The Protagonist

You may recall that I was living my best Poké life playing Pokémon Pokopia last month. I have indeed finished the story a few weeks ago, and you bet I’ve been having withdrawals!

I was so impressed with this cosy life sim that it’s currently a contender for Game of the Year for me — that makes two games on this list now. Dragon Quest VII Reimagined being the other.

My Commentary

Before I had even picked up my copy of Pokémon Pokopia, I pre-emptively asked if I could write a review on it for RPGamer. I’m glad it all went well and I managed to get that review published. I spent countless hours writing it up and having it proofed, but I am so, so proud of the final piece. I feel like it’s one of my best pieces of writing to date since I’ve started doing this games writing stuff! Makes me feel like I’m improving and developing my voice as a writer. Feel free to read it for an in-depth analysis of the game, including my score.

Alternatively, here is a short wrap-up. I may do more of this style for the blog, this one was fun to write!

The Good

• Complex Pokémon NPCs: The Pokémon’s extensive range of interactions really made the world feel alive
• Intriguing narrative: A slow-paced mystery that left me feeling content with the “ending”
• Delightful soundtrack: Peaceful, ambient and extremely cosy
• Great selection of Pokémon from each generation: Many fan favourites but also made me appreciate others I didn’t usually engage with much, such as Timburr
• The crafting and terraforming were addictive: The systems were really well-executed, with a touch of Pokémon that made the game feel very much like its own thing instead of copying another sim like Animal Crossing or Minecraft

The Bad

• The Pokémon franchise still needs to work on their visuals: Although slightly improved for this game, it was rife with low fidelity textures and plenty of clipping
• The Pokémon have no chill: I loved them, but they often came on too strong, telling you they love spending time with you very shortly after meeting, or thanking you for making every day fun even though you’ve only known them for a day or two!
• House kits were awkward sizes: The game lets you use house kits if you don’t want to build a house from scratch. Most were fine, but I did start to question building standards when the game let us cram apparently four Pokémon into a one bedroom dwelling..

Final Thoughts

All in all, I had an absolute blast playing this game and loved the vision and presentation of Pokémon Pokopia. It’s been my favourite Pokémon game in years. No game is perfect, but this genuinely delivered on so many levels for me. I cannot recommend it enough to Pokémon fans or cosy gamers.

What’s Next?

I am still maximising the Environment Level for a couple of the areas, completing my Habitat / Pokédex and working on other bits and pieces like collecting all the relics. Basically working towards a 100% completion, but no rush.

Pokémon Pokopia has been such a huge success for the franchise, with everyone I know that has tried it utterly addicted. There are fewer feelings more comforting than curling up on the couch playing a game this cosy after a long day (bonus when my cat joins too!).

I would love to see the game supported with periodic updates. My wishlist includes: more Legendary Pokémon (ok, I’m greedy, I just want more Pokémon in general), new areas to restore, more story or even side quests, as well as more crop options (although living on potatoes isn’t the worst problem to have).

A Note on Pokémon Champions

In terms of continuing my Pokémon journey, Pokémon Champions did recently release. I’ll have to give it a miss for now though, because I want to see a more complete and established battle simulator before I grab my competitive Pokémon out of hibernation for battle once more.

Pokémon FireRed might be on the table though!

Look after yourself,

Elena