A unique Pokopia perspective

I’m a big fan of Ian Walker’s work so when he wrote about Pokopia being more stressful than Resident Evil Requiem, I was surprised and intrigued:

video games, by and large, don’t stress me out, but i also tend to avoid games like pokémon pokopia. i like smaller, self-contained experiences rather than the sprawling adventure pokopia provides, and i think that’s where a lot of this weird anxiety stems. there’s just so much to do, i constantly feel like i’m doing the wrong thing. my towns are a mess, pokémon habitats are scattered and disjointed rather than arranged into neat neighborhoods, and my storage situation is an absolute nightmare. everybody seems happy, but i can’t help but feel i could be doing more, which is an insane way to think about a children’s toy i’m free to stop playing at any time.

You know what? I get it. When there’s so much to do, how do you choose what to do? Yes, there’s no right way to play and no rush but depending on your experiences and frame of mind, it can be overwhelming to have so many options and lead you down a path of choice paralysis.

I felt the FOMO of not being able to get Pokopia before I got my Switch 2 but that was slowly replaced by 1) remembering that I had Dragon Quest Builders 2 which is made by the same developers and 2) feeling overwhelmed at the thought of feeling overwhelmed. I’m sure I’ll calm down in time for it to go on discount and play it when everyone has moved onto Pokopia 2 or whatever. At least I won’t be playing Resident Evil Requiem. That’s a bridge too far.