Pokopia succeeds in capturing the spirit of Pokémon’s past without sacrificing its uniqueness, as one of the best spin-offs the franchise has ever seen.
Pokémon has always excelled at the strange spin-off. This isn’t to say they’re always good (looking at you PokéPark games), but they’re always guaranteed to make you think, ‘What? Really?’ From watching TV with Pikachu, a Nobunaga’s Ambition crossover, and Pokémon Project Studio (which I’m sure we all hold dear to our hearts), I do feel like I should be immune to Pokémon spin-off bizarreness by now. And yet, the announcement of Pokémon Pokopia still caught me off guard.
Pokémon meets Animal Crossing? A decision that makes complete sense — the cosy game market has erupted over the past six years, there’s no way the Pokémon Company wouldn’t capitalise on that. Minecraft vibes? Okay, again understandable. Still feeling pretty normal. Playing as a humanoid Ditto? Aha — there’s the strange! The only question now is does meshing these different elements together create a game that’s wonderful for its weirdness, or will Pokopia be banished to the realm of forgotten Pokémon spin offs?
The answer lies with the blob of the hour: Ditto. Pokopia isn’t the first game where you play as a Pokémon, but it is the first where you actually feel like one. Unlike the Mystery Dungeon games where your avatar felt more like an interchangeable skin than a full embodiment, here it feels a little deeper. Developers Game Freak and Koei Tecmo’s Omega Force (known for Dragon Quest Builders 2, which makes sense) have made Ditto’s transformation powers crucial to the core gameplay, namely through the moves (aptly called Transformations) you learn from some of the Pokémon you befriend.
All of these come in handy. Leafage, for instance, grows grass, and Rock Smash destroys objects, while Ditto transforms ever so slightly every time you use one. It’s a nice, subtle reminder that you’re not truly human. Eventually, you’ll unlock full body transformations too. My personal favourite of these is Surf, which, of course, turns you into a Lapras. There’s little moments too: like how Ditto returns to its true form to get through narrow spaces, or to prove it’s not human to another Pokémon.
I do wonder if the developers took some inspiration from Kirby when designing Ditto. The way many of Ditto’s transformations only alter one aspect of its body and how it can suck up multiple resources definitely feel akin to Nintendo’s favourite pink circle. But what differentiates Pokopia is Ditto’s knack for the uncanny. Ditto’s transformations are not known for being perfect; having it in human form only heightens the delightful wrongness. The everpresent dot-eyes and gaping grin, the way the fingers are a little too long, the arms flapping behind it when it runs. The fact it takes the form of its missing trainer. It’s spookily sweet.
Pokopia truly lets Ditto shine. The Pokémon franchise is very much dominated by Pikachu, so it’s lovely to see another Pokémon take the spotlight, especially one that has long been relegated to the role of breeding horse, and the very essence of Ditto is also reflected in the game’s heart. You transform the landscape by transforming yourself.
Cultivating the world is what you’ll spend most of your time doing in Pokopia and it’s here where the simulator mechanics will make themselves known. They’re lighter than in other sims, but usual suspects are all present: decoration, cooking, resource gathering, crafting and even a little dash of farming. One inclusion that did take me by surprise was how the game keeps to the 24 hour clock, which it smartly hides away in the menu (so many recent games feel littered with different icons and mini-screens — I would like to see the actual game please). Soon it becomes a central part of the game, allowing you to gradually figure out when Pokémon appear, such as those only around at night, or how long each building takes to construct.
It’s a little touch, but these things matter in sim games, and hiding the clock away meant that when I wasn’t actively using it I was instead focused on what I was doing, rather than when I was doing it. It also brings an element of strategy. Should I build a house or a fountain? Should this area be left for nighttime Pokémon? Even the Dream Islands — resource-laden maps — are impacted as, while you can visit one multiple times, you can only pick one island to visit per day. It’s easy to see how this game has, and will continue to be, considered ‘Pokémon does Animal Crossing’. But if Animal Crossing is about making your personal paradise then Pokopia is about making one for others.
In fact I would say your needs are far less important than those of the Pokémon, an appropriate twist for this series. To make a Pokémon appear, for instance, you have to build it a dedicated habitat. Some habitats are easy to build, like four clumps of grass, while others are more complex, requiring multiple pieces of furniture and sometimes even electricity. Habitats can be found by interacting with Pokémon traces throughout the map, completing tasks or through pure experimentation. My personal favourite is the Grave Offering habitat, which is exactly what it sounds like. Yes, I did get it from messing about with a grave. No, I don’t have regrets. Completely worth it for the Ghost-types.
Making the habitat isn’t where your work ends though. Once a Pokémon is all settled in you need to improve their Comfort Level. This is exactly what it sounds like — the more suited a habitat is to a Pokémon’s needs, the happier they’ll be and their Comfort Level will rise. What you need to do exactly differs between Pokémon; some may want a toy, others a bed and one might even want a more humid atmosphere (best start growing some plants). It’s all about mastering a Pokémon’s likes and dislikes, then using it to craft their perfect little home.
One catch, that feeds back into that gently strategic element: habitats can overlap. This is great if the Pokémon have similar needs, as they’ll both benefit from your efforts, but can backfire if their preferences conflict. Zubat, for example, is unsurprisingly looking for a dark cave, so it won’t be happy living near a Bulbasaur who loves light. Thankfully, you can see the habitat boundaries at the push of an analogue stick and it’s not difficult to move Pokémon. You’ll want to keep your Pokémon happy, too, as increasing their Comfort Level helps raise your Environment Level, which, in turn, unlocks more items in the shop, in a very Pokémon-appropriate layering of systems. All of these items come in use — from furniture to habitat hints to, my personal favourite, security cameras. With these you can keep an eye on various habitats without having to worry about constantly returning to see if a Pokémon has set up home. Sure it sounds a little 1984 (because it kind of is), but the freedom these cameras bring for exploration is worth it.
Attracting a wider range of Pokémon is important as each one has at least one speciality you can use to your own benefit. Grass-types like Oddish can speed up plant growth, while Charmander and other Fire-types can heat furnaces to help craft metal bars. Ensuring you have a diverse range of Pokémon specialties to hand is incredibly useful, especially when you start constructing buildings. You will want a lot of Pokémon with the ‘build’ speciality. Trust me.
I’ll admit to finding the habitat loop a tad slow at the beginning, but I was quickly sucked in when Pokopia introduced the more complex mechanics, such as the ways electricity is generated. From that moment onwards I never felt like I was waiting for a Pokémon to appear. Instead, I was too busy increasing Comfort Levels and experimenting with furniture combinations in aid of discovering new habitats. The habitats themselves are excellent little puzzles, with the importance of placing and spacing continuing that layer of strategy. The Comfort Levels system prevents you feeling like you simply abandon habitats, reinforcing the idea you’re making permanent improvements to this world. Best of all, however, is when you get a security camera notification for a long dormant habitat and get to rush over to meet your friend.
Pokopia isn’t all about habitats though. As I’ve mentioned previously, there’s a variety of buildings you can construct including houses, fountains and, my personal favourite, a Clefairy and Clefable statue. I do wish the game offered a better preview of these structures aside from a small icon. It would be nice to see how they’d properly fit into the overall landscape you’re crafting before dedicating time and resources to a construction project. The good news, however, is this is where Pokopia’s Minecraft-like elements come into play.
Pokopia is a world of blocks. Blocks which can be smashed into pieces, sucked up by Ditto and then used to create whatever your heart desires (within blocky reason). The controls for placing these blocks are intuitive too, letting you easily decide where, and at what depth, you wish to place each one (with Rock Smash always at the ready for any happy accidents). Habitats — yes we’re briefly returning to them — can be placed within these structures, allowing you to create custom homes for your favourite ‘mons. For players looking to stretch their creative muscles, there’s also an empty map unlocked by progressing through the main campaign. (I’ll keep its name a secret out of fear of activating an ancient Eurogamer curse by spoiling a good pun.) Here you can build and mould the landscape to your whims. It’s a lovely touch — I’m thinking about making a mini recreation of the Johto region.
Even outside of this blank canvas, Pokopia’s maps have depths both literally and metaphorically, letting it sustain a sense of grandeur even after you’ve explored every nook and cranny. You’re going to go adventuring, too; there’s resources and collectibles in thems hills. It’s through these collectibles Pokopia brings a touch of Gen 1 nostalgia, albeit carefully so as to avoid alienating younger players — the moments are ‘Oh! I remember this’ rather than something which requires in-depth Pokémon lore knowledge to understand. In doing so, Pokopia manages to give players like me the callbacks they want without overpowering itself with nostalgia.
A final feather in Pokopia’s cap is how it’s simply a delight to look at, which may sound a little shallow, but matters after some of the recent main series entries. The graphics have a squishy charm which grows as you gradually bring the world back to life. It also contains the best looking actual Pokémon we’ve seen since New Pokémon Snap (not like that, you fiend), most likely helped by the fact that you’re up close and personal with them without having to worry about oncoming attacks. The unique Pokémon designs, such as Peakychu and Mosslax, provide a nice spin on old classics (sure, they all have a glossy shine but who wants to see Mr. Mime’s textures?! Not me). And the Pokémon are expressive, too, becoming sad if they get lost or reacting to your kindness with happiness, like when Bulbasaur uses vines to create a heart. It helps create this atmosphere that they’re living beings rather than creatures you’ve chosen based on stats. (Admit it — we’ve all done it.)
Altogether it makes Pokopia a great game for Pokémon to celebrate its 30th anniversary with, letting the Pokémon themselves take the stage, with selected ‘mons from across all nine generations making an appearance. The central theme of breathing life back into the Kanto wilderness is rewarding, while offering a look at the region through a new lens so, while it does harken back to the past, Pokopia is likewise able to stand outside the legacy of the Gen 1 games on its own. If this is where Pokémon is looking to go, into the future, then I truly hope it keeps going. But for now I’m just content to return to building my own Pokémon utopia. For I am Ditto.
A copy of Pokémon Pokopia was provided for this review by Nintendo.
