Pokopia feels constructed... in a good way

I don’t know how they pulled it off, but Pokopia has the perfect framing for it’s gameplay. The game communicates with the player transparently what they should do but this never feels inorganic which is just… incredibly designed. Since there already are half-destroyed environments the game shows you what possibilities exist. You don’t have to build everything from scratch but instead learn how to craft an environment by repairing a demolished town. New mechanics also get introduced in this way like the electricity in the second town. This is perfect for someone like me who gets lost when playing Minecraft or the like, because I get overwhelmed by all the possibilities.

The Pokémon habitats are another transparent way of making the player just build stuff. Having to acquire specific items to make the corresponding Pokémon spawn is a great way to railroad the experience. You can’t build everything from the start. It takes time and you have to focus on what you want. The real-time aspect when constructing buildings adds to this. You only have limited resources, time & available Pokémon.

It must’ve taken a lot of time to find this angle. A post-apocalypse where humans vanished and the player controls a Ditto to build a livable environment as the setting is an idea that is so specific. But it ties everything together perfectly.