Palworld’s new Sakurajima pals look eerily similar to Pokémon’s Golisopod and Dusknoir

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Nothing’s ever going to nudge Pokémon out of that special place in my heart. No matter how hard PocketPair try to rip off the legendary designs of Ken Sugimori and all the other designers that have followed, it just won’t do. The upcoming Sakurajima update could have been an opportunity for Palworld to diversify its Pal-pool, and create something new for a change. Instead, I present to you its latest Pals.

You’d be right in seeing the likes of Lucario, Dusknoir, Golisopod and Delphox in the images above, but you’d wrong in thinking that they were official GameFreak creations. These are all new pals introduced as part of Palworld’s Sakurajima update.

The launch of Palworld saw enough comparisons against Pokémon, and this is certainly not going to help its case. The similarities served its purpose at launch. It caused a stir and threw Palworld into the public sphere at a scale the developers could never have imagined. Gameplay differed enough so much that the Pocket Monster likeness was in aesthetics only, but a few months on from launch, with a vastly expanded team and a wealth of financial resources available, Palworld should have evolved into a new direction that actually expressed some innovative creativity, rather than rehashing the same beloved silhouettes into suspiciously similar character models.

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When I think of Pokémon but better, I think of the Megami Tensei series. MegaTen games were around long before Game Freak adopted the formula, and Atlus’ approach to monster collection and character design is one of the series’ biggest attraction points. With SMT V: Vengeance having recently released, it’s a perfect example of how these designs have informed and defined a distinct brand for the games. Over-the-top and charming, the Demons of the Megami Tensei world ooze personality and spirit. Enough so much it’s impossible to compare Megami Tensei and Pokémon now. They’ve both found a style that works, and one that makes sense too. 

I’d wanted a similar thing from the new Pals introduced in Sakurajima. Instead, we got a re-skinned Golisopod and Dusknoir with flames. PocketPair’s breakout game is now an established name. It doesn’t need to piggy-back off the success of Pokémon to thrive, it just needs to offer some unique personality. Good artists copy, great artists steal, the quote goes, right?


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The gameplay of Pokémon and Palworld is different enough so much that it’s impossible to compare the two. Gun-toting, pal-trafficking Pokémon is a cool spin on the monster collection genre. It just needs a cool spin through its designs, too.

Cover image by Daniel Ramos.

About the Author

Amaar Chowdhury

Amaar is a gaming journalist with an interest in covering the industry's corporations. Aside from that, he has a hankering interest in retro games that few people care about anymore.