Palworld PS5 Review: A Worthy Rival to Pokémon

Palworld has landed on PS5 in early access since September 2024, and Push Square's review puts it squarely in the conversation as a genuine alternative to Nintendo's monster-catching formula. Developer Pocketpair blends ARK: Survival Evolved-style base-building and survival mechanics with Pokémon Legends: Arceus-style creature taming, and the result is a game that wears its inspirations openly without feeling like a cheap knockoff.

The game's development hasn't been without turbulence. Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have filed multiple lawsuits against Pocketpair targeting the monster-catching mechanics — specifically the act of summoning creatures by throwing capsules — and the legal pressure has caused delays to the game's development roadmap. Despite that, the PS5 early access build is substantial enough to earn a strong recommendation from reviewers.

Palworld first exploded onto the scene on PC and Xbox in early 2024, briefly becoming one of the fastest-selling Steam releases ever with millions of concurrent players. The PS5 version arriving later that year brought the game to Sony's platform while still technically unfinished, which is a gamble Pocketpair seems to be pulling off — the core loop of catching Pals, building bases, and surviving a hostile open world holds up across platforms.

For PS5 players who missed the initial wave of hype, this review suggests the wait was worth it. The legal saga with Nintendo continues to hang over Pocketpair's future plans, but for now the game itself is delivering enough content to keep players busy well into whatever comes next.