Palword’s New Farming Sim Is Exactly What I Wanted from Pokemon’s First Cozy Game

For years, Pokemon fans have been hoping for a cozy Pokemon game, a more relaxed life sim take on the world. And at long last, The Pokemon Company has decided to deliver. The first-ever Pokemon life sim, Pokemon Pokopia, was recently announced. And while many fans are incredibly excited for this Minecraft meets Animal Crossing take on Pokemon, I’m feeling a little hesitant. Between the human Ditto of it all and the first look at gameplay, it isn’t quite the cozy Pokemon game I was hoping for. But Palworld‘s newly announced Palfarm, on the other hand? That’s more what I had in mind.

Just a few weeks after Pokemon unveiled Pokopia, Pocket Pair pulled back the curtain on its cozy venture. This cozy life sim will be called Palworld: Palfarm. And while they’re both creature collector spins on the cozy genre, the two games are taking inspiration from different styles of life sims. Whereas Pokopia has a lot of building and terraforming elements based on early looks, Palfarm looks much more like a farming sim. And while neither is quite the Pokemon Concierge-inspired game I wanted, I might… actually be more excited for Palfarm?

Pokopia Wasn’t What We Expected from Pokemon’s First Cozy Game

I had a lot of big feelings about what I wanted from a true cozy game in the Pokemon universe. My childhood love for Hey You, Pikachu combined with my affinity for management sims had me hoping to raise Pokemon and have them work at something other than battling. I think many fans had similar expectations, hoping to see something that would give us insight into elements of the Pokemon world from the anime.

Perhaps we’d step behind the counter of the Pokemon center and help heal Pokemon, or run a Pokemon resort like in Pokemon Concierge. Over the years, Pokemon has given itself plenty of material to work with for a Pokemon life sim. But instead, they’re giving us… human Ditto in a world empty of much of anything at all. I’m not against a world without human characters, but it’s definitely not what anyone expected. Ditto being a human/Pokemon hybrid is definitely a choice. Some fans are loving its derpy little face, but personally, it kind of creeps me out. Even so, the main character isn’t the only thing that surprises me about the game.

From the trailer, it looks a lot more like Minecraft than anything we’ve seen in the world of Pokemon. We’ll be learning Pokemon abilities and using them to build a Pokemon Utopia for our PokePals, but beyond that, it’s hard to see the connection to the larger Pokemon universe. Cute enough, certainly, but not the first direction I expected for Pokemon’s first life sim. I wanted something a bit more embedded in the world of Pokemon that we’ve come to know, not set aside in a weird block paradise devoid of any apparent connection to the rest of the Pokemon universe. I’m still eager to see more, but I do have to confess my initial response was a bit of disappointment.

Palfarm Trailer Delivers Immaculate Farming Sim Vibes

And then, there’s the Palworld cozy spinoff, Palworld: Palfarm. Right off the bat, we’ve got more traditional farming sim vibes. The dialogue style is giving Harvest Moon vibes, but with the typical Palworld humor. The game is set within a small village rather than a remote block world. Overall, the trailer just gives far more of that cozy, lived-in feeling that you want in a life sim, not to mention the sense of Pals and People living and working together.

At first glance, the aesthetics and gameplay of Palfarm look much more like what I was hoping to see from Pokemon’s first cozy game. There’s even a hint that we’ll be able to romance characters and get married in Palfarm, a staple from the farming sim genre. The trailer showcases farming, resource collecting, and cooking – all things that were at least hinted at in Pokopia. But there’s also shops to explore and a village setting that gives more of a life sim vibe compared to the Pokemon-only atmosphere in Pokopia.

Of course, we haven’t seen much from either game beyond an initial look. But the overall vibe of Palworld: Palfarm is much more in line with what I personally wanted to see. Whereas Pokopia looks more inspired by Minecraft and Animal Crossing, Palfarm pays homage to games like Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley. Which you prefer comes down to preference, and many gamers like them all. But personally, I’ll forever be more of a typical farming sim fan than someone who enjoys building and terraforming.

I’ll Play Them Both, But I Already Wish Pokopia Was More Like Palfarm

Don’t get me wrong. As someone who has loved Pokemon since I was a kid and who has been asking for a cozy game in the franchise, I’m going to play Pokopia. Of course I am. But knowing myself as a gamer, I suspect it might not end up quite scratching the itch I was hoping it would. Given how little we’ve seen of it so far, I could be wrong, and I hope to be. But… so far, it feels a bit like this is missing the heart and soul of Pokemon.

Will I also be checking out Palfarm when it comes out? Yes. I enjoy Palworld, even if I’ve still got my Pokemon loyalties. I think that, despite the comparisons and lawsuit of it all, they’re actually quite different games. In the same way, I think the cozy spins on both universes will have something unique to offer. Just because I think I’ll like Palfarm better doesn’t mean I actually will. I’ll need to try both games to decide which is the cozy creature-collecting life sim of my dreams.

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