Pokémon Pokopia is currently the highest-rated Pokémon game ever on Metacritic

Pokémon Pokopia is currently the highest-rated Pokémon game in Metacritic’s history.

The life sim – which many are describing as a cross between Pokémon, Animal Crossing, Minecraft, Viva Pinata and Dragon Quest Builders – is set for release on March 5 as a Switch 2 exclusive.

Critical reception to the game has been almost entirely positive, and as a result it currently stands on a score of 88 on Metacritic.

This not only puts it level with Resident Evil Requiem and Mewgenics as the joint-highest rated game of 2026 so far, it also makes it the highest rated Pokémon game of all time on the review aggregator site.

The only other Pokémon game with a Metacritic score of 88 is Pokémon Y, but since its companion game Pokémon X has a score of 87 their joint average makes them slightly lower than Pokopia.

According to Metacritic, the list of highest-scoring Pokémon games is as follows:

1. Pokémon Pokopia – 88
2. Pokémon X & Y – 87.5 (87 for X, 88 for Y)
3. Pokémon Black & White – 87
4. Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver – 87
5. Pokémon Sun & Moon – 87
6. Pokémon Diamond & Pearl – 85
7. Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon – 84
8. Pokémon Platinum – 83
9. Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sappire – 82.5 (83 for OS, 82 for AS)
10. Pokémon Legends: Arceus – 83

Further reading

Pokémon Pokopia Review: Minecraft and Animal Crossing combine in Pokémon’s best spin-off

Late grinding can’t dull the shine of a Nintendo Switch 2 adventure we’re still playing hundreds of hours later

In Pokopia, players play as a Ditto who takes on the appearance of a human. As this humanoid Ditto, the player will befriend other Pokémon and use their abilities to rebuild an island.

VGC’s Pokémon Pokopia review calls it “Pokémon’s best spin-off”, noting that the need to grind late in the game “can’t dull the shine” of the overall experience.

“Pokémon Pokopia is an excellent life simulation game that takes the best bits from the champions of the genre and evolves into something that Pokémon fans and cozy game fans will love,” we wrote. “Late-game grinding doesn’t dull an adventure that’s as full of discovery at 100 hours as it was at one.”