With its beta on the horizon, Singularity 6 has begun to lift the lid on its upcoming cozy life sim MMO Palia and show off what players can expect from this genre-blending approach to a cozy game.
With plenty of activities to enjoy, characters to meet, and places to discover, Palia is looking to be a big and bountiful experience for players that will hopefully continue to grow as time passes.
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5 Palia Mechanics To Look Forward To In Closed Beta
To help you give you an idea of what to expect, we’ve put together this short list of five mechanics and features in Palia that we think you should be excited about, including the activities, freedom of expression, and amount of content players will have to enjoy.
Customization
We can’t start off talking about Palia without highlighting its robust customization. Players will have a vast number of options when deciding how their character looks, with options for body type, voices, hairstyles, skin tones, and plenty of clothing options to go along with them.
Of course, with it being a live service, a free-to-play game, some options can be purchased with microtransactions, and there are plans to add more as time goes on. That said, everything shown so far looks to offer plenty for players to identify and express their characters however they choose.
House Building & Customization
Your character in Palia isn’t the only thing you have plenty of creative freedom to customize, as the same can be said for your housing. Players will have access to plots of land on which they can build their houses, with the ability to have multiple parcels of land for different housing wants and needs.
There are many tools for players to use, such as different camera views, the ability to rotate objects with precision, expanding, and building new parts onto your house. On top of that, players can use and unlock many options as they progress for both outside and interior decor, such as furniture, wallpapers, windows, and pretty much every facet of how you want your house to look.
You also can give other players permission individually who can help edit and alter your homes so you and your friends can make your perfect house together.
Cozy Staples With Some Extra Twists
Palia includes some staple cozy activities you might expect, with players able to fish, forage, mine, bug catching, and cook. Palia sets these apart from other titles by giving them more sense of progression and leaning into the MMO aspect.
Each skill in the game has its own level and experience, and as you do more of the activity, you’ll unlock new content and upgrades that can make that activity more rewarding. You might want to be the best bug catcher, and as you catch more, you’ll find different kinds of bugs with different rarities and get new items to help you catch them. It gives players a feeling of accomplishment and is a nice way to keep you working towards new goals with your favorite activities.
In addition, these activities focus on being enjoyed with friends and other players, as doing so can provide gameplay benefits. For example, if you are fishing and struggling with the mini-game, other players fishing nearby or cheering you on can make the activity a bit easier as they cheer you on. When bug catching, you could use an item to attach loads more bugs and rarer ones, and other players can come and reap the benefits alongside you. It’s all meant to encourage a more friendly atmosphere while also being a helpful benefit to players, so be sure to spread the love while you play!
Characters, Friendship, and Romance
Like every cozy game, there are plenty of characters in Palia with different personalities for players to meet, each who can help various aspects of gameplay and be delightful companions.
In Palia, players can become more friendly with the world characters in a few different ways, like talking to them, offering them gifts, and getting them their weekly wants, which are more specific items that change over time and provide extra friendship points. As you level up your friendships, you unlock rewards, discover more about them, and become more friendly with them. Of course, it wouldn’t be a cozy game without the option to romance, and Palia has you covered there. Certain characters can be romanced, which has its own benefits.
There are a lot of characters to meet and befriend, and we can imagine developer Singularity 6 will add over time, so it’s worth seeing how you can become friends with everyone, who they are friends with, and get engaged with the whole Palia community as well as with other players.
Adventure Zones and Quests
One of the biggest draws of Palia is its sense of scale, with a vast world to explore and a greater emphasis on exploration and quests than others in the genre.
Adventure zones are one of the ways Palia does this, and these large areas have been built to be explored, with plenty of foraging and gathering to be done, and chances to find hidden treasure and items, as well as work with other players out in the world. In trailers, we’ve seen players climb mountains, use gliders, and explore various areas, so it looks like heading out on adventures will be a big part of what makes Palia a fun experience.
Additionally, there will be plenty of quests for players to do and unlock as they progress, giving you more objectives and chances to earn rewards and, in some cases, learn about characters and lore of the world. It adds more flavor and detail to the cozy world and gives players extra discovery while enjoying their time in Palia.
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With the closed beta beginning on August 2 and the open beta on August 10, it’s only a short time until players experience everything Palia offers.
