Sometimes, DLC can make a great game even better. Other times, it can bring the flaws of a game to the surface. Bubbly Basin, the first installment of Pokémon Pokopia’s paid Expansion Pass, fits into both categories.

The Switch 2 life sim’s first major update adds a brand-new biome, the waterlogged Bubbly Basin, that’s filled with underwater pals to meet. Though it’s a welcome change of scenery, the DLC doesn’t introduce many twists to the formula for Pokémon Pokopia, which was released March 5. It walks you through a familiar flow of story missions before cutting you loose to renovate a dilapidated town to your liking. It’s undeniably adorable, reaffirming Pokopia’s lasting power as a cozy sandbox, but it does reveal just how rigid the base game’s structure can be. Even in its expansion, Pokopia’s story can feel like a long tutorial to get to the fun.

Bubbly Basin begins after Ditto learns how to dive and swim from a stranded Manaphy. That newfound power allows it to not just explore the seas around existing biomes, but access an entirely new area just off of Bleak Beach. If you’ve already finished Pokopia’s story, you already know the drill. The sunken town is in disarray, and it’s up to Ditto to fix it up by building habitats, repopulating it with Pokémon, and completing a series of requests. There aren’t many surprises in a series of missions that have you rebuilding another Poké Center, completing crafting fetch quests, and raising the town’s Environment Level.

That routine is still perfectly enjoyable, even if none of it is new. It’s an efficient way to keep players from getting paralyzed by freedom early on — and that’s welcome here because Bubbly Basin can feel huge at first, with its deep sea caves. It encourages you to start cleaning the town up gradually and points you towards key workers like Corphish, who you’ll need to start building houses. By the time I reached the end of the story content, I had all the tools I needed to start building.

As much as I appreciate the disciplined structure, it can feel especially rigid here. New systems like making smoothies, growing watermelons, and polishing pearls are just variations of existing ideas that you have to relearn as if they’re brand new. There are new habitats to build, but they don’t do much to switch up the base game’s light puzzle hook. Even Bubbly Basin itself feels like an amalgamation of existing biomes, smashing Rocky Ridges and Withered Wasteland together and sinking the result underwater. After spending 50 hours with the base game, it felt like I was nearly back to square one when starting the DLC.

There are some great design choices that help Bubbly Basin’s pacing move a little quicker, though. Swimming basically acts like Magnet Rise, a powerful traversal ability acquired after beating the main game. You’re basically able to fly underwater without using up PP. That freeform movement makes getting around so much more convenient from the jump, especially when it comes to spelunking through caves for Easter eggs, leaving me frustrated all over again that Pokopia withholds Magnet Rise from players as long as it does. Being able to build floating houses also saves me the trouble of having to terraform bumpy terrain early on just to find space for a meager hut. The new Portal Pods are a great addition too, finally allowing me to access my stored items from any pod rather than having to remember which chest I left something in.

If you’re coming to Bubbly Basin after playing the base game, you’ll also have a much-needed head start. Already having a cache of bricks, glass, and other materials allowed me to start building immediately. Thank God for that, because the biome’s focus on water-types means that you have limited options when it comes to Pokémon abilities. You can get powers like Burn and Build across the 50 new monsters available in the DLC, but you’ll really have to hunt for some rare monsters if you want more than one Pokémon with those utilities.

The tradeoff is that Bubbly Basin’s tighter theming makes for a wonderful playground. I love that my town is filled with cute fish like Luvdisc and Finneon, making it feel like I’m swimming through an aquarium. Dreamy music and cool colors makes Bubbly Basin the most aesthetically pleasing locale in the entire game so far.

Even if it’s a retread of what came before, Bubbly Basin is a net positive for Pokopia. It’s great to have another blank slate to build up, and one that has tons of vertical space and hidden nooks to work with. I just wish I could get to the sandbox joy faster after already spending 50 hours learning the ropes. Is each expansion going to require me to learn how to use a new kitchen appliance in a multipart quest? Will I have to learn how to grow a new fruit as if it's a foreign concept? When Bubbly Basin lets your creativity loose, it reminds you why Pokopia is still one of 2026’s most pleasurable experiences. You’ll just have to finish your chores once again to get there.

Pokémon Pokopia Expansion Pass — Part 1: Bubbly Basin is out now on Nintendo Switch 2. The game was reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2 using a prerelease download code provided by Nintendo. You can find additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.