The first time I heard the pitch — Pokemon with guns — I rolled my eyes so hard I nearly lost them. I did not want to give Grookey an AK-47, and I still do not. In 2026, after the launch-year shouting has faded, I boot up Palworld again and feel the same embarrassing truth: this messy, derivative, oddly charming Frankenstein still gets its claws into me. I spend two hours building a house I do not need. I manually harvest wood and stone before my base is automated. Honestly, I still do not know why. I just know I had a great time doing it.

The base that hums while I pretend to be productive

Base building and Pal capturing are the meat and potatoes of the early game, and both are deeply satisfying. My first base is not elegant. It is a box with a roof, a bed, a chest, and a workshop, and yet it hums with purpose. I deck it out the way I deck out an Animal Crossing island: a bench here, a berry plot there, a cute Pal waddling past like a villager who has been politely drafted into indentured labour. The game winks at me. I wink back.

Crafting Pal Spheres is tedious and expensive, no argument there. Throwing them, though, feels great. It calls back to Pokemon Legends: Arceus, that little arc through the air, the wobble, the click. It feels less great when my thumb slips and I throw one into the aether, losing it forever. Look, I am not going to pretend that is good design. It is just the kind of small, stupid mistake that makes the world feel physical.

Survival-lite, and that is fine

Palworld is a survival game for people who do not really like survival games. Resources are simple to gather. You have a hunger metre, but berries are weightless and abundant, so I never bother to cook. I am never truly stuck. If I need more wood, I punch a tree. If I need more stone, I hit a rock. The loop is gentle, almost forgiving.

That table sounds harsh, and it is. But it also explains the strange pull. The encounter-battle-battle-bigger battle loop of regular Pokemon games can wear thin. Palworld gives me a different rhythm: gather, build, capture, defend, wander. It is not revolutionary. It is just different enough.

Combat: button-mashy, but exciting

Fighting wild Pals and hostile invaders feels good, if not great. It can get button-mashy. In my case, it often becomes sit behind a rock and let my Pals go to town. I can dodge, shoot a bow, stab with a spear, or hop on a mount and run the heck away. It is no Sekiro or Sifu. It is not even Shadow of Mordor. But it keeps me on my toes, and it does not get tiresome too quickly.

The Pals are cute, but I cannot help feeling disappointed in the designs. From not-Psyduck to not-Grookey to not-Lucario, they are uninspired at best and complete Pokemon ripoffs at worst. Allegations of AI art have swirled around the developer, and CEO Takuro Mizobe has been an ardent supporter of AI, even bragging about putting Pokemon through AI filters. I cannot prove what happened in the art room, and I will not pretend I can. I can only say the silhouettes feel familiar in a way that makes me sigh.

The implementation, though, is excellent. A ghostly Daedream appearing in a field of slaughtered Lamball is great environmental storytelling, whether intentional or not. The high-level Mammorest hulking over the starting area is a brilliant motivator. It dares me to level up. It makes the world feel dangerous and full of promise. When has a Pokemon ever felt that imposing in a main series game? Seeing that giant beast early gives me something to aim for, and Palworld is good at dangling bigger and better Pals just over the horizon.

Exploration and the art of not being punished

Exploration borrows strongly from recent Zelda entries, but it never quite manages that magic. Everything is executed at about average. Yet fast travel points are frequent, and dying drops my items on my grave, so I never feel punished for wandering too far. That matters more than polish. The game lets me broaden my horizons without making me pay for curiosity with an hour of backtracking.

Nothing in Palworld is revolutionary. Most of it is blatantly copied from better games. It does not execute any mechanic with excellence or panache. And yet, in some Frankensteinian way, it makes an incredibly engaging concoction. It is a survival game for people who are bored of survival games. It is a Pokemon game for people who are getting bored of Pokemon. That should not work. Why does it work? I will leave that question hanging.

The embarrassing truth

In 2026, I am still not sure Palworld deserves the word good. It is messy. It is derivative. Its marketing still makes me cringe. But I keep coming back. I build another boxy house. I catch another not-Grookey. I let my Pals grumble around the berry plot while the base hums its little rhythm. No shame in admitting it: I am having fun. And sometimes that is the whole review.