Palworld Early Access Review: Is This Pokémon Meets Ark?

Whoa, trainers! When I first caught wind that there was a new monster-collecting survival game on the horizon that looked like Pokémon meets Ark, I just about lost it. My inner child was doing backflips! I mean, come on, a game where you can make new monster BFFs to help around your homestead AND battle against others? Sign me up! As soon as Palworld hit early access, I dove right in to see if it lived up to the hype. Come join me on this magical monster adventure as I give you my full hands-on review of crafting, training, and battling in Palworld’s early access version! There were definitely some surprises in store. Let’s just say it got a bit more intense than a normal Pokémon journey!

Overview of Palworld Early Access

I Finally Got My Hands On It!

I was so excited when I saw Palworld pop up on my Steam wishlist – the early access version is now available! I couldn’t wait to try out this quirky monster-collecting game that looked like Pokémon meets Ark: Survival Evolved.

Love the Art Style

The visuals have a cute, cartoonish style that reminds me of old Pokémon games. The chunky monster models are adorable, and the environments are colorful with fun themes like fiery volcanoes and lush jungles. Overall, the graphics seem well-polished for an early access game.

Capturing Pals Is a Blast

Running around throwing capture discs to get new Pals to join my squad is highly addicting gameplay. I like trying out different types to snag Grass, Fire, Water, and other Pals to fill out my roster. Battling wild Pals to weaken them first adds a fun challenge too.

So Much Potential

While limited as expected for early access, I already love the base mechanics of capturing, training, and battling Pals. I’m excited to see new features come online over time like breeding, more customization, expanded biomes, and multiplayer. The concept seems strong and I’m bullish on where Palworld can go!

I’m having a total blast with Palworld early access and recommend it if monster collection games are your thing. Stay tuned for more impressions as I get deeper into crafting, base building, and other systems!

Key Gameplay Mechanics and Features

Oh my gosh, I am so excited to share my thoughts on some of the key gameplay mechanics and features in Palworld! As a huge Pokémon fan, I’ve been eagerly awaiting this quirky monster-collecting and base-building game.

• Pocket Monsters…with guns?! – Your main objective is to befriend and recruit various Pal creatures to help build up your home base and workforce. But here’s the crazy part – you can equip your Pals with weapons and battle gear to defend your base! It adds a whole new dimension to monster taming games.
• Resource gathering – You need to gather resources like wood, stone, ores etc to construct buildings, weapons, and other items. I really enjoy the gathering gameplay loop – it’s quite addicting chopping trees and mining ores to fuel your base expansion.
• Base building – You can build all sorts of structures like crafting stations, farms, factories, and processing plants. Finding creative ways to boost efficiency and optimize workflows is super satisfying for this factory game fan!
• Creature breeding – By pairing up your Pals, you can breed new ones with varied stats and traits. Then you can train them for different roles – some may be better at farming, others at combat. There’s a whole Eugenics system to engineer superior Pals!

With wacky weapons, breeding programs, and resource automation, Palworld puts an absurdly humorous spin on the monster taming genre. I’m pumped to see what other outrageous mechanics are in store as early access development continues!

Pokemon-Inspired Monster Taming and Battling

Oh boy, do I love this part of Palworld! As a long-time Pokémon fan, the monster taming and battling elements really scratch that nostalgic itch for me. Getting to explore vibrant biomes and discover quirky new Pal creatures brings me right back to my days with Pokémon Red on the Game Boy.

• I just adore throwing those Pal Balls to capture wild Pals out in the fields or forests. Each one has unique types, stats, and moves – it reminds me so much of hunting for my favorites like Bulbasaur and Pikachu!
• And don’t even get me started on the battles! Setting up my dream Pal team and battling AI or other players satisfies my competitive side. It’s a blast strategizing type advantages and weaknesses to claim victory.

The devs clearly took inspiration from iconic monster collectors like Pokémon and Digimon. Yet they’ve woven in their own flavor with Pal breeding, gene splicing, and more adult themes. Ultimately though, that sense of adventure and connection with my Pals team is what I love most! It stirs up the excitement of my childhood monster taming days.

Even in early access, I’m thrilled with the foundations in place for capturing and battling Pals. As more biomes, Pals, moves, and features get added, this game will only get better for fans of monster tamers! I cannot wait to see how my Pal collection and battle prowess grows over time. This is one nostalgia trip that I won’t be getting off anytime soon!

Base Building and Resource Management

Oh my gosh, I was so excited to start building my own base in Palworld! I gathered up all the materials needed like wood, stone, and fiber through foraging, mining, and battling wild Pals. Then I claimed a sweet spot near a riverbank to start constructing.

• First I built some basic wooden walls and floors so I had an enclosed space to work in. Then I added stuff like windows, doors, beds, storages chests, and crafting stations.
• I love how you can build multi-story bases with ladders and railings! I created a second floor with a nice balcony view. The customization options let me really personalize it.
• One tip is to set up perimeter fences and torches early on so enemies can’t easily attack at night. Safety first!

Gathering and managing resources is crucial for expanding your base. You need so many materials like wood, fiber, stone, ores, etc. I assigned my creatures to harvest resources from the nearby areas.

• Having Pals collect materials frees me up to focus on building, crafting, and other tasks. It’s a huge help!
• I also installed storage containers to organize all the various resources. With good management, I hardly ever run out of supplies now.

Overall, the base building mechanics are super fun and satisfying. I love watching my cool base take shape and knowing my Pals are secure within its walls! The resource gathering can feel grindy at times, but planning ahead helps a lot. This game lets my creativity run wild!

Is Palworld Worth Playing in Early Access?

I’ll be straight with you – Palworld is one of the most unique and entertaining games I’ve played in a long time! As a huge Pokémon fan, I was instantly drawn in by the idea of befriending and battling mysterious creatures called Pals. And the addition of base building, farming, crafting and even weapons gives Palworld an extra dimension that really makes it stand out.

• The Good

Let’s start with the good stuff! The Pal designs are incredibly charming – who wouldn’t want a cute little creatures as their companion? Interacting and playing with your Pals to raise their loyalty is super addicting. And being able to customize your base however you want is awesome too. The gameplay loop of exploring, catching new Pals, and expanding your empire had me hooked for hours!

• The Bad

No game is perfect though, especially in early access. The world can feel a bit empty at times without many characters or quests. Some features like vehicles don’t work yet. And there are definitely some junky animations and visual glitches. But that’s expected for an early build.

• The Verdict

While Palworld is rough around the edges, the core foundation is incredibly fun and shows a ton of promise. As a fan of monster collectors like Pokémon, monster tamers like Monster Rancher, and sandbox games like Ark and Stardew Valley, Palworld takes the best elements of all those genres and combines them into one quirky and enjoyable experience. That’s why I can easily recommend checking it out in early access, especially if you like collecting creatures and customizing your own little world. Just keep in mind it’s not a finished product yet. But I’m excited to see where it goes!

Conclusion

Well there you have it – my take on Palworld in its current early access state. While it still has some kinks to work out before the full launch, I’m pumped to keep playing and see how this quirky creature collector develops. Taming new Pal to help around my ranch or take into wacky battles promises hijinks galore. And the possibilities seem endless for what Pocketpair can add to make caring for my quirky little friends even more engaging. I can’t wait to get back to my ranch to further bond with my Pals! Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to make sure they stayed out of trouble while I was writing. Those rascals always keep me on my toes!