We have new Pokopia content with the DLC, and it gives us a lot of cool new stuff. An entire new region called Bubbly Basin, the ability to dive underwater, lots of new Pokémon and recipes, and so much more. With this new content, does it make for a fun new addition to the game, or does it feel more of the same? That’s what we’re about to dive into right here in this review.

First, the ability to dive is a much-needed addition to the game. The areas look absolutely gorgeous underwater, and it vastly opens up any map with large bodies of water. I’m not a big fan of the swimming controls, though; they are a little tricky to work with, and I’ve often resorted to using the Magnemite transformation to get around.

Bubbly Basin is a marvelous new area to explore. It’s a very aesthetically pleasing area, and because of the underwater location, the exploration feels entirely different. Where a lot of the locations in the main game are large open spaces, Bubbly Basin has a lot of hidden areas and caves. I’m often looking around and finding something new, whether it’s a new building or a new passageway; I am frequently elated at the discovery of something new.

The new items are also a lot of fun because it opens up a lot of new ideas. The new buildings are very unique; there are a ton of new recipes that allow you to customize a lot more. I’ve been very pleased to see all of the amazing new items, but one of the best parts is how the game uses buildings underwater. Whereas in the main game, buildings have to be placed on level ground, buildings underwater can be placed higher up and supported by floating blocks. You can even build submarine homes, so it wildly opens up opportunities for all kinds of new creations.

There are amazing new quality-of-life add-ons as well. For example, you now have a new storage container that stores items you can access from any of the same containers no matter what location you’re in. This really helps when you need items for crafting and don’t want to go back to a dedicated area you made to do that in. Some of the new Pokemon have litter, and the items they provide include seashells and black paint. This was something I greatly enjoyed, as I often avoided anything that needed items like this due to them being harder to get than others. Now with these items more readily available, I felt like it opened up a lot of options.

As for all of the new Pokemon, I have a lot of pros but one con with the new selection. I’m so happy my favorite starter Pokemon, Mudkip and Totodile, are now part of the game. Water types are my absolute favorite, but so far every new Pokemon I’ve seen is a water type, and I’ve unlocked over 60% of them so far. This is likely because they are the only ones that can live underwater, and that does make sense. I also like how they give a lot of them abilities of other types so that you’re not limited in what you can do. For example, Frillish can use burn so you can still smelt iron even in Bubbly Basin. I love water types, and I love how they interact with the water, but with all of them being water types, it also means the variety of new Pokemon added to the game is rather limited. Again, the selection makes sense, and I do like the choices, but I was also hoping to see how ice types could finally appear in the game.

Overall, I love the DLC; it gives us more to love from an already amazing game. I love being underwater, as it’s a beautiful area even if it’s a little tricky to get around. The new area has so much to explore and find that I’m still far from finding it all. With all of the new Pokemon being water types, it does limit the variety of new Pokemon, but I do like the ones that were added to the game. The new recipes add a lot of options to create all kinds of new things and make things that were more tedious to make easier to create. This was an amazing addition, and I’m looking forward to what more they have planned.