Pokopia is one of the best games I played this year. I spent countless hours working my way towards the storyline's conclusion and came away thinking the weird concept of Minecraft meets Pokemon really hit the mark.
When Nintendo announced the expansion pass at a whopping £29.99/$34.99 USD, I winced as it seemed quite steep. Alongside that, they also revealed a new free update with new features for everyone. I really wasn’t sure what to expect, and I don’t like drip-fed season passes that don’t tell you what you are getting for paying upfront.
The Pokopia Expansion gives you the first part (out of three) once you purchase it, along with all new recipes, cosmetics, and Pokemon to boot. The other parts are releasing later this year and in 2027. So, after spending some time with the first part of the expansion pass, did I think it was worth the entry fee?
Read on, my friends, read on.
Without the DLC, you get access to the new Dive ability that lets you freely explore and build underwater. It is nice that everyone has the chance to play around with it, but I still think they gave away too much for free when you first glance at what's on offer behind the paywall.
However, once I dug in, I slowly started to fall in love with Pokopia all over again.
I am not a fan of underwater sections in games, outside of Ecco the Dolphin; I truly have detested them since the 8- and 16-bit eras of gaming. So realizing that this entire new part of the game was underwater-based really didn’t float my boat (water pun).
My concerns were washed away (second water pun) once I saw how they were implemented. The movement has a touch of floatiness, but the swimming is surprisingly good, and moving around on foot while walking on the seabed doesn’t feel like walking through mud. So I found myself having an absolute blast cleaning up this new area and building habitats for all types of water Pokemon.
In Bubbly Basin - the name of the brand new underwater area - you have an entire new ecosystem to restore, along with a huge addition of 50 new Pokemon species to discover. This part is wholly locked behind the expansion pass and cannot be purchased separately. Whilst we do not know what the 2nd and 3rd parts will bring, if they are all similar in size to this, the original map of Pokopia is set to expand quite significantly.
Once you unlock the ability to dive by traveling to a new island that Professor Tangrowth has spotted in the Bleak Beach region of the map and feed a dramatic beached Manaphy some seaweed, you are directed down to a new underwater gate that leads to Bubbly Basin.
Spoilers about this area ahead
For those who want to go into Bubbly Basin without any knowledge of the location, reveals start right after this image.
You have been warned.
This area turns out to be what remains of Cerulean City, the Kanto town famous for being the home of Gym Leader Misty and her Water-type Pokémon. I love the way these post-apocalyptic versions of towns we know and love are presented here. Going through all the old stores and houses to find documents with diary pages, scientist notes, and other info really builds the overarching story of the ruined land.
For me, this first part of the expansion pass has already been a whole lot of fun. Having a brand-new mechanic, despite my initial fears because it's water-based, turned out to be a lot of fun. My creativity levels are nowhere near the insane creations you see online, so once I had finished the main story, I only dipped back into Pokopia to find a Pokemon here and there when the mood struck.
A brand-new ecosystem is definitely worth coming back for if you enjoyed the loop of restoring towns and habitats as I did. But if you are not a crazy artistic type when it comes to making things in these games, I'd wait for all 3 parts to drop and enjoy a huge drop of content all at once. Otherwise, you are paying upfront for a drip feed from now till next year.
If you are still playing the game daily, this is an essential purchase despite only getting the first part for now, as all the new Pokemon, recipes, and items are sure to set you up for hundreds more hours of fun.
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