New Pokémon Snap (NSP, XCI) ROM + v2.0.1 Update

New Pokémon Snap Capture Pokémon in their natural habitats on undiscovered islands, documenting their behaviors with your camera. Embark on an adventure with the NEO-ONE, a reliable travel pod, as you traverse stunning landscapes like beaches, jungles, and deserts. This is an on-rails first-person photography game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for the Nintendo Switch. It is a sequel to the 1999 Nintendo 64 game Pokémon Snap. Announced in June 2020, it was released on April 30, 2021. Players explore an archipelago in an autopilot hovercraft and photograph Pokémon to research their ecology.

SYNOPSIS AND GAMEPLAY

In New Pokémon Snap, the player’s avatar is a Pokémon photographer who travels to the Laboratory of Ecological and Natural Sciences (L.E.N.S.) in the Lental region to help with the research studies of Professor Mirror and his assistants Rita and Phil. Taking photographs adds information to a compendium called a Photodex, which contains entries for more than 200 different Pokémon. While working on the Photodex, the player also investigates the Illumina phenomenon, where Pokémon and plants exhibit strange luminescence.

For each research expedition, the player travels in the NEO-ONE hovercraft to safely photograph Pokémon in their natural environments, including jungles, deserts, and beaches. Each photo the player takes is graded by Professor Mirror on a scale of one to four stars based on how rare the current activity of the Pokémon is. Each photo is also given a score taking into account things like shot composition, how close the Pokémon is, and whether they are facing the camera or not. Players can decide to save those photos to the Photodex, which can hold up to four photos of each Pokémon (one at each rating).

As players take higher-quality photos, they earn Expedition Points that go toward improving the Research Level of each area in the Lental region. Achieving higher research levels will open up more levels to explore in that area. To get better pictures, the player is encouraged to use various tools to coax out rarely-seen Pokémon reactions on camera. To lure Pokémon out, players can use a fruit called a fluffruit, or play a melody that can get some Pokémon to dance.  They can also throw an item called an Illumina Orb to cause Pokémon to glow. The orbs serve to not only help the player take pictures at night but also potentially change a Pokémon’s behavior.

Depending on the Pokémon, the Illumina orb can help wake up sleeping creatures, or even sometimes cheer them up. Players can find hidden Pokémon in the area by using their camera to scan for them. After Professor Mirror grades the player’s photographs, players can retouch their photos using the Re-Snap feature. This allows the player to change parameters like zoom, blur, and brightness, as well as add photographic filters, photo frames, and stickers. These edited photos can be saved to a personal photo album separate from the Photodex. Players can upload their photos online to share with other players, who in turn can help get their favorite photos featured in-game by liking them, known as giving Sweet! Medals.

EXPLORE LUSH SCENERY ON UNKNOWN ISLANDS

DEVELOPMENT

New Pokémon Snap was developed by Bandai Namco Studios and published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo. Bandai Namco had previously developed the Pokémon fighting game Pokkén Tournament, in which Pokémon were depicted as part of an interconnected world, coexisting with humans. According to game director Haruki Suzaki, who directed both titles, it was this depiction of Pokémon that helped the studio earn the opportunity to work on New Pokémon Snap.

Suzaki’s vision for the game was to keep the basic gameplay from the original while adding new features that reflected how people currently interact with photographs. He explained, “The result is a simple game of taking pictures in a world where Pokémon are alive and well in nature, but at the same time there is a variety of contemporary ways to play with photography.” It was announced during the Pokémon Presents presentation on June 17, 2020, and was released on April 30, 2021, for the Nintendo Switch. An update released on August 3, 2021, adds three new areas to explore and 20 more Pokémon.