Palworld, a breakout success on Steam, is now available for play on both PC and Xbox systems through a preview build on Game Pass. Notably, it offers compatibility with Xbox One consoles, in addition to the expected Series X and Series S compatibility, utilizing Unreal Engine 5.
In essence, Palworld by developer Pocket Pair blends survival aspects reminiscent of games like Ark: Survival Evolved with the open-world monster hunting found in Pokémon. Specifically inspired by Pokémon Legends: Arceus from 2022, Palworld features seamless exploration, creature capturing, and battles, drawing attention and controversy for its similarities to Pokémon designs.
Despite the controversy, the game’s performance on Xbox Series X, Series S, Xbox One X, and the base Xbox One is a topic of discussion. Before delving into frame-rate tests, it’s essential to highlight technical aspects.
Despite being an open-world UE5 game, Palworld manages to fit within a modest 6GB install, even less on the base Xbox One. However, it’s crucial to emphasize that the game is still in early access, with numerous bugs related to collision detection, clipping, and animation.
The visual experience across Xbox consoles varies, with occasional low-resolution textures and geometry pop-ins, particularly noticeable on Series X. Stability issues, including crashes, are prevalent in the current version, further reinforcing the game’s early access status.
Beginning with the most powerful, the Series X struggles to achieve a consistent 60fps frame rate, with a common 40-50fps readout. The native resolution is fixed at 2880×1620, lacking dynamic resolution scaling seen in other Unreal Engine titles.
Series S, surprisingly, outperforms Series X in frame rate, running at 50-60fps in the opening area. However, sacrifices in visual quality, including a fixed 1280×720 resolution, are made to achieve this smoother performance.
Moving to Xbox One X, the performance is a mix of highs and lows, with better resolution (1080p) but noticeable drawbacks in texture quality and frame-rate drops, especially in complex open areas. Finally, on the base Xbox One (One S), significant visual cutbacks are necessary to maintain a salvageable frame rate, with a resolution dropping to just 960×540.
In conclusion, while Palworld has achieved success, especially on PC, its transition across various Xbox consoles reveals performance challenges and visual compromises, highlighting the need for optimization before its official release. The early access stage underscores the ongoing work required to address bugs and improve overall performance across different hardware configurations.
