Palworld, monster collector with machineguns, will launch in Early Access this month

rockpapershotgun.com:

The odd mashup of Pokémon-like monsters, crafting, and machineguns, has made each new trailer for Palworld a delight over the past couple of years. Now it's taking the bold step of moving beyond meme by becoming a playable video game, when it launches on January 19th.

Of course, that release date announcement came with one last trailer:

I said "Pokémon-like" in the first paragraph, but that might be generous. Some of Palworld's character designs are so similar to their obvious inspiration as to be almost indistinguishable. That's part of what makes the whole thing so unheimlich, because here you can use those cute creatures and put them to unwholesome work as a production line for AK-47s, among other tasks.

That said, much of Pokémon - including making those cute creatures fight until the pass out - only seems normal via repetition. I am fundamentally onboard with the idea of a monster-collecting game where I can use the monsters not just for battles, but for automating construction and crafting tasks. There are moments in the trailer above where other possible inspirations start to emerge, such as Monster Hunter and maybe even Fortnite.

Palworld will launch in Steam Early Access, with the intent to stay there for at least a year. Updates will add new monsters, areas and dungeons, while the core experience - crafting, monster catching, fighting - is present from launch.

It's worth noting that Palworld is the work of Pocketpair, who are no strangers to Early Access. They released Craftopia that way in 2020 - which is to Breath Of The Wild what Palworld is to Pokémon - and it remains in Early Access nearly four years later. It continues to receive update and has a development roadmap for 2024.

I have no idea whether