FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) is hitting hard this time. Pokémon Pokopia is everywhere, and I’m guessing that if you are reading this, then we are probably on the same boat. I don’t have a Nintendo Switch 2, so I can’t play Pokopia. Yet, this game is on my mind 24/7. I want to indulge in every video and stream about this game because that’s the closest thing I can do to satiate my craving. But I don’t think it’s working.
The truth is, the only game that can satiate the craving to play Pokopia is playing Pokopia. I know, it’s awful. But that’s the only solution. I’ve been on this boat many times to know how it works. However, I am not going to buy a new console to play only one game when I have perfectly good consoles (plural) to choose from and with games that I’ve barely touched. But the pain of the FOMO is real, and the mental gymnastics my mind tries to do to justify spending more than 500€ is just crazy.
I’ve been religiously watching every day videos of Pokopia gameplay in a constant battle of “I don’t want to know everything” with “but I want to know everything”. My brain still believes that one day it will play with Pokopia, and I can’t seem to convince it that’s not likely to happen. I never buy upgraded consoles *cries in Nintendo DS* (I also never got a Nintendo 3DS despite some games being exclusive to it). So realistically, I’ll probably never play Pokopia for myself, so I’m trying to learn as much as I can through other people’s gameplay. And from what I’ve been seeing, various gameplay mechanics in Pokopia make it so appealing.
Playing Pokopia is like working in a kitchen: there’s always work to do. And that’s what makes this game so addictive. The constant quests, either story or optional, the rebuilding, the cleanup. The stuff to do in the game is endless. To rebuild a road, you need to gather materials, but also clear the space around it, unlock the recipe to craft it, and for that, you might need to progress the story a little more or discover a specific Pokémon. Any new area is hours of gameplay. More often than not, you can’t even totally finish the area you are in because the game makes you move forward to then go back. So there’s always stuff left unfinished. This can be overwhelming or deliciously filled with possibilities. Guess which one I’m tilting for.
However, I don’t have Pokopia, and you probably don’t have it either. What we are left with is a bunch of FOMO and other games that might help distract the mind by touching on some of the gameplay mechanics that make Pokopia so addictive. Please be advised that this list of games is quite out there. And with recommendations that at first might not make much sense. There could be other games that feel more like Pokopia than the ones I’ll mention, and I’d love to hear about them. Although this is a list of games that I have played and know some of the mechanics scratch the itch left by Pokopia.
For exploring the map
Exploration is a big part of Pokopia. The player is supposed to deviate from the path and explore. By doing so, he’s rewarded with recipes, items, and even lore. s And I love an open-world map where I can freely explore. But if I receive any reward, then I’m a happy girl. These are some of the games that I felt rewarded the player the most for exploring.
Super Mario Odyssey
I warn you, there will be some out there recommendations. Super Mario Odyssey is a Switch 1 game with small map areas like the towns in Pokopia (at a smaller scale), and where you are free to explore. In fact, it’s recommended to do so. Not following the path of the story strictly will give you more opportunities to collect Power Moons that the player needs to progress to the next area. To get some Moons, the player needs to be creative to reach higher places, problem-solving, and playing some mini-games. Either way, deviating from the path is always fun and encouraged in Super Mario Odyssey.
Horizon Zero Dawn
Originally a PS4 exclusive, its popularity led it to branch out, and now it can be played even on PC. Horizon Zero Dawn and Pokopia are nothing alike. In visuals and gameplay. For starters, it’s not a cosy game. There is battle and hunting. The story can be quite sad at times since Aloy is an outcast. It’s set in a far-future version of Earth where nature and machines have merged together. It has a huge map, so going off-trail usually means finding lore. Like with Pokopia, the player has no idea what has happened to the world, and it’s through finding fragments of the story that it can all be pieced together. In Horizon Zero Dawn, the past is also a mystery. While the main story is about uncovering Aloy’s past, exploring enriches the world that existed before. There are collectables like mugs and other items that bring with them small pieces of history.
Infinitty Nikki
A free-to-play PC game about dressing up, but it also gathers a lot of different gameplay mechanics. This is a gacha game with micro-transactions, and that might not be suitable for everyone. I haven’t played in a while, since I feel the game is becoming quite overwhelming with how much stuff has been added since its release. It’s an online game that receives continuous updates, so you can imagine how much the game is growing. One of the things that I like most about it is the exploration. The game wants you to explore to gather Hearts of Infinity needed to level up and unlock certain features. And every time I go into the game, that’s what I like to do the most. Sometimes there is a puzzle feel to it, other times it’s combat. Quite easy and simple combat, so it keeps being a cosy game. By exploring, the player can find Hearts of Infinity, clothes and other collectables. I loved exploring every inch of the map, and Infinity Nikki has some big maps with multiple areas, so there is plenty of gameplay by just exploring.
For doing quests
I like a good quest. That’s actually what excited me more about the latest update of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Give me quests. Quests exist for when I have no idea what to do next or simply don’t want to progress the main story. I’m that type of player who, if I can, I’ll do every side quest before progressing with the story. And it saddens me a little when the game wants me to go forward to later come back. I’m looking at you, Super Mario Odyssey!
Stardew Valley
Some people are claiming to lose more than five hours playing Pokopia without even realising it, and while Stardew Valley hasn’t reached that level for me, I for sure lost 3 hours in the blink of an eye. I don’t even remember exactly why I fell in love with Stardew. For the longest time, I didn’t care for it. The visuals aren’t the most appealing, and yet there was a point where my heart was like “yes, I need Stardew”, and it hasn’t disappointed yet. There are story quests that let you progress immensely in the game and allow you to unlock new areas, although those can be quite hard to reach, so in the meantime, there are plenty of side quests. There is a bulletin board with a new quest every couple of days, without counting the objectives the player has for themself. A barn, a coup and even a silo take a big portion of resources and money to build, which can take some days of grinding to get there. So there is always something to do. Money to make, crops to tend, animals to pet, resources to collect. A day in Stardew Valley takes about 20 to 25 minutes of real life time, and often that is not enough for all the plans you have for that day. So you need to play another, and another. This is what fuels me to come back to the game. There’s a clear path on what to do, while keeping some options open for the gameplay I want to do.
Echoes of the Plum Grove
A lot similar to Stardew Valley, Echoes is simply set in a different time period and has family progression. The game keeps going with the children and grandchildren of the original character, which gives it an original spin on the traditional farming sim. And it has so many more quests. You can get new quests by talking directly to the NPCs or get them daily from the bulletin board. Some are quite hard to complete in the early game because the player can’t produce almost anything yet. Gathering materials is also in very small quantities every day, which makes it harder to progress in some situations. But it gives the same feeling you can find with Pokopia. There’s always something to do. There aren’t any downtimes. If the crops aren’t ready, then I can go fish for that quest. In the meantime, my pickled eggs should be ready, and I can deliver them to that townie. And often the reward for completing the request is a recipe or an item that can help me do this other thing for another quest. So it’s not just a matter of having something to do. They actually help you progress the game.
For world-building and decoration
One of the things that I want to do the most in Pokopia is to just fix things. The roads and paths are just missing a block here and there, and I just want to have the game so I can have the satisfaction of laying the block myself to complete that path. I don’t know how many games can give that same feeling, at least not many that I have played. The player either can’t change a thing, or it can change everything, and there are no guidelines.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
This list wouldn’t be complete without ACNH. And while both games are often compared, I don’t feel like they are much alike. When it comes to decorating and building the world as you like, ACNH is a blank canvas, but Pokopia is a paint-by-numbers. You can still ignore the numbers, but you can also use them to guide you. Meanwhile, ACNH can become a little overwhelming with the immense freedom. There are so many choices and options that sometimes you can’t decide on any. And having guidelines can be quite easy. I can just fix the path, and it works. But in ACNH, I have to decide where the path is going to go, how it is going to be, and where it leads. It’s creative freedom, but it can also fall into decision fatigue. And that’s probably why your island, like mine, is still “to be completed” since the game first came out. But we have time.
This freedom of construction and changing the environment as the player pleases is the only thing they have in common with me. Pokopia is more populated, the Pokémon have more different types of personality and dialogue, there is a story component guiding the progress of the game, and there are quests. In fact, that’s one of the reasons why I said in my post about ACNH that no update could ever turn the game into one that would keep pulling me every single day to play. Story quests are a major factor that makes me want to play Pokopia. Doing those quests gives you the rewards that you need in the game. It can unlock new recipes and unlock new abilities. And in ACNH, there is a bit of that, but it’s only in the very early game. Once the shops and museum are built on the island, the grind disappears. I could do the daily Nook Miles quests, but I have over 255,000. I seriously don’t need more. I’ve caught all the bugs and all the fossils, so why continue to catch them? My reward will only be more stamps and Nook Miles. For example, going to the Rooster multiple times will progressively unlock items that the player can’t get in any other way. If that existed more, it would give me more reasons to keep doing the same things. In Pokopia, every area has recipes and items blocked behind levels, which encourages the player to do stuff even if it’s the same thing over and over again. There’s a reward. Meanwhile, in ACNH, the only reward I receive is a resource that I have plenty of. Although I’m curious if once the story is done in Pokopia and there isn’t anything else to unlock, it won’t turn into another ACNH. Just decorating and picking and choosing roommates.
Dragon Quest Builders 2
I haven’t heard of this game before Pokopia came out. And while Pokopia is compared countless times to ACNH or vice versa, Dragon Quest Builders 2 is the game that should be compared to. Developed by the same team, this game is Pokopia without the Pokémon theme. I don’t have this game, but there’s a free demo for Nintendo Switch that I had to check out. The gameplay mechanics that I enjoy the most about Pokopia exist in DQB2. It doesn’t look as cute. There are no habitats to attract that Pokémon. But it has a story, which means lore, space for exploring, freedom to build however you want, and quests. Does playing the demo in any way satiate my craving for Pokopia? Nope. That’s why I say that it can only be cured with Pokopia. Although I get to experience all these same mechanics that I’ll find in Pokopia, and see if I’ll like them.
Some more thoughts on the game
Pokémon Pokopia is a game about building a Pokémon sanctuary. Long are the days of fighting against other Pokémon. In Pokopia, they all live happily together. As a Pokémon game, that is something that I like a lot. I was never a big Pokémon player because I don’t care about the fighting. That’s what I like the least. Collect them, yes, but I also don’t want them to live inside a Poké Ball. So Pokopia seems to be a game fitting for me. When it was first announced, I really didn’t care much about it. An ACNH-themed Pokémon game. No, thank you. I already know what worked and didn’t work with ACNH, so I don’t need a do-over. It has cooking, gardening and crafting that appear to work more or less the same, so there wasn’t any appeal to me at first. That quickly changed when I first saw it being played.
In all the trailers and all the directs, there was something quite big they left out: there’s a story. Pokopia is not the first, nor will it won’t be the last game to keep quiet about a big game feature. The game isn’t just what it seems. And I think that also contributed a lot to the blow-up this game is having. No one knew there was going to be a story to progress, lore to discover, heartfelt stories coming from the Pokémon. Again, everyone thought it would be another ACNH, a design and decorator, but in a cute Minecraft style. But having that story makes all the difference. It gives the player a direction. But how will the game feel after the story is done? How will the game play out when starting over? Those are questions only time will answer.
It’s an expensive game, and it also needs a specific console to be played. It’s a very big investment for something that, once the story mode is done, can feel like just another ACNH. Yes, they have planned timed events for this year, which can be quite unfair for those people who can’t play it right now (that only makes the FOMO grow stronger). And people are even talking about how easy it could be to add DLCs with new areas and new Pokémon. So waiting to play Pokopia is not necessarily a bad thing. Although, what will happen when the updates stop? ACNH was also very exciting when new updates were coming out. New recipes, new items, new collectables, new things to see. But then it stopped, and the game felt dead in the water.
Pokopia is still quite new and recent for us to judge its longevity. So while I’m there with you with the FOMO, and dreaming about winning a jackpot so I can buy the console and the game without giving it a second thought, waiting can be a good thing. If you are an ACNH player, after all these years, don’t you question your decision to buy the game? I know I do. I like the game, but a decorator is not my type of game, and in its essence, ACNH is just that. A game to decorate. I try to hold on to other things, and that’s why I keep coming back to it, although in Pokopia those same things are an important part of the game (at least while the story lasts). It’s easier to fall into the gameplay of Pokopia. It aligns with much of the play style I have. But waiting can only be a good thing. I would hate to spend so much money on a game and once the story was finished, not feel like I have a reason to go back to the game or to start over. To be just another decorator game. That’s why I didn’t care for Pokopia in the first place. I already have a decorator game. I don’t need another.
