‘Pokopia’ is the best-reviewed ‘Pokémon’ game of all time

Pokémon Pokopia has received wide-spread critical acclaim and become the best-reviewed game in the long-running franchise.

• READ MORE: Confessions of a GAME employee: “My Mario costume had a funky smell”

Pokémon Pokopia launches later this week (March 5). The life simulation game sees players take control of a Ditto to “shape an empty land into a beautiful home for a variety of Pokémon.” Tasks include collecting berries, building furniture, growing vegetables and creating homes for Pokémon you meet. As your island grows, different ‘mon will visit.

​​”With help from your Pokémon friends, rebuild a desolate world into a charming utopia, one step at a time,” reads the official website. “Savour the slow life with a relaxing life simulation game devoted to crafting, creating, and building.”

The game has been created by Pokémon developers GameFreak and Omega Force, which is the studio behind Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Calamity.

Reviews for Pokopia were shared yesterday (March 2) and, according to aggregate site Metacritic, it’s currently the best-reviewed Pokémon game of all time. Based on 58 reviews, the game has a “generally favourable” Metacritic score of 89 out of 100 which puts it ahead of Pokémon X & Y (88), Sun & Moon (87) and Black & White (87).

The best-reviewed Pokémon games of all time are:

1. Pokopia
2. X & Y
3. Sun & Moon
4. Black & White
5. SoulSilver & HeartGold
6. Diamond & Pearl
7. Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon
8. Legends: Arceus
9. Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire
10. Platinum

“Pokémon Pokopia is a real treat: an enjoyable building and town simulator that capitalizes on the charming personalities of its monsters in a way that appeals to both the creative and collector alike,” wrote IGN in their glowing review. “Pokémon Pokopia is an excellent life simulation game that takes the best bits from the champions of the genre and evolves into something that Pokémon fans, and cozy game fans will love. Late-game grinding doesn’t dull an adventure that’s as full of discovery at 100 hours as it was at one,” said VGC. 

To celebrate the franchise’s 30th anniversary, the 2004 remakes of the original games Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen were released onto the Nintendo Switch eShop last week. According to dataminers, The Pokémon Company could also release fellow Gen 3 titles Ruby & Sapphire in the near future.

In other news, it’s been reported that a new game set within the God Of War universe is in the works at Sony Santa Monica.