It’s the thirtieth anniversary of Pokémon this 12 months, and whereas there are most likely huge RPG bulletins on the best way, the primary main recreation we all know is coming this 12 months is one thing just a little bit completely different. Pokémon Pokopia is an Animal Crossing-style life sim during which you assist rehabilitate a desolate city right into a habitat livable for Pokémon. It appears to be Pokémon’s play on the “cozy” style, however it might have some darkish undertones based mostly on what we’ve seen. Right here’s every thing we all know to date.
The premise
Pokopia stars a Ditto who transforms right into a human, whose kind it is possible for you to to customise. It’s closely implied that this human kind is supposed to embody Ditto’s coach, who’s lacking as of the start of the sport.
They meet a graying Tangrowth referred to as Professor Tangrowth, with whom they determine to assist rebuild a desecrated city right into a livable house, full with specialised habitats to draw new Pokémon residents. Alongside the best way, Ditto will be taught new skills that can assist it domesticate its rising city, utilizing water assaults to water vegetation and fireplace ones to cook dinner and burn objects. Ditto may also remodel into different Pokémon for traversal’s sake, turning right into a Lapras to swim between areas, as an example, or a Dragonite to fly throughout nice distances.
As you construct your plot of land again up, Pokémon will flock to it and shortly you’ll have just a little neighborhood of critters. They’ll come to you with requests for make the city higher, and that can appeal to extra Pokémon to your house. The extra people who present up, the extra you’ll have to construct properties and different buildings to refill the city, comparable to homes, Pokémon Facilities, and different utilities.
New Pokémon
Whereas there haven’t been any new Pokémon species introduced for Pokopia, a number of returning monsters have named variants. Peakychu is a pale-white Pikachu that has an nearly ghostly aura about her. Professor Tangrowth has white vines on the highest of its head as if it’s an older grass-type Pokémon, and it additionally wears glasses and a damaged Technical Machine on its head to appear like a human physician. Mosslax is a Snorlax that has been asleep for thus lengthy it’s been wrapped in vegetation. And lastly, Smearguru is a Smeargle lined in plant splotches. As finest as we will inform, these are simply named characters and are nonetheless thought-about members of the identical present species. I might be stunned if any of them confirmed up within the RPGs as usable occasion members, although.
Is it post-apocalyptic?
There’s a working concept that Pokopia is likely to be set in some form of darkish, post-apocalyptic future model of the Kanto area from Pokémon Crimson and Blue. Professor Tangrowth says he hasn’t seen people shortly, and a few of the areas we’ve seen do appear to resemble areas from the unique video games. Additionally, every of the “new” Pokémon has some ingredient to them that’s giving post-apocalypse. Mosslax has been sleeping so lengthy that nature is reclaiming it, Peakychu is both useless or dying, and Smearguru has seemingly been portray a lot that it hasn’t had a correct bathe shortly. Will the sport truly discover this, or will it simply be a haunting reality within the background of an in any other case cozy recreation? We’re undecided but.
Multiplayer
Pokopia will embrace a cooperative multiplayer mode for as much as 4 gamers, both by connecting on-line with a number of recreation homeowners, or utilizing GameShare to play with a second participant who doesn’t personal the sport. When utilizing GameShare, the second participant can play on the unique Swap system, however the recreation will solely be natively playable on Swap 2.
It’s a game-key card
Sadly, Pokopia’s bodily copies will embrace a game-key card, which implies the cartridge you set in your system received’t truly include the sport knowledge. As a substitute, it can simply act as a key to inform your Swap 2 to obtain the sport onto your system by way of the eShop.
However when is it popping out?
Pokémon Pokopia is coming to Swap 2 on March 5.
