One Palworld Feature is a Sleeper Hit For Quality of Life

Palworld has continued to dazzle since it burst onto the scene early last year, providing a fun and refreshing alternative to the legendary Pokemon franchise in the context of survival mechanics. Controversy stemming from its similarities to Pokemon aside, Palworld has forged ahead with its vision of open-world base-building in a unique form. Where traditional survival titles focus on gathering supplies and base-building with the odd companion providing company, Palworld places emphasis on the companions, Pals, supporting the building effort. The innovation train hasn't stopped there, however, with the Feybreak content update introducing the Pal Labour Research Laboratory as a way of advancing research trees separate from the existing tech tree -- and the feature has gone under the radar in terms of impacting overall gameplay.

As was expected, Palworld has treaded a steady path of improvements since its launch in Early Access, gradually cutting out performance bugs and crashes along the way. In line with this effort, Palworld devs have rolled out several quality-of-life updates through expansions like the slider to craft more items simultaneously in the Sakurajima update. The Feybreak expansion is no different, and the addition of research is changing the landscape of task completion and efficiency for Pals, as well as generating a host of invaluable boosts that make playthroughs a bit easier for players.

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By Enricko Ozoa

Palworld's Research Feature Adds a New Meaning to Efficiency

Efficiency is everything in a Palworld run, as each base has a limited number of Pal slots for the cute creatures to play a role. For this reason, players tend to lean towards catching Pals that are multifaceted and capable of completing a variety of tasks quickly. When the multiple-base playstyle comes into the picture, efficiency becomes even more important, and that's where the research addition is a game-changer. Instead of micromanaging each Pal across bases to encourage task completion, exploring research projects offers permanent passive effects that could transform the outlook of a playthrough.

For instance, as in any survival game, gathering items is the bread and butter of Palworld. Pocketpair designed a system to let Pals run expeditions for materials, which, in turn, frees up time for the player to focus on other tasks. Prior to the Feybreak update, it was commonplace for these resource hunts to take north of 15 minutes -- which was one of the main reasons to delegate the task to capable Pals. However, with the maxed resource lab and depending on the type of material, the timer can go as low as three minutes.

Research's Time-Saving Potential is Valuable for Palworld's Future

More precious resources take about six minutes to gather (to prevent near-mindless resource farming), but the resource lab has significantly shortened the duration regardless. Beyond expedition, the other eight jobs Pals perform on bases can also be sped up with the myriad of productivity buffs from the research tree. While only one topic is researchable in a Pal Labor Research Laboratory, players can construct multiple on the same base to allow for simultaneous advancement. Additionally, the buffs from one base aren't limited -- they apply across all player settlements in Palworld once unlocked.

As a result, the outlook of Palworld's quality-of-life dynamic has taken on a different complexion in the aftermath of the Feybreak update. That's not to say the research feature is perfect yet. Players were already able to craft certain items locked behind the advanced levels of the laboratory, but have to repeat the tedious process to unlock them again in the expansion.

However, while there are still tangible improvements to be made, it's important to remember that Palworld is still in Early Access. Such impactful sleeper quality-of-life features could steal hearts when the full release rolls around.

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