Palia is an upcoming MMORPG from Singularity 6, and has already garnered a lot of attention from soon-to-be players. While there’s no official release date yet, enough people have been interested in Palia that it’s made a splash in the MMORPG world. In the world of Palia, humans disappeared long ago, right around the time magic was realizing its full potential. No modern residents of Palia know why the humans simply vanished — until they start popping up all over the world again.
Players will take on the role of these humans, and work to make a place for themselves within the world of Palia. This includes things like exploration of the world and decorating a home designed exactly how the player wants. Perhaps most exciting about Palia is how it seemingly combines MMO-type games with the relaxation of a game like Animal Crossing. Other MMORPGs tend to have a lot of grind to them, but Palia seems to avoid this altogether.
One Major MMORPG Criticism Palia Avoids
MMORPGs are highly popular because they allow players to escape into fantasy worlds alongside their real-life or internet friends. However, these types of games don’t come without their issues, and one major complaint about MMOs stems from the grind and hours put into the game with little to show for it. Grinding is repetitive tasks to help level players up, but can also result in cosmetic rewards as well. Some players enjoy the grind, but for others, games can be all grind and no reward.
Lots of MMORPGs are free-to-play with lots of grind involved, but players can pay to avoid the grind. Obviously, this makes the game more “freemium” than actually free, but some players can afford to pay to skip the more annoying grind sections of a game. Those who can’t get stuck in the grind and play loop. Beyond the grind, many MMORPGs require a ton of hours and time sunk into them, making them very intense experiences. Some players don’t have the time or energy to devote to such demanding MMORPGs, so they stay away from games of that nature. Palia, however, seems to avoid all this.
How Palia Seems Different From Other MMORPGs
From the reveal trailer for Palia, it’s apparent that there’s a different atmosphere compared to other MMORPGs. Where other games like that can push for a grind or be upfront about how much time players will put into the game, Palia feels more like Animal Crossing. It seems relaxing, like the kind of game players could sink hours into but not even know it.
Some of the main mechanics of the game include things like fishing, gardening, cooking, and even more that has yet to be revealed. Players will have the ability to not only play with their friends but also romance NPCs found within the world of Palia. It’s no wonder that Palia has already been compared to Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing because of these mechanics. However, Palia seems to offer a unique experience in that it’s set in an entirely different, high-fantasy world.
It’s easy to draw similarities from other games so players have a sense of what Palia will be like, but it’s also important to remember that it’ll be a different game entirely. Odds are, it’ll be relaxing like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing because it took inspiration from those games, but being an MMORPG will allow all kinds of players to get to play and even make new friends because of the MMO platform. While there’s no official release date yet for Palia, it seems the attention it's garnered is positive and will hopefully lead to a relaxing, not grind-y, MMORPG experience.
Palia is currently in development.