{"id":34730,"date":"2026-03-09T00:57:36","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T16:57:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=34730"},"modified":"2026-03-09T00:57:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T16:57:36","slug":"pokemon-pokopia-is-good-why-are-we-surprised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=34730","title":{"rendered":"Pok\u00e9mon Pokopia is good. Why are we surprised?"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Patch Notes<\/strong> is a weekly newsletter bringing you the best of Polygon, sent on Fridays and published on the site on Sundays. You can subscribe here.<\/em><\/p>\n

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It\u2019s the circle of life. One live-service game dies \u2014 the developers of the briefly hyped Highguard<\/em> announced they would throw in the towel this week \u2014 and another hopeful rises to take its place: Bungie\u2019s Marathon<\/em> is out and it\u2019s good, actually. One Microsoft Gaming CEO gives up trying to sell any Xboxes and retires; another replaces him and slaps a code name on the next one. There\u2019s always someone willing to take another roll of the dice.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n

Through all of this cyclical entropy, though, some things persist. One of them is Pok\u00e9mon. The supposed highest-grossing media franchise of all time was a fad once, a craze that everyone assumed would fizzle out. Now it\u2019s a comforting constant, nostalgic to adults, eternally fresh to children, a self-sustaining ritual everyone can take part in. It\u2019s a giant Snorlax rug we can all sit on. Pok\u00e9mon is 30 years old, but it feels like it\u2019s always been with us and always will.<\/p>\n

So why are we surprised the new Pok\u00e9mon game is good? Pok\u00e9mon Pokopia<\/em>, a cozy life-sim spinoff about building a new Pok\u00e9mon society in a post-human world, launched on Nintendo Switch 2 this week to much better than expected reviews. The game is just very charming, but it\u2019s probably worth examining why the expectations weren\u2019t higher to begin with.<\/p>\n

The truth is that, unlike true-blood Nintendo franchises like Mario and Zelda, Pok\u00e9mon\u2019s quality control hasn\u2019t always been that good. The core series quickly became mired in its own traditionalism, while recent attempts to expand the scope were built on shaky technical foundations. And spinoffs like Pokopia<\/em> rarely fared better; quite the opposite. Most are not much more than good enough, and none (with the possible exception of Pok\u00e9mon Puzzle League<\/em>) are great. Yet here we are with Pokopia<\/em> at the top of the all-time Pok\u00e9mon game rankings on Metacritic. What happened?<\/p>\n

Honestly, we should have known: Pokopia <\/em>was developed by the team within Koei Tecmo\u2019s Omega Force studio that made the wonderful Dragon Quest Builders 2<\/em>. That game brilliantly refined the original\u2019s rough concept \u2014 what if Minecraft<\/em>, but in a Dragon Quest world? \u2014 and did it with sensitivity to both the freedom of the genre and the formal shape of the Dragon Quest series. With Pokopia<\/em>, they\u2019ve done it again, reshaping cozy world-building around the Pok\u00e9mon rather than dropping them into it.<\/p>\n

There might be a deeper reason we\u2019re surprised to love a new Pok\u00e9mon game, though, and it\u2019s got something to do with the series\u2019 essential childishness, or rather, how essential it was to most of our childhoods. We revere it, but we don\u2019t take it seriously; we don\u2019t expect it to fulfill us now. It\u2019s a good thing Omega Force did. \u2014Oli Welsh<\/em><\/p>\n

\n Pokopia captures Pok\u00e9mon’s environmentalism in a tedious but charming life sim
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pokemon-pokopia-screengrab.jpg<\/figcaption>Image: Omega Force\/Nintendo, The\u00a0Pok\u00e9mon Company<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Giovanni Colantonio wrestles with a game that asks you to save the world, one brick at a time.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n 10 Pok\u00e9mon Pokopia beginner\u2019s tips to help you perfect your island
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\"Two\n <\/picture>Image: Koei Tecmo, Game Freak\/Nintendo, The Pok\u00e9mon Company via Polygon<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Starting the game this weekend? Polygon guide master Julia Lee reassures you that stealing is OK and reminds you to keep an eye out for suspicious rocks.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n The 100 best Pok\u00e9mon of all time
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\"A\n <\/picture>Graphic: Grant Walkup\/Polygon | Source images: Game Freak\/Nintendo, The Pok\u00e9mon Company<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

We ranked Pikachu where<\/strong>, exactly?!<\/p>\n

\n Also this:<\/strong>
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\"Matthew\n <\/picture>Image: Polygon<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n