Pokémon Pokopia Looks Like An Adorable Mix Of Minecraft And Animal Crossing

You know what? This actually looks surprisingly neat

Also surprised that it's made by GameFreak

At first I thought this was that game they keep holding the secret online playtests for. But this looks to be single-player, so that's that guess disproved.

First I was like oh a new weird pokemon game? But then it just turned into a farming sim

NGL, this looked awful and did not look like at all fun unless one is 3.

Of all the Pokémon that could get a starring role, I never thought of Ditto. Kind of wish we can also play as a Transforming Mew, remember it can also learn Transform.

I saw this, and now I want to go play Dragon Quest Builders 2 again.

Missed opportunity to call the game Dittopia.

Pokopia is such a stupid name. 😅

When this trailer started I expected to hate it, by the end utterly sold.

Even if i don't love it my daughter and niece are going to lap this up.

I'll need a second job at this rate!

This is beyond cute and I hope it bridges the gap in Animal Crossing for me.

Didn’t even notice the dev team, yep this is day 1 now.

wondering what happened to that trainer though…

My first impression is that another Minecraft inspired game but as the game progress, it's looking more like Animal Crossing. Not sure if I'm digging this game yet but I'll keep an eye out on this one

Oh...!!!
Koei Tecmo behind this.
The same developer for Dragon Quest Builders games.

Honestly this game looks pretty cute. And hey it’s an ACTUAL Pokémon spin-off on consoles, something that Pokémon fans have been begging for years. My sister will probably really like this since a couple days ago we talked about hypothetical Pokémon spin-offs and a Pokémon life sim is something she would definitely love.

The Pokémon part in this DIrect was better than the whole Pokémon Present of August...
Really nice game !

Out of all the absurd things I had on my Bingo card, a Pokémon farming sim certainly wasn't one of them.

Looks poorly optimized, but the concept itself is neat, even if we already have a ton of these types of games on Switch (I know this is Switch 2 exclusive but still)

@SillyG I guess they couldn't call it Pokétopia because that's the name of the island in Pokémon Battle Revolution, but I agree Dittopia should've been the name. I guess they didn't call it that because it sounds very close to "Dystopia"

I get the Pokemon making their own Minecraft, with Blackjack and Ditto, but why get Koei-Tecmo to do the grunt work?

The Ditto protag is nightmare inducing lol. I might pick this up.

Honestly, one of the few good parts of the Direct. Probably the thing I’m most interested in actually

Game Freak saw Palworld and thought "Yes!!"

They should have called it ‘Slowpokia’ and had Slowpoke be the main character and obviously he’s too lazy to do any of the tasks necessary to actually progress the game so you just loll around and nothing gets done and it’s the most relaxing life sim ever made.

I’m joking but I think I’d genuinely prefer that to Starview which feels more like a ruthless exercise in productivity and time management than a ‘let’s chill out and enjoy the countryside’ sort of vibe.

@Maxz : Slowpokia sounds like modifying the island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Man, what a tedious grind that was! 😅

And I'd made a few mistakes in my planning too, which resulted in more costs, more time spent... mouse and/or touch controls would have made such a world of difference.

The fact that the devs behind Dragon Quest builders are working on this bodes extremely well! Hopefully it ends up being as fun and relaxing as it looks.

Also, we finally have a Pokemon spin-off coming exclusively to consoles, which (fingers crossed) means no micro-transaction hell!

New type of spin-off in the Pokémon franchise? When was the last time they came up with something mew?

Sadly, in classic GF fashion, the technical aspect is lacking. Visuals this simple should not have this much aliasing on modern hardware.

The ditto animation are super cute though.

The game looks cute, but.... why do you have to play as a human, even though you're playing as a Ditto?

I don't like that decision at all. Other than that the game looks decent enough.

So weird this isn't even the first Pokemon Minecraft knockoff.

Wonder if this is what that network test thing was about, looks pretty similar.

This, the Z-A news and Tomodachi Life were the highlights of the Direct for me (what can I say, Pokémon is my favorite franchise ever). Definitely interested in playing this, especially since I'm maybe getting a Switch 2 next year.

@SillyG Yeah, I experienced a fair amount of terraforming-induced stress, too.

I understand that they needed to develop the series, and introducing more customisation/crafting elements is a natural way to do that, but my favourite entry in the series is either the original or Wild World, where your locus of control is pretty limited, so you just have to learn to love your town for what it is.

You can’t do as much with it, but equally, there not as much to go wrong.

Looks great and may feed that Animal Crossing itch whilst we wait for the new one.

I'm not a super fan of Animal Crossing, I enjoy them but usually drop them after a year, but I'm just glad there's a new Spin-Off. Switch 1 only got 2 new Spin-Offs, a port, & a Remaster. I'm just hoping this is a sign of more to come and not just a drop in the bucket where everything else is a mobile game.

Dragon Quest Builders was a really fun game. So I actually have faith in this project. Probably a pass for me but there will definitely be an audience

Maybe even more than Mario, Pokemon can make whatever spin-off they want and it'll still find an audience. I can normally only get into a new cozy life sim once every couple years, but I might pretend Fantasy Life doesn't count for that and try to squeeze them both in.

I'll keep an eye on this.

It was cute and seems to be a blend of animal crossing and Minecraft.

I might get this depending on just how engaging the building is.

I love the idea of playing as a ditto. I'm guessing the human like firm is meant to be an imitation of our former trainer.

I like that idea. Concept wise I'm sold. Just need to see more gameplay.

Nothing about this looks appealing.

Gutted this is Switch 2 only. I'll get it eventually, but my Switch would love this.

Koei-Tecmo are continuing on their path to full absorption by the great Nintendo overmind, I see. Probably not a bad thing since they seem to put in more effort than usual when they're being paid in Mario coin. Could be a surprising success story.

@Rooty yeah. If koei-techmo goes the way of monolithsoft I'd say that's a good thing overall.

It reminds me of the Dragon Quest Builders series but with Pokemon and without the story and combat. If it's an easy going version of those games then I'm interested in this.
Personally I'm looking forward to this more than ZA.

Literally the only decent Switch 2 reveal of the Direct.

@mariomaster96

I think it's Koei Tecmo. That's why it doesn't look like a dumpster fire. 😝

Koei Tecmo developing means this could be a finished /not rushed game unlike the main Game Freak ones. Exciting !

Looks like this is the reason PalWorld got Nintendo strike...

I feel like this could run well on Switch 1.

I was literally hoping for a Pokemon based Animal Crossing game recently so this is amazing news. My only concern is I hope the gameplay is deep enough to be more than just a novelty.

Looks better than ZA that's for sure.

Is it bad that I’d rather play this than Legends Z-A?

Looks like something we shouldve got on the OG switch. Ima pass tho. Farming sims just dont do it for me.

Super charming idea. Visuals are a little blah but nothing some great gameplay can't overcome.

Ditto commits identity fraud.

Graphically, it looks like a 3DS game upscaled. There's jaggies galore, and it kind of looks unfinished. I suppose it is unfinished and will look better at launch,. as It's hard to believe they would release a Switch 2 game looking as bad as this.

@Zeugziumy It looks like it could run well on 3DS.

@OorWullie The graphics, sure, but they would have less anti-aliasing on the 3DS. The draw distance on 3DS, I don't think so, it wouldn't show up that much. Of course I'm taking what you are saying for granted and not as a joke as how the graphics look.

This could been easily a Switch 1 release with a Switch 2 patch to improve quality and framerates. Remember that Metroid Prime 4 is technically a Switch 1 game, with a Switch 2 edition as well.

@MS7000 I played that so much and now we have a Pokemon version of Minecraft. I'm definitely getting this. While DQB2 did suffer quite a lot on Switch it runs stellar now on Switch 2.

Announcing this in the same direct as dinkum was cruel

So... developers can't ripoff Pokemon, but Pokemon can ripoff other developers?

Okay, this is something I've never thought I'd really like... Pokémon meets Harvest Moon is something I've always thought of when I was younger, and now we're seeing something like this... wow!

I got major Dragon Quest Builders vibes when they revealed this game. Seeing Koei Tecmo helping out hammered that home. I haven't played the first game, but I really enjoyed my time with Dragon Quest Builders 2. I'll certainly keep an eye on this one.

There's 15 million in sales. I predicted a game based on the hotel Netflix series and this is a better version of that. It's probably not for me.

@Daniel36 My thoughts as well

Remember, Nintendo can vopy gameplay from other games, but Palworld got sued.

Remember that.

"We've has been..." oops

@MS7000 Yeah, DQ Builders 2 is so good. It shows how much better a life sim/city builder like Animal Crossing could be. Hopefully this Pokemon game learns some lessons from it.

@Uncle_Franklin thank god I’m not alone.

@foursider exactly … just horrendous philosophy on their part.

@Zeebor15 I'm not complaining. I've been a fan of the Dragon Quest Builders series since day 1, and I immediately recognized the DQB2 engine when the trailer started (Koei Tecmo helped develop the second entry, not the first.)

If this has half the features already present in DQB2, I will be incredibly happy indeed.

I'm going to be one of the cynics in this comment thread, and point out that Nintendo could try to use this game's existence as the 1-2 (Falcon) punch to kill Palworld entirely. It's basically the non-battle part of Palworld except with Pokemon.
There's clear signs they rushed it out, meaning they're releasing it 'now' to prepare to use it as Exhibit Q in their lawsuit against Palworld, and any thoughts it exists to give the fans something new and exciting is a load of crock.

I don't trust anything The Pokemon Company release right now since I look at it all and wonder when it will get used in a court filing.

@LastFootnote 2:24 multiplayer/co-op of some sort confirmed

I'm getting some Minecraft like vibes.

Somehow that doesn't surprise me with Nintendo. Love the company, but that's some BS. After everything with Palworld, seems hypocritical to release a game with Minecraft elements.

You know what? For now at least, I'm all for it. The first new non mobile phone slop Pokemon spin off in a while. And having a cozy Pokemon farming Minecraft like game sounds cool.
Also, done by Koei Tecmo. If it is close to what Dragon Quest Builders was, I'd be happy. Those games were great.