Paliablew MMORPG fans away with its announcement trailer earlier this year. The game’s merging ofAnimal Crossing-style community building with MMO gameplay and aBreath of the Wild-style open-world proved to be more than enough to get gamers interested. It looks likely that whenPaliareleases, it will have a ready-made player base eager to get started. However, whilePaliahas set a good starting point, it faces a bit of a battle in winning over existing MMO players and drawing them away from their favorite titles.
Still, this shouldn’t prove to be too much of an issue forPalia,as it looks likely to appeal to a very broad audience. Its MMO counterpartNew World, on the other hand, may find this a bit more challenging. UnlikePalia,New Worldlooks to appeal to a traditional MMORPG audience, and as a result, it bears a fairly close resemblance to other big names in its space. While slight changes have proven to be enough to impress fans, it could take something major to shift the majority from their preferred titles. To be successful,New Worldmay have to differentiate itself in the same way thatPaliais setting itself apart.
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What Makes Palia Different?
Paliais an upcoming casual MMO game that could be set to take the MMO market by storm when it releases. WhatmadePalia’strailer stand outis just how absorbing the game looks. It features a vibrant pastoral open world, inspired byBreath of the Wild, community elements similar to those that can be found in the likes ofAnimal CrossingandStardew Valley, and an ever-evolving narrative that will apparently unfold over the coming years.Palia’sreveal trailer gave off a seriously relaxed aura, akin toAnimal Crossing. From first impressions, it seems as though the game is purpose-made to fill the need for a relaxing MMORPG experience and deviate from the usual stressful grind associated with them.
In promotional material, a massive emphasis has been placed on thecommunity elements ofPalia. It’s obvious thatPaliaat every turn is looking to convey good vibes, from the trailer which emphasized the steady growth from a dinky plot of land to an expansive country home, to the repetition of the term ‘friendly’. But it isPalia’scommunity that appears to be its main selling point, and it could be what sets it apart from other MMOs. Players are encouraged to join a server with friends or make new ones inPalia, with the experience being better shared than solo. HowPaliaensures this will be continually possible is by designing the game so that progression doesn’t prevent any players from playing the game together.
Palia’sfriendly community could be what draws in a large number of its new fans. The MMORPG genre is very popular in gaming, but with many, the grind and the toxicity of the community is something that discourages new gamers from trying its games out. It can be difficult to learn a new type of game, especially one that’s heavily associated with a grind, and the difficulty around playing with higher-level friends makes a gradual introduction near impossible. This is wherePalia’sfriendly community and apparent relaxing gameplaycould fill a large void, appealing to existing MMORPG fans looking for something different. To put it simply, the good vibesPaliagives off make it something special in its genre, and that will likely hold a lot of appeal to new gamers and old alike.
Why New World Might Struggle?
A big challengeNew Worldmight face is differentiating itself from existing MMORPGs. WhilePaliaoffers something very different to its competitors to draw in a fanbase,New Worldmay struggle to justify itself to MMO fans.New World’suniverse is inspired by colonial America, but it is filled with mythical foes to take down in a quest to improve and gradually undertake larger battles. While this sounds like an interesting premise, the question remains of whetherfans ofWorld of Warcraft, for example, will have their head turned fromWoWto continually play. If it is not different enough, it will be a challenge to tear players away from a game they’ve likely invested hundreds of hours into.
New Worlddoes differ from the standard MMORPG experience in a couple of areas, however. For starters, there are no classes for the player to choose upon creating their character. InNew World,the player is spawned into the world as a human, and they are able to specialize in certain areas through gameplay progression. Through their specialization, the player may prove to be of great use to their faction, which is another area in whichNew Worldcould thrive.New Worldwill have massive 50v50 PVPconflicts between the three main factions of the game. These sound more reminiscent of survival gameplay rather than MMORPG, and they could be a big draw. Whether these features will be enough to guaranteeNew World’ssuccess is yet to be seen, but its launch will be of great interest to a number of other upcoming MMORPG titles.
