Pokémon Pokopia runs in the direct opposite of every other game in the franchise, and it may be better for it. It’s not any darker in tone than previous titles, and it’s no less about the age-old pocket monsters you care so much about. But it’s different in other (important) ways—and based on what I played, it could be the most important sleeper hit of the Nintendo Switch 2’s first full trip around the sun.
I am not a major fan of modern Pokémon titles. I thought Pokémon Legends: Z-A was a flat, emotionally devoid game that ignored all the progress the industry has made in open-world design over the past decade. I am also not one to fall into the trap of the “cozy game” dynamic. I don’t mind a casual experience with low stakes, but I do find that it comes at the cost of a strong theme and goals. It’s why I still cannot get into Animal Crossing despite so many attempts across the decades.
Late last month, Nintendo invited me to play a little more than an hour of Pokopia (developed by Omega Force and published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company), both in single-player and multiplayer modes. Describing Pokopia as a cross between Minecraft, Stardew Valley, and Animal Crossing would be both accurate and reductive. The game draws elements from all of those while still doing something unique: it turns every player into a conservationist. You are revitalizing a land that has been abandoned by both people and Pokémon and recreating the habitats that creatures enjoy.
Make habitats, meet Pokémon, repeat
The fact that there are no humans around to spoil the mood is to the game’s benefit. You play as a Ditto, one who has managed to take the guise of a human (in series lore, Dittos are normally unable to take a human facade). You wake up in a cold, dank mine with no memory (that’s right, it’s a typical amnesia setup). There, you meet a wizened Tangrowth who tells you that the land you inhabit is barren and devoid of both Pokémon and anybody to train them. You’re the first being this lonely bundle of vines has seen in a long time.
The setup is more melancholy than that of a typical Pokémon adventure. I haven’t progressed far enough through the story to understand whether its creatures exist in some liminal purgatory or if the game is recreating Lincoln in the Bardo with pocket monsters. Anyway, once you come to terms with your grief, a Squirtle pops out of a bush and offers you a chance to terraform the environment.
As a Ditto, you can mimic other Pokémon’s powers. That means you can blast the environment with water, a few squares at a time, to bring a little life back to a barren wasteland. Eventually, you meet a Venusaur and a Charmander, who grant you the ability to pull up brush from the ground and help you start a fire, respectively.
This first part of the game feels a bit mundane. Your button-eyed player character is wandering, growing grass, and finding odd relics on the ground left by a supposed human colony. However, when you get to the main gameplay loop, everything clicks. By changing the topography, create habitats where various Pokémon may spring up. You might find glowing dots on the ground, called “signs,” which will help fill up your Pokedex with a range of Poke-silhouettes and their preferred habitat. These habitats can be very exact. If the picture shows three tufts of grass next to a rock, you need at least that many.
This is the reverse of a Pokémon trainer trawling through tall grass, looking for that one creature to spawn so they can be captured. Instead, you are like an ecologist, establishing natural habitats so that creatures can live comfortably. Some of these habitats are complicated to construct; you may, for example, need a punching bag next to a bench (you can bet your ass a Hitmonchan may spawn) or a row of duckboards next to a wood sign to attract a little snail-like Shellos.
The more Pokémon you find, the more powers you can procure. This means you could take a Hitmonchan’s punching ability to bust your way through dirt and rock blocks. You can mimic a Scyther’s ability to sweep aside unwanted grass and logs with the “Cut” power. In typical Minecraft fashion, these become materials from which to craft items like firepits or benches.
Play in multiplayer, but don’t talk to those Pokémon first
Throughout gameplay, you are tasked with an environment that would be attractive to the Pokémon and, ostensibly, the humans who have abandoned this lonely island. That means reconstructing buildings such as a Pokémon Center. The more creatures you discover, the more are available to help you rebuild civilization.
It’s unclear from my demo what happens if your efforts result in humans returning to cohabitate with the creatures of the lonely isle. But in the meantime, thanks to co-op support, you don’t have to be totally alone.
The game offers local and online co-op, both of which allow you to invite other players to work on your island. You can employ all the required emotes to communicate with friends, and it seems like all the same powers exist both in single and multiplayer. The only issue I encountered was that players online couldn’t interact with any newly discovered Pokémon until the host had. That means you can build a habitat, find a Pokémon, and communicate with it, but it won’t be your “friend” first.
Pokémon Pokopia may be the exception to all my misgivings about the Pokémon series and the “cozy game” craze. Instead of capturing Pokémon and making them knock each other unconscious, players are making a home where such creatures can live on their own terms. That change in theme is enough to interest me in the full title, which is set to arrive on March 5 for $70.
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