Palworld looks wonderfully unhinged in shotgun-toting gameplay footage

Pokémon Legends on bath salts

We first summed up Palworld as “Pokémon meets guns,” and that line still rings true — but the more I see of this ridiculous survival crafting game with monster befriending (and butchering!), the more I think it’s something I’d actually bother to play. After watching the new Palworld footage out of Indie Live Expo 2022, I’m becoming weirdly invested.

This isn’t even a full minute-long clip, but it’ll stick with you.

https://youtu.be/-EJckERWcO0

I love the YouTube description from Pocketpair, especially if this is your first time hearing about Palworld: “Have a happy easy-going lifestyle while farming & building with cute Pal.”

Meanwhile, the Steam page for Palworld doesn’t hold back: “You must be prepared to do anything if you want to survive. You may even need to consume Pals sometimes. You can sell them, butcher them to eat, give them hard labor, pillage, rob, and exercise complete mayhem but this is completely up to the players to make adult decisions like these since the laws in this world prohibit such activities. Just don’t get caught!”

I mean, sure — I’d be curious to see how ethically someone could play this game if they really tried to survive without compromising their morals. Maybe a challenge run?

This latest game footage shows the protagonist stroll up and nail an anthropomorphic creature with a shotgun only for it to shrug off the attack and beckon them for a real fight. In a post-Pokémon Legends: Arceus world, I think I could get down with these sorts of skirmishes. The farming, survival, and base-building automation elements hopefully won’t bog down what should be a fast and loose trek through a chaotic Poké-esque open world.

Pals powered by Unreal Engine 4

“After we released the first trailer, we reconsidered graphical directions and switched the game engine to Unreal Engine 4 to vividly render vibrant moments of Pals,” the developers said back in January. “The development of Palworld has been going well so far. We’re planning to hold the alpha test in the future as well.”

There’s an uncanny factor to Palworld, as if it’s a fictional video game in the background of some TV show, but that novelty is working in its favor, at least for me.

In 2022, I’m so used to knowing exactly what I’m going to get from a game. I don’t know what to expect from Palworld. How far will it go? Shit, how far will I go?