{"id":42539,"date":"2024-01-27T00:00:23","date_gmt":"2024-01-27T00:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.xtremeservers.com\/blog\/palworld-vs-pokemon-comparison-just-how-similar-are-the-designs\/"},"modified":"2024-01-27T00:00:23","modified_gmt":"2024-01-27T00:00:23","slug":"palworld-vs-pokemon-comparison-just-how-similar-are-the-designs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.xtremeservers.com\/blog\/palworld-vs-pokemon-comparison-just-how-similar-are-the-designs\/","title":{"rendered":"Palworld vs. Pok\u00e9mon Comparison: Just How Similar Are the Designs?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As a lifelong fan of Pok\u00e9mon, I\u2019m used to seeing other games in the \u201cmonster tamer\u201d genre that are clearly inspired by it, from Temtem to Ni no Kuni, but nothing made me do a double take quite like Palworld, aka Pok\u00e9mon With Guns. The first trailer<\/u><\/a> of what looked like a heavily armed Pokemon Trainer using a terrified little pocket monster as a bullet shield was like a meme come to life. While the ridiculous concept is good for a laugh, what\u2019s not so much of a laughing matter is how developer Pocketpair has seemingly copied elements of more than a few Pok\u00e9mon designs when making its own creatures for Palworld, called Pals. <\/p>\n

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Well I\u2019ve got a bone to pick with you, pal, because making a game with creatures inspired <\/em>by Pok\u00e9mon is one thing, but ripping them off \u2013 which, as I\u2019ll demonstrate, is the case in some examples \u2013 is too much. I\u2019m not a game designer but the inspiration for Pok\u00e9mon comes from all around us. See those keys on the counter? That was an actual idea for a new Pok\u00e9mon. And that ice cream cone? New Pok\u00e9mon. That literal pile of trash? You get the idea. The fact Palworld doesn\u2019t have wholly original designs, for whatever reason, seems wild to me. What\u2019s more, by not coming up with its own designs, it potentially opened itself up to legal action from The Pok\u00e9mon Company and, even worse, criticism from rabid Pok\u00e9mon fans like me<\/u><\/a>. <\/p>\n

The CEO of Pocketpair, Takuro Mizobe, has denied allegations of plagiarism<\/u><\/a>. While Pikachu doesn\u2019t appear in Palworld exactly<\/em>, there\u2019s no denying that many of the designs are strikingly similar, whether it\u2019s elements of different Pok\u00e9mon thrown together to make a Pal that\u2019s a bit Frankenstien\u2019s monster, to more wholesale similarities. It\u2019s at least enough to get on The Pok\u00e9mon Company\u2019s radar. The company made a statement<\/u><\/a> saying, quote, “We intend to investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pok\u00e9mon.” Well, lets do our own research and you can be the judge.<\/p>\n

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Before I get to the comparisons, it\u2019s important to point out I have no issue<\/em> with the fact Palworld has elements of Pok\u00e9mon\u2019s gameplay. Countless games do the same thing and anyone who has played the first 15 minutes of Palworld<\/u><\/a> can plainly see that while it does have monster taming, its survival gameplay, crafting mechanics, and lack of glaring technical issues<\/u><\/a> make it clear it\u2019s otherwise nothing like a Pok\u00e9mon game. For me, it\u2019s all about the designs of the Pok\u00e9mon themselves \u2013 the creatures I\u2019ve spent years of my life getting to know and love, and to see some of many favorites presented in the way they are in Palworld genuinely breaks my heart. I’m really sentimental like that.<\/p>\n

The following Pal\/Pok\u00e9mon comparisons are categorized by the nature of their resemblance. We’ll start with some examples of designs that are well within the bounds of good taste, then progress to designs that share more than a few commonalities. <\/p>\n