REVIEW: ‘Pokémon Pokopia’ Is The Perfect Celebration Of The Series

Pokémon Pokopia, the latest life simulation cozy game from Game Freak and Koei Tecmo‘s Omega Force, is everything Pokémon needs to celebrate its 30th anniversary. While many expected the newly announced Pokémon Winds & Waves to bring in that celebration, Nintendo announced that it won’t hit until 2027.

That said, Pokopia is everything that a celebration should be. It’s an incredible experience that brings the series’ sense of adventure to life while also marrying it with a cozy life simulation for truly remarkable results. Pokémon Pokopia isn’t just one of Pokémon’s best games ever; it’s also one of the best games this year so far.

Pokopia slips you into the wobbly gelatinous form of Ditto, as it in turn transforms to look like its trainer. You quickly meet Professor Tangrowth, a Pokémon that turns to Ditto for help restoring the place they once called home. All the trainers and Pokémon have vanished, with Tangrowth unsure of what really happened. As you start to restore the environment, including providing water to a very thirsty Squirtle, more Pokémon start to return to call the new habitats home. 

Ditto guides the restoration efforts in this cozy life simulation. 

The story here in Pokémon Pokopia delivers some genuinely surprising turns. All these Pokémon wonder where their trainers and friends have gone, hoping that everything they’re doing brings them back. Meanwhile, you find letters and notes around, hinting at some disasters and loss. It’s heart-wrenching seeing the naivety from these creatures, confused as to where their found family went, while trying to piece together the truth behind the disappearances. The restoration of the land is important not only for the Pokémon’s comfort but also for the central mystery. 

Ditto’s Transform ability comes in clutch in the restoration efforts, learning new moves and abilities from the returning Pokémon. Squirtle helps you learn Water Gun, turning dry ground into lush green spaces. Hitmonchan teaches you Rock Smash, letting you terraform the land, while Scyther teaches you Cut, slicing through trees and grass with ease. You essentially become the HM carrier from games past, but using them in new ways that genuinely shape the environment. 

Most other cozy games would dole out these new Pokémon encounters and abilities over the course of multiple real-life days. While Pokopia also follows a real-time day/night cycle, it’s much more interested in giving you a lot, fast. Everything mentioned above happens in a handful of hours, allowing you to start decorating, exploring, and finding new Pokémon at an incredibly quick pace. It gives you the tools and lets you play right away, putting you on a highway to adventure rather than veering off to a rest stop at the sign of anything new. 

Pokopia swiftly immerses players into the world. 

Pokopia isn’t just a fantastic Pokémon game, but a genuinely engaging life sim. It has all the staples of the genre, with farming, decorating, crafting, and plenty more, tied into a day/night cycle with daily challenges and rewards. It nails the gameplay loop, dangling a new carrot in front of the player at all times. Very quickly, you’re able to decorate and build to your heart’s content, with the coat of PokePaint on it just enhancing the cute and cozy vibes. 

Pokopia brings you swiftly into its world, teaching you new recipes, hinting at new habitats, and giving you things to do constantly. You’ll find traces of Pokémon on shining spots on the ground, offering a new habitat idea to possibly bring that Pokémon to your new home.

Once they arrive, they’ll have requests to make them more comfortable, usually a new item or food to help them feel at home. The more you do for them, the higher their happiness rating goes, which in turn raises the overall environmental rating that unlocks new overall missions. 

The game brings the characters to life in new, exciting ways. 

Ditto’s relationship with the Pokémon isn’t a one-way street, though, as they also help out in plenty of ways. Some teach you new moves that, in turn, offer new ways of interacting with the environment. Others can follow Ditto to help in other ways. Charmander and other fire types can light campfires and candles, while grass types like Bulbasaur can speed up plant growth. Bringing several Pokémon with build or bulldoze specialties can build new PokeCenters and habitats, opening up new homes for the pocket monsters running around.

These Pokémon really feel alive in the space, and as a lifelong fan of the series, it’s heartwarming to see them running around and playing. Oddish and Cubone whip past as you walk, playing tag. Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee train together, hyping each other up. Telling Charmander that the toy they wanted is in their habitat sends them booking it home, immediately playing with it. Magikarp says “yo” a lot. It’s all wonderful, bringing these critters to life in new ways. 

Pokopia has a lot going on, constantly serving up something new to do or a different way to engage with the world around you. A camera captures special moments, like Dartrix and Igglybuff soaking in a hot spring, but it also gives you a new photo frame. It feels like Pokémon Snap, with these moments happening naturally, your Ditto just being lucky enough to see them when they do. Relics can be found in the environment, with Tangrowth appraising them. 

Pokémon Pokopia is a massive love letter to the series’ legacy. 

Pokopia captures the series’ sense of adventure. While you don’t catch Pokémon and collect gym battles in the traditional sense, there is a huge world to explore across multiple biomes. Each brings new missions, abilities, Pokémon, and plenty more to get lost in. There are tons of items just lying around, from tables to beds to plenty more you can take and use. Every day, you can just pick a new direction to travel in to see what lies behind the next hill or tunnel, each new space a surprise. 

Pokopia gives you a massive playground and lets you interact with it however you want. Some things do take real-life time, with most major constructions like a Pokémon Center taking until the next day. The thing is, there’s so much to do, and so much to see, and what’s impressive is that it all feels important.

Nothing feels out of place here, or like it doesn’t belong; instead, every piece contributes to an excellent whole. It’s just as easy to get lost in the missions as it is in the Pokémon’s requests. Spending hours watering the grass or terraforming the environment to make it more aesthetically pleasing is a worthwhile pursuit. 

Pokémon Pokopia is a massive love letter to the series, one that fittingly hits in the 30th year. It’s the gold standard of Pokémon spin-offs, letting you live in a Pokémon playground. There are tons to do, see, and discover, all while slowly unraveling the central mystery. It nails the wonder and discovery that Pokémon Red/Blue did all those years ago, every new space just adding more to the whole. Pokémon Pokopia is a genuine system seller and will easily go down as one of the best games on the Switch 2. 

Pokémon Pokopia is available now on Switch 2.