There’s been a lot of vitriol thrown around since a little game called Palworld released into early access, smashing Steam player counts and igniting discourse surrounding Pokémon like an ornery Charizard across pretty much every social media platform.
In my opinion, very little of it is deserved. Yes, a lot of the Pal designs appear to copy certain Pokémon – Cremis is basically an Eevee – but accusations of rampant AI use have gone unfounded thus far, and even if Palworld is an amalgamation of copied homework and AI-generated assets, it’s still packed full of great ideas I’d love to see in an actual Pokémon game.
The problem – or lack thereof, depending on which side of the creature collector fence you’re sitting on – is that Palworld will have little to no influence on Game Freak, the developer of Pokémon. For better or worse, neither the massive player counts nor great new ideas will change how Game Freak develops its Wailord-sized series.
You see, nearly three decades have shown us that Game Freak has and always will march to its own rhythm. I’m old enough to remember that, around the time Pokémon Diamond and Pearl released in 2006, fans and critics alike lamented how little Pokémon had evolved since its original release. The concept was the same as it always was: collect eight badges, defeat a villainous team, and catch the box art Legendary.
Related: Palworld Players Have Found a Creative Way to Hit the Seas
Disappointment only grew when Pokémon Black and White lacked new ideas (though, in my opinion, perfected the PokéFormula). Despite growing criticism locally in Japan and rampant criticism abroad, Pokémon X and Y, along with Pokémon Sun and Moon, only made superficial changes while adding questionable pacing, yet they still outsold most other games in their respective release years.
It wasn’t until 2019’s Pokémon Sword and Shield – 13 years after pretty much everyone began to feel the formula growing stale – that Game Freak began to make more significant design changes in the form of the Wild Area. And even then, it was nothing more than a curious prototype of an open world, marred by the rest of the game once again following the same pattern, and this time, it threw in a rushed, nonsensical story for good measure.
2022’s Pokémon Legends: Arceus – almost 15 years after Diamond and Pearl – truly changed how Pokémon played for the better, and I’ll argue until my face turns as red as a Groudon that it’s the best Pokémon game since Black and White. If Pokémon is going to garner love from critics and more diehard fans once again, I think improving upon what it has with Arceus’ pseudo-open world and new battle style is the key – not copying Palworld.
That said, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet aren’t it, either. Cramming the same formula into a broken open world makes them – once again, in my not-so-humble-opinion – quite literally the worst Pokémon games and a massive step back from Arceus. The Paldea region could learn a lot from Palworld. I’d love to see more reasons to explore and some kind of base building – which wouldn’t be a first for Pokémon – if Game Freak pursues another open world with the inevitable Generation X. For Pokémon as a whole, the powers that be are best served to look within and expand upon new ideas that have worked in the past.
Thus, hate for Palworld, born out of some strange desire to defend one of the most profitable game developers in existence, is in vain. Game Freak doesn’t care. It’s one of the least reactive and most profitable developers on the planet, preferring to set trends or wallow in mediocrity like a particularly content Wooper rolling in mud. The Pokémon Company doesn’t care, either, as it continues to break sales records and rake in billions. While I would prefer Pokémon to have some significant competition, Palworld isn’t it. True PokéChange will have to come from within.
Palworld Early Access is available now.
