04/21/2026
It’s the early 2000’s and I’m sitting at my grandma's computer playing Roller Coaster Tycoon 2. I vividly remember sitting there for hours grinding the challenges in that game and proceeding through the campaign. Fresh off the Lemonade Tycoon game, I was craving more of the strategy/simulation gameplay that tickles my brain in a way that other games simply can’t.
That delicate balance of complexity and freedom to approach problems as you see fit (with just enough guard rails to help you along when you feel stuck, but not too much) is what made me fall in love with the genre and I think this game is gonna become to the kids of today what RTC 2 means to me now.
Like RTC 2, you can play the game without engaging in any of the challenges and just treat it for what it is at its core, a collection of giant sandboxes for you to mess around with and create whatever your heart desires. It’s a lot like Animal Crossing in that regard, but what is different here is that Pokopia has a stronger sense of progression and gives enough challenges so that you have something to work towards without feeling aimless.
This game would already be great even if it didn’t have Pokemon included, but the fact that this is a Pokemon game pushes it to even further greatness. I haven’t been this invested in a Pokemon game since I was playing Platinum on my DS back when I was just a little kid.
Between discovering all the Pokemon, raising their comfort levels, and building my dream Pokemon town, me and my girlfriend will be playing this game for many hours to come. Run, don't walk to Pokopia everybody! -
10/10
