Pokémon Pokopia Review

The best reviewed Pokemon game is a building sim, which says something about where the main series has drifted. You play a Ditto in human shape restoring a ruined Kanto, and the central idea is simple and very good: the Pokemon are tools rather than trophies. Bulbasaur clears vines, Machamp shifts terrain, a fire type dries what you flooded, and every creature you befriend adds a verb to what you can do to the landscape.

Building is generous, terraforming is quick, and the neighbors you attract behave like a village instead of a checklist. The Switch 2 gives it clean performance and a soft, warm look that suits the tone exactly. The story is the thinnest part, a light frame about restoring the region that exists to introduce systems and then gets out of the way, and the opening hours are slow before the full set of abilities opens up. As a cozy sim it is the best received thing the franchise has ever put out.