During today’s Nintendo Direct, Pokémon fans were treated to a surprise announcement with Pokémon Pokopia, a new spin-off life simulator game that pulls elements from Animal Crossing and Zelda games, but is set in a Pokémon world. Needless to say, this is a title that speaks to me on so many levels.
Pokémon Pokopia starts simply with a Ditto, the Transform Pokémon, who seems to be the main protagonist for the game. As Ditto is in a cave of some sort, on the ground next to it is what appears to be an old, busted Pokédex with the screen still working. You can see Ditto with what may be its trainer, though you can’t make out much detail of them.
This leads Ditto to transform into a Ditto-fied version of a human-like trainer, complete with signature beady eyes and wiggly arms. It’s adorable in this art style. But, in-universe, it’s probably a horrifying, uncanny valley humunculus. I digress.
Pokémon Pokopia offers long-time fans of the franchise our first life sim game
Ditto, as this human-like transformation, sets out into the world of Pokémon Pokopia. You’ll notice how blocky the world is for land, which might be alluding to the Kanto / Generation 1 games, which had a blockier-looking aesthetic back on the original Game Boy. This might also make sense if you also realize that the Pokédex from earlier is based on the original Kanto Pokédex that Ash Ketchum had in the anime and what was used in official art from that era.
As Ditto walks, it encounters a Bulbasaur in the tall grass, which is how you find Pokémon in mainline games (and seemingly Pokémon Pokopia). Ditto stretches out its arms and learns “Leafage”, which creates more tall grass. Ditto can use Water Gun from Squirtle to keep the grass green, and so on. Within seconds, Ditto has made friends with all three Kanto starter Pokémon. You’ll also see Ditto learn a punching-type move that terraforms the land.
Knowing this is a game that feels very Animal Crossing in nature, these copy abilities seem to take the place of tools like Watering Cans or terraforming that you may see in other cozy games. But, they’re learned in a very similar way to how Princess Zelda learns “echoes” in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. It feels like Pokémon Pokopia is pulling elements from various inspirations here, specifically from the Nintendo catalog.
As Ditto works on what appears to be a crafting table, a Scyther is sent out to cut some of the tall grass. You can build homes for the Pokémon you make friends with, build a farm that appears to be tended by Digletts, and so much more. By the end of the trailer, you can even see a fully-built Kanto-style Pokémon Center, which isn’t touched on in the reveal trailer.
With the Kanto Pokédex, blocky Game Boy-esque style, Generation 1 music, and a ton of Kanto Pokémon, I thought it could have been related to Pokémon Quest, which came out for the Nintendo Switch years ago. But, seeing Non-Kanto Pokémon like Combee, Swablu, and Drilburr makes me wonder what story could unfold and where you actually are. As the trailer comes near the end, you see plenty of shots of Pokémon from a ton of regions, like Goomy and Wingull.
The Nintendo Direct was huge, but Pokémon Pokopia is easily my game of show
The narrator says there’s “no need to rush” and that you can go at your own pace, as there doesn’t seem to be a timer to the game. Considering I have over 1000 hours in Animal Crossing: New Horizons personally, that feels like a great, relaxing way to spend my waking hours.
The trailer only gives enough to get you hooked. But there are still a ton of questions about gameplay that I have. For instance, there seems to be some sort of multiplayer element to Pokémon Pokopia, as one shot shows two different Ditto-humans (a boy and a girl), seen running in the same field of flowers together. Can you share a Pokopia town on a single console, or is it just going to include light gameplay elements?
I’m hyped. This game takes so many great elements from other Nintendo games and makes them work together in an ultimate celebration of cozy gaming with a Pokémon flair.
As for the release date, all we know is that Pokémon Pokopia will be available in 2026 on the Nintendo Switch 2. Considering that the 30th anniversary of Pokémon will be on February 27th, 2026, it’s highly possible that we may have more information or a surprise drop release on Pokémon Day.
You can watch the entire Nintendo Direct from today here.
What do you hope to see in Pokémon Pokopia and do you think it’ll be a great substitute for Animal Crossing while we wait for any indication of a future installment of that series? Comment your thoughts below.
