"A new Premium Storage Upgrade has been added to the Premium Store, available immediately". Goodbye F2P and hello P2W. With how the game's performance has been tanking since continuous updates. I cannot recommend it. Especially now that they are making more things pay walled to keep the money flowing. Tickets, fairy wing potions, inventory space being sent back through pets, mounts and now actual storage being available through transactions?
I cant stand to play this game anymore. I only log in to help someone I know and care for, for their achievements and increased party drop maxing. Besides that, the game has become more grey than bright.
The constant market pushing, the contentious paywalls, the overabundance of things to do leading to uncertainty, and the summer outfit for women being sexualised on the loading screen was the last straw personally.
The Palia that came out 2 years ago is a far different vision than the one we are currently on. It didn't have much to provide with what we have now sure. But it had heart, it had impact that newer players are unable to feel because it's turned into the generic corporation gargin that's forcibly shoved down our throats with every other game.
It felt simple in a way that made you feel free. It brought clarity into your life for how expressional it was. And it didn't push you to do things you feel like you didn't need to do or you'll feel left out. The community was there, it still is in a way. But it's becoming a shell of what it used to be.
People who shared resources and asked for them didn't hoard it, they kept the circle spinning by continuing that tradition. Now it feels more like "i got mine, so suck it". People asking for items like the twisty tree, which is unobtainable anywhere else expect for dev gifts and you can't get seeds from them when they mature because they reset the life cycle of the tree, so it's incredibly rare. And people who know that and harp on people who are new or unaware of that fact to take advantage of them. People brag about having 8-10 because they preyed on someone's ignorance and find that as a type of flex, when it's not.
People becoming less friendly due to the cross platform with play-station. You can disagree, but I personally believe people on consoles are usually more toxic than people on computer. I have a ps5, but i play on a Steam Deck. And it's not a night and day difference, but it's most certainly there. The feeling of caring less, wanting to care less, is much more there on ps5 than PC.
The stuttering and constant demand of my Steam Decks resources just to walk or jump and glide is enough to make me turn the game off. 2 years ago when this game came out, I was able to play flawlessly, not a single hiccup in performance in sight. Now? Almost completely unplayable on my Steam Deck due to missing Qol and performance updates, all for the sole reason of banging out content in the sake of money. I have factory reset my steam deck, downloaded this game first without anything else on it, completely clean here. And it still preformed the very same way as if I didn't factory reset with a stable OS branch.
The enshitification of this game is solely due to Singularity 6 problem with being to money hungry. It was something you could almost see coming a mile away, and I tried to cope and believe it wasn't going to happen. And with these couple of last updates, I just can't bare to play it. But most of all, support it. They don't deserve your time and effort, most importantly your money. The magic that came with this game is gone. Replaced with dull colors and sour promises.
I want people to enjoy this game, to hear people say they want the future of this game to stand tall, and that it's happening. But it's never going to come to fruition. I hear and see more boo's than chears because that's what they've done to it. More restless people pointing out the flaws and fake props of truth than preaching it's success. Because the Palia we played and weaved into our own lives, is gone. This game is simple becoming a former shell or itself and it's heartbreaking to see in real time.
I can't stand behind this game any longer, and you shouldn't too. Because they found the formula of success for profits. And not the formula of success with the community's longevity. They don't want you to have fun, they just want you to consume endlessly.
The person I play with feels almost the same way. Because when i see them log in every day, they care just a bit less every time they do. That magic wares off. and with everything i told you and have seen over the past 2 years. It's already gone.
Do I recommend the game? No. Is it unique and offers something that many other games don't? Yes! And that's what hurts the most. A game I solely would recommend if it had not taken the course it has done so now. You can still meet wonderful people, have conversations you wouldn't have in other games, feel apart of something that makes you feel whole. It's an experience that you needed to experience at the beginning, and if you're still going to give it a try. Than do so without spending money. Take a stand against lazy optimization in gaming, because it's been a growing issues as of late. And i'm tired of it, and you should too.
All in all, just lower your expectations going in. If you're in the middle part of the game, then just focus on the parts that make you happy. And if you're at late stage like me, than be open about this games hardships and major flaws that aren't being addressed to new players. Let them know what they're getting into, because it's not Palia like the community would have wanted. But the Palia that the devs wanted in order to make a predatory model in a game about expression. Expression that we don't have enough of in gaming.
I might tweak my review on a later date in case anything else comes to light or about anything I left out, which is still a lot. But still, I was just going to write a sentence about my thoughts on this game. But in the end, i'm quite emotional about the path it has taken. It was unique, but the hand of corporate fumbling could't resist.
