GANGBUSTERS, because it's what the adult fanbase has wanted forever. It's 6am EST as i post this and it's 2nd on steam charts at over 560k active players with an all-time peak of 2.1 MILLION.
Turns out, the idea of being able to build a base and basically actually live with your squad of little guys while you explore the world and beat the bosses is pretty damn good. Being able to ride your pal into battle while brandishing a rocket launcher is just icing on the cake. It's the level of meme-y BS we've joked about for literal decades (You and your 'mon pulling a glock on team rocket, natch) Just, the crazy bastards actually did it. And did it WELL.
Throw in the real-time combat/capture system on top of that and it just works. And this is EARLY ACCESS at that. If they keep treating the community well with updates, this will be the BG3 of 2024 and put them on the map, and gamefreak should be well-on worried, not because of infringement, but because another re-hashed title isn't going to cut it anymore. They're no longer the biggest game in town.
I genuinely love the vibe of having a cozy camp with me and my pals, farming berries and crafting supplies for my next adventure. It's honestly what I always wanted from a pokemon game.
Honestly I've lost my passion for gaming until I played Palworld for the first time. After crating my first character and exiting that temple, laying eyes on the world before me, it was as if I was a child again. In the real world nothing really is new anymore and things are jaut getting shittier as days goes by. But seeing the vast world that this game has for the first time made me feel like there is a whole new world out there for me to explore and have fun in. 120ish hours into the game and I am still at the edge my seat wanting to experiment, explore and try new things with my pals, and I know this feeling won't go away soon and I'll be here in the lands of Palpagos with my pals for a very very long time.
I just stumbled upon your video randomly through my love of Palworld, and watching/hearing your sentiments about it and all the dumb controversies just won me over. You just earned yourself a new subscriber.
yeah, only game i was having fun was monster hunter world till palworld came
(gonna try tomorrow granblue fantasy relink tho)
Thank you for clarifying that the car will be real.
Man "Little Guy" is such a great way of putting it. I love any game that lets me have creature friends that I can run around with doing stuff.
this game really took the internet by storm, and it's deserved honestly
imagine making a fun game.... freaking finally, screw the controversies
'I love little guys'
All short kings rise up to support you.
Also, let's be honest, if Nintendo now made a good "clone" of Palworld with Pokémon in it, we'd all buy it too.
9:33 SAME THOUGH, and I haven't heard many other people talk about this! I knew about the sweatshop memes from the very first trailers, but I never wanted to play the game that way, and seeing these lil guys help out in camp just reinforced that I wanted to treat them as nicely as possible.
The sweatshop is two things, fundamentally: it is an _option_ and it is a _frame of mind_. The option part is obvious -- you can overwork your pals, or you can build them hot springs and large comfy beds and give them nice food, and that's up to you as a player.
The "frame of mind" part is less obvious and I kind of want to talk about it just because it's been on my mind for a while.
When you realize you can keep the Pals' sanity up by giving em hot springs and nice food, there's two ways to frame that. The first is cynical, though not necessarily unrealistic: it's a thin distraction from grueling labor, it's bread and circuses, etc. The second framing takes the game's words at face value: they're sane, healthy, and in good condition. The thing is, while the game's marketing may suggest the cynical framing, the game _itself_ doesn't really force either framing on you. And as a player, I pick the gentler framing...
... because as a Pokemon fan, I've already picked the second framing for _years_!
As an example: "What happens in the Palbox?" I've heard one streamer describe the Palbox as purgatory for Pals who are misbehaving, "firing" them from their job. I reject that framing. I put Pals in there because their sanity's dropping and I'm worried about their mental health, but Palworld doesn't have a "please take a break" option aside from pulling them off the job entirely. For context I had a Pal, a Blazehowl Noct, who I named "HOTBOY". I kept him at the base because I wanted his level 3 kindling skill. But whenever HOTBOY was done cooking food or working the furnace, he'd run over to the logging site and chop trees indefinitely ... and because he was nocturnal, he would never sleep, and would just chop trees 24/7 and drive himself insane. I felt bad for him! I wanted all of my Pals to be happy and healthy -- and the only longterm way I could do that was to put HOTBOY back in the Palbox so he could stop driving himself crazy by chopping down trees. I still love HOTBOY! He is my big, strong friend, who is too dumb to know when to take a break.
Here's the thing:"What happens in the Palbox" is not a new question at all -- "What happens when Pokemon go into the PC" is the exact same question, and has _been_ a question for decades! And the answers are much the same: either it's a purgatorial state of non-existence and non-feeling, or it's a soothing experience where a Pokemon can heal, rest, and chill out. A difference in headcanons, a difference in framing.
Gen 7 put a new spin on the PC with "your Pokemon go to a nice island paradise to mine and grow beans", and the resulting discussion about Poke Pelago feels a _lot_ like discussions of Palworld bases. What's old is new again, etc. GameFreak framed Poke Pelago as a fun paradise and people _still_ discussed whether it's a sweatshop or not, because it's possible (and in fact desirable) to separate the set-dressing from the mechanics.
So yeah, the narrative can say one thing, the raw mechanics can say something else... but there's only so much cruelty to be interpreted from the mechanics before it just gets tired and cynical. Say Poke Pelago is a sweatshop. Okay, and... then what? It's like asking "Do the Pokemon _really_ like to fight, or is this just blood sport?" While I support asking critical questions of one's media, saying "Pokemon supports animal cruelty" isn't analysis: it's a tired, lazy opinion that's been parroted mindlessly for as long as Pokemon's existed. It doesn't _start_ discussions, it _dismisses_ them. If Poke Pelago is a sweatshop, and you don't want to run a sweatshop, the only option is to not use it. If Pokemon is animal cruelty, the only option is to not play it. But I think buying into Pokemon's narrative, that Pokemon love to play-fight, is much more interesting. It makes me think about the ritual of catching a Pokemon, and how Pokemon _choose_ to show themselves to trainers (as the one Canalave Library myth suggests) -- as if challenging the trainer and saying "catch me if you're worthy". It makes me imagine an elaborate ritual, one where the trainer affirms that the Pokemon wishes to enter this challenge, establishing through body language that both parties consent to it. Like gaining a stray animal's trust in real life, too.
*[split for character limit]*
Going back to Palworld: In an interview with Automaton Media, the CEO of PocketPair describes the core concept of Palworld as "automation with emotion". _Pals will rejoice from the bottom of their hearts if you give them food and pet them. On the other hand, they will cry and refuse to work if you’re rough with them._ Citing Rimworld, the CEO goes on to explain that you can have a lot of "various" (read: unpredictable) events happen. Rimworld describes itself as a story generator and I'd agree: these unpredictable events, coming from automation with emotion, make for great narratives. The CEO goes on to explain that making the Pals feel alive and emotional was one of the biggest priorities, and challenges, of the game, and that really shines through -- the AI pathing might be buggy, the grind might suck, the world might be a bit empty, but _god damn_ do those Pals emote. Their unique mining animations, their animations for carrying stuff, the "Pet" interactions ... that's really the heart of the whole thing: the emotions of your Pals.
Palworld's _mechanics_ give you the option to be cruel. Unlike Pokemon, the _framing_ is not shy about it: it will gleefully say "this is the cruel exploitation option!". (Maybe a bit _too_ gleeful about it, but anyways.) Palworld players probably won't suffer any consequences for being cruel, either: the only real consequence is that one of the Pals might go berserk and burn your base down. But even then that's not a huge loss, because all of your benches and stuff can be recrafted and rebuilt. I don't know if I can quantify whether one's more "mechanically optimal" or not, because cruelty does increase output but also increases complexity (needing to make medicine, more carefully monitor Pal sanity), whereas happy Pals will just do the work with no issue. If they're equal in value, or if cruelty is more "optimal" than kindness, that makes kindness an interesting choice: we _choose_ to care about these lil guys, even though there's not any real gameplay benefit from it, because that's just what humans _do_.
All Palworld does is make it a choice to begin with. In Pokemon you can be as cruel as you like and the game will never call you out for it -- Professor Oak will always say you treated your Pokemon with kindness and friendship, admonish Gary Oak for viewing them as tools, etc. What Palworld does is, simply, drop the bullshit. Pals can be your friends, or they can be your tools, and the choice is yours. In Pokemon games your Pokemon will never stop smiling, no matter what; in Palworld they absolutely _will_ stop smiling if you mistreat them, and that makes their smiles all the more valuable. The positivity means more when there's a negativity to contrast it with.
In closing: Ludonarrative dissonance is not a new concept, nor did Pokemon invent it. Some of these discussions are deeply familiar to any Pokemon fan. Palworld isn't just "Pokemon with guns"; it doesn't do the edgy romhack thing of only offering a negativee framing. Instead, it offers both positive and negative framings, and offer players a choice between them.
... and some disclaimers: I know I just wrote a few hundred words about Palworld but I don't think it's the second coming of Christ or anything. I like Pokemon and I like Palworld and I don't particularly care about whatever beef the fandoms have with each other. And yeah Palworld isn't a masterpiece of narrative or anything, and I don't think I could even call it a "good" game per se. But it's a game I've been thinking about quite a bit, and I hadn't seen much discussion about this one aspect. (Maybe I also like to hear myself talk, who knows.)
I built the control station expecting from the description that I'd be able to more granularly assign work to pals and deleted it when the only option was drive them harder. My labor camps are like working at Google in 2010, fluffy beds, hot tubs, and the boss doesn't really care if you slack off all day as long as there's enough spheres and ingots getting made.
@treelineresearch3387 600% ME.
I saw that schematic get unlocked and after the initial repulsion to the description.......i realized "WAIT. HOLD ON. I COULD USE THIS TO TELL MY DEER, LIFTMUK AND CATTIVA TO SLACK OFF MORE."
.....but come to find out......they ham'ed up the meme of slave driving.
so.......back to square one of either benching my goofy ass workaholics......or just taking my workaholic babies with me.
At least i can control how much they work and they can hang out with me.
btw....Leezpunks are my current favorites. they are hyper cute when they are happy and my only Artisan perk'ed one is a Leezpunk.
ok apparently my other half of the comment got deleted or something? im going to repost it
Going back to Palworld: In an interview with Automaton Media, the CEO of PocketPair describes the core concept of Palworld as "automation with emotion". _Pals will rejoice from the bottom of their hearts if you give them food and pet them. On the other hand, they will cry and refuse to work if you’re rough with them._ Citing Rimworld, the CEO goes on to explain that you can have a lot of "various" (read: unpredictable) events happen. Rimworld describes itself as a story generator and I'd agree: these unpredictable events, coming from automation with emotion, make for great narratives. The CEO goes on to explain that making the Pals feel alive and emotional was one of the biggest priorities, and challenges, of the game, and that really shines through -- the AI pathing might be buggy, the grind might suck, the world might be a bit empty, but _god damn_ do those Pals emote. Their unique mining animations, their animations for carrying stuff, the "Pet" interactions ... that's really the heart of the whole thing: the emotions of your Pals.
Palworld's _mechanics_ give you the option to be cruel. Unlike Pokemon, the _framing_ is not shy about it: it will gleefully say "this is the cruel exploitation option!". (Maybe a bit _too_ gleeful about it, but anyways.) Palworld players probably won't suffer any consequences for being cruel, either: the only real consequence is that one of the Pals might go berserk and burn your base down. But even then that's not a huge loss, because all of your benches and stuff can be recrafted and rebuilt. I don't know if I can quantify whether one's more "mechanically optimal" or not, because cruelty does increase output but also increases complexity (needing to make medicine, more carefully monitor Pal sanity), whereas happy Pals will just do the work with no issue. If they're equal in value, or if cruelty is more "optimal" than kindness, that makes kindness an interesting choice: we _choose_ to care about these lil guys, even though there's not any real gameplay benefit from it, because that's just what humans _do_.
All Palworld does is make it a choice to begin with. In Pokemon you can be as cruel as you like and the game will never call you out for it -- Professor Oak will always say you treated your Pokemon with kindness and friendship, admonish Gary Oak for viewing them as tools, etc. What Palworld does is, simply, drop the bullshit. Pals can be your friends, or they can be your tools, and the choice is yours. In Pokemon games your Pokemon will never stop smiling, no matter what; in Palworld they absolutely _will_ stop smiling if you mistreat them, and that makes their smiles all the more valuable. The positivity means more when there's a negativity to contrast it with.
In closing: Ludonarrative dissonance is not a new concept, nor did Pokemon invent it. Some of these discussions are deeply familiar to any Pokemon fan. Palworld isn't just "Pokemon with guns"; it doesn't do the edgy romhack thing of only offering a negativee framing. Instead, it offers both positive and negative framings, and offer players a choice between them.
... and some disclaimers: I know I just wrote a few hundred words about Palworld but I don't think it's the second coming of Christ or anything. I like Pokemon and I like Palworld and I don't particularly care about whatever beef the fandoms have with each other. And yeah Palworld isn't a masterpiece of narrative or anything, and I don't think I could even call it a "good" game per se. But it's a game I've been thinking about quite a bit, and I hadn't seen much discussion about this one aspect. (Maybe I also like to hear myself talk, who knows.)
@@LostSnowdrift For what it's worth, I like hearing you talk. And judging by the likes on your original post, so did a handful of other people. Maybe not everyone takes the time to read long posts, but this is what I came here for, this type of discussion. I think people watching a video like this one are mostly here for this too. Because it opens up the floor for people to talk about these things. And that's a good and healthy thing.
I agree with most of what you said too.
The pokemon games have always lacked a sense of dichotomy, which is funny, since they **TALK** about it so much. They talk about how you are being all good and treating pokemon as friends, and they talk about how your rival or whoever sees them as tools. And in the anime and manga, we do actually see people on both sides of this spectrum. But the games, (you know, the interactive thing that should be the most immersive?), is the one place where we feel none of this, and have no freedom to choose how to treat our pokemon. Which is a shame, really, for the exact reason you pointed out why it matters in palworld. Doing something good means more when the option to do the opposite is there too.
Heck, look at the pokemon fandom, and how differently people treat capturing, training, and battling pokemon in stories/comics. You have that full range of positive and negative, and everything in between. But in the games, we lacked this choice.
In palworld, we suddenly have that freedom we've always lacked. I actually know some people who hate the idea of shooting the pals with guns, cause they like them so much, and they found ways to do a more peaceful playthrough (or at least, one without that specific kind of violence). So they only use pals to battle each other, and from the swirly eyes they imagine the other pal is just knocked out. On the flipside, I know people who quite literally went into the game guns blazing. And you already covered the different ways to approach the labor aspect. But I think we needed this freedom of choice. It makes the playthroughs feel like our own, like we are choosing our own path, not one the game is forcing on us.
I would go so far as to say that any analysis of Wixen's design is incomplete, if it doesn't address the connections between Wixen and Katress, since they are literally designed as two halves of Yin and Yang. Katress has fox tails on her sleeves, and Wixen has cat tails on his coattail. Katress has big droopy ears under her fox-eared hat, and Wixen has pointy little ears under his cat eared hat.
Still, your point stands that anyone assuming that a furry fox in a red mage costume must be a reference to their own OC is overestimating their own reach.
Been seeing people call Katress a Rip off blair in souleater... A literal Cat themed witch that is just a black cat with a witch hat.
@@snintendog SMH. People can be so blind to anything outside of their own experience.
honestly, the term "poke-like" sounds amazing lol
No one uses that term and palworld is not that. Its a monster tamer
"Pal-Like"
Sounds gay af
It's a monster tamer.
Poke-like rolls off the tongue so much better than Monster Tamer, fuck the rest of these guys in the comments man. They're the same people who'd rather call Bayonetta or DMC "Character Action" games, when "SPECTACLE FIGHTER" sounds so much cooler. And since I'm referencing Yahtzee, I'll make it obvious "Spectacle fighters make testicles lighter"
Mon-like is probably a good genre name, less likely to get copyright struck then Poke-like.
This game is cool, and goes beyond just the monster capturing genre.
I've been using the name, "Creature Catcher"
Monster taming is the genre on steam
Call them Pal-like, Nintendo would hate that lol
@@GreatWhiteElf 😂 Pal-like would probably need to incorporate the monster catching mechanics and have a similar combat style/base management to Palworld. That would be funny if other games came out marketed as Pal-like with genre tags.
Im very thankful digimon grew up with us.
Direhowl + celaray gloves changes everything regarding exploration.
I used Chillet against the first boss and I actually like that you can make Chillet pull aggro while you flank the boss and snipe her with a crossbow. It helps that Chillet can freeze said boss for some time.
I help mod a Pokémon ARPG on DeviantArt, and when we saw the design for Chillet we had a good laugh because I had designed a ‘mon that looked very similar a year or so before seeing the game. I even said that we were drawing from the same prompt of “ice ferret.”
As for the AI art accusation…listen. When a friend of mine showed me the leaked ‘dex for Gen 9, the first words out of my mouth were “it looks like they used that AI Pokémon generator and called it a day.” If Palworld is to fall under this scrutiny, I recommend throwing Pokémon in there as well, because Palworld’s designs are more interesting and creative than Gen 9 Pokémon.
Like you said in your rant, game freak and by extension Nintendo shot their goodwill with their fanbase-I’ve said repeatedly that Palworld can thank Pokémon for every single customer, and by golly is that true. I love this game, I’ve been spending my days playing it and blocking out time to dedicate to it, it scratches every single gaming itch I have, and if people want to buy it to spite game freak they’re in for a pleasant surprise and a good time.
I have been pretty bummed out about modern Pokemon games. The gameplay has really not captured my interest. Palworld has been amazing for me because while there's still the capturing and battling of little guys, it also includes all the gameplay aspects from other games that makes it so viscerally FUN. It's what I was hoping for when Pokemon started moving into the open world model.
The actual gameplay of Palworld is so different to pokemon that I think a lot of the outrage is from people who haven't played the game. While the initial aesthetic is there with the pal designs and the capturing and battling, when you actually play the game, the focus is much more on the exploration and base building.
In combat, you don't control your pals. You don't get to the strategize the moves and attacks they do. You just summon your selected pal and they use their moves whenever the internal cooldown is up. Meanwhile you're dodging and shooting or meleeing whatever you're fighting. That moment to moment combat feels way closer to Elden Ring (with spirit summons) to me than pokemon; granted the battle doesn't have the polished flow of Fromsoft's games, but that's okay. Palworld is a game that is greater than the sum of its parts.
The open world exploration isn't as good as games like Skyrim or Breath of the Wild or Cyberpunk (for me). The base building and crafting elements isn't as deep as many of the million other survival crafting games. The combat isn't as deep or fun as many of the other action games out there. The Pals are definitely heavily inspired (or more?) by Pokemon (although some of the more original Pals like Loveander are hilarious). However, these elements are very competently executed, and the combination of all these elements makes a game where I can spend hours lost in the world and have fun the entire time. During a play session, I'm constantly switching between all these disparate gameplay systems and the lack of depth in any single one doesn't have time to stand out before I'm being pulled into another one.
I love Palworld and I hope that instead of trying to smother it for being too much like Pokemon, Game Freak takes note of its wild success and actually incorporates aspects of other games into their future Pokemon games. I love Pokemon and I still keep up with each Pokemon release, but I hope in the future, I can be as excited for a new Pokemon game as I am about all the new Pokemon that are being introduced. In the meantime, I'll be playing games like Palworld, Temtem, and Bug Snax.
I got pokemon S/V for the competetive side of pokemon and just wanted to stay up to date with new pokemon. glad i did because holly hell the power creep is definately there now. literally dont see a reason to buy their games anymore though. Especially if it's still the same outdated garbage again
I might've just found your channel a few days ago, but oh my god, when I say you just have an energy, a spark, just a vibe that makes you incredibly entertaining and easy to listen to, i mean it. I love your unique take on the games you talk about (I'm working through them in an arbitrary order, but i think Palworld marks video 4, and your Cyberpunk 77 videos are next), I love seeing the way you interact with the world and video games, i just love hearing you talk about things that are just genuinely interest and fascinate you to no end and hearing you explain how you got there is gratifying in a way I can't explain.
Your videos have the thing that makes me love Video Essays and the touch of tism is definitely a plus, and I don't think I could've lasted another video without saying at least that I love your content and I'm glad you make it! Palworld isn't a game I imagined myself playing, but now I'm seriously considering it. Halo has never been a franchise I found particularly entertaining (I blame my brother hogging the console and not letting me play cod story mode for that-) but I'm now, just, in love with it somehow?
Just. You bring something to these games, something that, I'll be honest, I haven't felt from most other video essays (Except what's his name talking about how Crazy Gadget is actually sick) and it's absolutely incredible. I can't wait to watch the rest of your videos and whatever may come out in the future. Have a good day, Thane Bishop and everyone else who happens across this comment😅
I want you to know that I took a screenshot of this comment on my phone, and it's going to be one of the things I look to when I don't feel good about my work here. I don't know if I can tell you how meaningful a response like this is; thank you so much.
The algorithm recommended this video after I was jumping into palworld. I have to say, the essay format and cadence of your voiceover scratches just the right itch.
I'll definitely be binging through your older vids and keeping an eye out for future content!
Quick thing, the syndicate are more like poachers than a PMC. The PIDF however, are textbook mercs.
They keep trying to explain their ideology right as Moz goes weapons free =/ Fun to know the difference though haha
Palworld is a better pokemon game even if you remove the guns. When i put lifmunk on my head and he shoots his smg, i just imagine it being a bulbasaur using bullet seeds. The gun is just graphics its the game design of actually holding and affecting the world around you with your pals that is the amazing feeling. The only interaction you get in pokemon is from putting up the picnic table and giving them a glitched ham sandwich
Yea. 'Eat Dat PNG Boyo, it's all you're getting.'
"Hangyu has never done anything wrong" his paldeck entry be like ☠️
It's been a year since you've started posting, and a year since I started watching haha. Your content continues to come out swinging and be absolute bangers. Keep up the good work I look forward to every video you release.
I had to check, you're totally right! I hadn't actually realized what the day was. Thank you so much for sticking around and supporting me!
Wixen reminds me of a Red Mage from Final Fantasy 1, honestly.
Anyone that thinks Palworld ripped off pokemon has never stepped outside & seen real animals 💀
in the end, if Nintendo wont give the people what they want, someone else will and nintendo will have to play catch up which historically doesnt end well. just look at Harvest Moon vs Stardew
21:00 There is a much more common, and lower level Wixen (level range of 17 to 22) spawn to the northeast at the furthest eastern section of Verdant Brook in a magmatic area colloquially known as "The Scar". The fastest way there from a fresh character is to spawn on Eastern Wild Island, head the west-northwest corner of the island, then it's a fairly safe walk north, across shallow waters, to "The Scar" (Wixen is my main no matter if I'm playing solo or multiplayer, so I've got multiple routes memorized).
I was going to point this out too! Just be careful not to hit the Alpha Jormuntide at the sea plus all the Beegarde roaming around with Bee Quiet 👍
@@cvrlo_ Eh, Jormuntide seems to be pretty chill. Last I checked it wouldn't agro without being attacked. Otherwise yeah, the only real big threat is the Beegardes, and they're fairly easily stunned out of Bee Quiet by just head slapping them, assuming you're at least level 16 yourself.
found your channel through this video and honestly your commentary style is a breath of fresh air (kinda like palworld!) in the commentary space.
So many commentary channels now cover drama and controversy but I really enjoy seeing somebody that doesn’t feel the need to bombard me with weeks of research and statistics. Keep going! Happy to be here for the ride :)
if you think Direhowl is cool, get yourself a Fenglope, especially one with speed increase traits. You haven't lived until you have shot across the entire zone on a Cloud Tempest you took off the top of a mountain. You'll stop using flying mounts. You can't get that thrill there.
Better than Pokemon. Better than Ark. For a fraction of the price and with no customer abuse... in less dev time.
This is called passion. We as gamers scarcely dare to remember what we have lost. What the industry has taken from us.
Make a good game and don't be predatory. Simple as. Long live Palworld and Pocketpair. I even applied to work there but I don't speak Japanese lol
I wanted Pokemon to grow with me, I been a fan of Pokemon games, cartoon, merchandise since ten years old. Palworld fills that gap as an adult I wanted.
For all its faults, Digimon did the "growing up with the audience" thing so much better than Pokémon its not even funny. It's just sad.
Sad at how much TPC has...neglected its adult fan base.
Also sad considering how little Bandai seemingly cares for Digimon.
I remember a time when games were made to be played with kids and parents. My mom and dad would actually enjoy the game with me or help me beat it. Some of the best childhood memories with my parents. Now it’s like the parents having to tolerate watching blues clues or Sesame Street with their babies. But it started with these legendary companies. A solid case of devolution.
Bro I'm the exact same when it comes to summoning in video games. You explained it perfectly.
Palworld is like those clones that were modified to be more powerful and superior than the original
Since the last update it got a bug where when you log off for too long from the server (I share one with 3 friends for $5 a month) every pal becomes depressed, hungry and the base out of food.
It’s like a girlfriend-simulator
Did you kiss them each before you left? Also that's sorta why I play private on my or my friends server. Also do you have hot springs, plenty of food, is workload too high?
This happens when the servers restart. The pals get stuck by the pal box without moving so they get hungry and then sick. They o let move if anyone in the server comes and looks at them, that will “activate” them. This isn’t new though, it’s been going on since the beginning.
There is a trick... before you log off, put your pals back in the box. It might help
@@revmaillet thats not a trick, its a workaround, that has been what I have implemented in my server as well, if people arent gonna make it to the next reset. But its very much not optimal and I hope they come out with a solution for this.
2000 dollars of 40k stuff?! That's almost HALF of a standard size Ad Mech army!
I've been playing Pokemon since it first came out and stood in line for almost every release just to snag two copies. I love Pokemon and probably will always think fondly of the games but they have had 28 years to improve their games and its only just been recently that they have shifted to 'open world'. The closest they came to something like this was Legends Arceus which I loved, but maybe I don't want to be a 10 year old kid taking on some world ending event. Maybe I want something more for my character to do than do turn based rock, paper, scissors, and having my Pokemon do everything. This game is great. Like you said, this was the game we always wanted. I think the anger at Pal World is just Pokemon fans like me that Nintendo didn't get there before some other game did and i get that.
also this is a really good video essay and you deserve more views
Remember: This game is in early access.
It is effectively an open access beta test.
Numerous main mechanics aren't even implemented yet.
There's so much more to this game that doesn't even exist as a playable version of the game yet.
Will you be playing in a year? I'd say it's more likely than you think.
Your writing is so good, had me subscribing by the first ad break! (which I made sure to watch all of for ya'... even the 12 minute one 😅)
Did I just hear you say you have an ODST video?! IMO that is THE BEST Halo game, I'm soooo watching that next 😅
Such a great audio essay, stumbled across your channel from palworld and I'm not sure we have much in common as I have become much less of a gamer as i have come into adulthood, but this was a great piece of work. Will sub for sure and will be watching for any more palworld essays.
“I’m gunna hit you with a real car” 🤣🤣💀
$2k of 40k merch would be like, three items. Probably not even a full army. XD
Just think about it - Twenty whole Termagaunts, just for me ^_^
Pokemon deserves to be ripped off, even if Palworld doesn't actually rip off quite as much as the angry fanboys diving in front of bullets aimed at a multi-billion company want to believe. Pokemon, outside of their character designers, are creatively bankrupt, unwilling to put in even the tiniest smidge of effort knowing they have one of the world's largest and most captive audiences. I've been saying this everywhere lately but if Nintendo decided to sell crudely drawn Pokemon stickers glued to random sticks they found in the woods for 5 bucks a pop, they'd deforest the amazon.
The big misdirect here is they ripped off Ark, not Pokemon xD.
@@7sevin7oresyx it literally garchomp.
Not complaining, just pointing it out.
@@donyates7300 on one hand I couldn't point out all the ways in which it's not, but that actually deflects from my point. Play both "Ark: Survival Evolved" and "Palworld" and then get back to me. They are identical in so many mechanics. It's the real reason they switched from Unity to Unreal, in order to make an Ark clone. They promised a game that was a survival game where you could build, kill, capture, and battle with monsters, and guns. Ark was already that but with Dinosaurs. They just swapped Dinosaurs for Pokemon. They stole a concept from the Pokemon company, which is much less trademarkable than what they stole from Studio Wildcard, the entire game interface, progression system, networking for server hosting, ect.
@@7sevin7 go play conan exiles and get back to me on that "ark rip off" take.
@@butthole247 it's far closer to ark. Palworld doesn't have any swinging dicks in it xD
Awesome review, couldn’t have said it better myself! I especially loved how you pointed out that the game is only about your pals being in a horrific sweatshop if you neglect them. I loved how the game subtly taught me how to take better care of my pals. I don’t remember what it originally said about hot springs but at some point I feel like I read an in game tip that said if my pals were depressed then perhaps I needed more hot springs.
Then I still felt bad for my pals and so I looked at their food and realized that while cooked berries don’t provide tons more nutrition, they do boost sanity as opposed to regular berries doing nothing for sanity. Since then other than pals having pathing issues where they get stuck and thus won’t eat, none of my pals get depressed anymore.
broski, youve said what ive been feeling about this entire subject. im glad im not alone, and youve made a much more clear and conscise point than i ever could have. great video.
Honestly the structure of this video was amazing. You earned yourself a subscriber 👏
Omg finally someone who appreciates these cool little monsters for what they are and understands that the game is not inherently about abusing them so much as it is about working along side them and becoming a family.
I unironically love the pal designs, yes some look very close to pokemon but I also love the overall old school Ken Sugimori style the got going on. I also love interacting with them, exploring, battling and just chilling at camp with them.
It's a magical feeling I haven't felt from the likes of pokemon in a long, long while and I 100℅ think the "palworld is just a memey pokemon with guns" game mentally is just wrong.
Pal world is perfect cell . Absorbed all the strongest games n now its the strongest .
You articulate your points so clearly. Amazing work, I agree with the sentiments you made and am impressed by the quality of your content. Great video !
Thank you for this video. I find your views and opinions vey refreshing. I also appreciate finding another Palworld lover who doesn’t believe that you have to be abusive to your pals in order to enjoy the game. I instantly quit watching a video when the creator mistreats their pals. I know it’s a video game, but that’s a real turnoff for me. Unfortunately, it’s hard to find gamers on UA-cam or Twitch that don’t abuse their pals or bother with taking care of their needs. It says a lot about the world and it’s a bit depressing.
Dude who are you and where did you come from. Fire video. Very well written/narrated. You sir earned my subscription.
I can't get enough of this channel keep up the great work friend
I feel you on the mount thing. I saw a dark flame lion and the game let me ride it. Thats just everything
Great video, really enjoyed it. Keep up the good work and your channel will grow!
Man, I'm glad you're loving this game too, brother. I don't care if it's "unoriginal," I was waiting for this game the moment I saw the first trailer years ago, and this IS what I wanted from Pokemon for decades, and I haven't had a game capture my heart and rapt attention like this in ages.
Pocketpair, thank you. You've seriously got something special here, and if you keep at it, all I see is a bright future for Palworld.
Number one you have a new subscriber
I have been waiting for a game like this since I was a child. It's the perfect Pokemon game I've always wanted, even though it's not technically a Pokemon game. However, I am amazed by the number of people who try to compare it to Pokemon and make assumptions about it. Some even go as far as to say that if it does better than Pokemon, then Pokemon will disappear forever. This reminds me of a situation I had with some Sonic fans who were fans of the character Amy Rose. As an old Sonic fan, I wanted a statue of Sally Acorn from First Four Figures, but the Amy Rose fans feared that if the statue was made, Amy Rose would disappear from the games completely. It's a similar sentiment, and I believe it is childish. Just because something is better than what you love or what others love, it doesn't give anyone the right to attack or spread lies about it. I hope this makes sense. And seriously I can't wait to see what palworld has next
I saw Charlie’s vid of him playing it, decided to try it, waited till I beat 90% of the game before looking at any videos of anyone’s opinion so I could just enjoy a fun game without people trying to hate
I just found you and listening to your Nintendo rant, I subscribed immediately
$2000 in warhammer merch is like a fifth of an army.
algorythm nailed it with this one, bro. New Sub
Love the enthusiasm, and I agree. Its a game that so many gamers have been waiting for. It feels like a shared idea that we all forgot about long ago, and playing it gives me this sort of nastolgic feeling, but that feeling only exists because of how wild my dreams and ideas were as a kid. Its like a dream, really.
One of the best video essays I’ve ever seen
tip i can see you have no shield. you dont hold a shield it is something that just takes the first bit of damage that also regens.
Actually huge; I figured it was the item version of Lamball. Thanks!
Just discovered your channel. I absolutely love your format and style. Do you record for audiobooks? If you don't, you definitely should.
Palworld really does feel like the pokemon of a new generation. Once again the world is charmed by cute little monsters now known as "Pals". It's a beautiful thing to see people now talking about the adventures they shared with their lamball or nitewing just as we would back in the day about our Pikachu's and charizards.
this is the game i wanted and needed since i first played pokemon so i perfectly get the whole sentiment shown with this video and relate to it a lot 😅
awesome video man good job, subbed
As always bro, algorithm pleasing comment. Keep it up, Thane!
Algorithm pleasing reply! Thank you so much!
That quivern looks so amazing that even though I tend to steer away from the new hot thing everyone is busying themselves with I must admit that it looks like a lot of fun to collect a beast like that and fly around on it. the Pokemon company is in such a strange place since the end of the DS era, I keep coming back to that realization that after gen 7 (which a lot of people still like to harp on about that it wasn't that good either.) there was just not the same energy to it anymore. the visual quality in difference your clips demonstrate of PW compared to Pkmn S&V is enough to make the eyes hurt, its like Palworld is everything that people would've hoped Arceus would be at the time, at any rate, whether the product took the market by storm by fair or unfair means... it brings something back that we've lost along the way and that is joy in exploring and collecting these adorable critters, now more alive and interactive then ever.
In guild wars, I made a conjuring necromancer just so I could summon ghost and summon zombies and I’d make them really overpowered with the two traits of the conjuration summon magic and death magic . I just remember having an armory of archer is in an army of bone crawlers, guarding me and watching the enemies try to get near me and just get epic Lee ripped apart and watch the text say stay away from them.
Good stuff,I enjoyed the video
First time seeing a vid from you and this is a lovely video! Thank you for sharing your opinion!
The shepard gamer, a twist into the summoner one haha
Loved how you see the gaming experience
You can see pretty much the entire map from the tower on top of the hill you start the game on. Didn't think I'd use my 4090 to get max render distance looking out over the world in Pokemon with guns but here we are. Worth it.
Finally a game that will someday perhaps change how gamefreak makes games
My prediction is that the best they'll do is take aspects from Stardew Valley and manage to screw it up
@@johnskelington berry fields and clodsire dung piles to fertilize them lol
Honest review you have my sub
This video is wonderful and should be used in court
Finally, a reviewer that treat their palls wel 😭
I was starting to get sad cause people treat them so bad on videos
Palworld brings up an interesting philosophical question. If a game takes creative elements from several games, successfully identifying what makes them enjoyable, and correctly manages to merge them in an enjoyable way, does the final result become creative? So many individual aspects aren't creative, when looked at in a vacuum but I think the final product, with those elements so seamlessly merged, is creative.
I am incredibly biased, my most played games are pokemon and ark. I've spent a ton of time in botw and totk. This game is what I didn't know I wanted
9:40 yeah.
when i saw some palworld video where all the pal in the base have atleast 2 debuff on them. i wonder are they collect debuff or something?
Not too far into the video yet, I'd just like to say that I share your love for little guys and little guy simulators.
Good job on the review
I'm glad you mentioned climbing and swimming. I was more surprised by the climbing ability than anything else. The fact that so few games have it is BS.
You can also slide if you press c while sprinting.
@@mahoganydoughnut6082 Ah so that is how you do it🤦 , i've been trying since the beginning
@Marsmellow492 yeah it's real useful early game if you slide down hill and jump, then glide, you keep the momentum and glide really fast.
Best review of palworld yet !