Palworld, the survival game often referred to as "Pokémon with guns"—sometimes affectionately, sometimes derisively—drew mixed reactions from critics when it first launched in January 2024.
We called it a "somewhat edgy, competent survival game with a core concept just dumb enough to be streamable" when it was released, while other players noted its similarities to Nintendo's popular monster-catching RPG. Still, it was an overnight success, peaking at more than two million users on Steam.
