Pokopia Pokédex review: a classic, reimagined

Thirty years ago, Nintendo struck gold with the release of the original Pokémon games. Soon, kids across the world were introduced to dozens of magical creatures that they could befriend and learn more about using sophisticated electronic encyclopedias known as Pokédexes. The first Pokédexes were reflections of how the Pokémon world was shaped by advanced technology. And with each subsequent generation, Pokédexes evolved; by 2019 they stopped being dedicated devices and became applications on phones powered by disembodied spirits. Rotom Phones could do more things than their predecessors, but many players have continued to think of the handhelds as Pokédexes because that’s their primary function. And that nostalgia is part of what led to Nintendo releasing its latest (fictional) pocket-sized smart device.

Rather than debuting a new generation of Rotom Phone, Pokopia introduces an updated version of the original ’Dex that has been tricked out with a bevy of thoughtful updates. The new clamshell might look like an antique when you first get it into your hands, but when you start using it, you can see that Nintendo and its collaborators — The Pokémon Company, Game Freak, and Omega Force — have engineered this device with the present day in mind.

Unlike the past few Rotom Phones, which took cues from modern smartphones, the new Pokédex goes back to the basics with a focus on identifying wild monsters and explaining interesting things about them. Aesthetically, the device is very much a throwback to the Kanto days with its small screens, durable hinge, and array of physical buttons. But once you power this Pokédex on and begin tinkering with its applications, it becomes clear how much more full-featured it is compared to the original.

One of the bigger changes here is the addition of new front- and back-facing camera arrays that can be used to take selfies and photos of pokémon you encounter in Pokopia’s various biomes. In addition to alerting you when a photo-worthy moment is happening nearby, the camera’s object recognition functionality can also be used to identify items you find while out exploring. And if you connect your Pokédex to a Pokémon Center’s 3D printer, images you upload can be used to generate physical copies of useful tools, furniture, and even plants. The camera’s image quality is great, but you might find yourself frustrated by the Pokédex’s minuscule internal storage that limits you to saving up to 80 images as “memories” and an additional 20 as references for the 3D printer.

Curiously, this Pokédex can wirelessly receive video calls from Pokémon Center PC users, but it doesn’t allow you to send any sort of outgoing messages from your end. Depending on how you look at it, this detail can be either an annoying bug or a feature that encourages you to interact with people face-to-face, but either way, the Pokédex boasted strong call quality in our experience.

Because Pokopia tasks you with building suitable environments for different types of pokémon, the new Pokédex also features a sizable index of habitats with entries that detail all of the things you need in order to attract specific monsters. Though it can be tedious constantly referring to the Habitat Dex to make sure that you’ve arranged things just right to lure your target pokémon, the feature is a marked improvement — in terms of having fun — over previous Pokédexes, which could only tell you the general locations where a monster might appear. The Habitat Dex feels like a reminder that your main goal in Pokopia is to build relationships with pokémon as you restore the ruined world around you. It’s a charming riff on a classic element of the Pokémon franchise, but the Pokédex starts to feel weird when you fire up its most surprising app.

Pokopia involves a lot of you waiting around for pokémon to show up, which seems to be the reason why you can purchase security cameras from the Pokémon Centers. Once you place them on the ground, multiple cameras can remotely connect to your Pokédex and provide you with a live feed of whatever is happening around them.

This makes it very easy to check in and see if a pokémon has appeared in one location while you’re off somewhere else handling other tasks. But the cameras — which you can direct to turn around via your Pokédex — bring an element of Ring-like surveillance to Pokopia that feels somewhat morally dubious when you consider that the game’s pokémon are meant to be your friends and neighbors, not pets.

Because the new Pokédex isn’t possessed by a Rotom, it’s not quite as versatile or flashy as the smart gadgets Nintendo has gotten into the habit of iterating on lately. But that simplicity is ideal for a slow, relaxing life sim like Pokopia. And the device’s timeless design makes it a solid addition to the franchise’s tech history.