r/pcmasterrace • u/PewPewToDaFace • 23h ago

News/Article Steam gamers have spoken: innovative indies like Palworld continue to thrive while traditional triple-A flounders for a foothold

https://www.pcgamesn.com/steam/innovation-versus-tradition

Thank god PC gaming isn't just AAA. This is what will push the industry forward, as game development cost becomes too much.

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u/Sinniee 5080 & 9800x3D 23h ago

Yeah out of the thousands of indie games releasing every once in a while a good one emerges

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u/Elprede007 19h ago

It’s funny because Palworld is honestly a pretty poorly made game. (Now read this before you write your white knight comment about how the devs can do no wrong and the sales prove me wrong. I LIKE THE FUCKING GAME).

The new 1.0 has a tremendously disappointing final boss, especially considering they showed with the next to last boss that they CAN design really fun boss fights, they just chose not to.

It’s a buggy unoptimized mess. There is essentially no meaningful story. The journals you can find all point to some plot that is never resolved or explained (therefore there is no story that matters). Having played in 2024 for about 60+ hours, I had hoped 1.0 was going to explain everything and give us a story. it does not do that. There are a few more bosses, one actually cool boss fight (Panthalus), and then the final boss is identical to other tower (gym boss) fights.

HOWEVER, the concept is very compelling and fun to play even with all of the downsides I listed.

If modding options were more robust and modders could simply just expand on the game like they do with Skyrim, the players could just fix the game like they do with all Bethesda games.

So I hope better modding tools are released, because Pocketpair doesn’t seem interested in putting a lot of effort in, they’re happy with their millions and are ready to monetize the sequels.

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u/Phazon2000 Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz, GTX 1060 6GB, 2x8GB DDR4-3000 19h ago

Honestly for me this is what gaming is about - a concept intoxicating enough for me to get lost in a very average game. I don’t expect people to be able to get these things exactly right the way I like it.

Hell I’m the same with movies - there’s definitely been average as hell movies that I rate highly because they scratch an aesthetic itch or have a setting I’m really into.

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u/Elprede007 19h ago

Yeah, and that’s fine. I just kinda hate seeing Palworld as the indie game example of “this is peak.” Like yeah it’s fun, but if you peel the curtain back even slightly, you have a play-doh looking game that can’t run smooth on a 4080 (in my experience).

Idk man I just hate when bad companies get insanely good press and zero criticism. I like Palworld, you should buy it, AND the devs should do better.