I get my base structures back up and running -- logging and rock pits in the little recesses in the walls, workbenches and the furnace under the stairs, berry farms and a new wheat farm in the opposite corner, beds and hot springs for everyone to take a load off -- and head out on my new flying steed. Those Lifmunk effigies at the tops of mountains are going to be much easier to reach now!
Also hey, remember the intro told me about a tree? There it is, taking up the entire horizon. It's across the entire map from where I am, further away than those snowy mountains on the right. It's just
huge.
Talkin' Mechanics:
MountsA significant number of Pals in the game can be ridden, once a saddle is crafted for them.
Most Pals walk. Those that fly tend to fly exclusively, and never land on the ground or enter the water. Nitewing is one of those; it never touches the ground.
Being mounted moves the Pal Tamer at whatever the mount's walking or flying speed is. For some big, lumbering mounts this is slower than the Tamer's natural walking speed, but most are faster. Mounts can jump, but not climb walls. For most mounts, entering the water will make it swim, depleting its stamina just like the Tamer's.
Mounts can run or fly faster, which depletes their stamina as well. For flying mounts, ascending higher also consumes stamina, so flying up the side of a tall mountain might require stopping to rest at whatever little cliffs or outcroppings can be found. Returning to walking pace, or descending to the ground, will restore the mount's stamina.
While mounted, the Pal Tamer can use their own attacks and throw Pal Spheres. The Pal can also be commanded to use any of the moves it knows. A few Pals have Partner Skills with special effects for the Tamer when mounted, like augmenting their attacks with elemental types or protecting them from the effects of ambient temperature.
I accidentally fly over to "not the newbie hills anymore" area and run into a few cultists who outlevel me and Nitewing both. They have electric bolts on their crossbows but thankfully electric attacks aren't super-effective against flying mons. Nitewing is stunned but not KOed, and I manage to fly away once the static wears off.
I head west instead, back to the area that looks like it's always autumn. There are a few ruined churches scattered around the map...
And each one has a statue of power inside (and usually a chest spawn point). I've been flying around collecting Effigies so I take a moment to power up again before I head out. I guess the implication here is that whatever ancient civilization keeps getting mentioned in the Paldeck worshipped Lucarios in the distant past.
There's a fast travel point nearby but I neglected to screenshot an updated map. Sorry.
You'd think a colossal skeleton half-submerged in the water might have some kind of secret or loot or something on it or in it. Nope!
I've been flying around for a while, nabbing Effigies and eggs whenever I see them. I can't build an incubator yet, and eventually remember why that is. Time to go take down the Alpha Chillet.
Talkin' Mechanics:
Like Humans, Pals Also Sleep At NightA sleeping Pal will take extra damage from the attack that wakes it up. And since any shot to the head or face is a critical hit, and sleeping Pals don't move around too much, it's pretty easy to stack that damage multiplier on, too. Once I get a weapon that can do a single big damage spike I'll be able to do some serious damage by ambushing stuff while it's asleep.
It'll be back in an hour of real time.
As a reward I got more Ancient Civ Parts, some leather to put toward my pelt armor, and a few more of those good-as-cash items. Also an
Ancient Technology Point. Defeating any of the map alphas (rather than cave-boss alphas) for the first time gives one Ancient Tech Point.
Talkin' Pals:
055: Chillet, the "Dancer on the Plains"
"It can curl up its body and roll around at extremely high speeds. Long ago, people would tie bags of milk to domesticated Chillet as they grazed to produce butter using this spinning force."
The lore: "It's a big ferret and still behaves like a ferret."
The inspiration: It looks more like it could be a kind of Pokemon than most pals, without looking like a specific Pokemon species. Of course there's already a couple mustelid Pokemon, but I don't think Chillet looks all that much like one of them, particularly with Chillet's overexaggerated serpentlike body to reflect its Dragon typing.
Is the name a pun: It's a chilly ferret. I might have gone for a snow/stoat portmanteau but I didn't name the Pals, now did I?
In gameplay: Chillet is an introduction to a couple things. It's the lowest-level Alpha Pal on the map, so it's a good place to start fighting those. It's the first Ice-type available barring random draw from a Syndicate fort, and an easier Dragon-type to catch than the Dinossoms on newbie hill. Once its saddle is crafted it's a mount to ride, and while mounted, it augments the Tamer's attacks with the dragon element. Adding dragon-type to attacks is particularly useful at night given the advantage dragon has over the dark-type Pals that spawn when the moon is up. Its stats aren't
awesome but it remains pretty strong well into lategame thanks to its typing (particularly against a boss later on that seems tailor-made to be stomped, specifically, by Chillet).
In addition to regular tech unlocks, there's a special tier of structures and gear that can only be unlocked with Ancient Tech Points. I'd hazard to say the most useful thing to unlock is the very first, the egg incubator.
My collection thus far. Eggs that weigh ten whatever-weight-units are the smallest, and will hatch into com mons. Eggs that weight 25 are "large" and will hatch into something bigger and slightly better.
Pink stripes are Common Eggs, and hatch neutral-type pals. Blue with snowflakes are frozen eggs, and hatch ice-type Pals. Yellow with black marks are electric eggs, and hatch that kind of Pal. Red with flames are scorching eggs, and hatch fire-type pals. Purple with spots are dark eggs for dark Pals, blue with drop insignia are damp eggs for digging graves in Kakariko village, and the green one I found back at the very start of the game is a verdant egg, hatching a grass-type Pal.
Talking Jank (by Design):
Egg IncubationNormally, eggs take a couple of real-time hours to hatch. If the ambient temperature is just right for the kind of egg in the incubator, the time is reduced somewhat. That, frankly, is dumb as hell. What's the point of an incubator if it's not temperature-controlled? I'm not building a volcano base just to hatch eggs that like it hot and a base in the frozen tundra just to hatch eggs that like it cold, and then building a dozen incubators in each one so I don't have to wait for one at a time. Not when I can just turn the timer down to zero in world settings and force eggs to hatch immediately. Sorry, do a better game mechanic if you want me to engage with it.
I get a Lunaris, a Direhowl, an Eikthyrdeer, two Tocotoco, a non-alpha Chillet, a Beakon, a Flambelle, an Arsox, another Mau, another Tombat, a Penking, and a Cinnamoth. Whew, this part is gonna be a long Pal writeup, huh. I set the Arsox, Tombat, Penking, and Cinnamoth to work immediately.
Talkin' Pals:
#011 Penking, the "Pioneer of the Frozen Sea"
"Surprisingly, it is unrelated to Pengullet. Ever wanting to be the center of attention, this Pal will strut its stuff for any onlookers."
The inspiration: : It's a bigger Pengullet in a tricorne hat. It doesn't look much like a Piplup anymore.
The name: It might not be related to Pengullet but it does have a couple Pengullets with it for its Alpha fight in the Sealed Realm of Frozen Wings. So I guess it can be a penguin king... but why wasn't it named for its pirate-style dress? It looks more like it's wearing a pirate's long coat and hat than it does royal regalia.
In gameplay: Pals don't evolve, so there's not any way to get a Pengullet to turn into a Penking. The breeding mechanics that I'll go into later on are baffling, but sure enough, there's not any way for a Pengullet parent to bear a Penking offspring, or for a Penking to sire a Pengullet. They're biologically unrelated.
Penking has several work suitabilities all at level 2, making it a versatile guy to have around a base. But with so many different suitabilities, it can be easily distracted from the job you want it to do.
Talkin' Pals:
#026 Direhowl, the "Hunter of the Steppe"
"Long ago Direhowl would hunt alongside humans but over the years this bond faded."
The lore: If dogs evolved from wolves then why are there still wolves? checkmate atheists
The inspiration: Both Direhowl and Lycanroc look more or less like cartoon wolves, but the neck ruff and coloration patterns in common make it a hard argument that the look of one wasn't based off the other. Frankly it's so generic-looking that Direhowl looks like the sort of thing that would come with 3D modeling software as a demo of what the program can do.
The name: It's not even a dire wolf, "a little bigger than a person" is just how big wolves are. To its credit, it
does howl.
In gameplay: Direhowls tend to spawn in groups, and sometimes there will be a Jolthog or Flopie among them that the Direhowls immediately gang up on. You can intervene and save the Jolthog/Flopie if you're quick. Apparently Direhowls also have a chance to spawn nearby when another Pal is KOed, presumably to scavenge the corpse, but it's hard to tell ingame if that happens because there's no visual indication that's why it appeared, and Direhowls aggro the player on sight.
Once it's caught and its saddle crafted, Direhowl is one of the faster mounts in the game. It doesn't offer extra jumping power or anything, doesn't augment player attacks, and obviously can't fly, but it's quick. It's an excellent mount to bring into caves, where flight is a lot less useful and tight passages make some of the bigger mounts impractical.
Talkin' Pals:
#027: Tocotoco, "Boom or Bust"
"A frightening Pal that produces exploding eggs. It often fires these eggs from its rear end as a weapon, but when spent the Pal itself explodes."
The lore: Every video game has to have some enemy that explodes at you. Tocotoco preserves the lineage of the noble Bombcrag, the Territorial Oak, and the esteemed Sir Robert-Omb, Esq.
The inspiration: Xatu has the color scheme and patterning that sort of evoke "Central or perhaps South American" design without looking like much of anything in particular. Tocotoco applies that to a dodo bird instead of... well, mostly Xatu looks like a totem pole rather than any specific bird species. But you can see why people are accusing Tocotoco of just being a Xatu with a Toucannon beak slapped on the front.
The name: Despite looking more like a dodo or large chicken, it's named after the toco toucan. Apparently it's also supposed to sound like the "tick-tock" of a time bomb counting down.
In gameplay: Tocotoco's whole
thing is that it's explosive. Most Pals learn a simple elemental projectile for their first move. Tocotoco starts with Implode, this game's version of the "knock yourself out to do one strong attack" move. Tocotoco doesn't really have to stats to fight well without blowing itself up, and its signature move, the highest attack power in the game, works by blowing itself up even harder than before.
If you take a Voltorb or Electrode into a Pokemon fight and blow it up, you can patch it right up with a Revive and be right as rain. Resuscitating a downed Pal requires you to go back to base, drop it in the Palbox, and wait ten minutes. This makes Tocotoco wildly impractical for combat, and with its suitability limited to only Gathering 1, it's not very useful on base, either. If you take one with you, it must be to use its Partner Skill as a mid-game explosive projectile.
With their propensity for blowing themselves up -- dealing huge damage if they're close enough to you, and preventing you from catching the damn thing -- Tocotoco make for a massive pain in the ass to encounter in the wild. They travel in groups of three to five, too.
Talkin' Pals:
#037 Eikthyrdeer, the "Protector of the Herd"
"The one who possesses the most impressive antlers becomes the leader of the herd. If their antlers are broken, they become depressed and leave the herd never to be seen again."
The lore: nice rack, 11/10 points
The inspiration: Look man, you're designing a deer monster, you make the antlers the focal point. Eikthyrdeer settles for making them really big and iridescent, rather than hypnosis eyes like Stantler or tree limbs like Sawsbuck.
The name: Eikthyrnir is a giant stag from Norse myth, described as nibbling from a giant tree in Valhalla. Given the pronunciation both the "thyr" and "nir" syllables are near-rhmes with the English "deer". (The "eik", should you be curious, is closer to the English "ache".) Me, I'd have recolored the thing into a teal deer, allow me to go into lengthy detail about this weird joke, you might just skim over all the text though.
In gameplay: Eikthyrdeer appears early on, in the newbie areas, but tends to spawn at levels 10-12. Don't pick a fight you can't win, particularly if there are two of them around and attacking one pulls hate from both. As with other mounts, by the time you have the tech unlocked and collect the leather and metal to fashion a saddle, you might as well use 'em on a mount that can fly.
Talkin' Pals:
#041: Cinnamoth, the "Butterfly Promenade"
"Sniffing its scales produces a feeling of unparalleled euphoria. There was some effort to further regulate this byproduct, but the Free Pal Alliance have vehemently opposed these measures, putting a stop to them."
The lore: You know how moths in Japanese media have poison scales they shed from their wings? What if those scales were also a recreational narcotic?
The inspiration: Look there's over a thousand Pokemon and like a third of those are butterflies or moths, I'm sure there's some similarities somewhere.
The name: Another baffling portmanteau, what does cinnamon have to do with a poison moth that gets people high? I guess its color scheme could be designed around the hue cinna
bar.
In gameplay: You know how every Pokemon game has a dozen or two 'ems in the middle of the Pokedex that people just kind of forget about? Cinnamoth is one of those. It's useful now, on account of getting an egg hatch for one, and it's better at Planting than Tanzee. It'll be obsoleted later, probably by Dinossom.
Talkin' Pals:
#042: Arsox, the "Blazing Brute"
"In ancient times, carnivorous Pals pursued them relentlessly. The Arsox's irrational rage transformed into a raging inferno, which has been passed on to this day."
The lore: u mad bro, yeah, u mad
The inspiration: You make a bull, you make it big and strong and angry. So yeah there are some thematic similarities with Tauros, but nobody's comparing Arsox to Toro the Bull from that old Chuck Jones Bugs Bunny short and it was also big, strong, and angry.
The name: It might not look like a creature from some other game, but if there's any argument to be made that the Pal's names were made from AI-generated lists, it's good ol' arse-ox here. They were going for "arson ox", sure, but really? Its name in the Japanese release is "Bulferno", which is an even more awkward portmanteau, but at least it's not
arse ox.
In gameplay: I got an Arsox early and put it to work manning the furnaces, since it does so faster than Foxparks does. But really, Arsox is pretty unremarkable.
Except for the name.
Pff. Arse ox.
Talkin' Pals:
#063 Lunaris, the "Extraterrestrial"
"It can control those who carelessly stare into its eyes. Those seen with a Lunaris are in its mind, simply under its control."
The lore: floaty mind-control alien, a classic
The inspiration: Pals aren't as closely based off of yokai or Japanese myths as Pokemon often are, but I think this time they got one that Pokemon hasn't done yet: a lunar-themed rabbit creature. That said, it's pretty darn similar to Mega Mewtwo Y, isn't it?
The name: It's just "luna", for the moon. It was another Pal named by fan submission in a contest. It's still better than it could be, in development, it was just called "Mutant".
In gameplay: With Handiwork 3, I want to leave Lunaris at my base to build stuff. But with a better carry-weight increase than Cattiva, I also want Lunaris in my party to help stow loot. It's a tough call.
Talkin' Pals:
#070: Flambelle, the "Molten Daughter"
"When it starts crying, this Pal produces magma in place of tears. The magma that pours out is absorbed back into its body, causing it to get hotter and hotter. The more it cries, the stronger it becomes."
The lore: thermodynamics do not work that way
The inspiration: The "blob of magma" Pokemon is a slug, not a cute little girl. Its feedback loop of crying harder and harder to amplify its power brings to mind Whismur's crying loud enough to startle itself, so that it cries even more.
The name: A pretty good pun, this time! A
beau is a charming young man, and a
flambeau is a torch. A
belle is a beautiful girl, so this
Flambelle is a torch that looks like a little girl.
In gameplay: Back at base, Flambelle produces Flame Organs that most fire-types drop. A supply of Flame Organs means I might switch over to making fire arrows instead of regular arrows and craft a Fire Crossbow to shoot them with.
Talkin' Pals:
#073: Beakon, the "Wings of Thunder"
"Some think it is a related species to Ragnahawk, but there is in fact no connection. Using its sharp beak, it descends on its prey in a quick motion that resembles a bolt of lightning."
The lore: I haven't even seen a Ragnahawk yet, but when I see one, I'm gonna be all "some think you are a related species to Beakon, but there is in fact no connection."
The inspiration: It is an electric bird and it has yellow and black plumage it must be Zapdos! Yeah but most of the electric Pals (and no small number of Electric Pokemon) have a yellow and black color scheme, so who's to say.
The name: It's not really a beacon leading to anything, but it does have a beak.
In gameplay: Beakon is pretty good in a fight but its main advantage is that it's faster than Nitewing. It's not particularly fast, objectively, but Nitewing moves so sluggishly that it feels like a big upgrade. Unfortunately, the saddle to ride it is locked behind experience level 34, so it'll be a while before I can fly at anything more than a ponderous pace.
