The new game Palworld, aka “Pokémon with Guns,” takes the cutesy concept of Pokémon and makes it metal. The game has become a viral hit thanks to its darker approach to the idea of catching animals and forcing them to battle one another. (Already pretty dark if you ask me.)
Created by Japanese developers Pocket Pair, Palworld is an action-adventure survival game that lets you roam around finding and collecting pals that can be used in several ways, including combat. You can now suit up your pals with weapons galore and send them off to battle toting guns and cannons to fight your enemies. The game satirizes, almost to the point of “Is this even legal?”, the classic Pokémon game by making it much more twisted.
One of the most twisted elements of the game that has been spotted by players is that once you feel your Pal has outlived its usefulness, you can simply butcher it. That’s right, “butcher”—that’s the game’s term, not mine. Using the “Meat Cleaver” weapon you have the option to butcher your Pals, with the item’s description stating “Knife for butchering summoned Pals. When equipped, the Pet command becomes Butcher. Butchered pals will not return.”
One fan shared his discovery of this tool online and tested it out only to be shocked at the brutality of this option in the game.
The item even works on humans you have captured, giving you the option to butcher them as well. So essentially this is a game where you round up Pals and use them for your own ends such as fighting, building, mining, and manufacturing weapons, and when you are done with them, you can simply butcher them … jeez.
Many on social media have pointed out that there are plenty of ways to get rid of your Pals, such as setting them free or selling them on the black market. Butchering them is an unnecessary option. The brutality of this game which bears such a resemblance to Pokémon has caused it to become an overnight sensation, though has left many feeling that its success derives simply from its “so edgy” approach.
Whilst many have delighted in the sheer abundant joy this game has at taking the premise of Pokémon and just going ham with it, others feel that it only further desensitizes us to animal abuse. There are other aspects of the game that some players feel it goes too far, but in this day and age what does going too far even look like anymore?
(featured image: Pocket Pair, Inc.)
