Palworld 1.0 Players Spot a Number of Pal Redesigns — and Some Say They Now Look Less Like the Pokémon They Resembled
Palworld officially launched version 1.0 after two years in early access, bringing significant updates including new areas, creatures, base-building improvements, and UI/graphics enhancements. However, the most notable changes were not documented in the official patch notes—developer Pocketpair redesigned several Pal creatures that had previously drawn criticism for their striking resemblance to Pokémon designs.
Players discovered that four Pals—Verdash, Robinquill, Fengallop, and Grintale—had been visually reworked for the official release. The redesigns notably make these creatures look less like their Pokémon counterparts, addressing long-standing comparisons that described Palworld as “Pokémon with guns.” Since its early access launch, the game has faced scrutiny over creature designs that critics argued tested the boundaries of creative inspiration, with some Pals bearing unmistakable visual similarities to specific Pokémon.
The decision to redesign these creatures without explicitly mentioning the changes in the 1.0 patch notes suggests Pocketpair may be preemptively addressing potential design-similarity concerns ahead of the full release. The undocumented changes left players to discover the aesthetic updates themselves. Despite the redesigns, Palworld’s core appeal of creature-collection gameplay combined with survival mechanics and base-building continues to attract significant player interest at launch.