New Pokemon Snapis officially out in the wild now and is captivating Switch owners all across the globe. Set as a follow-up to the 1999 classic, this new game features several levels that evolve the more player explores them and feature plenty of Pokemon to take pictures of.New Pokemon Snap’s levels are gorgeous, from dense jungles to beautiful underwater reefs, and it’s clear Bandai Namco went all out in designing the world for players to capture in this long-awaited sequel.
As more and more fans are diving into this beautiful world, people are realizing that there are a lot of differences betweenNew Pokemon Snapand the mainlinePokemontitles, and that the mainline titles could learn a thing or two fromNew Pokemon Snap.
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A Vibrant, Thriving World
New Pokemon Snapis, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful takes on the world ofPokemonout there. Despite being an on-rails game, the environments that players travel through are beautifully crafted and a marvel to behold. Both long-term fans and newcomers to the series can’t help but be captivated by the the scenic routes they take along your theirjourney. Those with experience with the rest of thePokemonseries have not been able to experience such scenes in any game prior to this one.
Granted, there is a large difference between creating an on-rails section that lasts no more than a couple minutes and a full game comprised of many different routes. However, one cannot help but think back to thegraphics controversy surroundingPokemon SwordandShield,and how the environments in those two titles were disappointing to many fans. This may have many fans wondering ifNew Pokemon Snapcould create these beautiful scenes, why couldn’t Game Freak create something that looks at least half as good?
Expectations forPokemon Legends: Arceusare certainly high considering itsblatant comparisons toThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, andNew Pokemon Snapis pushing those expectations even higher.Breath of the Wildhad sprawling, beautiful landscapes that enraptured fans as they explored the post-Calamity Hyrule. While Bandai Namco developedNew Pokemon Snap, Game Freak needs to continue the trend Bandai created with its beautiful world and apply that toPokemon Legends: Arceus.
Fans wantLegendsto be the revolutionary game thatchanges thePokemonfranchise, much in the same way thatBreath of the Wilddid forThe Legend of Zelda. It’ll be hard to shake off the past without really doing a graphical overhaul. So far, all fans have seen fromLegendsis early footage, and while it looks very stylish, it needs to take the world one step further and make it truly breathtaking.
Pokemon That Feel Alive
The biggest and most compelling part ofNew Pokemon Snapis seeing the wild Pokemon in their natural habitat, whether that be wandering around, sleeping, eating, or even interacting with other Pokemon. While this seems like a small and insignificant detail at first, these animations and interactions help the world feel alive. Comparing these to theSwordandShieldanimations of Pokemonjust aimlessly wandering in the grass, and it’s nearly night and day.
In the first explorable area inNew Pokemon Snap, there’s a chance players will stumble upon a couple Tailow bullying a Wurmple, or if playerslevel up their Exploration Rank high enough, they can find a showdown between Pinsir and Heracross. Players who love reading the Pokedex entries know that there are tons of interactions between different Pokemon species, andNew Pokemon Snapfully capitalizes on that. This is the absolute biggest feature that futurePokemontitles should build upon.
Not only is it really cool to see Pokemon interacting with each other out in the world, but it makes the world feel much more interesting and truly immersive. ThePokedex tells of stories of different Pokemon species clashing, or Pokemon exhibiting specific behaviors, but it’s always been a “telling” of the behavior and never a “showing” of it. It’s time for future Pokemon games to show how cool these Pokemon really are, instead of simply telling us in a subsection of the game that some players don’t even read.
Putting New Pokemon Snap’s Designs into Future Titles
This gameplay concept can be executed in a number of ways, and it’s been slowly built up over the years in the mainline games, but never to the extent thatNew Pokemon Snaphighlights. InSwordandShield, fans saw the largest step forward at the time with theWild Areaand all the Pokemon wandering there. Pokemon on routes would wander up, or even chase them, which was a big step forward from previous titles. Now, it’s time to take it one step farther. It’s great to have Pokemon interact with the player in the limited degree that they did inSwordandShield, but it needs to be more than just the player. They should interact with other Pokemon throughout the world. A great example would be a Pokemon like Sharpedo.
InSwordandShield’s Isle of Armor DLC, Sharpedo would vigilantly chase the player whenever they navigated the ocean. InNew Pokemon Snap, they pestered and chased all manner of Pokemon around. They even had a swimming race against a Machamp that was a joy to watch. Game Freak has taken the first steps in making this a reality in mainline Pokemon games, but it needs more, andNew Pokemon Snapis the new baseline for which these types of interactions will be compared to.
New Pokemon Snapthrives when it shows the player all the different Pokemon in the world in their natural habitats, a thing that Game Freak has truly failed to capture in all mainline Pokemon games up to this point. Considering theraving reviews forNew Pokemon Snap, clearly Bandai Namco did something right in their follow-up to the beloved 1999 game. Many players delight in finding new interactions between Pokemon and new behaviors that had previously gone unnoticed, and those small details deserve to be introduced into the mainline series going forward - andPokemon Legends: Arceusis the perfect place to start.
