Previews for New Pokemon Snap are now coming out and thanks to Nintendo Everything, we have some details,
– 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 Pokémon Snap will release on Switch on April 30.