I am honestly hesitant to call it an MMO. It isn't massive but rather Niche Multiplayer Online RPG

Or maybe Mini Multiplayer Online RPG

That's not to say there aren't people. It's more the content.

I won't talk about lore spoilers but the lore is interesting and I think it helps that the quests to progress are a mix of puzzle and Fetch specific thing at specific place with specific item at specific time of day.

It means you spend more time really understanding the game and all of its inhabitants (bugs and fish to catch included) and it also kind of makes you do lifeskills you may not have wanted to or wanted to focus on

For example, fishing is fun but not my favorite

But one part has you REALLY do fishing, you need a certain level to unlock a new bait and then you wanna make sure you have upgrades so you don't mess up the catch when you finally find the fish in the specific place with the specific item

So I am begrudgingly doing a bit of fishing. If you LIKE fishing, this is a delightful part. For me, it's dragging teeth. I like doing fishing but not for a fetch quest or with goals in mind. Just to chill. But me wanting to know more about the lore means I have to do more fishing than I usually would, if that makes sense

The game has 2 maps at the moment. They aren't massive exactly. It's honestly not enough. I would hope for 3. I think by the time the Switch release happens they may have more? It is hard to tell, but I'll be hopeful they add another map soon.

There are a good amount of hidden things and exploration pats on the back from cute chests to scattered lore

The NPCs clearly have some development. There is a get-to-know them system with tiers

There are weekly gift requests you can fulfill to boost your relationship with that NPC

When you reach a new tier or after you have gifted them a requested item, they have a quest for you!

Sometimes that quest is simply Talk to X

Sometimes it's item requests lol

And sometimes it's tasks. I personally prefer the task-based kinds because I don't have to fork over any of my materials

Skills have a max level of 50 each. After level 10 you unlock weekly quests specific to that skill

The gold demand to buy recipes and upgrades is steep when you are starting out. But after level 10 for that skill, purchases are made through rewards earned (tokens) from the weekly quests. So the upgrades become time-gated after level 10

So eventually all of your gold can just be funnelled into your homestead's upgrades. Furniture crafting is a skill, it's lovely. But I'm saving it for last simply because of the gold demand required from all of the other skills and their upgrades

For materials. I've hit a blatantly obvious wall. The top tier mining material is rare. To make matters worse, it is a significant bottleneck

Finding one node yields very little and, at least in the closed beta, everyone is about at that point where they are searching for it for that final upgrade before level 10 of their respective skills

So coming across one is either a ton of patience or a ton of luck. Both is best. So it's discouraging to go about hunting for the node to walk away empty handed. However, there is a recipe you can buy at level 8 (mining, but all skills have a similar concept) that tracks rare nodes for a limited time.

I haven't gotten it yet, but it might be a saving grace to the dilemma of finding this thing. Depending on the cost to make one

Overall, the game is chill. You can progress a few ways and it's fun. But it has a very visible ceiling at the moment and doesn't take long at all to see that ceiling

After level 10 of a skill, you really just have weeklies to look forward to between skill quests and weekly gifts, quests with NPCs

So from there you can choose to hunker down to work toward the lore/main quest or spiffy your house or both. But it isn't a very deep or game that you can sweat for long

For people who need goal posts, it doesn't have that kind of longevity. For people that want to just chill or use it more like a social platform or a game to unwind with, it's better suited for you

There are some bonuses to working with others. Fishing next to someone gives you an exp bonus. When they reel in a fish, you get a bonus that multiplies with each fish they catch

Some trees (top-tier wood) need 2+ people to chop down. If you have the best axe, you can probably do some of the smaller trees of this top tier solo. But it's meant for a group to accomplish

Mining is the least co-op friendly. Unless you also pick at a node, you don't get anything for it and they disappear after 1 person mines them

Hunting also can be done co-op. The magical tier of creatures are difficult to catch without the right arrows and anyone who hits gets credit with full rewards

However, if you can one-shot then it takes away the co-op value. I'll equip crappy arrows if I'm near novices so that they can get credit as well

The cooking skill is also good for a group. Each player can do a specific task and everyone gets rewarded full value of the cooked item. The mini games are pretty easy but fun to do

Anyways, that's most of what I thought would be worth mentioning since I know a few were looking at Palia to play with Open Beta

I'll be honest, I don't think Open Beta is a good idea for them. The game needs some work still. I'm guessing it's the same issue many devs face - they ran out of money

Yes, it's free-to-play but there's a cash shop and it ain't cheap

Which, honestly, isn't fair to do in a Beta.

Beta is for testing. But there is a clear monetary incentive being put out for players to invest in. That's not really how testing works

It's very fun, but as it stands it's got maybe 1 month of content and some weekly check-ins thereafter. It needs more, feels a bit incomplete or shallow in some ways (cash shop especially) so lot's of room for improvement. I would say check it out after an update or two

Fingers crossed it is more "complete" with the Switch release

informational since I'm interested in this game, ty

Glad it's helpful

I just got my beta invite today

\o/

They had a lot of major issues that they ironed out with a recent hotfix and felt they were in a better place to take in more waves. They mentioned it was their biggest invite round yet

Glad to see so many getting their invites c:

Granted it's down for another hotfix lmao

But baby steps