Pokémon Pokopia turns the world into a cozy, human-free paradise

Although catching monsters and forcing them to battle has always been a staple of the Pokémon brand, spin-offs like Pokemon Snap and Detective Pikachu The series has stood out by approaching the franchise from different angles. In different (and often small) ways, the last main line Pokemon Titles like sword / shield, Scarlet / Violetand Mythology: ZA He admitted that there are some players who prefer to spend their time hanging out and taking pictures with their monster friends.

This leisurely approach to enjoy Pokemon The world doesn’t exactly align with the main games’ focus on becoming a competitive champion, but it’s exactly the kind of mindset you should have when you start playing Pokemon Bucopia For Nintendo Switch 2. Co-developed by The Pokémon Company, Game Freak, and Koei Tecmo’s Omega Force division, Poppy It feels like Nintendo is taking another stab at everything going on Animal crossing Very fun while trying out features from other advanced crafting games, e.g Minecraft.

Poppy Uses conventions from the heart Pokemon Series to bring a twist to classic life simulation game mechanics, such as building and nurturing relationships. It is a fun and cute game only Different enough from Animal crossing To say that Poppy Not just a Pokemon– Under the title New horizons. But what pleased me most when I recently spent some hands-on time with the game was how — when you look beyond its bright, island vibes — PoppyThe film’s story seems to evoke something dark and ominous about… Pokemon world.

in Poppyyou play as an unusual character Ditto who somehow ended up on an island after being separated from her trainer. This Ditto isn’t great at transforming into other Pokémon, and doesn’t remember what happened to its partner. But after finding his missing trainer’s pokédex, Ditto uses his powers to take on his form (the game’s character customization options are surprisingly robust), and begins exploring the land around him.

When I first started playing, I knew that Poppy Ditto has been focused on human drag to make friends with other Pokémon, such as Professor Tangrowth, and create unique habitats to attract more monsters. But I was surprised and intrigued when the Grass-type professor explained that he hadn’t seen a living human or other Pokémon in the Desolate World for a very long time.

After being disturbed by the mystery of what happened to everyone, Poppy It dropped me straight into a bit of gameplay involving a dehydrated squirrel covering the basics of how things work on the island. By encountering certain Pokémon with special moves like Water Gun, Ditto can copy them and use their power to affect the terrain in the game. When selected, each move — which can only be used a certain number of times before you have to eat to recharge your energy Strengths – Displays a grid of squares that let you know which areas they will affect when used.

Hitting patches of dry grass with a Water Gun turned them a vibrant green, and when I created enough connected grass squares, they sparkled to let me know I’d created a patch of grass Long grass. in Poppyyour Pokédex registers Pokémon and areas such as Tall Grass as different types of habitats where certain monsters may appear. The shy and friendly Charmander appeared from my first piece of Tall Grass, and her powers were exactly what I needed to light a campfire. The deeper you go in PoppyThe more complex it becomes to create new habitats.

Some Pokemon won’t spawn unless I create patches of grass shaded by large rocks, while others require me to farm fertile ground with nearby wheelbarrows. I had to actually meet some Pokemon in order to use the necessary moves to create conditions that would attract new monsters. It wasn’t always guaranteed that the exact Pokemon you wanted would appear when its habitat requirements were met.

The more Pokemon you make on the island, the more friendships you’ll make Poppy It starts to open up in terms of the space you can explore and the things you can build with animal crossing-Style recipes and workbenches. I can easily imagine myself spending hours making places for wild Pokemon to relax, but… Poppy It’s also clearly a game aimed at builders. With the right moves and transformations, you can start carrying out heavy construction operations to reshape the geography of your island or travel to other nearby land masses. Overhauls of the island may take some time if you are working alone, but the work can be done much faster when you are employed PoppyMultiplayer mode.

While running the demo, my teammates and I didn’t spend a lot of time trying to complete the objective that we were encouraged to focus on as a team because it was much more fun to run around, transform into Dragonites, and fly through the air. But if we had been more goal-oriented, we could have built some buildings or taken some group photos with obviously ancient Pokédexes.

Aside from the predicted devastation, what struck me most Poppy It was how relaxed her interpolations of classicism were Pokemon The songs and how expressive the game’s brutal animation were. Although the game is not voice acting, the Pokemon’s faces charmingly convey the emotions they feel – sometimes they’re excited to talk to you, sometimes they’re in a bad mood and need to cheer you up – as you visit them in their new homes. While I wasn’t able to look at how many Pokémon could be befriended in the game, it was clear that a large number of them could appear on the island.

Although it is clearly directed at children, Poppy Sounds like the kind of game that would be fun for adults Pokemon fans when it hits Nintendo Switch 2 on March 5. And if the game’s deeper story is nearly as dark as it seems, it might be one of the most fascinating side stories in the series yet.