Palia is a cosy MMORPG where you can craft, cook, build your base and romance some quirky alien characters. So far, I’ve put in 176 hour and I’m not bored which is a great sign.
The best part of the game is that community is really supportive and people do help when you need specific items. I find that the community can really make or break a game, so it’s good to know that people will advise newbies in chat, team up, advertise spots of rare resources and generally be good Palians.
The art style is okay. I’m not thrilled by it but I think it’s cute enough and I like that it’s not overly sexualised. The Elderwoods expansion is much nicer and I think going forward we might get more world expansions, the devs seem to be growing the game at a fair rate to stop players getting bored and that’s nice to see.
The quests are fairly standard. There’s a lot of fetching, crafting and gathering. I don’t hate it but it’s not unique. The storylines are human, personable and all the characters have opinions on each other which I love. Better yet, their responses to you as a player changes with your in game actions and that’s a detail which removes the tedium a lot of games of this type have. People notice when you’re wearing a romance pin, for example. I won’t say dialogue is never repeated because it is but there’s a lot of effort been put into trying to reduce that.
I find the base building a little tricky on PC. I’m not sure if it’s easier on console. I haven’t struggled to place the items I need but I also haven’t bothered to put much effort into improving my plot beyond the basic house. There’s some cute plushies you can collect and some of the housing items look gorgeous but I don’t have the patience to fiddle that much. I think other games do that part better.
Overall, it’s a game with a lot of potential. I don’t think it’s amazing but I do think it’s good enough to sink a lot of hours if that’s your kind of thing.
| Criteria | Scores | Our Score |
| Artistic Achievement | 1 – 5 | 3 |
| Gameplay | 1 – 5 | 4 |
| Value/Cost | 1 – 5 | 5 |
| Controls | 1 – 5 | 3 |
| Length | 1 – 5 | 5 |
Written By: ivetafox
Favourite Game – Long Live the Queen || Favourite Film – Sweeney Todd || Favourite Book – Wuthering Heights
About: Ivy is a disabled, autistic writer from the UK, passionate about inclusive gaming. When not reviewing, she can be found writing short stories and micro fiction or reading the latest gothic novel.
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