As a lifelong Pokémon fan, I want nothing more than to see the series improve rather than continue to stagnate. That’s why, instead of falling on the “Palworld is derivative nonsense” side of Internet discourse, I’ve championed the idea that Palworld introduces great ideas that Game Freak should adopt.
And while I’ve also written at length about how the Pokémon developer won’t bother chasing trends, there’s one specific mechanic in Palworld that Game Freak should adopt if it continues to make open world Pokémon adventures: Overworld abilities unique to specific Pokémon.
In Palworld, your Foxparks can become handheld flamethrowers; Pengullet and Fuack can water your berry fields, and Chillet keep your food from spoiling. Other Pals, like Tanzee and Cattiva, can chop down trees and mine ore in order to build up your base further. Many can be ridden across the land or in the skies. You can even give quite a lot of them guns and rocket launchers, though I’m not sure Pikachu needs weaponry.
In short, every single Pal in the game has some useful ability or another. What this does is give a legitimate incentive to “catch ‘em all,” if only to see how they can benefit your general base building or ease traversal for your character.
In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, the very first fully open world Pokémon game, all traversal abilities are assigned to either Miraidon or Koraidon, the version-exclusive box Legendaries. You have to unlock dashing, jumping, gliding, and more for these ‘mons by defeating the extra-large Titan enemies spread throughout the vast yet empty Paldea region. After playing Palworld, it’s clear how much of a missed opportunity this is for Game Freak.
Game Freak has always struggled with traversal in Pokémon games. Its initial form, hidden machines (or HMs), took up a move slot on some of your favorite Pokémon, leading many players to carry an “HM slave” along with them for their adventure that could cut trees and ride the waves. Game Freak would later axe the mechanic entirely in favor of randomly summoned Pokémon in Pokémon Sun and Moon. Pokémon Sword and Shield removed or replaced almost all traversal abilities with the ROTOM bicycle before they were brought back in the form of Miraidon and Koraidon.
Related: Palworld Already Has a Pokémon Mod – And It Looks as Great as It Sounds
But why can’t Pokémon found out in the world be raised to unlock such abilities? I don’t think the style Palworld has – unlocking equipable harnesses and such from a technology tree and crafting them – would fit Pokémon at all; however, raising a Lapras to level 30 to unlock the ability to ride it across water (without using a move slot, of course) makes so much sense that I’m surprised I never thought of it before.
In fact, with the option to swap Pokémon freely from the PC box at any time, giving Pokémon specific overworld abilities would actually make collecting them all exciting for the first time since 1998. Certain Flying-type Pokémon could whisk you around the map faster than others, while an Arcanine would certainly be faster than a Stoutland but take a longer time to unlock the ability. Maybe – hear me out – some Dark types could make your character more stealthy, allowing you to sneak up on other ‘mons for a quick capture, and perhaps Ghost types frighten other Pokémon into running from you, replacing the repel item. Fairy types on your team could increase capture rates, while others could raise the chance to find a shiny – a much better alternative to an incredibly tedious sandwich crafting mini-game.
This also opens up design possibilities for more interesting open-world mechanics, such as Fire-type Pokémon keeping you warm in snowy regions or lighting up dark caves. Poison types to help survive swamps. Electric types to power machines. Psychic types to read the minds of NPCs or locate hidden items. Grass and Water types to grow berries that boost experience earned during battle. The possibilities are endless and would go a long, long way to making an open-world Pokémon game actually intriguing because, as of right now, I’m worried about what will follow up the lifeless Paldea region.
Much like how Game Freak isn’t going to change its plans for future Pokémon games because of the success of Palworld, they’re not going to listen to me whine about their design choices here at the Escapist and elsewhere. I get that. Still, I can’t help but feel that the various abilities and functions the Pals in Palworld bring to the forefront so much wasted potential in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Since we haven’t gotten a Pokémon adventure in a minute, maybe that means Game Freak is putting more effort into the next release for the Nintendo Switch successor, and I’ll eat all these words. I can only pray to Arceus that’s the case.
Palworld Early Access is available now.
