Developed by Singularity 6 Corporation, enter into the whimsical and cozy world of Palia. After many months of hype and anticipation, this new survival crafting MMO has finally opened beta to everyone. There is so much to do, so much to see and uncover, and honestly I’ve been neglecting writing because I’ve been playing it.

Welcome home, this is everything we know about Palia.

Welcome to the World of Palia

It might be easier to take you through the first moments of the game. There is a extensive character creation currently in the beta. A good amount of hair skin and eye colors, as well as a decent amount of starting outfits. As of the beta you cannot change your characters facial features, skin color, or name. So whatever you settle on be sure you like it.

When first our eyes are opened we see that we are in some sort of ruins. Respond forth from the statue of a great Phoenix and meet our first friend, Jina. She is an archaeologist who is exploring this ruin with her companion Hekla. Hekla is a large almost grandmother-like robot, and I trust her with my life.

Feels familiar. Feels like home

I’m going to get this out of the way now, yes this game has a lot of similarities between Genshin Impact and Legend of Zelda breath of the wild. However at this point, I think it is better served to say that they share game mechanics. And that one is not a rip off of the other. You have your typical movement and jumping that you can do in Palia, climbing requires stamina, and you have something called a focus meter. The focus meter is filled by eating food, and sort of acts like your hunger bar. When this bar is full you receive a 30% experience bonus than otherwise. You can also increase your focus by visiting shrines, completing quests, or raising your overall renown.

Renown is its own type of currency. You can gain Renown completing quests, leveling up Skills, speaking with Villagers, and presenting gifts to them. Other than increasing your focus, Renown is also used to purchase upgrades to your housing plot. And in what is possibly my favorite thing about Palia, building a house is super fun. You start out with a small tent, but over time you will a mass resources and eventually start building a house proper. This simple house can be expanded with more rooms and hallways, the plans of which you can buy from various villagers.

A friendly face in your time of need

Let’s talk about villagers, because there are a lot of them. In Kilima Village there are 23 unique NPCs, each with their own day-to-day schedule, place to sleep and job to do. Some NPCs act as Merchants, others act as proverbial trainers. These people you talk to Will be able to give you blueprint upgrades for various things you can do with your tools or your homestead. Each member of The Village has their own likes and dislikes, talking to them regularly can increase your friendship with them and unlock new things. A lot of them can be romance as well, leading to its own interesting little Side Story. Each of these characters feel extremely unique, not just faces with names behind them. They are all very distinct and have their own story, and it really leans to the games writing.

And before anybody asks, yes you can Romance the awkward fisherman robot. It has been confirmed.

Work hard and reap the rewards

You have various skills in Palia that you can level up. The starting skills in the beginning are foraging, mining, insect catching, gardening, hunting, furniture making, cooking, and fishing. Each of these are leveled up via quests or by doing them naturally as you play. They also serve their own unique purposes, a higher skill might net you better materials or allow you to access different upgrades. Mining must be a higher level before you can acquire the means to make better tools, in order to mine better ores. There is also item durability, if you let a tool go too far without repairing it it will degrade to a previous state.

There is so much to do and so much to see in Palia. Building your house, making friends, finding a glider and exlporing. And the list will only get bigger as time goes on. There are currently two maps in Palia, Kilima VIllage and Bahari Bay, and this is going to expand in the future.

Given that the game is currently in open beta, I would say give it a shot. It’s cozy, its fun, it’s fun to play with friends or to spend time alone.