Palworld has undoubtedly captured the attention and time of gamers everywhere since it entered early access in mid-January, and now that its developer Pocketpair has committed to keeping the game updated, it will likely continue to do so. Palworld's Palpagos Islands are certainly full of mysteries and secrets to discover, including a vast collection of Pokemon-like creatures waiting to be captured and powerful foes to battle, so there is plenty to do in this whimsical open world that Pocketpair has created.
At the heart of Palworld's progression is its namesake: Pals. These adorable, animal-like creatures are useful for a variety of tasks, including defeating the game's bosses, battling other Pals, and keeping the player's base up and running. However, despite Pals being such a central part of Palworld's progression, the game seems to move its players to be fairly cavalier with their creature companions while simultaneously encouraging them to enhance their Pals' stats. This makes for a rather significant contradiction in Palworld's progression system, as it attempts to go in opposite directions in both its themes and gameplay.
Palworld's Progression System Seems Divided
Pals Are Essentially Treated as Dispensable Objects in Palworld
Palworld has become, to some extent, a meme among the gaming community, primarily due to its treatment of the animal-like creatures it is characterized by. Pals are certainly adorable and could probably become a rather emotional experience for players if there were a bonding mechanic of some sort in the game, but they are essentially nothing more than workhorses meant to do the player's bidding.
Pals are useful objects in Palworld, and that happens to be about it. They help keep the player's base up and running, and they assist in weakening or defeating other Pals to help the player progress. As a result, they are largely dispensable creatures, especially because they can be easily discarded and even sold to various Black Market vendors throughout the Palpagos Islands. The moment a Pal becomes irrelevant or useless, players are all but encouraged to replace it or get rid of it altogether. This puts the Pal enhancement system found in Statues of Power in question.
Statues of Power Seem to Discourage Players From Being Cavalier With Their Pals
Statues of Power can be found scattered throughout the Palpagos Islands, but players can also craft them once they reach level 6 and unlock the ability to craft them in the Technology tree. When using a Statue of Power, players are then allowed to enhance their own stats or those of their Pals for a price. Enhancing the player's stats is a bit misleading, however, as players can only offer Lifmunk Effigies to increase their Capture Power. Enhancing Pals, on the other hand, requires a rather rare resource called a Pal Soul. Using an increasing amount of Pal Souls, players can permanently increase the Max Health, Attack, Defense, and Work Speed of their Pals.
Pals are useful objects in Palworld, and that happens to be about it.
The issue with this system is that enhancing Pals' stats in Palworld only applies to them individually. As such, should the time come when that Pal becomes irrelevant, due to players catching a better Pal or simply not needing one any longer, every Pal Soul spent on that specific Pal is then wasted. If Pals were less dispensable, perhaps there would be more reason to spend valuable resources upgrading their stats. To counter this conundrum, Pocketpair could update Statues of Power to enhance the stats of an entire species of Pal, rather than merely enhancing each one individually.
As Pocketpair has expressed its devotion to continue making Palworld a better experience for its players, it's likely the game's progression system will receive a makeover moving forward. In what ways it might change remains to be seen, but Palworld is nonetheless continuing to prove itself as one of the most entertaining and successful games of 2024 thus far.