Review: Pokémon Pokopia: Bubbly Basin (Nintendo Switch 2)
Released earlier this year, Pokémon Pokopia has seemingly taken over everyone’s lives. Within five months of pouring hours and hours into this adorable simulation title, Nintendo released the first part of a three-part DLC expansion pass: Bubbly Basin.
Normally, I’m not one to care much for water levels. Swimming mechanics always irked me because they either don’t seem fluid (pun intended) or it just slows things down. Yet when Bubbly Basin was first announced, my first thought wasn’t, “oh no, it’s underwater!” It was: “Hooray, more friends to discover!”
Bubbly Basin gives us fifty more Pokémon, a brand new area to explore and rebuild, plus a new move for Ditto. Not to mention an additional Dream Island and all the many new items and blocks now available with this new area, part one of the Pokopia DLC doesn’t disappoint.
After downloading the update, Bleak Beach has been expanded with a gate with a new area. As Ditto, you meet Manaphy who’s hungry. Once you feed them, the ball gets rolling. Manaphy teaches Ditto the power to Dive and you’ll soon discover a new gate under the water which leads you to Bubbly Basin.
Given all the natural disasters that happened in the world of Pokopia, Bubbly Basin is a town that sank quite literally into the sea. If you’re well versed within the Kanto region, then you’ll be able to guess pretty easily which town Bubbly Basin is based on.
This new area follows suit with the rest of the game’s mechanics and story. You can play in Bubbly Basin with or without already completing the main storyline and rolling the credits. The Pokémon you meet have their own set of problems and it’s up to Ditto to help. These requests are similar to each of the other areas in-game. Pokémon will request help rebuilding certain parts of the underwater town and will give you hints to find habitats, to find specific Pokémon to help. The quests for Bubbly Basin doesn’t take too long to complete and, once you do, the world is your oyster (pun intended again).
I love collecting things in video games and, as with any Pokémon game, my primary objective is to “catch ‘em all”, and Bubbly Basin is no different. Before I can even think of rebuilding the town, I must hunt down all the Pokémon and their habitat hints as soon as possible. Some of my favorite Pokémon are included in this portion of the DLC and I was beside myself when I discovered them.
Bubbly Basin is not much different compared to the other areas within the game. I think utilizing Dive is the biggest change because it’s underwater. Thankfully, the swimming mechanics work great. With a special food powerup, you can also utilize surf under the water. Or, if you don’t feel like swimming, Ditto can still run just fine under the sea. Holding the B button allows you to swim freely, and you still have full control over the camera so you can look for those whirlpool spots to get new items and recipes.
I’d say a good 80% of the area is underwater, but there is a part of the town that’s on dry land. Not to mention there are many islands that stick out from the surface. But there’s a cave under the water where Ditto can breathe without a bubble around their head. This is where the Pokémon Center is and, like the other areas, Professor Tangrowth will request you fix up the PC and the Pokémon Center. Professor Tangrowth doesn’t follow you to Bubbly Basin because he can’t swim. However, he will still communicate with you through your Pokédex like he does in the Pallet Town area.
I know you’ve spent hours in each area so far, and Bubbly Basin is no different. Between the large scope of the sea, the deeper parts of the water, and the new Dream Island, there’s just so much to do, explore, and collect in this first part of the DLC. It doesn’t slow down the game at all and it was seamlessly added as though it was part of the original game.
Parts two and three of the DLC release late 2026 and sometime in 2027 respectively, and I look forward to them both. In the meantime, Bubbly Basin will keep me quite occupied.
