With Ark 2 set to introduce numerous new innovations to the franchise, the survival game should take one popular aspect from Palworld. The indie creature catcher was a massive surprise and brought in record-setting levels of player count and profit. The game has slowed down since the first month of this success but still stands to show what small studios are capable of. Recently, the developers have announced the next update will be the biggest one yet.
Meanwhile, Ark 2 may be in a state of development crisis. The highly anticipated sequel has faced numerous delays that have likely pushed the title into 2025 unless a surprise release happens in the next month. However, the refreshed take on the prehistoric survival game is said to have numerous new changes. These include changes to core systems and a new combat system inspired by soulslike games.
Ark 2 Needs More Dinosaur Involvement
Evolution Is The Name Of The Game
Dinosaurs in Ark should begin to move past their current uses of gathering, transportation, and combat. These should not be removed from the game, but there are plenty of other uses for dinosaurs that don’t get explored often enough. A prime example of this is Ark: Survival Ascended‘s Pyromane, which, though locked behind a creature pack, has handy uses even after it was nerfed. These include the ability to cook meat and smelt metal in its inventory.
How Ark’s Dinosaurs Can Learn From Palworld
Reducing The Survival Burden
Palworld is incredibly innovative in how it lets its creatures affect the survival aspect of the game. These features speed up crafting, cooking, and supplying power to bases. Each Pal has different levels of effectiveness in tasks, which makes it important to know which Pals are best for every job.
Ark 2 does not need to go this far, but having a variety of dinosaurs that can do regular tasks of the survival genre would be a huge boon. This could range to various levels, like having certain dinosaurs near a station could speed up cooking or crafting times. On a larger scale, there could be some dinosaurs capable of generating electricity to help circumvent the usual ways of fueling a generator.
Changes like this can go a long way to improving the quality of Ark 2, making it feel substantially different from its predecessors, and encouraging players to explore the world. It is fair to say that survival aspects are necessary in the genre, but games like Palworld and Valheim have shown that these features do not need to be as dominant. The Ark franchise is already difficult, and reducing the need for measures like this could allow the studio to dedicate more time to other parts of the game.
How To Balance Dinosaurs With New Functions
Useful But Not Game Breaking
Depending on the use of the dinosaur, there would have to be some balance. For dinosaurs that simply speed up crafting/cooking time, there is no need to go too far. The best solution would be to have a cap, so one person cannot tame numerous of the same and complete objectives instantly. This in itself is not a huge issue, but something to have just for the sake of preventing any major issues.
However, it is the dinosaurs that would have major implications, like electricity generation, then this becomes a more pressing issue. The simplest route would be making them extremely hard or rare tames like the Quetzal or Giganotosaurus. This gives them a reason to have a large amount of impact on the game. The alternative option if these creatures aren’t rare is to limit the amount of uses they can have. For example, a dinosaur that generates electricity can only provide a set amount over a specific period.
Overall, a feature like this could go a long way in multiple aspects. Not only does it provide the refresh the sequel seems to want to bring, but it also reduces the tedious aspects of the genre. Balance and extent would need to be properly managed, especially regarding PvP, but this is something Ark has largely done well with for aspects of dinosaurs outside combat. Thus, one of the many innovations Ark 2 should add can be easily learned from looking at the recent success of Palworld.
ARK: Survival Ascended is a reimagined version of the 2017 action-adventure survival MMORPG by the developers at Studio Wildcard and Grove Street Games. Built in Unreal Engine 5, players will return to ARK to build tribes, fight and tame dinosaurs, and brave the elements as they battle to survive in a unique sandbox where crafting and resource management is essential.
- Franchise
- ARK
- Platform(s)
- PC , PS5 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S
- Released
- October 26, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Studio Wildcard
- Publisher(s)
- Studio Wildcard
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Blood, Crude Humor, Game Experience May Change During Online Play, Use of Alcohol, Violence
