Pokémon Pokopia is a good game. A really good game, in fact! It launches on 5th March 2026, but we and a bunch of other outlets have already provided our full verdict on the life-sim spin-off, and it seems that most are in agreement that it’s a really darn good game.

In fact, it’s so good that it’s actually now joint first as the highest-rated Pokémon game on Metacritic at 88. What’s the other game, you ask…? Pokémon Y for the 3DS. A good mainline entry, to be sure, but the best in the series..? Hmm.

It’s also worth considering that the original Game Boy games don’t feature at all on Metacritic, so it’s possible that these might have come out on top. That said, even HeartGold & SoulSilver for the DS – remakes widely considered to be the peak of the franchise – sit slightly lower at 87.

Y’know though, forget about all the wishy-washy details – this is great news. Pokémon really needed a win and it seems like Pokopia has delivered just that. We called it “freshest Pokémon experience in a long time, bursting at the seams with charm and content that rewards both curiosity and creativity”, awarding it a well-deserved score of 8/10.

We can only hope that the upcoming Gen 10 release – Pokémon Winds and Waves – matches up to the standard set by Pokopia. It’s currently set to launch at some point in 2027, which means that developer Game Freak still has plenty of time to get it polished to a mirror sheen.