I never had the privilege to play the original Pokémon Snap, but I am certainly enjoying my time with New Pokémon Snap. This is a side of Pokémon you never really get to explore in the main entries of the series. Yes, lately they’ve gotten better with animating them into the overworld, but this game shows them in a whole new light. And I absolutely adore it.
The Basics
The first course you begin with is the Florio Nature Park. You’ll get on what’s called the Neo-One and run through on a preset track. You can rotate the a full 360 degrees as well as look up and down. The basic idea of the game is to capture photos of the native Pokémon and build a Photodex of the Lental region’s inhabitants.
This alone presents a wild amount of interesting moments with these Pokémon. Moments that would never be seen in the main entries of this series. Ever thought about it would look like when a Scorbunny laughs? Well, you can find out in this game!
Something New Every Time
Each course can be leveled up with research points and research points come from completing the courses and taking photos. Once you acquire a higher level, the course will become more active and the Pokémon will grow more comfortable with you. This is where things get even more interesting as more Pokémon will show themselves and you’ll get better opportunities to take great photos.
I have been through the first course more times than I can count and I still find something new each time I go through it. Make sure you look everywhere, even behind you because things are always happening even after you’ve passed it. The good thing is that you can run these courses as many times as you want.
Research Requests
Some extra incentives that New Pokémon Snap has are the requests for certain photos for you to take. These will no doubt test you skills but also lead you to trying new things to get Pokémon to perform different actions. They are a great way to further experience the game and they give you an added challenge to work towards.
Extra Features
When you aren’t out taking photos, you’re back at the lab. Here you can review photos you’ve saved from courses, edit those photos, and set up your online presence. You can also review your Photodex and check on your progress with each Pokémon.
Photodex
Each Pokémon has four photo slots to fill out for their sheet within the Photodex. Each blank slot is reserved for photos with star ratings 1-4. Your star rating depends on what’s happening in the shot, so a Pokémon just standing there will get one star and a Pokémon doing something more rare will get rated higher. Once you fill out each four slots for a Pokémon’s entry, you’ll get a gold crown stamped on.
This has been a blast to fill out and really requires you to focus on what you need when you go out on a research course. As the story progresses, you’ll unlock some new items that let you interact with the Pokémon more.
Tools At Your Disposal
Pretty early on you’ll have access to the Fluffruit which you can throw to the Pokémon and watch them eat it. It will create beautiful moments with the Pokémon. Another great tool is the Illumina Orbs. These interact with both the Pokémon and the environment to trigger what is called the Illumina Phenomenon.
Utilizing these tools and more, you’ll be filling out your Photodex in no time and capturing some really magical moments. Don’t be afraid to try anything and everything. You might be surprised what happens!
New Pokémon Snap Showcases A Different Side Of Pokémon
New Pokémon Snap really showcases things that you cannot see in other Pokémon games. It has been a blast watching them interact with each other and realizing new things about these Pokémon. It is a care-free experience but offers a bit more challenge if you want it. I have enjoyed this game so far and am eager to see new courses and all that is waiting for me to discover.
Agree with the author? Couldn’t disagree more and are frothing at the mouth to tell him? Leave a comment here, on Facebook or send an email and make sure to follow Never Ending Realm on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube!