Pokemon: Pokopia

Look, if you're familiar with what we do here, you know I've been wrong before. I'm the guy who boldly claimed Fortnite was never going to amount into something big and that Pokemon Legends: Z-A was likely going to be a failure since they were being cagey on details. When the presentation happened a few weeks ago, I loudly proclaimed at the time that there was no way that Pokemon: Pokopia would be a satisfying anniversary title. Not only was I wrong about that, this game is one of the best Pokemon spin-off titles released in probably a decade.

Pokemon: Pokopia takes place in a future version of the world of Pokemon where the humans have all left. You play as a Ditto who has the ability to fix the world by learning various moves with the goal to restore the world to what it once was so the humans return.

I've seen the gameplay likened to Animal Crossing and Minecraft, which is not entirely inaccurate but it is not as accurate as it could be. The central gameplay loop to collect Pokemon is more reminiscent of Viva Pinata where the player has to modify the environment to make it hospitable to multiple creatures. It's not as involved or deep as Viva Pinata, but there are a large amount of habitats to keep in mind and build with the intent to get pokemon who have certain abilities in certain areas.

What's interesting too is how deep the gameplay mechanics are without feeling too overwhelming. Farming mechanics don't interfere with key gameplay, the building and crafting works well and don't hold the player back, and construction that is dependent on real world time don't feel obtrusive because there is so much to do and explore in the world.

The single greatest strength of this game is the fact that it runs as well as it does and the world feels incredibly alive. Sure there are some load time issues, especially as the world grows and more is happening in each area, but considering every world is exactly as you left it, down to destroyed blocks waiting to be collected when you leave and come back, it's worth the extra load times.

This game is probably the best way that the franchise could have paid homage to 30 years of video game history and it feels like the kind of game that could have long-term support until Pokemon Wind and Pokemon Waves come out next year. Without spoiling too much, there are plenty of areas that could be added to this game as either DLC or sizable free updates throughout the year and even additional regions that could be added as DLC following similar stories.

Pokemon: Pokopia is an easy frontrunner for Game of the Year and sets the stage for what the future of Pokemon spinoffs could be. In a world where we haven't had a solid new Pokemon spinoff in quite some time, Pokopia shows that the franchise still has legs outside the mainline series and physical merch that falls victim to scalpers.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Pokemon: Pokopia
Developed By: Game Freak and Koei Techmo
Release Date: March 5th, 2026
Platform: Nintendo Switch 2