Playing Pokémon Gold back in 2000 was one of those rare life-changing video game experiences. Picking my starter (Cyndaquil, obviously) and embarking on a grand adventure across Johto at the impressionable age of ten years old ensured that playing through this game was utterly formative. I remember actually trying to catch ’em all, trading with someone I knew at school with the cable and everything. Oh, and of course discovering that the Kanto region from Red/Blue was included and the final fight was against the protagonist of that game blew my tiny mind.
Since then, however, not one Pokémon game has managed to come remotely close to recapturing that magic for me. I hear they’ve done pretty well without my patronage, even becoming the highest-grossing media franchise of all time. I’ve tried to claw my way back onto the bandwagon; I own copies of Pokémon Y and Pokémon Moon, but playing them felt like eating cardboard. I was unsure if the games themselves had become stale or if I had simply been the perfect age at the perfect time when Gold came out.
26 years later, along comes Pokémon Pokopia. A spin-off where you play as the Pokémon Ditto mimicking a human child, crafting, building, exploring, and decorating a series of desolate landscapes devoid of humans. Pokopia is a mix of Animal Crossing, Minecraft, and Dragon Quest: Builders. It may not feature tense combat or hard-hitting narrative set pieces, but it succeeds in capturing some of the wonder and surprise at the heart of Pokémon.
The world of Pokopia is split into distinct areas, each with its own objectives. The first area, for example, involves increasing the humidity enough that it rains, revitilisating all the dry soil and dead plants. To do this, you’ll need the help of your fellow Pokémon. By building habitats (four connected blocks of grass, a tree next to some water, a series of three fireplaces next to each other, etc.), you will entice Pokémon to join you in your restoration project.
It’s amazing to what extent having Pokemon just hanging out and interacting with each other like Animal Crossing villagers is a delight to witness. Seeing an Oddish and Pichu share a nap on a bench, or a Venusaur and Ivysaur bump noses, is a joy, as is learning that Lampent “appears at the moment of death and promptly absorbs the spirit as it leaves the body.”
Returning from gathering resources or building something to find a habitat twitching with the telltale signs of a new Pokémon remains exciting till the very end of the game. That sense of “What kind of creature will I come across next?” that’s been missing for so long is completely restored here. More than just the excitement of seeing all the weird Pokémon, some you may recognise and some completely unfamiliar, is the chance that they will teach you a new ability.
As a Ditto, you can transform to mimic other Pokémon. At first this will be the likes of Squirtle and Bulbasaur, who teach you how to water the ground and grow grass, respectively, but there is a steady stream of new abilities to unlock, each as delightful and useful as the next. Over time, and as you gain access to new areas, you end up with a seemingly endless list of things to do and tasks to complete, all of them worthwhile and enticing.
This is where Pokopia really sticks the landing. There are so many different paths to go down. Do you want to explore? Restore the area’s electricity or other infrastructure? Do you want to focus on building habitats and discovering as many new Pokemon as possible? Or perhaps you wish to completely chill out and build a veggie patch? A shop? A cottage? A fountain? A mysterious cave behind a waterfall? Or perhaps make a new waterfall somewhere else? In Pokémon Pokopia, the world is your (Cl)oyster.
Every inch of this game encourages creative and playful freedom. Improving the happiness of the local Pokémon will increase the environment level, which in turn will unlock new challenges and items and recipes to purchase. This ensures that no matter what you do, you’re progressing in some way.
Pokémon Pokopia is an ideal spin-off. It takes the tried and true formulas of games like Animal Crossing and Minecraft and successfully merges them with the world of Pokémon. More than just a mash-up, it draws from each of its inspirations’ best elements and achieves something altogether special. Whether you’ve been ride or die for Pokémon since the nineties or, like me, have completely fallen off the bandwagon, Pokémon Pokopia offers something for everyone.
Rating: 9/10
Pokémon Pokopia was reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2 with a code provided by Nintendo.