Allow me to preface this first impression article with letting you know that while I’ve always liked Pokémon, I’ve always thought they were cute and fun, I never got into any of the games. The reason for that is because as far as I know, all of the early Pokémon games that initially came out were turn-based games. I’m not really a fan of turn-based games.
So, while the games did indeed seem cool, I just never played them. And I never really watched the anime, because… well, I don’t know why. I just never did. And I never played the card game because I couldn’t be bothered to learn all the rules for the card game.
I know, I know. The shame.
With all that being said, as I already stated, I never hated Pokémon. I thought they were cool little creatures, I loved the designs, and I really thought the concept of Pokémon evolving into beefier, more combat heavy versions of themselves was pretty awesome.
All of that is to say, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Pokémon Pokopia, except that it was a farming/life sim game that featured Pokémon.
Well, I have nearly ten hours into the game and I have to say, I still like Pokémon. As a matter of fact, if you’re fan of Pokémon as I was, but never really got into them, and you love farming/life-sim cozy games, then I definitely recommend checking out Pokopia.
If you’re reading this, then you probably know the basic premise of the game, but for the sake of those who might not know, in Pokémon Pokopia you play as a Pokémon named Ditto. A Pokémon who can transform into any other Pokémon it comes across. Only in this game, Ditto decided to transform into its Pokémon trainer, who it remembers fondly.
But that trainer is nowhere to be found. As a matter fof act, no humans are to be found, and no other Pokémon either. You meet Professor Tangrowth, you find your first Pokémon, Bulbasaur, and it becomes your mission to transform the island you’re on into a utopia-like place where Pokémon can return and thrive. And along the way, you’re hoping humans return to.
And then you set off. You learn new skills from the Pokémon, like growing grass from Bulbasaur, to spraying water from Squirtle, to punching down land masses and terraforming from the Hitmonchan.
The list goes on and on when it comes to the skills you can learn. Like I said, I’m only about ten hours in and even though I have, I don’t know, maybe a dozen or two different Pokémon roaming around the island, I know I’ve still got a lot of great things to learn. The Pokémon help out too. Like if you need a fire, you just as Charmander to follow you, and he sets your little campground logs on fire, for a nice, warm, cozy place for Pokémon to live.
After the first couple hours I was about to say, “Oh, okay. So you just go around fixing this place up.” And if that was all there was, that would’ve been cool. But then the actual storylines in-game kick in. In order to build your first Pokémon Center, you need a Pokémon that had bulldozing capabilities. But the Pokémon you need help from is stuck in a cave. And you can’t get him out because the rocks around him are too dense to break through, so now you need to figure out how to make it rain with the help of other Pokémon, in order to soften up the rocks and break Onix out.
For the sake of spoilers, I won’t give anymore away, but even as a pretty big Pokémon newbie, when it comes to know who these little monsters are and what they can do, the reveal of how this all unfolds it pretty epic, and I enjoyed it immensely.
I haven’t even finished fixing up my little part of the island, but I’ve already unlocked other places Pokémon live, and doorways to other maps. I entered one area, unsure what I was going to find, and it’s a whole different land with different plants and Pokémon. But there are things I think I need in order to start fixing up that map, so now I’m excited to get back to my map, finishing fixing up my land, and find all the other treasures this game has to offer.
Pokémon Pokopia is a lot of fun. I thought it’d be a good time, but I can easily see myself sinking hundreds of hours into this game, not only because of the mainline quests it gives you to fix everything up, but the decorating, terraforming, and exploration possibilities this game provides.
If you’re on the fence about this game because you’ve never really been that big into Pokémon, but you are a life-sim and farming cozy game fan, I’d definitely recommend checking this one out. And don’t worry about not know who the Pokémon are. You’re given all the basic information about this that you need to know and none of it is overwhelming.
Okay, time to head back and explore more of the game!