LogFAQs > #954510135

New Pokemon Snap (Switch)
Woops, it's been a while. Kinda went through a bit of a low point in my mental health over the past few months. A lot of games started but not completed. But I wasn't going to let May be the second month in a row in which I didn't beat a game and this felt like the quickest/easiest on to wrap up tonight, so here we are.

Wow, we really went 22 years without a sequel to the original. Was this one worth the wait? Eh. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece by any means. It kinda feels like it tried to be a lot more than it actually is. Like, adding a story to it. Or whatever semblance of a story that was. Why did it need a story? Why couldn't it have just been like the original where Oak kept sending Todd out on expeditions and occasionally have something specific he wanted him to see? There was way too much talking here. Every time there was extended dialogue, I just wanted them to shut the hell up so I could get back to taking pictures of Pokemon, especially since two of the characters were ungodly annoying. I will say that the one thing I did enjoy about the story was not only having Todd appear, but giving him a decent sized role instead of just a cameo. That was cool, made it feel like a real sequel, and overall a nice throwback for those of us who enjoyed the original.

The gameplay was super repetitive. Having to redo the same courses several times with minor (if any) differences gave me a headache and made me only able to play this in short bursts. I DO like the fact that you could save up to four different poses of each Pokemon instead of just one, but HERE'S MY GIGANTIC GRIPE WITH THAT. Why couldn't I show the professor, for example, both a * photo of Pikachu and a ** photo of Pikachu from the same run when I could save both? It didn't make sense and made me feel like I had to play each course even more times than I really needed to. I guess they wanted to artificially extend both the main story runtime and the replay value somehow? But that wasn't the way to do it. That was really annoying.

I liked the variety of Pokemon. It had a nice blend of eight generations, even if it was heavier on certain gens. For example, and not that I'm complaining about either of these things, but it felt a bit Gen II heavy, with Gens III and V kinda lacking. And maybe that's just what stood out to me, I could actually be way off. I haven't looked at the official count for each generation. Regardless, while there were definitely some notable omissions (Jigglypuff? Lucario? Starters? Legendaries?), it was fun discovering each new one and going "I KNOW HIM!"

The game looks beautiful. ESPECIALLY the water levels, my God I felt like I just wanted to go swimming afterwards. It's a lovely game. I do really like that they didn't add too many new features to interacting with Pokemon and the vehicle. They kept pretty much what the original had, with some minor tweaks. THAT BEING SAID, I was disappointed in the function of these things. In the original, it felt like you could really make the Pokemon do crazy things with the items you had. Like lead Pikachu to a certain area with a trail of apples, or get a Mankey and a Magikarp to interact, ultimately leading to Gyarados. That felt sorely, sorely lacking in this one, with Pokemon just eating the apples, or getting angry for getting hit by them. The Pokeflute seemed especially useless. I counted very few instances where that actually did much.

Overall, while I'm glad Pokemon Snap finally got a sequel, it was simultaneously more complex and yet more lacking than the original. I guess I'm glad I played it, but I probably won't be going back to experience any of the replay stuff, like completing the Photodex, anytime soon. If they ever make another, I really hope it's more like the first one. K.I.S.S. Keep it simple, stupid.

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darkx
Games beaten in 2021 - 19; Most recent - New Pokemon Snap