Palworld 1.0 reviewed by Travis Northup on PC, also available on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5.
Palworld cleverly blends an amusing creature collecting adventure with a traditional survival game to create something that’s bizarre, disturbing, and incredibly bingeable. Forcing Pals to work in your growing empire of industrialization as you conquer a hostile world in search of greater power is one of those endlessly satisfying loops you can lose some serious time to, especially when accompanied by friends. The story isn’t worth following, some regions can feel pretty barren, and the base-building mechanics could have used more time in Early Access– but those shortcomings are little more than a footnote when measured against the consistently enjoyable adventure around them. Palworld had me meticulously hunting every Pal in my Palpedia, excitedly grinding for better gear to take on the next challenging region or boss, and self-reflecting on whether or not I was a bad person as I turned innocent animals into beasts of burden, adding them to my army of unpaid interns. The answer is probably yes, but that doesn’t mean I want to stop any time soon.
#IGN #Palworld