Palworld's newest major update Sakurajima adds tons of new Pals and buildings, but you won't be able to kidnap tower bosses anymore

(Image credit: Pocketpair)

We've been expecting Palworld's first major update, Sakurajima, for some time now. At the beginning of the month, Pocketpair released a short trailer for it, which was part of the early access roadmap that it uncovered at the start of this year.

One of the biggest additions is, obviously, the new island named Sakurajima. This location introduces a new faction called "The Moonflowers," which you have to fight to free the island from their control. It's also inspired by historical Japanese architecture and there's cherry blossoms aplenty, so it's sure to be very pretty.

A new island also means new Pals to discover and capture. Apart from a mimic Pal that may seem harmless but is actually deadly, there are also new subspecies of Pals, which are pretty much just elemental variants—think Eeveelutions. You'll also be able to dress up all your critters in new cosmetic hats or help keep all their food nice and cold with the new Cold Food Box. If you want to check them out for yourself, just take a look at the patch notes on Steam.

While Palworld's playerbase isn't what it used to be, those who are still playing seem really happy with this update's offerings from Pocketpair. "Yep, we are eating good," one player says in a Reddit thread, while another player adds, "They're doubling the storage space in the Palbox too. That's gonna make it so much easier to manage space in there while breeding."

However, some players are more focused on the smaller details. "Low key best part of the update," one player cheers, celebrating the fact you can now craft items in units of 100x. Others agree that while it may only be a little change, it's the small things that matter. This'll not only stop players from hurting their fingers by smashing the craft button, it'll also save their keyboards and controllers.

However, not all the changes have been good. One player points out that players can no longer capture hard-mode tower bosses. You used to be able to imprison a boss (which is usually an actual human being) by attacking one of the officers, then fast-travelling to the boss you wanted to capture. Sometimes, the officer would glitch into the fight as well, and you could use them to damage said boss. After being attacked, the boss would then stand still, meaning you could capture it with no issue.

"Well, that's tragic," one player says. "I would've collected them all before updating if I'd known. I found the official word on it. Sadness, but hopeful since they didn't even seem to intend to 'fix' it. I liked how it took a whole ritual to kidnap the specials, so here's hoping it's similarly silly if/when they bring it back."

Elie is a news writer with an unhealthy love of horror games—even though their greatest fear is being chased. When they're not screaming or hiding, there's a good chance you'll find them testing their metal in metroidvanias or just admiring their Pokemon TCG collection. Elie has previously worked at TechRadar Gaming as a staff writer and studied at JOMEC in International Journalism and Documentaries – spending their free time filming short docs about Smash Bros. or any indie game that crossed their path.