Palworld

There are simple pleasures to be found in Palworld's enormous list of crafting tasks, but look beyond its base building and its world, monster taming and combat all feel quite stale and undercooked.

Palworld is a strange and obliviously cruel game that nonetheless shows effort and some real thought running through its core design. Consequently, the end result (so far) is an arguably-functional hybrid of several proven formulas that still can't help feeling like a tonal car crash.

Palworld offers everything you'd expect, and so much more. From incredible boss fights to satisfying community building, there's something for everyone.

Palworld is taking the internet by storm, but how do legally ambiguous pocket monsters hold up overall? Check out our review in progress.

Palworld is a game of bare minimums, unscrupulous and soulless, designed by the numbers to hit all the right notes to keep you hooked on its addictive catch-grind-craft loop.