Introduction
Today we are going to review a game that has been released recently. New Pokémon Snap has you take pictures of Pokémon in their natural habitat. There are 24 courses and 214 pokémon to photograph. You will have multiple tools to get a special photograph, we are going to dig deeper into the photography system and ratings in the gameplay section. It has been twenty years since the release of Pokémon Snap and now we finally have a sequel but how will it shape up in this review?
What did I think before playing New Pokémon Snap
I have played the original Pokémon Snap way back when I was a kid. Taking pictures of Pokémon was always fun but back on Nintendo 64 only had around 60 Pokémons but also some of the pokémon’s evolved. I was wondering if these evolving mechanics would come back in the new Pokémon Snap. There were bound to be more Pokémon because now there are way more pokémon! My wife and I decided to pre-order this game because of the pre-order bonus. Wooloo the sheep. We were excited to see this Pokémon in the wild interacting with other Pokémon! We quickly went to the Nintendo page to get more information!
The Nintendo Page
https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/new-pokemon-snap-switch/
The Nintendo page is not as good as I had hoped and information is scattered all over the place. Nonetheless, we found out that your job is to survey the Lental Region to find out what happened in the Lental Region 2000 years ago.
Rating
I rate Pokémon New Snap with a 9.0.
We were excited to once again snap photos once again after 20 years. My wife never played the original and we were both excited to find Wooloo in the wild!
Story
Your goal in this game is to find out what happened in the Lental Region 2000 years ago. You will need to survey the lands and explore new continents! In your journey, you will come across many different regions and pokémon! You will need to find out more about the Illumina phenomenon.
Rating
I rate the story with a 6.0.
The story was very weak and made no sense to us at all. The other odd thing is that suddenly when you arrive, things start to go down in the Lental Region area. All because you love Pokémon? Does the Professor not love Pokémon? We played the whole game and caught all 214 Pokémon on Camera, we still have no clue what exactly happened 2000 years ago in the Lental Region. Without spoilers, the ending is lame.
Gameplay
The most important part of Pokémon Snap is taking pictures, of course, to take pictures of the Pokémon that you encounter in the wild you need your trusty camera. Some mechanics have been scrapped like evolving. You have, however, some new tools like Illumina orbs. These will make pokémon or crystal blooms glow. The music player is back from the N64 edition as well as throwing food at Pokemon. However, Pokemon do no longer evolve in this new game when pestered. I miss Gyarados in this game as well. It could have been a great easter egg or nod towards the N64 game!
You will follow the path in a device called the NEO-ONE. This device looks just like the device of Jurassic World. This device travels automatically while protecting you from all Pokémon attacks This gives you all the time to shoot photos of Pokémon in the course that you have selected. You will have 72 photos in each course. As you progress through the game you will unlock new mechanics like speeding up your NEO-ONE or making multiple pictures in several seconds.
For every Pokémon that you photograph there are four categories. You can only pick one picture after clearing the course for each Pokémon. Depending on when the photo was taken you will get a one to four-star rating on your picture. You will need to solve ridiculous puzzles or insane sequences to get some of the four-star pictures. After you have chosen the pictures, your picture will be rated by the professor. It is your goal to find all the pokémon in the Lental Region.
After clearing a course you will get experience for each new picture or an improved score. Leveling up your course will alter the course and add new Pokémon. Leveling up your course to the max is an insane grind. I would advise getting all the pictures and not level up the courses to the max. Despite snapping all Pokémons, Wooloo is not in the game. This is a major con! Giving a pre-order pokémon plushie but not putting this pokémon in the game! Nonetheless, we are very happy with our Wooloo!
Rating
I rate the gameplay of New pokémon Snap with a 7.4
The game is extremely grindy, which is not a problem at all but this does not feel like the right name for a grind. The puzzles to 4-star images are too complicated. There are requests which give you hints for the 4-star pictures but those are too cryptic.
Sound and Graphics
Graphics
The graphics are amazing and the pokémon look amazing as well. It is sometimes hard to get them to interact with you unless you perform a certain sequence.I wonder though what happens when two pokémon fight and the loser disappears. Did that Pokémon just die?
Sound
The soundtracks are great but nothing remarkable. I do like the sound effects of all the Pokémon though. All the courses have different soundtracks.
Rating
I rate the sound and graphics with a 7.8.
I think that the sound and graphics could have been better but nonetheless, I think that Nintendo could have done a better job. Yes, of course, the graphics are better than the N64 Pokémon Snap. I think that the first game had more impact with the graphics because 3D pokémon were new back then along with Pokémon Stadium. Taking pictures was not as usual back then as it is now.
What did I think after playing New Pokémon Snap?
We had a lot of fun when starting out New Pokémon Snap. The story mode was weird but we had fun unlocking new courses. From the beginning, we went out of our way to look for Wooloo. We made it our personal goal to find the pre-order pokémon. It eventually turned into a bet in which region Wooloo would live! we both lost the bet. We did manage to find Charmander the other pre-order plushie Pokémon. No matter where we looked we could not find Wooloo. After photographing all 214 Pokémon we did not find Wooloo. Gigantic disappointment flooded over us as we rage quited the game over this. My wife even suggested selling the game. Our plushie Wooloo is going nowhere though!
We had fun while playing New Pokémon Snap but we had expected this game to be less grindy and more casual oriented. The fact that Pokémon do not evolve is not fun at all. The biggest issue is getting the 4-star picture puzzles and sequences, we did not like this at all.
Rating
I rate New Pokémon Snap with a 6.8
The game was missing positive mechanics from the previous Pokémon Snap and felt like a disappointment in the gameplay section. The biggest disappointment is not finding Wooloo in the game even though it was a pre-order. This did not happen to us before, that the pre-order is not in the game!
What are my personal thoughts about New Pokémon Snap?
We managed to finish snapping all the pokémon but we did not do the 4-star pictures yet. We still have to figure out a lot of sequences. I do hope there will be DLC in the future with more pokémons!
Rating
My personal rating is 7.0
I had expected more from New Pokémon Snap.
Last Words
Pros
- Experience how Pokémon behave in the wild.
- Experience 24 courses where you get to take cute picturess of cute pokémon.
- Use special tools to unlock unique interactions with Pokémon.
- Take pictures of unique pokémon that saved the Lental region 2000 years ago!
- Fill up your photodex by snapping multiple tiers of pokémon!
Cons
- Wooloo is not in the game despite being a pre-order Pokémon
- Evolution is scrapped from this game.
- New Pokemon Snap has a very unbalanced grindy ending.
- The 4-star pictures are very hard to decipher.
If you are a fan of Pokémon games, this can still be a fun game! You should not expect a casual experience though!
Final Rating
7.4
Let me know what you think of New Pokémon Snap in the comments!
I hope you enjoyed reading this review, I hope to see you in the next review!
If you liked reading this review, maybe you would like to share this review with your friends!
Javier del Ríos
I´ve never really been into Pokemon, but it looks like fun. Great review, as usual.
supersven
Thanks, this one is fun until the grind sets in!
Ray
I Loved the N64 version, gonna definitely check this out
supersven
If you loved the N64 version, you will like this game until it gets grindy!
Simone Krijgsman
I still have hope that our Wooloo the sheep might appear in a DLC, if there will be DLC for this game.
supersven
I hope so too!
Roman
GRINDemon I choose you! 😀
supersven
hahahahah :P!
Samet Yalçın
its different view from nintendo. I can give 5 point.
supersven
Sometimes Nintendo has great ideas!
Pawel K.
not my kind & pay to win
supersven
I can understand this is not for everyone but there are no micro transactions in this game!