I know there are a few controversies surrounding the game, but ignoring that for now
For those who’ve played it, what do you think?
3 Likes
I love it, genuinely. I did not know I was missing that pokemon-shaped hole in my heart till my Lamball ran over to help me build something for the first time.
3 Likes
It is fun I love catching pals and making a base but it has a ton of bugs and the AI is as dumb as a bag of rock and the dungeons are so boring but still it is so much fun but I still love Pokémon a bit better.
Game is fun game is good, if the Devs walked away now I would still enjoy it. (I doubt they will though)
all the “drama”, is overblown.
Nintendo/Game Freak will hurt their own branding in confusion if they try to take legal action.
The fear of the use of store bought assets or AI is that people will make copycat slop with no passion or use it to cut out important middle men causing the product to lose quality.
Palworld even if it uses Store bought assets or AI doesn’t lack that quality or passion when playing and also solves the open world exploration problem by having useful items spawn everywhere.
People call Palworld Pokemon with guns, it is actually Ark Survival evolved meets breath of the wild, with some Pokemon added in on top, and I enjoy it way more than all of those games put together.
It is also good competition for Pokemon and will force Game Freak to make a game that actually functions well for more than 5 minutes.
7 Likes
Was going to write up a long summary, but CystalCore up there got most of what I was going to say.
I really gotta nail it down though, the game legitimately feels like ARK but with all the stuff I hated in it taken out. Downside is the game simply isn’t finished and wont be for a long while (if ever, knowing the devs).
The fact people are going so nuclear over AI around the game just feels artificial.
I can understand the concern a bit from some of the Pals having bits that look like they were taken straight from Pokemon, maybe, though I’ll forgive that a little since Palworld’s an indie game.
The AI thing, man, some people go absolutely bananas about it. To anyone’s knowledge, the only reason “AI” was brought up at all was that the company is okay with it and has used some previously.
That’s it. Palworld is an evil spawn of Super Satan simply because they maybe possibly could’ve used AI to make assets in the game. No evidence, no theories.
Personally, as someone who’s worked with AI and 3D a bunch (not at the same time), if I had to guess wildly, I’d say there’s a chance that the company used AI to gen the Pal designs, then quickly made 3D models of those designs, as most mid/low-tier AI tend to rip-off little Pokemon bits wholesale, like an eye or an ear, when genning Pokemon designs.
4 Likes
I love it! I didn’t realize how bored and frustrated I was with a lot of games until I played Palworld for 4 hours and was still liking it and wanting to play more. It’s like ARK but not a steaming pile of crap that takes 400 gigs and runs awfully.
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The only thing I’ve heard about Palworld that I genuinely don’t like is that some people have pointed out that they’ve apparently taken some Fakemon designs from others and use them in the game. I’ve only seen it a few times cuz everyone’s talking about the other stuff mentioned here before, but if it is true, it’s honestly the only downright scummy thing they’ve done that I can point to.
According to this video, Nintendo might have a case due to the fact that some character designers using blender have discovered that the designs, when put side-by-side with actual Pokemon, look a bit TOO similar when in Blender; I’m not talking just art and appearance, the polygons are apparently near IDENTICAL. For context, the ones who made the discovery have pointed out the near impossibility of this, of two models under completely different artists sharing such a similar poly count, that it could not be just shear coincidence.
If Nintendo did go the court route, that discovery COULD be used as proof of plagiarism; I’ll admit, I don’t believe the claims that’s it’s 1:1, however, I can’t help but think about how some aspects look so artistically similar that it might not be a stretch that the artists took certain traits and used them like a character creator: grab what you like and put it on your fan-mon.
2 Likes
YougYea does some great stuff but as anyone that covers this there’s a lot of rhetoric, misinformation, and speculation based on things that are being said with little to no basis. I have not thoroughly looked into some of the claims but I’m almost certain the guy that indicated the meshes were exact matches and were basically one for one match. Admitted that they resized the meshes to match the pal models. So, people are using takes like that to justify their arguments.
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Gotta agree on the resizing, for most of what I remember most pokemon in the entire franchise are not taller than 170 cm, whilst I’ve already encountered a few Pals that are prob 3m tall. They did resize the pokemons most probably just to fit their theories
The creators could’ve done similarly in making the pals. Scaling difference doesn’t change how close the polygons are, it cycles back to my theory of “making the pals like a fan-mon creator”. They could’ve easily changed the scale during the creation process.
Not trying to shill for Game-Freak, but you can’t justify it with a technicality like that. Palworld’s creators could get in serious trouble if lawyers CAN make a case with that if Game-Freak tries legal action; it’s a matter of covering bases on Palworld’s side, and not committing to blind loyalty on EITHER game company’s side.
EDIT: realized I wrote a double negative on this comment, had to address it.
It’s not a technically though. Someone admits to altering the thing that was supposed to be evidence of a wrong doing and being flippant with the idea that it was an exact match is misleading. This reminds me of Helena Taylor and the Bayonetta controversy. News sources, fans, and the internet came out to rush to her side based on misinformation and were quick to harass and throw around accusation that were unfounded.
There is a lot of misinformation and accusations surrounding the game with little to no evidence being tossed around. Nintendo doesn’t need to internet or the court of public opinion to internet sleuth if someone has infringed, stolen, or violated their IP. If a company has done so it will be found out. My issue is most people I see talking about these things based like there facts are getting information from news sources that ran with the allegations from “trust me bro” sources. I am not looking to defend or either company I just think it’s dangerous to accept something like this as fact without due research.
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Indeed, I believe that the developers of Palworld have a genuine understanding of player demands. Firstly, gameplay mechanics should not be subject to accusations of plagiarism; otherwise, this would result in a copyright monopoly of popular genres such as MOBAs, FPS, and RTS games, which would stifle the progress of the gaming industry. Moreover, art styles should not be encumbered by copyright, although artistic creations should be protected. My stance is that copyright should defend “expressions” rather than “ideas.” To put it differently, “the replication of an engaging idea should not be hindered, but the original works derived from that idea, which are the product of someone’s labor, deserve recognition and respect.” Nintendo’s Pokémon gameplay mechanics should not be covered by copyright protection, yet I respect Nintendo’s claim to the copyright of each individual Pokémon character. My criticism is directed at the Pokémon series for its decades-long stagnation in core gameplay mechanics and its lack of performance optimization. Palworld may resemble a patchwork creature, but it has adeptly integrated and organically fused the entertaining aspects of the games it emulates. For me, at least in the realm of entertainment value, the Palworld developers have truly excelled.
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If I could say something more broadly, I think people need to be honest with why they’re arguing things one way or another. Basically, make an attempt to argue in good faith, not to support some tribal attitude. If you legitimately like the game and are enjoying it, great. If you dislike the game or have concerns for reasons that are legitimately your own, great. Just be honest with yourself and your arguments, and definitely try to verify any outside information you’re using to support your argument one way or another.
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Well looks like Nintendo is investigating Palworld now.
Found another set of YouTubers with the latest update:
SHOTS FIRED! Nintendo PUBLICLY Addresses the Palworld Controversy… (youtube.com)
Suffice to say, I’m pleasantly surprised to know the designs aren’t as close as I worried; apparently, the guy who made that original claim is evidenced to have a bias - it’s less a Pokemon stan and more of similar mindset to the guy who wrote “Seduction of the Innocent”: they just don’t like “corruption” caused by the game itself.
Makes ya wonder what side they would’ve taken back in the 90s when Pokemon first came out, huh?
On another note, lots of folks are noting how this is likely Nintendo’s way of saying “Yes, we know it exists; now kindly please, shut the fuck up.”
The actual bit they wrote out basically boiled down to “we know about it, we’re looking at it”, which could really go either way.
The fact that the guy that inserted literal Pokemon models into the game got yeeted in less than 24 hours while Palworld’s been announced and shown for like 6 months and out publicly for a week now means it’s fairly unlikely they’ll do anything. Then again, Twitter Pokemon cult members have been absolutely foaming at the mouth trying to kill Palworld, so seeing an army of rabid freaks attacking Palworld might goad TPC/Nintendo into taking PP to court.
It’s freaky as hell to see people this volcanically gigamad at a 20-ish person dev team and 5-10ish outsourced staff. Like, actually shocking.
Even outside the model controversy, (though obviously that doesn’t help), the fact that PP could have used AI somewhere in development of Palworld, “maybe” is enough to cause people to send death threats to the devs and act like a giant horde rampaging to Nintendo and kicking and screaming for them to tear PP in half, probably literally.
I mean, I’ve seen people mad about stuff, yes, but some of the people in this mess are angrier than actual people shouting about actual animal cruelty.
Some of the anger is just so extreme that if PP was bigger than they are, I would’ve assumed it was some viral marketing strategy, but that’s not a trick you can pull when your company consists of like 25 people in total.
Ok, my thoughts on Palworld:
More seriously, I think most of the controversy around this game is just a bunch of people pulling at strings to try and validate their anger at a video game that is apparently pretty good.
However the team behind palworld has a track record of leaving their games in a unfinished or buggy state, so I’m going to wait and see if they end up properly supporting it or not.
If they do then sure I wouldn’t mind playing it then.
2 Likes
It’s super awesome. Not a big fan of Pokemon but Palword really isn’t just Pokemon. It’s got flavors of Ark and Breath of the Wild. I wish there was more to do and for base building to be improved, but totally worth it. I’ve already sunk like 12 hours into it and bought it roughly 3 days ago.
It’s silly but fun. I still unsure if this game will truly keep going yet.