Palia is supposed to be a cute and cozy MMO, but its open beta has been just about the opposite, with it fraught with so many problems—ranging from players stealing from other players, getting stuck while rock climbing, and even the overpriced items in the shop—that many have dubbed the early access a “massive fumble.”
Palia’s open beta launched on Aug. 10, and the prospect of a Disney Dreamlight Valley-inspired MMO had cozy gamers lining up to dive into this high fantasy game. For the most part, the game lives up to expectations because it’s cute and has various things to do, like fishing and questing, and things to craft. But the cons of the beta far outweigh the good.
One of the key features of Palia is climbing up cliffs to reach new areas and collect materials. Players have already found it’s not even worth attempting due to the climbing gear getting stuck, as well as various other glitches that pop up too. But this only happens if you can actually climb the cliff, which isn’t always possible.
Then, there’s the issue of players stealing from others. Even if you’re offline, players can come to loot your plots and take things from you. So, your hard work goes down the drain unless you place everything valuable in your storage and empty your plots.
While players can steal from others, they can’t even enjoy what’s supposed to be a social game where you should be able to send ingredients to one another while trying to cook together or enjoy a multiplayer game experience. There are no bonuses for crafting and farming with others.
So, players are asking: What’s the point in being able to play together somewhat if you can’t actually play and work together?
But one of the most disappointing features of Palia so far is the price of items. Granted, Palia is free, and they do need to make money through customization, items, and bundles, but when they’re averaging $30 or more, it’s excessive, players claim.
Even those willing to “whale” in Palia already are finding the lack of any items given to free-to-play players fairly unacceptable.
Related: Is Palia free to play?
Palia could have been an incredible cozy MMO that offered countless hours of solo and multiplayer enjoyment. However, unless something changes in the next couple of updates, or if the experience vastly differs when it fully launches, it may not have much of a loyal player base left after this disappointing beta.
