Right around two years ago (!!) I shared some of my thoughts and expectations around the then-announced game called Palia. In those two years I dove into the pre-alpha and dabbled with each release after that, leading up to and including the release two weeks ago on Nintendo Switch. I intentionally use the word release rather than launch because there has been no grand announcement of Palia’s closing beta and grand opening. It’s just kind of…slithered from test to test and now is just sort of…out…on Switch.

Those initial feelings two years ago were rather optimistic, suggesting that Palia was set to storm the world of both MMO’s and cozy games and establish dominance in a very violent but cute way. Now, I’m not so sure.

My doubt is, in part, thanks to some lackluster reviews of later beta builds. Much of the enmity for Palia going around on hubs like Reddit seems to come from a vocal minority of gripey PC gamers. While those concerns were valid, many of those may have been addressed or have at least received some lip service. But they point towards a much bigger question: where exactly does Palia fit in the market?

It’s an MMO but doesn’t really appeal to major MMO fans. MMO fans expect lots of group content, crowds, and social interactions. Palia has some of these things but in the main it merely dips its proverbial toe into the MMO pond. Layers are capped at about twenty players a piece. You can form groups but there really isn’t much point apart from socializing. You can engage with, and even get a bonus for, harvesting materials together but it’s only marginally helpful.

It’s a cozy game, but can it really appeal to the cozy crowd if there are platforming puzzles (ala Zelda) and numerical crafting levels to grind? The vibe is completely there and I would argue it to be Palia’s strongest point. Music, color choice, character design, atmosphere, are all incredibly satisfying and relaxing. Peerless, even, in the world of “cozy” games. But is that just wrapper if you’re expected to go around digging up goodies and shooting cute animals?

Cozy games also tend to rely on non-traditional gamers (or even non-gamers full stop) to fill out the ranks, but I have to think Palia will turn many of these away with the MMO element. Elements like the annoying and unavoidable server chat would, to my mind, scare off people who just want to snuggle into their favorite heated blanket and decorate a virtual garden.

To wit, Palia isn’t a square peg looking for a round hole, it’s a heptagon in a world with only so many fits.

Early unpolished builds left me feeling very meh towards Palia, but now that the product is…sort of…finished I’m all in. I am the heptagon. But how many of us are there? Enough to sustain Palia for the long haul? I genuinely don’t know.

And now that I am all in I am starting to understand some of the concerns prior buyers-in had: I’m blazing through quests and skill levels and expanding my home and mounting up cash. Am I about to hit the content dead-end? Or will the lovely Republic of Palia itself be enough to cut through the swaths of other games begging for my attention and get me to log in for a stroll?