Alexia Unplugged

This week, I started playing Palia again. Palia is an open-world MMORPG that is solidly within the realm of “cozy.” There’s no combat, no fall damage, and the game is solidly a cozy farming sim, featuring all the usual mechanics and relationship building. I first played this game in September 2023 when it was first released in Open Beta. At the time, I saw the potential and it got me excited, but not enough for me to keep playing. After booting up Palia again after a year-long break, I wanted to touch on a few points — specifically, the vibe, the lore, monetization, and what it’s like to play with and without friends. But first, a recap.

First Impressions in 2023

The Open Beta world was vast, but empty. I felt bored running around everywhere to complete fetch quests or forage items. Most of the quests in Palia are fetch quests, so without an interactive, vibrant world to keep me interested while doing chores for the townspeople, I lost interest.

I had already put over 20 hours into Palia by the time I stopped playing. One of my biggest complaints was the amount of time it took to craft items needed to build a house. Waiting hours to craft planks was just a little bit too much for me, especially since as a new player I hadn’t had time to get into the meat of the game yet. Since then, there have been updates drastically reducing the time it takes to craft, which has made being a Palian a much more pleasant experience!

The Current Vibe

Immediately after logging back on a few days ago, I was struck by how much dialogue each villager had. Before, there were hints of personality in the dialogue, but nothing concrete. Talking to a villager felt unfinished, like the villager was still trying to figure themselves out. Now, each conversation is rich with personality and lore. For example, Jina reveals information about the history of the world when you talk to her. Reth’s story is about a boy rejecting societal expectations, which teaches us about society in Kilima (the town that your character lives in).

The interactions between the townsfolk also show that Kilima has a rich community. My favorite so far has been the tailor, Jel, supporting Tish, the furniture maker, as a fellow artist and sincerely wishing for her success. Worlds and cultures are created by people, and I am so glad that the Singularity6 team puts so much effort into fleshing out their characters and lore.

The multiplayer vibe (at least on the EU server), has been nothing but supportive. There are always players in the chat asking questions about the game, telling people where they can go to get a flow tree, and generally being a good community. Just yesterday I asked the chat to help me complete a quest and within minutes, my question was answered. I do still wish there was more incentive to make friends with people on your servers. On my previous article, I had some feedback that Palia is still fun without friends to play with, but I still think that multiplayer games should stimulate friendships. That’s how you get lasting communities!

The Lore

If you know me, you know that I am a sucker for anything with a good backstory. World building is my favorite reason to play games, which is why I’m such a huge fan of titles like The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, The Legend of Zelda series, and even League of Legends (and assorted Riot properties). Palia reveals its history to you slowly, through quests and tidbits of information from NPC dialogue.

I love the way they implemented the bundle mechanic found in games like Stardew Valley and Coral Island as well as little mini “dungeons” in the main quest. Besides the main questline, there are also new quests that reveal information about the world. For example, the lighthouse keepers’ quest in Bahari Bay tells a love story about two lighthouse keepers. Have you found this quest? I love these little insights into characters’ lives!

The Minigames

While I am not very far into the game’s progression, I do appreciate what the developers are doing with housing plots. There are many decoration options, and the UI is easy and intuitive as far as I’ve experienced. Decorating is becoming one of my favorite activities, and I already want to collect all the potato pots and plushies to display them on my lot!

The cooking station is also very cute, and I was delighted to find out that it comes with its own minigames! Having to chop on rhythm and stir the pot correctly is a great way to make cooking more interactive. This is especially fun because eating food is necessary to increase your Focus, which affects how much experience you gain from various activities. I’ve said it before, but Focus Points are a clever way to incentivize cooking different foods.

In addition, there are several minigames, including a hidden arcade game, a card game, and a parkour course scattered throughout the world. This is a great touch which allows players to have a break from their regularly scheduled town activities and brings a little more color into the world.

Microtransactions

Previously, I complained about microtransactions being included in the Open Beta. It left a sour taste in my mouth and I wasn’t impressed by the prices. However, Singularity6 has been extremely transparent about their monetization strategy, and have adjusted the economy in response to criticism. I understand games have to make money somehow. There are lots of paid clothing options and the free clothes are cute too. Microtransactions are not, I suppose, inherently bad, and the way that Singularity6 is implementing them seems like the best way to monetize a free game.

Multiplayer

Previously, I’d been disappointed in my gameplay experience without friends to play with. I recently made some friends (yay!) who play Palia as well, and it really did improve my experience. There’s something about hanging out, playing a game of Hot Pot, and running in circle around each other while chatting that really just makes a game *chef’s kiss*! You can definitely play by yourself and have a lot of fun! But I recommend getting a couple friends to play with you. After all, it’s free!

The team truly seems passionate about their storytelling and giving each player a unique experience that they can identify with. They’ve even come up with a unique Palian Zodiac system! After a year, I can definitely recommend Palia to anyone who loves cozy games, especially ones where you can develop relationships with the NPCs. The graphics are adorable, the NPCs are unique and quirky, and the lore is well developed and interesting.

Interested in playing Palia? Use this link to sign up. You’ll get a special welcome basket and I’ll get a Chapaa-themed item!

What do you think about Palia? Let me know in the comments!