I find it so weird, too, because I always assumed those AAA games failed to be fun, because they include a multitude of different gameplay mechanics, to differentiate themselves from the indies which generally focus on making very few gameplay mechanics extra fun.

But Palworld does exactly the AAA thing, mixing all kinds of genres, with the respective gameplay mechanics to boot, and none of those are individually extraordinary.

I guess, humor and not taking yourself too serious go a very long way. Maybe it’s also a matter of things not being as balanced/polished as in AAA games, so anything you unlock could be ridiculously overpowered, which makes it more fun to explore.