Palworld’s latest Sakurajima friends have a striking resemblance to Pokémon’s Golisopod and Dusknoir.
Although the photos above feature characters like Lucario, Dusknoir, Golisopod, and Delphox, you would be mistaken to believe that they are genuine GameFreak designs. As part of Palworld’s Sakurajima upgrade, these are all brand-new friends.
Palworld has already faced enough parallels to Pokémon since its inception, which will not assist its cause. When it first launched, the similarities were useful. Palworld was thrust into the public eye on a scale that the developers could not have predicted, causing a controversy. The gameplay was sufficiently different that the Pocket Monster resemblance was purely aesthetic.
However, after a few months of the launch, Palworld should have changed course and started expressing some creative innovation instead of recycling the same cherished silhouettes into uncannily similar character models, given the size of their team and their ample financial resources.
Better than Pokémon, the Megami Tensei series comes to mind when I think about Pokémon. MegaTen games were established long before Game Freak used the formula, and one of the main draws of the series is Atlus’ approach to monster collecting and character design.
With SMT V: Vengeance having just come out, it’s a great illustration of how these designs have shaped and established the games’ own brands. The Megami Tensei world’s Demons are outrageously endearing and full of personality and spirit. Too much, in fact, for Megami Tensei and Pokémon to be compared at this point. Both of them have discovered an effective and logical style.
From the new Pals that Sakurajima revealed, I had hoped for something similar. Rather, we get Dusknoir with flames and a reskinned Golisopod. The popular game on PocketPair has gained recognition recently. To succeed, it merely needs to have an own personality and not rely on Pokémon’s popularity.As they say, “Good artists copy, great artists steal.”
It is impossible to compare the gameplay of Palworld and Pokémon because they are so dissimilar from one another. Pokémon with guns and friends they ride with are a unique take on the monster collection genre. It only requires a cool perusal of its designs.