New Pokémon Snap

New Pokémon Snap New ポケモンスナップ
Boxart of New Pokémon Snap
Basic info
Platform:	Nintendo Switch
Category:	First person rail shooter
Players:	1
Connectivity:	Nintendo Switch Online
Developer:	Bandai Namco Studios
Publisher:	The Pokémon Company
Part of:	Generation VIII spin-off
Ratings
CERO:	A
ESRB:	E
ACB:	G
OFLC:	N/A
PEGI:	3
GRAC:	ALL
GSRR:	0+
Release dates
Japan:	April 30, 2021
North America:	April 30, 2021
Australia:	April 30, 2021
Europe:	April 30, 2021
South Korea:	April 30, 2021
Mainland China:	July 16, 2024[1]
Hong Kong:	April 30, 2021
Taiwan:	April 30, 2021
Websites
Japanese:	Official website
English:	Official website Pokémon.com Nintendo.com
Japanese boxart Japanese boxart of New Pokémon Snap

StrategyWiki has more about this subject:

New Pokémon Snap

New Pokémon Snap (Japanese: New ポケモンスナップ New Pokémon Snap) is a spin-off Pokémon game for the Nintendo Switch. It is a sequel to the original Pokémon Snap for the Nintendo 64. The game was released worldwide on April 30, 2021, and is playable in nine languages: Japanese, English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Korean, Simplified and Traditional Chinese. In mainland China, the game was released on July 16, 2024; these copies are only playable in Simplified Chinese.

It was announced during Pokémon Presents on June 17, 2020. Free DLC was released on August 3, 2021.

New Pokémon Snap was nominated for the Best Family game in The Game Awards 2021, though it lost to It Takes Two.^[2]

Blurb

Become a Pokémon photographer!
Spot Pokémon in their natural habitats and catch'em on camera!

Get your in-game photos scored by the professor!
Create your very own Pokémon Photodex!
You can edit your photos and share them with the world!*

New Pokémon Snap is a photo-snapping game exclusive to Nintendo Switch systems.

*Nintendo Switch online membership required. See below for details.

Story

At the start of the game, the player is invited by Professor Mirror and Rita to the Laboratory of Ecology and Natural Sciences in the Lental region to conduct a survey of the Illumina phenomenon that has been recorded in a travelogue written by Captain Vince. The player first takes pictures of Pokémon in the Florio Nature Park. Later, the professor allows the player to take pictures in the nature park at night and the player unlocks the scan function. At the end of the nature park, Professor Mirror senses an incredibly strong energy reading, and asks the player to research it for him. After that, the player returns to the park to discover the first Illumina Pokémon spotted in 100 years, Meganium.

Professor Mirror is thrilled after seeing Meganium, and he requests the player take pictures of the three other Illumina Pokémon in the travelogue. The player later unlocks the function to use fluffruit. Todd Snap and Phil later arrive at the laboratory, and Phil treats the player as his rival. The player then visits Founja Jungle. After taking pictures of glowing crystablooms at Florio Island and Belusylva Island, Professor Mirror creates Illumina orbs, which can cause Pokémon to temporarily be in the Illumina state.

The player can then choose to visit the Maricopia Islands or Voluca Island. During this period, the player unlocks Blushing Beach, Maricopia Reef, Lental Seafloor, Sweltering Sands, Fireflow Volcano, and Elsewhere Forest. The player also obtains Illumina orbs for use on the other islands, and pictures of the other three Illumina Pokémon, Wishiwashi, Milotic, and Volcarona. After this, Professor Mirror finds an energy reading at Durice Island, an island not mentioned in the travelogue. After taking pictures of the Pokémon in Shiver Snowfields, the player unlocks Outaway Cave, which is the source of that energy reading. After taking pictures of the Illumina Steelix found in the area, a mural depicting the five Illumina Pokémon is found.

According to rumors, the Illumina Pokémon once protected Lental from the Tellur Meteorite, but Professor Mirror thinks that the Illumina phenomenon was caused by the meteorite hitting Lental. After exploring the ruins of a small island known as Aurus Island, the player finds the last Illumina Pokémon, Xerneas, which appears to be the source of the phenomenon. After capturing pictures of it, Xerneas goes back to sleep. Later, the Professor wonders who created the ruins and murals in Aurus Island, and why the player was able to meet Illumina Pokémon. Rita, Phil, and Todd later explain that those Pokémon apparently sensed the player's love for Pokémon, which caused them to appear in front of the player.

Gameplay

The player is asked by Professor Mirror to photograph Pokémon in their natural habitats across Lental, an archipelago region with a variety of different ecosystems. The professor and his assistant Rita guide the player across the islands of Lental and inform about the research team's ecological survey. Phil, a boy who recently arrived in Lental and has a rivaling relation toward the player, also joins the research team.

When arriving at a research site, the NEO-ONE vehicle (Japanese: ネオワン号) will automatically steer along the route, allowing for the player to take photos in all directions. There are various tools available that interact with the environment. Fluffruit (Japanese: ふわりんご Fluffy Apple) can be used to catch the attention of nearby Pokémon. Additionally, the player can use Illumina orbs (Japanese: イルミナオーブ), items developed by Professor Mirror and related to the Illumina phenomenon unique to the Lental region. Illumina orbs can sometimes create unusual effects, such as changing the color of fire that Pokémon emit to blue instead of red. The player also has the option to play a melody (Japanese: メロディ) and search the surroundings (Japanese: サーチ). As courses are being researched, their research level (Japanese: 調査レベル) increases, allowing for Pokémon to exhibit different expressions and behaviors.

Pictures of Lental's wild Pokémon are evaluated with one to four stars by Professor Mirror, indicating how rare the behavior displayed is. Pictures of Pokémon performing special poses and actions usually give out more stars. One picture from each star category can be added to the corresponding page of the Photodex, an album designed to display photos and additional information of wild Pokémon. Photos taken during expeditions can also be saved to a personal album that is distinct from the Photodex. These photos can be edited in terms of brightness, blur, zoom, and other aspects, and stickers, frames, and filters can be added. With a Nintendo Switch Online membership, photos can also be shared online, and awarded Sweet! Medals (Japanese: りんごメダル Apple Medal) by other players.

• 

  Taking a picture of a female Hippowdon to register in the Photodex

Locations

New Pokémon Snap features six different islands, being Florio Island, Belusylva Island, the Maricopia Islands, Voluca Island, Durice Island, and Aurus Island. Each island has several different courses, which can mostly be played during the day, night, or evening. By taking lots of pictures of Pokémon, the player can level up their research level to raise courses to higher levels, which will allow new Pokémon to appear.

Courses

An asterisk (*) means that the course is only available after updating to the Version 2.0.0 update.

Islands and stages
Florio Island
Park (Day)	Park (Night)	Florio Island Illumina Spot
Side Path (Day)*	Side Path (Night)*	Research Camp
Belusylva Island
Jungle (Day)	Jungle (Night)	Forest
Belusylva Island Illumina Spot	River (Day)*	River (Night)*
Maricopia Islands
Beach (Day)	Beach (Night)	Reef (Day)
Reef (Evening)	Undersea	Maricopia Islands Illumina Spot
Voluca Island
Sands (Day)	Sands (Night)	Volcano
Voluca Island Illumina Spot	Badlands (Day)*	Badlands (Night)*
Durice Island
Snowfields (Day)	Snowfields (Night)	Cave
Durice Island Illumina Spot
Aurus Island
Ruins		Aurus Island Illumina Spot

How to unlock

Unless otherwise noted, all night variants of stages are unlocked when the day variant is at Research Level 2.

• Park (Day): From the start of the game.
• Florio Island Illumina Spot: Play Park (Night) for the first time.
• Research Camp: The first route is unlocked after the player takes pictures of two Illumina Pokémon, and the second route is unlocked by taking three pictures instead.
• Side Path (Day): Update to Version 2.0.0, and unlock Beach (Day) and Sands (Day). After that, the side path can be unlocked by scanning a tree in Florio Nature Park.
• Side Path (Night): Play Side Path (Day) for the first time.
• Jungle (Day): Complete the Florio Island Illumina Spot.
• Forest: Raise Volcano to Level 2.
• Belusylva Island Illumina Spot: Play Elsewhere Forest for the first time.
• River (Day): Update to Version 2.0.0, and complete the game.
• Beach (Day): Raise Jungle (Day) and Jungle (Night) to Level 2.
• Beach (Night): Raise Snowfields (Night) to Level 2.
• Reef (Day): Raise Beach (Day) to Level 2.
• Reef (Evening): Complete the game.
• Undersea: Raise Reef (Day) to Level 2.
• Maricopia Islands Illumina Spot: Raise Undersea to Level 2 or 3. In Level 2, the player must throw illumina orbs on a Clawitzer to cause it to destroy a rock. In Level 3, the path is automatically unlocked.
• Sands (Day): Raise Jungle (Day) and Jungle (Night) to Level 2.
• Volcano: Raise Sands (Night) to Level 2.
• Voluca Island Illumina Spot: Raise Fireflow Volcano to Level 2.
• Badlands (Day): Update to Version 2.0.0, and complete the game.
• Snowfields (Day): Take pictures of four Illumina Pokémon.
• Cave: Raise Snowfields (Night) to Level 2.
• Durice Island Illumina Spot: Raise Outaway Cave to Level 2.
• Ruins: Complete Durice Island Illumina Spot.
• Aurus Island Illumina Spot: Light up the six crystablooms at the end of the ruins.

Pokémon

Main article: List of Pokémon by Photodex order

At launch, the game featured 214 different Pokémon. Twenty more species were added in the 2.0.0 update, bringing the total up to 234.

Research titles

The player can obtain research titles that can be added to their profile by fulfilling various tasks. The research titles can be viewed inside the Laboratory of Ecology and Natural Sciences.

Reception

Gaming magazine Famitsu gave New Pokémon Snap a score of 34 out of 40.^[3] IGN rated the game a "Great" 8.0/10.^[4] It holds a rating of 79% on Metacritic, based on 116 critic reviews.^[5]

Sales

As of March 31, 2022, New Pokémon Snap has sold 2.40 million copies outside of Japan.^[6]

Staff

Main article: Staff of New Pokémon Snap

Cast

Localization changes

The mainland Chinese release is based on the same Simplified Chinese localization present in the international release, but with some minor changes.^[7]

• The ability to select a different language for the game's text is removed, with Simplified Chinese being the only supported language. The game retains the Japanese and English voice options, however.
• The All Languages online ranking is removed, as user-generated content from international versions cannot be viewed. The Report function in the online gallery is also removed.
• All text written in the Latin alphabet is replaced with their Chinese equivalents.
  • In the game's title and logo, the word "new" is replaced with the Chinese 新 xīn (new). This also affects the photo frames that include the game's logo.
  • In the Japanese, English, and international Chinese versions, the abbreviations for number, meters, and kilograms are written "No.", "m", and "kg". In the mainland Chinese version, they are translated into Chinese as 编号 biānhào, 米 mǐ, and 千克 qiānkè instead.
  • Graphics featuring English text such as "NEW", "Good!", "MAX", or "Zzz..." are used in all languages internationally. In the mainland Chinese version, they are translated into Chinese.
• Minor revisions to other text. This includes some Photodex entries, which are reworded to avoid sensitive language.
• The sticker, time of day marker, and profile icon featuring the sun are changed from having triangular rays to having dots or rectangles, likely because they would otherwise closely resemble the flag of Taiwan
• The game's copyright date is changed from 2021 to 2023.

Version history

International

Mainland China

Gallery

Logos

• 

  English logo

• 

  Japanese logo

• 

  Korean logo

• 

  Traditional Chinese logo

• 

  Simplfied Chinese logo

• 

  Mainland Chinese logo

Box art

• 

  United Kingdom box art

• 

  United Arab Emirates box art

• 

  Saudi Arabian box art

• 

  Korean box art

• 

  Taiwanese box art

Concept Art

• 

  Professor Mirror^[12]

• 

  Female Protagonist^[12]

• 

  Male Protagonist Expression Sheet^[12]

• 

  Research Camp^[12]

Trivia

• Shroomish is present during the footage of the game, despite the fact it is not available in the final version of the game.^[13]
  • It was, however, added into the game via the Version 2.0 update.
• According to the game's director, Haruki Suzaki, there had been past attempts to make a Pokémon Snap sequel.^[14][15]
• Multiple pictures of scenery from Secrets of the Jungle are seen on the wall of Professor Mirror's laboratory, including the Milyfa Town Pokémon Center, the Great Tree in the Forest of Okoya, and the Biotope Company building. One of the game's loading screens describes these as landscape photographs taken by Rita that are from an unknown region other than Lental. In turn, Rita makes a cameo in the movie along with Phil.
• In Mexico, New Pokémon Snap is the first video game released to feature a rating from the newly established Mexican video game content rating system. It received the “A – Todo Público” rating, which is functionally equivalent to the ESRB’s “E for Everyone”.

In other languages

Language Title Chinese Cantonese New 寶可夢隨樂拍 New Pokémon Chèuihlohkpaak Mandarin New 寶可夢隨樂拍 / New 宝可梦随乐拍 New Bǎokěmèng Suílèpāi * 新宝可梦随乐拍 Xīn Bǎokěmèng Suílèpāi * French New Pokémon Snap German New Pokémon Snap Italian New Pokémon Snap Korean New 포켓몬 스냅 New Pokémon Snap Portuguese New Pokémon Snap Spanish New Pokémon Snap

References

This article is part of Project Sidegames, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon Sidegames.