Since Palworld was first shown off, plenty of folk described the game as ‘Pokemon with guns’, and that’s not exactly a stretch. One look at the Tokyo Game Show trailer for the game and you’ll quite clearly see Pal designs (those are the creatures you’ll be collecting) that are akin to fan-favourite Pokemon, albeit wielding AK’s and other weaponry.
Taking inspiration from other developers, especially those behind one of the most prolific monster-collecting games globally, is fine. But that’s only one of my qualms with Palworld. Developer PocketPair claims ‘it has taken no inspiration from Pokemon whatsoever’, instead citing Ark, Minecraft, Rimworld, Rust, Grand Theft Auto, and Dragon Quest in an interview with The Gamer about the topic. But the game also features typography and music that you could’ve told me was from Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and I might’ve believed you. Many of these Pals look explicitly like pre-existing Pokemon.
So, there’s no reference to Zelda or Pokemon having been an inspiration, despite a lot of nods to the contrary. And the sad part is, I believe this all goes a lot deeper, with some folk on Twitter claiming Pocketpair have copied Fakemon designs for Palworld’s Pals, too.
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