The upcoming open-world survival game Palworld steals almost every Pokémon design it can get its hands on. Ironically, the gameplay is unique because of the macabre combinations.
The evil brother of Pokémon is brewing and provides plenty of morally questionable conversation besides brazen attempts at copying. Because instead of fighting side by side with the monsters in a friendly manner, they are mercilessly used as cannon fodder. The name of the game: Palworld.
Update from 27.01.2022
The Pokémon Company International has now dealt with the game and is having videos and images of the game gradually removed from all platforms due to copyright infringements. As a result, there will probably not be a release of Palworld.
This is Palworld
While Pokémon Legends: Arceus, a new kind of title in the world-famous RPG franchise makes its debut on Friday, a seemingly unscrupulous knock-off of the popular pocket monsters is causing a stir. Palworld is meant to be an open-world game with survival and crafting elements, but imitates just about every Pokémon with every creature shown. Developer and publisher Pocketpair released Palworld’s second official trailer on Friday.
In the good minute and a half, the freely explorable world of Palworld is shown and also the unusual action with firearms. However, after the first few seconds, numerous characters can be recognised that look more than a little like some Pokémon. For example, a supposed squirrel can be seen that could be modelled on the Evoli evolution Folipurba.
Birds can be seen next to the Folipurba adaptation, which also look like familiar Pokémon. A dragon-like monster glides through the sea, immediately reminiscent of Garados. Other popular Pokémon such as Pikachu and Nachtara are also imitated. Adding to the copy approach is the fact that the monsters can be caught in a ball.
Eggs can also be hatched. However, combining two different monsters creates some new species. Ironically, the example in the video shows an electric dinosaur that strongly resembles the Pokémon Ampharos. However, the clone takes the crown with other designs. These include a large yellow monster that is a 1A hybrid of Elektek and the character Totoro from Studio Ghibli.
Already last year, Pocketpair created a lot of media interest with the (first trailer of Palworld). But the latest moving images make it even clearer how many Pokémon have been imitated so far. On Twitter, too, there are plenty of users commenting on the obvious monster copies.
There is no way these people aren’t shoving every single Unity asset they can find into this game.
Ultima вʟм (@UltimaShadowX) January 25, 2022
Towards the end of the trailer, characters rushing into battle can be seen. The one on the front left resembles an Anubis-style Lucario. Across the way flies an alternate version of the legendary Pokémon Reshiram, which appears to have teamed up with Zoroark. The list is long, but the examples already clearly show how much the Japanese studio Pocketpair, based in Tokyo, makes use of the taste patterns of existing Pokémon. Incidentally, Pokémon developer Gamefreak is also based in the metropolis. So far, nothing is known about a possible legal dispute.
Gameplay is surprisingly brutal and different from Pokémon
Unlike the peaceful Pokémon, which only compete with each other, the monsters in Palworld wield firearms and can themselves die in battle instead of being defeated. Moreover, they can be mercilessly used as living shields by the main character, a human.
According to the description on (Steam), everyone can choose for themselves whether to live a quiet life in harmony in the open-world survival game or to engage in battle. Those who prefer to protect their own “Pals”, which definitely comes closer to describing them as buddies, can therefore do so. However, those who want to break “the law” of the game can also ice-coldly use their animal friends as slaves or even for food to ensure their own survival.
The game is scheduled for release in 2022. Exact information on the release is still pending, however.
