It looks like Pokémon Pokopia might have been more than just a critical hit; audiences seem to be loving it as well. According to a report by Bloomberg, the company’s share prices have soared by 10 percent since the release of Pokémon Pokopia. Physical copies of the title have also seemingly been hard to find, with several major US retailers being out of stock.
According to Jeffries analyst Atul Goyal, the release of Pokémon Pokopia has offered a boost in the Switch 2’s momentum. He went as far as to call the title a “viral hit”, noting that it helped to counteract “memory cost headwinds” that Nintendo’s investors have been worried about. Tokyo Securities analyst Hideki Yasuda said “The Pokémon game was a dark horse. It was totally off people’s radars, making its popularity a positive development.” He noted that the popularity of the title in just about every market “from Japan to Canada” is an indication of its global appeal.
Pokémon Pokopia currently sits at an aggregated score of 89 on Metacritic, based on 68 critic reviews. User ratings have also remained positive, with 726 reviews contributing to an average score of 8.5 out of 10.
The title was released just last week, and features an entirely new style of Pokémon games that has more in common with fellow Nintendo-exclusive franchise Animal Crossing than it does with other games under the larger Pokémon umbrella. It puts players in the role of a Ditto that has transformed to vaguely look like a young human. Players are then tasked with exploring the world and collecting resources along the way, with which they can craft new equipment and even their own home.
Players can also run into other Pokémon, from which new abilities can be learned. These Pokémon, once befriended, can also join the player’s own home, providing more help in the collection of resources and other tasks that might require completion. Each Pokémon has a unique ability, like Bulbasaur’s penchant to create new patches of grass, or Charmander’s fires helping in clearing out zones.
Just last month, the title got a new trailer that gave us a glimpse at its co-op mode. It also introduced characters like Professor Tangrowth and Greedent, who can help in the growth of the player’s town.
Game director Takuto Edagawa had spoken about the length of the main story in Pokémon Pokopia, noting that there is plenty to do even after players finish the main quests.
“The whole concept is to create the world with Pokémon and live with the Pokémon. However, as an average, it’ll be about 20 to 40 hours, but it would really depend on how the players play the game…There’s more things to experience after the end roll,” he said.
“So it depends on what you mean by contents, but I believe that players are encouraged to and will be motivated to continue to play the game.”
Pokémon Pokopia is available exclusively on the Nintendo Switch 2. If you have a hankering for more Pokémon games, also take a look at the recent releases of Game Boy Advance titles Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen on the Nintendo Switch. The titles were remakes of the first Pokémon games, which were originally released on the Game Boy.
