An Honest Review From an Original Alpha Tester

[Roan]

I've wavered back and forth between whether I wanted to write this or not. I was in the very first group of testers way back in the pre-alpha days of Palia. I've seen a lot of iterations and changes over the years, and yet... Palia never really managed to feel like a fun, fully-fleshed out game to me. It's a mish-mosh of half-baked systems that are neither fun nor rewarding to participate in.

The Positives:

+ Exploration is fun - the first time. It's a beautiful world they've created and there are certainly a few secrets to find for those that thoroughly explore.
+ You don't NEED a party. The game is entirely soloable if that's your preferred style of play. Even the "endgame resources" you need a metric ton of can be obtained solo, just be prepared to incur the wrath of the server. More on that later.
+ The home / housing plot customization actually is pretty cool and fun. I've seen a lot of amazing and unique homes in my time playing the game.

The Negatives:

- There is very little reason or incentive to play with other people. Palia feels more like a single player game with other people milling about. Sure, you *can* party up with other people but for most activities it feels pointless or just slows everything down.
- Toxic Positivity. Palia has a lot of people who feel that their way to play is the only right way. Resources are shared and can be picked up by anyone who contributes towards obtaining it, which has created an expectation that you are to pause your own gameplay to call out rare resources to the entire server, then waiting an unknown amount of time for random strangers to slowly meander over that way. Resources respawn instantly somewhere else on the map, by the way... so this entire process actually ends up slowing *everyone* down, but that doesn't seem to matter to anyone.
- No trading or economy. Palia's tagline has long been "play the way you want" and yet, you are actively forced to participate in activities you don't enjoy. Palia's fishing system, for instance, bores me to tears; I was essentially locked out of completing the game's first "bundles" because I couldn't buy or trade these fish from other people for the things *I* enjoyed doing. There's a half-realized "gifting" system, but it requires you to have already obtained an item before you can request it from other people.
- Writing is lackluster at best, and downright uncozy at worst. Palia is filled with characters that fit into tropes quite nicely, some which border on rather insensitive or offensive.
- Severe lack of meaningful content. I'll admit, I enjoyed Palia at first. It's cute when you get started and everyone I know has found some enjoyment upon just getting started. That lasts for approximately 10-20 hours, when you get out of the honeymoon phase of the game and enter the absolute hell that is Palia's "end-game" grindfest. S6 has been (and likely always will be) terrified of losing players in the game's introduction, so much so that there... really isn't one. You level up so fast that you'll be done with Softwood and Hardwood within your first few days playing the game, and then all that's left is to farm Flow Trees for the rest of eternity.

Palia has always felt like a video game for people that don't play video games. If you're looking for a beyond-casual game you can play for half an hour or an hour a day and feel like you're making progress, Palia is right for you. If you were hoping for an MMO-style Stardew Valley you can sink hundreds of hours into... I'm sorry to say this isn't it.

[Roan]

Originally posted by Xialoh:

Originally posted by Valimure:

- Writing is lackluster at best, and downright uncozy at worst. Palia is filled with characters that fit into tropes quite nicely, some which border on rather insensitive or offensive.

The only person I know that's playing this game tells me the writing is good (I never believed them). You have an example, maybe of the insensitive or offensive aspect mentioned?

Eshe is the strong female authority figure of the town. Most of her personality is how much she hates her husband.

Kenyatta is her daughter. Most of her personality is how much she hates her mom. You also get to basically be a wedge between her and the villager she's "secretly" dating at the beginning of the game so that's... cozy?

Tamala's entire questline is a back and forth of her gaslighting you; going "no I actually like you," and then going "psyche it's a trick."

Despite being written by a majority of women, I don't even think Palia would pass the Bechdel test. Nearly every character who is sick, injured, dead, etc. is a woman as well.

[Kehl JK]

Originally posted by Valimure:

Kenyatta is her daughter. Most of her personality is how much she hates her mom. You also get to basically be a wedge between her and the villager she's "secretly" dating at the beginning of the game so that's... cozy?

Despite being written by a majority of women, I don't even think Palia would pass the Bechdel test. Nearly every character who is sick, injured, dead, etc. is a woman as well.

Kenyatta is also explicitly dating who she's dating because she knows her mom will find out eventually and she'll be mad because he's a poor (but he's a hot poor which is the only reason Kenyatta would even go there). He's also very... very... not smart. So you get that trope, too.

Delaila's whole personality is "mom."
Elouisa's whole personality is "crystal woo conspiracy lady."
Caleri's whole personality is "severe librarian."

Nearly every single character is a trope with very little room (if any) to be anything else.

[Batabii • Suikoden I&II HD]

Originally posted by Valimure:

Originally posted by Xialoh:

The only person I know that's playing this game tells me the writing is good (I never believed them). You have an example, maybe of the insensitive or offensive aspect mentioned?

Eshe is the strong female authority figure of the town. Most of her personality is how much she hates her husband.

Really? I barely remember her mentioning him. Mostly she just complains about how uncultured the town is.

Tamala's entire questline is a back and forth of her gaslighting you; going "no I actually like you," and then going "psych it's a trick."

Tamala really doesn't feel like she belongs. She lives way out in the middle of nowhere, never comes to the main town area, and nobody seems to talk to or about her very much. If she's so obsessed with beauty, why is she basically hiding? Though to be fair, I've barely talked to her (mostly just did the one quest with the H+T letter)

Despite being written by a majority of women, I don't even think Palia would pass the Bechdel test. Nearly every character who is sick, injured, dead, etc. is a woman as well.

I guess I never noticed. But again, most of my friendships are only level 2 at this point.

[löyly]

Originally posted by Batabii • Palia:

She lives way out in the middle of nowhere, never comes to the main town area, and nobody seems to talk to or about her very much. If she's so obsessed with beauty, why is she basically hiding?

Maybe because she kept harassing young people with her softpr0n bs and complete disregard for consent that's apparently the writers' idea of cougar "flirting" or whatever, so nobody wants her around

[Batabii • Suikoden I&II HD]

Originally posted by löyly:

softpr0n

You can say porn lol

[löyly]

Well I just got a delete + warning for suggesting someone might be a... person inappropriately attracted to children because he insisted against all the hard evidence that Najuma is 18 or 19 and that he should get to marry her, so what do I know about what I can say here

[[TAW] Derisat Hartfelt]

Originally posted by löyly:

Well I just got a delete + warning for suggesting someone might be a... person inappropriately attracted to children because he insisted against all the hard evidence that Najuma is 18 or 19 and that he should get to marry her, so what do I know about what I can say here

She's a CHILD, literally in the wiki and her description, at BEST she's 14! more likely 12. CRINGE

No one has impressed me enough to try and get a romance. There's no reason to be invested in anything they do or say. The best choice, the MILF blacksmith, is decidedly not interested. What does that leave me? Robots? NTR'ing the farm boy by stealing the mayors daughters heart? Yeah, shallow as ♥♥♥♥ NPC stories. Stardew Valley has more complicated characters

[löyly]

Originally posted by TAW Derisat Hartfelt:

She's a CHILD, literally in the wiki and her description, at BEST she's 14! more likely 12. CRINGE

Tell that to the (REDACTED) in the other thread, though it won't help...

NTR'ing the farm boy by stealing the mayors daughters heart?

Fun fact (second-hand knowledge because they still seem way too teen-like to me): apparently they are cool with non-monogamy, though will break up with the other one if you ask them to

[Batabii • Suikoden I&II HD]

Originally posted by löyly:

NTR'ing the farm boy

It's called cuckolding

apparently they are cool with non-monogamy

It's called polygamy.

[löyly]

Originally posted by Batabii • Palia:

It's called polygamy.

I don't know what your point is, but the word you're using is about marriage so no, that's not what it's called. PolyAMORY is about having several romantic relationships, while non-monogamy is more general to include casual stuff etc.

[Batabii • Suikoden I&II HD]

Originally posted by löyly:

the word you're using is about marriage so no, that's not what it's called.

Oh that's right. My mistake.

[Raaban]

I feel just like you. A day or two with this game and you lack the lust to keep playing. Also for me it sucked the building was such instanced. I thought you where able to create bigger player made communities.

[Batabii • Suikoden I&II HD]

Originally posted by 🌴Raaban🌴:

lack the lust

So you're saying it's lackluster?

[[TAW] Derisat Hartfelt]

after i capped out my tools, my storage and bags and earned some side money the game was MUCH more enjoyable and less of a "run back to your house to empty bags" simulator.

Bags >Storage >AXE >everything else
That being said, treat it like harvest moon with some loose social interactions. Not an MMO

[Slaieth]

I know from playing 20 hours of this game. It is going to be ripped apart by Steam reviews.