Palworld is undeniably similar to Pokémon, but whether it's a total rip-off is another question entirely. Like Pokémon, it's a title that revolves around catching cute and dangerous creatures, and using them to achieve various goals. While this kind of gameplay wasn't necessarily invented by, and isn't even unique to Pokémon, the iconic series is the first thing that comes to mind on hearing "monster-catching video game." That was only worsened by early previews of Palworld, which showed off Pal-catching devices and animations that strongly resemble Poké Balls.
https://screenrant.com/pokemon-palworld-survival-game-clone-rip-off-fakemon/