When the Pokemon anime was first starting out, Episode 35 was banned from international broadcast due to characters having realistic weapons pointed at them several times. Which begs the question – what would happen if you put firearms into the world of Pokemon?
Well after the trailer debut of “Palworld” at INDIE Live Expo, I’m here to say that your dreams have become a reality.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY4lyOH1_0o
The team behind Palworld, Pocket Pair, had previously released another game ‘Craftopia’ for early access in late 2020 which had mixed to positive reviews. 
In only 10 seconds of the trailer, the preview for the game goes from 0-100 real quick, opening as a Genshin Impact/Breath of the Wild-esque Pokemon clone to suddenly flying through the air, emptying a clip at an enemy nearby. We then get back to serene action-adventure RPG, riding across the expanse of the world, as well as seeing villages and towns being constructed as part of the gameplay, before being thrown right back into a 3rd-person all-out assault as a monster bounces from enemy to enemy amongst the gunfire.
In awe, you can’t help but continue watching as more game mechanics are uncovered – a Digimon-style monster fusion element? Sitting around a campfire with your Pals? Oh here, one of the creatures climbs onto you and also starts shooting. Just pick up a little sheep monster and use it as a cute, wooly shield before it is tossed aside carelessly. This isn’t your standard catch them all rhetoric, this is WAR!
In fact the deeper you get into the trailer, the more you realise that there are a lot of questions to be answered for games in a similar genre. Little creatures forced into slave labour to build assault weapons. Using a rocket launcher to bring down a cathedral onto your enemies! Throwing an electric type into a lake to zap other creatures to the surface! What I’ve described does not do the trailer justice, you really need to see it for yourself.
Palworld’s creators describe it as a “next-generation open-world survival crafting game”, with the game’s Steam page. But the game boasts your abilities at poaching rare creatures for money, forcing them into slave labour and even suggesting “Don’t worry; labor laws won’t be applied to Pals.” The page even hints at using your Pals as a food source… Gotta taste them all?
Palworld has a tentative release date of 2022. You can see more about it and add it to your wishlist HERE.
