Summary

• Palworld, a new survival game, has reached over one million concurrent players on Steam PC alone.
• The game features a brutal item that may be unknown to those who have never played the game.
• This item serves a practical purpose in the game, though a separate button would be helpful to prevent mistakes.

Palworld, the new survival game released by Pocketpair, has exploded in popularity upon its release, reaching over one million concurrent players on the Steam PC version alone. Though described often as "Pokémon with guns," the title is much more similar to other survival and farming games like Valheim or Slime Rancher than the former pocket-monster collecting title. That said, there is no lack of interesting creatures or items that one can craft or find in the game, with one such item being especially brutal.

Though the concept of Pokémon with guns on its face seems absurd, the shooting mechanics in Palworld are indeed rated Teen and resemble gunplay from less realistic titles like Fortnite or Team Fortress 2 rather than "realistic" titles like Call of Duty or Rust. That said, a lot of emphasis and a bit of concern have been put into the weaponry in the game, but there's actually another item that is equally, if not more brutal, hidden within the game's technology tree.

The Meat Cleaver In Palworld Removes Uneeded Pals

Unlocked In Tier 12

Of all the different items in Palworld, perhaps the most brutal one is the Meat Cleaver. A knife created to butcher Pals, the Meat Cleaver replaces the "Pet" command in Palworld with the "Butcher" command. As described by the item in-game, Pals are removed from the game entirely once butchered. This element starkly contrasts with getting knocked out, which is what usually happens when Pal's HP is reduced to zero. Upon butchering, the screen actually blurs out the scene, maintaining its T for Teen rating.

To revive a knocked-out Pal, one can simply place them in the Pal Box, and they'll revive after a set period.

Upon butchering a Pal, they'll be removed from the game for good, and the character will receive resources that typically come with that type of Pal. The Meat Cleaver can also be used as a short-range melee weapon, though by Tier 12 when it's unlocked, much better weaponry should already be available. Though the mechanic on its face would seem somewhat untoward, there's actually a pretty good in-game reason for the item to exist.

There Is A Practical Use For The Meat Cleaver

It's Not There For Shock Value

Though shocking, there's a practical in-game use for the Meat Cleaver, and it's one that shouldn't stir up any controversy. Rather than existing as just a brutal way to dispatch Pals, the Meat Cleaver is an item one can use to remove Pals from their inventory or Pal Box. As collecting different Pals is one of the main sources of experience in the game, along with an XP boost for every 10 Pals of the same type captured, filling up the Pal Box with pointless or unwanted Pals is an unfortunate reality for most.

Luckily, though it may seem brutal, the Meat Cleaver acts as a way to remove Pals from the inventory, thereby freeing up space for additional Pals to get added to the Pal Box. Though there are a huge amount of slots that prevent the actual Pal inventory from filling up, having to scroll through pages of the same Pals can become a huge time waster if not all of the Pals are being used, making the Meat Cleaver a necessary QoL improvement and better than just abandoning Pals after capturing them.

That said, the animation for the actual butchering process could be deemed a bit much by some, as even though it's blurred, there could probably be a more humane way to remove Pals from the inventory. This is especially true considering the function serves a real purpose within the game, but some might find it too gruesome to do. Though it'll come down to personal preference of whether this even matters at all, it could be remedied by slightly altering the animation.

They Should Make A Separate Button For Butcher

Accidents Have Been Made

One of the more unfortunate (and hilarious) aspects of the Meat Cleaver is the fact that it replaces the Pet command with the Butcher command, both of which are two entirely different things. Implementing the butchering process in this way poses an obvious problem when the Meat Cleaver is equipped, as those who regularly pet their Pals may butcher them by mistake fairly easily. This is made even worse if the Pal is a unique or rare Pal that hasn't been bred yet, as it's more than possible to accidentally butcher it and have it removed from the game for good.

From a gameplay perspective, this can be fixed rather easily by putting a separate butcher command along with the pet command on the action wheel. That way, when muscle memory takes over, innocent Pals aren't caught in the crossfire of an unfortunate mistake. As the two actions stand fairly antithetical to each other, it doesn't make much sense to have one button replace the other.

An update notwithstanding, however, a simple solution can prevent people from accidentally killing their favorite Pals. Since the Meat Cleaver needs to be equipped, it makes more sense to store it away in the inventory or in a storage container until it's necessary to clear up some space in the Pal Box. Not to mention, there are a multitude of other weapons that are better at damaging pals than the cleaver. Once the dirty deed is done, they can place it back in its designated spot to prevent any unwanted deaths in Palworld.