New Pokemon Snap

Game'scover

About the Game

Game: New Pokemon Snap
Genre: Photography
Consoles: Nintendo Switch
Published: Nintendo
Developers: Bandai Namco
Released: April 2021

When it comes down to games, there's not many that made it into mainstream media. Yes some obtain fame and popularity amongs gamers, but there's only a few that everyone can recognise without necessarrily playing their respective games. One of these, is Pokemon. Pokemon established itself as one of the most successfull IP worldwide. Everybody knows about Pokemon, whether its because of it's video games, it's well established long running animated series, it's well known mascot Pikachu or through other media such as card games, manga, figures, memes etc. Pokemon first appeared in 1996 in the form of video games Pokemon Blue/Red which were released on the Gameboy console. It's popularity skyrocketed and ever since then it manage to remain relevant within these three decades and there is no sign of it stopping. As mentioned it did begin as a video game but nowadays it is everywhere as a global phenomenon. The concept of Pokemon is simple. The world is inhabited by both humans and Pokemon, weird creatures with certain abilities. The human can become trainers by capturing the Pokemon and use them to fight Battles, use them in the police force, for entertainment and for other stuff. Some made it their life's purpose to study them whilst others even go out of their way to use them for their own selfish/evil purposes.

When it comes down to games, the Pokemon games differ based on their type. The main and the side titles. The side titles are generally mini-games compilations or something completely different such as photographing games, role playing as pokemon, mnigame compilations and simple games that quite plain use the lovable Pokemon to make profit. In the main games, the players usually get control of the trainer who embarks on their pokemon journey. In these games the trainers traditionally go out of their way to defeat the Gym leaders who will reward them with the gym badge which are all needed in order to enter the Elite four/or tournament entry and climb to the top as the new established champions. Usually the games also have a story where the hero will come across an evil organisation(team Rocket, neo team Rocket, Team Magma etc) and even legendary pokemon. As an end game, the players will typically try to collect all the Pokemon in order to complete the Pokedex. Other fans, will also go out of their way to do what is called shiny hunt, a rare phenomenon where Pokemon have a very small chance of appearing with different color palletes. All the main titles ever since 1996, have been performing extremely well and that can be seen by the number of sales and praise each game received.

One of the earliest side games was Pokemon Snap. Released for the N-64 back in 1999, Pokemon Snap was a game that had the player go on a ride and take pictures of Pokemon during their natural habits. The game was well received and it was even re released for the Nintendo Wii in 2007. In 2020, during a Pokemon live stream celebrating the Brands 25th Anniversary, New Pokemon Snap was announced. The game was being developed by Bandai Namco and was gonna be published by Nintendo's Pokemon Company. The announcement was well received and people were surprised that such a beloved spin off was getting a new entry. The game was released in April 2021 and it was well received by both critics and players alike.

Story Mode

In New Pokemon Snap, you get to create your own character and choose whether you re a boy or a girl. Their official names are Jaime and River however just like in every Pokemon game, you get to rename them to your liking. For the sake of the review i ll be referring to the protag as Jaime since i used the male avatar in my playthrough. The game begins with our hero approaching the Laboratory of Ecology and Natural Science LENS where he is greeted by Professor Mirror, and his assistant Rita. The proffesor explains to us how Photographing the Pokemon of the Lental Region will help them understand and learn more about the pokemon ecosystem. Here is where our character comes in as he is supposed to be a Pokemon photographer and not trainer. The proffesor then gives us the special research camera which he invented. A camera that can take pictures and also allows the user to communicate with the others. Rita then teaches Jaime how to use the new piece of tech. The proffessor then shows us to the Capsule pod that will take us into our expeditions and we re off to our first photo expedition.

During your first night expedition, the professor mentions a weird wonder known as the illumina phenomenon where pokemon have a weird glow. Professor Mirror believes that the illumina phenomenon is caused because of a meteor that dropped over the Lentil region over 2000 years ago. This phenomenon gives certain pokemon a glowing aura as well as some plants. The professor believes that the photographs will help him come to the conclusion of studying the phenomenon and understanding it.

What is hidden behind the illumina phenomenon, will we find out?

Thoughts on Story

Honeslty i appreciated the fact that Nintendo/Bandai went out of their way to add a story mode in the game cause the original never really had one. The story is interesting as the concept of the Illumina phenomenon is mysterious and simple for the game. It also allowed for the character of Todd Snap to return. For those unaware, Todd was featured in the original anime as the first Pokemon photographer, a young individual who doesnt care about capturing pokemon inside a pokeball but instead capturing them in a picture. Todd remain with Ashes party for a few episodes as part of the story and made cameos later on spectating Ash through TV or during his battles in League. Fans also know Todd as the first protagonist of Pokemon Snap. Again, the story is not the selling point of this game but its inclusion and effort to make it mysteriious and interesting is commendable. I should also mention that the story is given to us through actual voice acting which makes it the first Pokemon game with voive acting since 1996.

Gameplay

The concept of the game is simple, instead of being a young trainer dreamming of becomming the number 1 trainer like the main titles such as Pokemon Shield, your character is a Pokemon Photographer, a person who loves taking pictures of Pokemon. The game claims to have a custom character customization, but it does not, well sort off. The game pretty much offers eight different predetermined looks, four for each avatar male and female. You do not get customize the haircut of each avatar, the eyes or the color palletes. Your only customization is pretty much the name of your character.

Pedgeot attacking a Magikarb

The player then drops to the oppening cutscene where professor Mirror and his assosciate welcome you to their laboratory. They explain who they re and why they ve summoned you here. The professor gives you his custom camera creation and after a quick tutorial they sent you out on a quick expedition. The expeditions are literally the entire game. Your player is stuck in capsule and follows a predetermined route in the wild. Your pod will always keep moving forward, you cannot stop it or control it. Whilst you re in the pod, you can turn towards any direction.

The player gets to witness the wild Pokemon of the Lentil region during their natural moments. Whether the pokemon sleep, rest, fight or simply walking by. Your aim is to use your camera and capture these moments in order to get the best picture. You get to take up to 72 photos per expedition, however the player can only choose one of each pokemon to present to the professor. For example, you can take 25 pictures of a Starmie, but only one(per Expedition) will be graded. The player can then place the picture in their Photodex, a photo album with pages dedicated to each Pokemon. The photodex can save 4 pictures of each pokemon, one for each level of quality 1-4 stars. When you select a picture, at the top left you can see whether the picture will be graded for Level 1,2,3 or 4. The Evaluation is done based on criteria such as:

Size: The Pokemon filling most of the picture.
Placement: Where the Pokemon was in the picture(top/center/sides etc).
Direction: Where the Pokemon looks in the picture.
Pose: How the pokemon pic was captured.
Environment: Other Pokemon or backgrounds.

As your expeditions go on, the professor's studies also improve and thus he gives you more tools to use. For example, when you first begin your photo journey all you get to do is zoom for a photo, then professors installs a scanner on your camera that presents you information as well as making the pokemon react to the scanner. Eventually you get to throw Fluffruit,a local fruit that pokemon will react uppon being hit by one or by simply seeing it and going for a quick bite. A music box is also unlocked that can cause Pokemon to react to its sounds and even Illumina orbs that can help more with the studying of the illumina phenomenon. As mentioned these tools are given to you progressively and give you a great reason to revisit prior levels in order to use the latest item.

The level design also change the more the player plays in them. The routes as usually predetermined however when the player gains enough EXP the routes lvl Up and the player can choose to play the same route as Lvl1, Lvl2 or Lvl3. More Pokemon will appear on a higher lvl and even the Pokemon that were there wil change behavior. For example in level1 lvl 1, Bidoofs are building a dam which is completed on lvl2 and they rest inside. Pokemon that runned away from you will feel more safe around you and so on. Another example, you can see Duckletts follow their mom as they flow on water and on lvl3 you can see them attempt to fly which will eventually have them levitate. Details like these, make the Pokemon feel alive. At the same time, using the scanner sometimes will trigger a crosspath where your capsule can take an alternative path before comming back to the original path. For example using Bidoofs stick bridge instead of sticking to the normal path. The way to level up a path is by simply playing the path over and over and capturing better pictures of the Pokemon you ve aleady encountered or even completing side missions.
Mc reveives the Camera

Before selecting a mission the player can tap Y and open the Side missions menu. In the menu, the Prof Mirror, Todd, Rita and Phil will usually request for you to take a specific picture of a pokemon or item during an expedition. Some even work as hints as to what to do in order to get a special interaction with a certain Pokemon. For example, the Professor hints that a Pedgeot seems hungry during the night level. If you fed it twice before reaching the end of the path, theres a small chance that the same Pidgeot will come and block your path, giving you a friendly smile and allowing you to take the perfect picture of it. Others hints are more of a challenge, such as "oh i took this hard picture can you take a better one?" Completing them rewards you with bonus objective EXP and as mentioned they give you the rare interaction with the Pokemon.

Aside from completing the photodex with picture taken for the game, the player can customize their photos with extra items that re rewarded by simply playing the game.
These customizations can be:

Stickers: To add in your Photos.
Frames: Adding frames arround your pictures.
Effect/Filters: Adds special effects in your pictures
Titles: Adds a Title Next to your Name. EG: Illuvatar: Proffesional Pokemon Photographer
Profile icons: Pictures for your Profile.

Thoughts on the gameplay

This is a game i always wanted to play but for some reason i postponed it. Mostly cause i wasnt using my Switch as much and cause some friends of mine where annoyed by the fact that i wanted to play a pokemon Photografer simulator instead of an actual main entry. I regret it, as i quite enjoyed the game. It's such a relaxing and fun exprience. You literally go in a "car ride" where all you care about is taking pictures of pokemon or simpl just enjoy the ride. Its the kind of cozy game that tells you lay back, take your time and breathe in the view. The locations are well designed and the variaty of Pokemon differs. From gen 1 all the way to gen8. Theres about 234 Pokemon to be discovered. Some are literally walking infront of you whilst others are hiding. For example, Starmie is lying under the sand and all you see is his gem, requiring you to hit it with a Fluffruit to make him come out, making you want to explore every scenario. Like whats behind that rock, or whats inside this cave. Usually trying something out of the book is rewarding. Watching the pokemon out in the wild relaxing, playing or even fighting makes wonder why doesnt Nintendo make a world like that. Gameplay wise, the game followed the routes of the og, but it improved it in alot of ways. My only problem/critisism is the ranking. Sometimes i believe i got the best picture which will receive a gold star where ass when i take a photo of a pokemon fully zoomed in it will give me a platinum. Makes no sense but the criteria are there. 2vs 2battle

Post Game and Collectables

As you can tell there is not really a Post game content Unless you want to complete the photodex. This will require you to take pictures of all 234 Pokemon for all available levels 1-4. It can take a while but given fans dedication in other games this should be easy. Maximizing the Photodex also requires completing all routes to full and Completing all the requests. Additionally uppon completing the main plot of the game, Legendary/Mythic Pokemon will start appearing in different locations that you previously explored. For example going back to the ruins will give you a chance to take picture of Jirachi where as going back to the underwater level will allow you to see Lugia. The developers made sure to include a decent ammount of legendary encounter given the size of the available pokemon. Its also a great reason for someone to revisit the levels. Personally before doing the Illumina encounters i would try to max Lvl the routes which might have delayed my story progress but i was glad to have a reason to go back to the first route.

What keeps this game alive is also the community. Something i didnt mention yet is that this game has an Online mode. The online mode allows the players to share their pictures online. This is where you can use your Titles and profile pictures that you unlocked. Sharing pictures of your favorite Pokemon with other players is a nice idea. You cannot comment or communicate with the rest of the community but you can give Fluffruits that act as Likes to other people's photos. There are plenty of pictures that were ofcourse re-snap for the better outcome. ReSnap allows you to take a picture that you ve taken and change the Zoom-In/Out, the angle of the shot and even add filters and stickers. This is where creativity can run loose. The game offers more than 100 stickers and multiple frames/effects.

Sound and Graphics

Honestly this was such a magical game visually. Unlike Pokemon Lets Go which i believed is the best visually main game title, new Pokemon snap took the concept of real nature and turned it into a game. If Gamefreak takes Bandai idea and make a game with preplanned routes that look half as good as New Snap then they ll probably have the best Pokemon game. This Naturalism is what makes this game worth visiting. Seing bug pokemon like Caterpie, Wumble and Heracross climbing on trees, Flying Pokemon flying above you or water Pokemon swimming by you is so good. Cant express how amazed i was when i saw Arboc chilling on a tree or when an Octillery being scared by a Sharpedo which growl at it, or how cute Pichu sleeping with a Grooky by a Tortera. Honestly visually fascinating. And even though i ll repeat it, live goes on the more you lvl a map further proving this "living areas", with the example of the Bidoofs with the dam building.

The audio department is also very good. This is the first Pokemon in my knowledge that features voice acting, which in 2021 despite having Pokemon games for 25 years was a first. The game doesnt voice act every spoken line, only the important ones and then have short words such as "Hey" or "Lets see" etc. Audio wise when you re in the capsule and on an expedition the most you hear is nature. For example, when passing by a waterfall you ll hear the water flow and splashing, where as near grass you ll hear the sound of leaves and others. The pokemon ofcourse will have their battle cries being heard or the noises they ll produce. For example Pikipek will not only give you its battle cry but will also woodpeck the trees. Footsetps, water splashing and wing flaps will be heard when near Pokemon. Some even snore during night expeditions. Its literally how you would imagine if you take a night walk out in the jungle, beach or even inside a zoo. I like it.

Amiibo

The game does not support Amiibo figures. Some claim that certain Pokemon related ones do unlock a couple of stickers but using any other(Sora/Link/Kirby etc) didnt unlock anything. Also using pokemon amiibo from Smash Brothers such as Trainer Red, Charizard or Ivysaur also did nothing.

Multiplayer

Theres no Multiplayer, however as mentioned you can post pictures online for other people to like.
starmie vs weezing

Final Thoughts

Overall, New Pokemon Snap is anice different and relaxing experience. Its the kind of game you can boot and simply relax whilst playing. The Pokemon photographer concept was first introduced in 1999, and in 2021 that it came out till now(2026) its amazingly good. New Snap wanted to differentiate from the original by introducing a plot which honestly it didnt have to, but it manage to not only include it but to also make it interesting. Your photographer is helping Professor Mirror with hi studies over a glowing phenomenon called the illumina. Your player enters a capsule and goes through predetermined route photographing Pokemon in their Natural states. The pokemon can be seen walking around, fighting and even sleeping. Gameplay wise, the player is given certain items to use in order to help them capture the moment. The pictures will then be graded by the professor and you can save them or share them online.
Pokemon Sleeping in the wild

Visually the game looks amazing. I cant express how amazing it is to walk around and see Pokemon in the wild doing their own thing. The recent Pokemon games that allow the pokemon to be out in the wild, usually have them walking around and nothing else. In snap, you can see them moving around, resting in the shadows and even playing/battling together. Additionally, you can spot Pokemon attacking or even trying to eat others. Whether a Sharpedo chasing a Squirtle or a Wingull diving to capture a Finneon. Its a colorful game and very pleasing to the eye. Audio wise, its literally you and the Pokemon nature. Water flowing, Arbok slithering or even Pokemon snoring in the night. Literally imagine how it would be like walking out and seeing or hearing the Pokemon in the Jungle, underwater and even in the desert. Thats what the game captures.

I dont think theres something negative regarding the game aside from how the professor grades the pictures. The criteria sometimes do not match the quality of the picture you present. A bad picture might get the best results where as some good ones might only get a gold star. The online version is appreciated however its not the reason for paying a subscription.