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[–] 3 points 2 years ago (4 children)

I don't understand. Everyone, literally EVERYONE was calling this game pokemon with guns when it released, so why are people mad that the makers of pokemon are suing? We all saw it from the start

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  • [–] 12 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Just because it has a resemblance to pokemon doesn't make it pokemon. The gameplay is completely different.

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  • [+] -11 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child)
  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Palworld is an open world survival crafting factory/base building game, that happens to borrow the catching mechanic from Pokemon (who borrowed it from Shin Megami Tensei).

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  • [+] -8 points 2 years ago (2 children)
  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    If you can't draw inspiration from other games, then the gaming industry as a whole is in trouble.

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  • [+] -7 points 2 years ago (2 children)
  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    K first of all, the mechanic you're referencing was already an established mechanic before Pokemon Red/Blue came out. The Pokemon Company didn't invent the "creature catcher" genre of video games.

    Second of all, as I've said already, the catching mechanic in Palworld is absolutely distinct enough to be considered as drawing inspiration from Pokemon, and not copying. If you wanna get into the nitty gritty, I'll meet you down there, but if you're just gonna continue to spout meaningless contrarianisms I've got better things to do

    Third of all, "cell shaded anime art style" describes hundreds if not thousands of video games, not just Pokemon games. You can't realistically claim that Palworld copied Pokemon's art style* just because it uses a cell-shaded anime style, especially because Pokemon has only used that art direction for the last two generations of games, and the style has been in use long before sword and shield came out.

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  • [+] -4 points 2 years ago (1 child)
  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    but not capturing by weakening the creature and throwing a ball at them.

    If you think "throwing a ball" is a patentable (or even copyrightable) mechanic, I've got a bridge to sell you.

    Palworld explicitly copies the style of creature design from Pokemon

    Some pals are similar to Pokemon, sure, but a lot are quite distinct. If you have a problem with that though, take it up with The Pokemon Company, because they did it first.

    The developers knew exactly what they were doing, so to claim it wasn't intentional is disingenuous at best.

    Of course it was intentional to make a game in the same genre as Pokemon, with similar mechanics. That's how video games in the same genre work. You make them similar to things you know people like, so that there's a greater chance they'll like your game too, but you also introduce new, unique things so that you're not copying. Yes, Palworld did that intentionally.

    None of that is illegal though, or shouldn't be anyways, unless they're straight up stealing assets/code from a Pokemon game and using it in Palworld.

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  • [+] -3 points 2 years ago (1 child)
  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    the mechanic is capturing a creature by weakening them and throwing a ball at them. Not just throwing a ball.

    And like I've said before, Shin Megami Tensei did this before Pokemon. This concept was not original to Pokemon, and exists in several other creature catcher games.

    None of the creatures I've seen are entirely new designs, but rather hybrids of existing, well known Pokemon.

    Then you haven't seen a large portion of Pals. Plenty of pals are unique. Some of them look similar to Pokemon, sure, because they're based on the same real world animal.

    outright lying to defend them and ignoring obvious facts does

    🙄🙄🙄

    It's fine to admit that a thing you like has flaws, and admit that those flaws need addressing.

    K, Palworld has flaws. Never claimed otherwise.

    We've run far field of the point though. Palworld is being sued for patent infringement. If there was ever a patent on the "weaken creature then capture" mechanic, it's long expired, so they're not being sued over that. They're not being sued over art or Pal designs, because that would be copyright infringement, not a patent violation.

    Given those facts, what do you think Palworld is being sued for?

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    You obviously haven't actually played the game.

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  • [+] -5 points 2 years ago (1 child)
  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)
  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Lots of games are also called Roguelike. Based off a game called Rogue. The makers of Rogue do not get to sue the makers of Hades.

    Pets that fight for you, including being able to store them for portable carry has been done by many other games, including Ark. In fact, playing Palworld made me compare it more to Ark than Pokemon: base building, automation, catching dinos/animals/monsters of different varieties for different uses. Some can fly, some run, some can be used as parachutes. Some help automate actions at base. There is a tech tree unlocked by leveling, starting with primitive weapons and moving on to guns and higher caliber guns. Blueprints are common in ark for higher quality crafts to build at, you guessed it, crafting benches.

    Collecting wood, stone, metals, etc. Also the animal assistants can help there too, but only certain ones. Also, Ark has cryopods for storing your animals/dinosaurs. You even throw em to release.

    If they had exactly Pikachu or something it's one thing, but similar games are just part of the business.

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  • [–] -5 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    But we're not talking about a game type here. You can agree that this is a dumb lawsuit, but you have to be honest. Palworld was marketed online as pokemon with guns. It's not just a similar style but almost identically copies the characters in Pokemon. You can make a stealth action political thriller video game, but if the main character looks just like solid Snake and is called "Viper", you gonna get sued.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    Really? Why does Deathstroke and Deadpool both exist? One is DC, one is Marvel, and Deadpool pretty much started as an expy. Slade Wilson and Wade Wilson. You're arguing from a place of what feels like it should be wrong, yet your fake example has been done in the real world and they got away with it.

    This happens so many times in industries they can often just argue parody. In fact, changing a name slightly is classic parody to avoid being sued. Japan in particular often just bleeps out a syllable or forgets a character in the name.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    I think it's understandable why they sue them (I doubt it holds up in court though), it's just horrible business practice because Nintendo is too lazy to actually innovate and do something creative for a change, instead of sitting on franchises like that and do fuck all with it, only releasing repetitive piss-poor games based on the exact same concept they invented like 30+ years ago.

    The problem is people will still buy Pokemon, even if they're absolute garbage games. So Nintendo won't change it either.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago

    I think it's an issue with Japanese game companies in general. I've been complaining about Capcom forever. Megaman 11 was a side scroller. I'm a massive mega man fan and I like the side scroll. But it's 2024. Can we try something new? I would love a ratchet and Clank style, open world 3d mega man where you go to the different areas of the city and take down the bosses. Also games like monster hunter, are so janky and look 10 years out of date, and most Capcom games look outdated

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