{"id":420341,"date":"2026-02-11T18:27:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T18:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/420341\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T18:27:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T18:27:13","slug":"despite-low-expectations-pokemon-pokopia-had-me-grinning-from-ear-to-ear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/420341\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite Low Expectations, Pok\u00e9mon Pokopia Had Me Grinning From Ear To Ear"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was a moment quite early into my time with Pok\u00e9mon Pokopia<\/a> where I sat back, exhaled, and said, \u201cOh dear, it\u2019s got me.\u201d<\/p>\n

See, I\u2019ve not been too hot on Pok\u00e9mon games for a while now, and initial trailers for Pokopia suggested that this probably wouldn\u2019t be changing anytime soon. After spending 90 minutes with both single-player and multiplayer components at Nintendo of Europe’s Frankfurt offices, however, I\u2019m convinced: Pokopia \u2014 which has Koei Tecmo’s Omega Force of Warriors<\/a> fame heading up development \u2014 is going to absolutely gobble up my time.<\/p>\n

Not only that, but if it’s supported by a steady stream of post-launch content (maybe some cool crossover items or events with other Nintendo properties?), it has the potential to be huge.<\/p>\n

I could tell you that Pokopia is basically Animal Crossing<\/a> with Pok\u00e9mon, but that wouldn\u2019t be entirely accurate. The vibes are there, at least; the music, the dialogue, the adorable animations\u2026 It\u2019s very Animal Crossing in its presentation.<\/p>\n

But in terms of gameplay, you\u2019re looking at a blend of Dragon Quest Builders<\/a> and \u2014 bizarrely \u2014 Viva Pi\u00f1ata<\/a> (an underrated gem if there ever was one). And yes, a sprinkling of Animal Crossing, too.<\/p>\n

\"Pok\u00e9mon<\/a>\"Pok\u00e9mon<\/a> Images: Nintendo \/ The Pok\u00e9mon Company<\/p>\n

You start off by creating your character: a Ditto taking on the (loose) form of a human. You can customise your skin colour, hairstyle\/colour, and clothing – there\u2019s not a massive array of options to choose from, but it\u2019s enough to get you going. Once you\u2019re done, you\u2019re introduced to Professor Tangrowth, the sole resident Pok\u00e9mon in a desolate, run-down world.<\/p>\n

Tangrowth tasks you with restoring life to the environment, but in order to do that, you\u2019ll need Pok\u00e9mon \u2013 lots of Pok\u00e9mon. But lo, behold! A Squirtle has conveniently appeared. After a quick chat (yes, all of the Pok\u00e9mon here can talk \u2013 you\u2019re not special anymore, Meowth), your Ditto character can mimic Squirtle\u2019s Water Gun ability, enabling you to revitalise the ground, grass, bushes, and trees to flourish once more.<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve revived a sizeable patch of grass, a Bulbasaur will then appear and grant you the Leafage ability. This essentially lets you instantly plant patches of grass at will, letting you start customising the environment to your liking while also creating unique habitats for more Pok\u00e9mon.<\/p>\n

\"Pok\u00e9mon<\/a> Image: Nintendo \/ The Pok\u00e9mon Company<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the main hook of Pokopia. You don\u2019t catch Pok\u00e9mon here, but rather foster the right habitats to coax more of them into your vicinity. Some of the earliest creatures, like Bulbasaur and Charmander, merely require a bit of grass, but the requirements soon get more complex.<\/p>\n

The key is to keep an eye out for a small, twinkling animation on the ground. When you interact with this, you’re shown a brief description of the habitat required to reveal a new Pok\u00e9mon. Scyther (who teaches you Cut, by the way) needs grass sheltered underneath a tree, while Hitmonchan shows up after you\u2019ve placed a punching bag next to a wooden bench. I\u2019ve only seen a fraction of what the full game will offer, and I\u2019m eager to see how it balances player freedom with creating specific, curated habitats. So far, there seems to be a strong focus on creativity, and that\u2019s great.<\/p>\n

Creating habitats is just the first step \u2013 you\u2019ll also need to make sure your Pok\u00e9mon are feeling comfortable in their new homes. This is where crafting comes in. By gathering materials (rocks, lumber, leaves, and more), you can start hammering away at the crafting bench to create brand new items. This could be a straw bed for your Bulbasaur, a stool to sit and admire your handiwork, or even street lamps.<\/p>\n

\"Pok\u00e9mon<\/a>\"Pok\u00e9mon<\/a> Images: Nintendo \/ The Pok\u00e9mon Company<\/p>\n

The section I played was literally the start of the game, so it was difficult to gauge what kind of items you’ll be able to create further down the line, but hopefully it\u2019ll give New Horizons a run for its money. Needless to say, completing small tasks to boost the Pok\u00e9mon’s environments took me right back to my Xbox 360 in 2006 and getting my animals to perform their romance dances in Viva Pi\u00f1ata. You won’t see such dances here, but the vibes are certainly similar.<\/p>\n

Overall, Pokopia’s onboarding process is painless and incredibly fun. It really felt like I was making meaningful progress with each new tutorial, and unlike some mainline entries over the years, it mercifully doesn’t talk you to death. You get the basics, then you’re free to just go off and do your own thing. Bliss.<\/p>\n

After tinkering around with the single-player portion, I then sampled a three-player session over LAN. Here, we were dropped into a much more substantial area split into two distinct islands. Our goal was to rebuild a Pok\u00e9mon Centre, the requirements of which included a bunch of crafting materials, but also specific Pok\u00e9mon, including Dragonite, Lapras, Espeon, and a few unknown creatures designated only by their key abilities.<\/p>\n

\"Pok\u00e9mon<\/a>\"Pok\u00e9mon<\/a> Images: Nintendo \/ The Pok\u00e9mon Company<\/p>\n

Gathering the leaves and lumber was easy. We divided up the responsibilities, split up, and completed our hunt in minutes. Gathering the required Pok\u00e9mon, however, was trickier. Some of them resided on another island located across a short stretch of water, so you can just head over (you can literally either turn into Lapras or Dragonite at this point), talk to them, and get them to follow you.<\/p>\n

The problem is that many of them can’t cross water, so you’ll need to start destroying blocks within the environment, gather the resulting materials, and build bridges from one island to the other. Again, it might just be a result of playing an isolated segment of the game with no additional context, but it didn’t explicitly tell us we needed to build a bridge – we just figured it out, and for a Pok\u00e9mon game, it delivered a wonderful sense of satisfaction.<\/p>\n

As for the unknown Pok\u00e9mon, just like the single-player portion, specific habitats were needed to coax them into the environment. These were much more complex, however, and required scouring through each island to locate specific items. Ultimately, we weren’t able to finish rebuilding the Pok\u00e9mon Centre before our time was up – a good sign that Pokopia may provide some challenge when it wants to.<\/p>\n

“This title is planned and co-developed by The Pok\u00e9mon Company, GAME FREAK inc., and KOEI TECMO GAMES.” \u2014 Images: Nintendo \/ The Pok\u00e9mon Company<\/p>\n

Ultimately, despite going in with the lowest of the low expectations, Pokopia was a huge surprise which had me grinning ear to ear. It’s absolutely stuffed with charm and personality, and I get the feeling that it’s going to scratch an itch for anyone disappointed that we probably won’t be getting a brand new Animal Crossing anytime soon. This feels like exactly what I needed to get me back into Pok\u00e9mon, and I sincerely can’t wait to dive into the full game.<\/p>\n

Pok\u00e9mon Pokopia launches on 5th March. Travel and accommodation for this preview were provided by Nintendo.<\/p>\n

\tRelated Games<\/p>\n

\tSee Also
\n\tGuide: Pok\u00e9mon Sword And Shield: Pok\u00e9dex Galar Region<\/a>Guide: Pok\u00e9mon GO Eevee Evolutions Ranked – How To Get Sylveon, Leafeon, Glaceon, Umbreon, Espeon, Vaporeon, Jolteon And Flareon<\/a>Guide: Pok\u00e9mon GO Special Evolutions \u2013 How To Get Pangoro, Sylveon, Glaceon, Aromatisse, Slurpuff, Sirfetch\u2019d, Galarian Cofagrigus And More<\/a>Guide: Pok\u00e9mon GO Mega Evolutions List – How Get Mega Energy<\/a>Guide: Pok\u00e9mon GO \u2013 The Rarest Pok\u00e9mon Including Wild, Shiny, Mythical And Regional Catches<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Ollie<\/p>\n

Nintendo Life\u2019s resident horror fanatic, when he\u2019s not knee-deep in Resident Evil and Silent Hill lore, Ollie likes to dive into a good horror book while nursing a lovely cup of tea. He also enjoys long walks and listens to everything from TOOL to Chuck Berry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There was a moment quite early into my time with Pok\u00e9mon Pokopia where I sat back, exhaled, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[242,66653,59,376,3235,838,86,56,54,55,377],"class_list":{"0":"post-420341","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-features","9":"tag-first-impressions","10":"tag-gb","11":"tag-nintendo-switch-2","12":"tag-pokemon","13":"tag-previews","14":"tag-technology","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom","18":"tag-upcoming-releases"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}