We don't often talk about new titles here on Retro Dodo, but sometimes we make exceptions. Usually, we'll mention new games if they pay homage to old ones, spiritual successors of titles that our favourite studios decided to put to bed and retire. Though sometimes a game comes out that is such a rip-off of previous titles that I just can't keep quiet about it. I thought that Ubisoft had taken a step too far when they released Fenyx: Immortals Rising, but PickMon has definitely one-upped it!
Just look at that featured image above - and you thought Palworld was the biggest rip off you would ever see. The opening image for PickMon shows a character dressed like Link holding a glider, while a creature that looks like Pikachu sits on his shoulder. There's a dragon flying next to him that looks very much like Giratina crossed with Farosh, and there's what looks like Death Mountain in the distance.
Check out the trailer below - even the beginning bit of the soundtrack sounds Zelda-like!
PickMon | Summer Game Fest 2026 Trailer | Pockegame
— PickMon /ピックモン (@PickMon_EN) March 6, 2026
This is the official account of PickMon. #PickMon is a brand new multiplayer monster-collecting game with open-world survival elements! 🧭Open world survival crafting game for up to 32 players! 🔫Gather your weapons and go on… pic.twitter.com/IdR6byINRk
So the premise is different - this is an open-world survival crafting game made by Pocketgame that can be played by up to 32 players at a time. The fact that one of the main characters looks like Link from BotW and is wearing what looks like an exact replica of the Champion's Tunic just baffles me. Add that to the fact that we've got Monsters that look so much like actual Pokémon that they could be mistaken for the real deal at a quick glance, and you start to think that the creators of PickMon are in big trouble.
Look, the game looks like it's been designed well and has good graphics, but this just feels like the devs have taken assets from multiple other games and shoved them together to make something that looks shiny. There have even been accusations that artists' designs have been stolen to make some of the characters, which, even if not true, isn't great publicity.
The similarities to Zelda and Pokémon are glaringly obvious, and Nintendo will undoubtedly be preparing a strongly worded email to Pocketgame as we speak. It feels like wearing red and walking up to a group of bulls and twerking in front of them; it's just asking for trouble.
I don't know what's going to happen to PickMon, but the gaming community are all shaking their heads as one. If you wondered what a step too far looks like, this is it.
