New Pokemon Snap gets new details and gameplay
Previews for New Pokemon Snap are now starting to come online. Aside from the latest details, some new footage has surfaced as well.
Here’s the full roundup, courtesy of Game Informer and Game Central:
– One area is Blushing Beach
– This is one of the tropical locales in the game
– Players can choose to enter the stages during the day or at night
– Different opportunities in the same areas based on what time of day it is
– Blushing Beach features Exeggutor, Crabrawler, Pikachu, Lapras, Vivillon, Wingull, Machamp, Pyukumuku, Corsola, Finneon, Stunfisk during the day
– Go along a predetermined path
– An Exeggutor will sit in the way, bringing the NEO-ONE pod to a halt
– Can lure Exeggutor away to clear the path
– On the left and is something bustling in the bushes, and the player must figure out how to lure the Pokemon out
– Using the Melody tool, which plays a little jingle, you can lure two dancing Bellossom out of the bushes
– If you can catch multiple Pokemon in the act of doing something unique or exciting, you’re well on your way to getting a highly scored photo
– Can’t manually stop your vehicle whenever you want
– Certain encounters like this one will give you a little extra time to figure out how to optimize your photo opportunities
– After completing each stage, you sort through the pictures you snapped
– Choose the ones you want to share with Professor Mirror
– Each photo is given a star rating of up to four stars
– Your Photodex can hold one photo of each Pokemon at each rating
– Once you present your favorite shots to the professor, he’ll score you based on pose, size, direction, placement, other Pokemon in the shot, and what the background looks like
– You then have the option to replace the current picture in the Photodex with the new one
– Can “re-snap” your photos by adjusting the zoom; tweaking the brightness, blur, focal size, and focal point; adding a filter; and even changing the caption
– Professor Mirror will only grade your raw photos, and thus, you can only save the originals to your Photodex
– Can still save the re-snapped photos to your in-game album and share them
– Based on the photos you provide to the professor, you gain Expedition Points
– These points boost your Research Level for the stage you just played
– Once you reach a certain threshold, you unlock new levels for that area and time of day
– While each Research Level generally carries along the same path, you might see some differences along the way
– The Pokemon you spot after the sun sets are often different from the ones you see running, flying, and swimming during the day
– Pokemon at night in this stage include Drifblim, Zangoose, Seviper, Magikarp, Octillery, Bellossom, Zangoose, Mareanie, Sandygast, Alolan Raichu
– The nighttime path is the same as the one from the day, but the opportunities are vastly different
– Ex: Magikarp asleep on the rock where the Pyukumuku was during the day
– Illumina orb: special items that can cause Pokemon to glow and perform unique actions
– At sea, an icon pops up in between some of the protruding rocks that lets you go along a different path through the stage if scanned
– Unlock abilities as you progress, including an equivalent of the Pokeflute
– Scan ability works a bit like detective vision in terms of highlighting Pokemon and interactive elements
– The scan itself also seems to act as a kind of generic interact button
– Playing the game in handheld mode you can use gyro controls and move the console around like an actual camera
– Pre-rendered cut scenes with voice-acting
New Pokemon Snap launches for Switch on April 30.
