Gameplay wise palworld has nothing to do with Pokémon, it was simply a marketing tool for em.
As for the ark comparison I can’t comment, the one time I played it was on the early access launch day during which I refunded it within 45 minutes because it performed horribly, that was almost 10 years ago though so not sure how the current game compares
They actually added the subway system in an update to the game.
I’d say cp77 still isn’t the game they hyped up over the years, but it is now a fantastic experience in my opinion, especially modded