Palworld Phenomenon: A Minecraft With Pokemon That Amuses The Web But Annoys Nintendo

A few days ago, Palworld It was only known to a few players who were eagerly awaiting its release. But today, Pocketpair’s game (and its very controversial CEO, Takuro Mizobe) has the respect of niche sites like our peers. GamecultBut more like general media 20 minutes, world And also the echoMore accustomed to dealing with foreign trade balance than with Game design. Also Palworld, what is it ? Why all the excitement and controversy?

Palworldinspired by Pokemon ? Maybe, but only just

See the picture taken from PalworldPhilistines (and amateurs for that matter) think immediately Pokemon Both Character design The two titles are comparable: creatures that are beautiful to scream, chubby and scream in a very lively tone. But very quickly, we raise our eyebrows when we find an army of SD sheep (Super perverted) equipped with a heavy machine gun or a Pikachu that manipulates on creatine Mini gun, which he undoubtedly unbolted from a naval destroyer. But to get there, we have to Grinder, farmer And craftsman Because unlike Pokemon, catching and training the creatures isn’t at the heart of the experience.

Adventure of Palworld As begins Zelda, in addition character customization. After creating your avatar, the game takes us to a cave and two small creatures (companions) run away with all the speed of their little legs. The chase takes the player out of the cave so they can start…gathering and processing resources, such as Minecraft. The idea is to create a base in which the player can build various items to continue their expansion. As the game progresses, he will gain experience and skills to create tools that will allow him to capture friends. as Pokemon, you have to imprison them in balls after weakening them using other blades… or weapons like sticks, swords, clubs, pistols, machine guns or assault rifles. These new teammates will be able to fight, but also (and perhaps most of all) to cut wood, collect this or that, cook and Finally Further accelerate base development. After many hours of play, we finally have access to the manufacture of weapons to make our peaceful friends apostles of destruction through fire and steel. And why all this? Explore the vast world, defeat dungeons, bosses, acquire equipment, capture other more versatile, more powerful friends to further develop your base…

Palworld There is a very free open world, without a story mode, without any scenario; So it gives free rein to the player’s imagination. If it’s mainly played solo, you can also explore the world Palworld With three friends in cooperation. pvp (against the player or Player vs. Player (not yet implemented)Palworld (still in early access), but this feature should be coming soon.

Why are we talking about this?

Analogy of Palworld with the saga Pokemon Apparently it has a lot to do with it. But other games have already tried to adapt the concept of small monsters to catch without much success Palworld Which, let us point out, sold over 7 million units (digital) in just five days. The offensive side of the title, which combines cute creatures and devastating weapons of war, may explain its popularity. But above all, PocketPair is perfectly calibrated for title streaming and live game broadcasting. Commented by players, this amasses millions of views and will lead to the acquisition of the title, in other broadcasts, leading to more views… The vicious (or virtuous, depending on your point of view) circle continues. .

Obviously, this popularity gave rise to curiosity and, after discovering the title and its possibilities, criticisms, as well as controversies, began to arise. Because, apart from the somewhat embarrassing resemblance between Pokemon, Pocketpair’s game also juggles a hot topic: generative AI. Indeed, it seems that Takuro Mizobe, the outstanding follower of this technology, used it to create universes of course, but also to create allies. This did not fail to somewhat warm the minds of Internet users, but also the owners of the Pokemon license, The Pokemon Company, which clarified and threatened in a press release: “We have not granted any permission to use any intellectual property or assets Pokemon In this game. We intend to investigate and take appropriate action to remedy any acts of infringement of relevant intellectual property rights. Pokémon.”

What is sure to be a battle between PocketPair, Nintendo, GameFreaks and The Pokemon Company is legally fierce, but also philosophically and technologically exciting. Indeed, the questions are numerous. Can we consider that Palward Is the original title? Where does inspiration end and plagiarism begin? Is generative AI ultimately just a sophisticated plagiarism tool? Is generative AI capable of creating original artistic work? And no doubt many others…

The fate of Palworld

This may seem surprising, but Palworld Still in early access on Steam. This means that the game is not finished yet and additional functions (including PVP mode) will be introduced gradually. That didn’t stop more than 7 million players – at the time of writing, just days after it became available – from buying it. Its popularity is expected to grow and grow, but for how long? As we said, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company have found an enemy, and it’s a safe bet that an armada of lawyers is ready at this very moment to find every possible solution on a war footing, remove the game from sale, and make it disappear. . Indeed, Big N is very sensitive about unauthorized use of its intellectual properties and does not hesitate to bring out the heavy artillery to assert its rights. In any case, it will take a little longer than the buzz surrounding its release Palworld

Forever settled in the hearts of the players; For example real playful potential. And indeed, the feedback is rather positive. Palworld It’s not the game of the century, but according to our colleague Karl who was able to try it out, we have a good time torturing friends. To get an idea, the best thing is to try it for yourself; Palworld Available on PC (via Steam), Xbox and Xbox Series X/S. Note that it is available in Game Pass.