5 things the Pokémon games need to learn from Palworld
Taking notes
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The open-world survival gamePalworld,developed by Pocketpair, is taking gamers by storm. Arriving out of the blue to sell over six million copies in under a week, it’s difficult to contextualize just how popular the game is right now. It’s already hit the massive milestone of 1.85 million simultaneous players on the digital PC game platformSteam, which puts it above the likes ofCounter-Strike 2andCyberpunk 2077in terms of record all-time concurrent Steam player counts.
If the developer’s Tweets are anything to go by,Palworldis still selling so fast that I wouldn’t be surprised if that six million sales figure has already become inaccurate by the time you finish reading this sentence. That number also presumably excludes anyXbox Game Passplayers, which could be quite a hefty number given the game’s simultaneous launch onXbox Series X|S andXbox One.
If you haven’t been keeping up with this sleeper hit (and with how fast it’s all taken off I can hardly blame you),Palworldis a hybrid of survival games likeRustorArk: Survival EvolvedandPokémon. It features a large open world filled with ‘Pals’, which you can capture and store in Pal Balls. There’s a big focus on base-building and supply chain management, with the game encouraging you to put your army of Pals to work farming natural resources.
As you can probably tell from this description,Palworldactually has very little in common with your average mainlinePokémongame beyond its general aesthetics. Still, I think that its massive success is very intriguing and might suggest some of the things that people are waiting for in a newPokémongame. With that in mind, here are the five things I’d like to see thePokémongames learn fromPalworld.
1. A better open world
A big part of the reason that many seem to be choosing to sink countless hours intoPalworldhas got to be its expansive open world. Comprised of multiple regions, it’s a pretty impressive environment, and you’re able to explore it freely from the get-go. While the recentPokémon ScarletandVioletandPokémon Legends: Arceusall featured an open world, they always felt much more restricted than the one here.
Palworldgives you a host of traversal options very early on, includingThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildstyle glider that makes it super easy to get across long distances fast. You can also get your hands on a grappling gun; nothing quite beats being able to zip up the sides of mountains in seconds. I have also yet to encounter a single invisible wall or blocked-off area in my exploration, leading to an experience that just seems that much more natural.
I would love to see a futurePokémongame expand on some of the foundations laid so far and do a little more with its open world. Whether that’s more freedom or simply adding some movement mechanics that are more exciting than trudging around on a giant unwieldy Pokémon or a pedal bike.
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2. Improved multiplayer
RecentPokémongames have also experimented with online multiplayer.Pokémon Let’s Gofeatured co-op, allowing another player to join your world at the same time, whilePokémon SwordandShieldhad small multiplayer areas where you can interact with other players online in a very, very limited capacity. Things were a little more advanced inPokémon ScarletandViolet,which included Union Circle - a mode that lets you invite up to three other players to your game.
Even so,ScarletandViolet’s UI is very clunky and I often struggled to maintain a stable connection while trying to play with my friends. Some of this is likely to do with the less-than-ideal netcode of the Nintendo Switch, but it is still a significantly worse experience thanPalworld, where you can simply flick a switch in the settings menu to enable others to join your game, which has worked pretty flawlessly every time I have attempted it.
3. More than just battling
Palworld’sbig hook is its survival crafting, which has really got me thinking thatPokémongames could really benefit from more mechanical variety.Pokémon Legends: Arceuswas a bit of a shakeup, changing the core focus from story progression to exploration. However, it would be fantastic to see a newPokémongame take those kinds of ideas even further.
There are only so many times that you can battle your way through various regions before it becomes well and truly stale, and the success ofPalworldtells me that players would jump on aPokémontitle that looked like it was going to offer something a little different.
4. Smoother performance
One of the most significant areas where I feelPalworldis dramatically ahead is its performance. Everything runs very, very smoothly, and the game looks pleasant to boot. This stellar performance is no doubt largely thanks to the far superior graphical capabilities of an Xbox Series X or PC compared to the Nintendo Switch, but it’s still fair to say that Nintendo well and truly dropped the ball on the performance of its latest installment.Pokémon ScarletandVioletran appallingly at launch, with frequent framerate issues and an abundance of nasty, muddy textures. I’m not too fussed about visuals generally, but the sheer number of issues present made it a highly unpleasant experience.
Thankfully, many of the most egregious problems have since been patched, but I still find the occasional hiccup when I sit down to play. I don’t expect performance on par withPalworld, given the massive difference in hardware, but I really hope that the nextPokémonruns much better, as it makes for a terrible first impression. With a potential Nintendo Switch 2 on the horizon, things are certainly looking up in this regard.
5. Give Pikachu a gun
Okay, I’m not 100% serious with this one, but I do think that there’s definitely something to be said about the need for a greater number ofPokémongames that try to engage with some more mature themes. I enjoyed a lot of my time withDetective Pikachu Returns, thanks in no small part to how it attempts totackle some heavier subject matter, including corruption or the breakdown of a family. Although the writing could be pretty clunky throughout, it was quite surprising to see from such a traditionally family-friendly franchise.
Now, I’m not saying that the mainlinePokémonseries would benefit from having anywhere near the level of mature content seen inPalworld, which features everything from illegal poaching to the ability to butcher your adorable Pals. Still, some more nuanced storytelling wouldn’t go amiss. Obviously, the primary audience forPokémongames is always almost invariably going to be children. However, there are still a fair few older fans who grew up with the games that would appreciate a more complex tale.
For some top game recommendations, see our guide to thebest Pokémon gamesor thebest Nintendo Switch games.
Dash is a technology journalist who covers gaming hardware at TechRadar. Before joining the TechRadar team, he was writing gaming articles for some of the UK’s biggest magazines including PLAY, Edge, PC Gamer, and SFX. Now, when he’s not getting his greasy little mitts on the newest hardware or gaming gadget, he can be found listening to J-pop or feverishly devouring the latest Nintendo Switch otome.
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