I had an absolute series of emotions with this game. When I first saw the trailer, I had no idea what I was looking at. Then, over time, it somehow becomes one of the most exciting games of the year. In Pokopeia you are in the world of Pokémon. You are a Ditto who’s taken on the form of a human in a wasteland where humans disappeared. Together, you and another Pokémon, Professor Tangrowth, build habitats to gather Pokémon and learn more about what happened to humanity.

I’ll start with gameplay first as this is the heart and soul of the game. It’s absolutely vast and amazing as you can build all kinds of habitats for Pokémon. Using Pokémon moves like Water Gun and Leafage, you can do a lot to change the layout of the land. Similar to Minecraft, you can take blocks of various items and position it within the world as you see fit. Though like Animal Crossing, there’s a crafting system to make all kinds of items like furniture, decorations, and even full houses for the Pokémon you find. By shaping the world, you build habitats that specific Pokémon will want to migrate to and call home. For example, having grass arranged in a 2×2 grid, using leafage, makes a habitat that will find a lot of Pokémon.

Also like Animal Crossing, you can talk to each Pokemon. They speak in full sentences and have their own personalities, but most importantly needs. Some Pokémon are happier in certain environments or with certain furniture. So talking to them helps you find what they enjoy, and the happier Pokémon you have, the higher your environment level goes. With each level, you unlock new items to craft, so it helps to expand on the already vast amount of things you can build.

Having a lot of Pokémon also adds to what you can do as each one has its own skill. Fire Pokémon have burn, which you can use to light campfires, make bricks, or smelt ore into ingots. Grass Pokemon have grow, which accelerates plant growth and build is needed anytime you want to create more buildings out of kits. For those, you deposit the requested items in a box and gather Pokémon to build the location.

You also have multiplayer options. Each game has a cloud save location that you can fully customize on your own or with your friends. Friends can also explore the main islands that you find during the course of the game and see what all you’ve done as you change these wastelands into Pokémon sanctuaries.

With gameplay this vast, there was no need to really make a solid story to make this game fun, but we have that too. The world is entirely in ruins as you find all kinds of, not-so-subtle, hints as to where you’re actually located. Scattered around the world are notes left by various people, and there’s a lot to find. Some are about Ditto’s relationship with their trainer, while others are notes various people left behind. It’s not a complex story by any means, but the end is where it hits. It is a moment that can best be described as the epitome of cozy. I was fighting tears; it was that amazing, and honestly, it’s hard to explain why. It was just so heartwarming and sweet that it got a bit overwhelming.

My only complaints are very minor. I like using the Pro Controller, and navigating which block you’re editing can be tough, as it’s easy to grab or break the wrong thing. This is much easier with the joycons though, if you do prefer to play that way, as it has the mouse function, which is really handy. Storage is also a bit tedious as I had to make a lot of storage boxes, and over time, I struggled to keep track of what I had and where. Especially when working on projects that needed a lot of items. This next one is less of a complaint and more of an FYI. This game does far less hand-holding than your average Pokémon game. While most spend hours on the tutorial, this game leaves a lot for you to figure out yourself, and honestly, that is part of the fun. Especially when you move stuff around and find a habitat by surprise.

I love Pokémon. I have played so many Pokémon games, and I have so many more in my future. Out of all the ones I’ve played, this, without question, is the coziest. It will make you smile, just be sure to have time to play it. It’s got a lot to do, as it took me 30 hours to beat the game, and I still feel like I can play this game for over 100 more, just unlocking more Pokémon and building more structures.