The title will be released on Nintendo Switch next April. The official website confirms online functionalities; we argue our proposals.
New Pokémon Snap is one of the most anticipated games of the first half of 2021 on Nintendo Switch; both for console players in general and for Pokémon fans in particular.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the series, a historic event that will be complemented by many announcements. The first date is the sequel to the original 1999 title for Nintendo 64, which will include a multitude of new features; from creatures of the eight generations to the Lúmini phenomenon and more than 200 species, all adapted to the current generation. We have recently learned that there will also be online functionalities, but not a multiplayer mode to use (it is a single player experience). So what is it about? We propose several ideas.
Things always happen in Pokémon Snap. Can we intervene or alter the confrontation between Torterra and Dodrio?
1. A community Fotodex?
The first is to make use of a kind of own, internal social network, which brings together content just as Miiverse did. It is somewhat complex, perhaps more than necessary, considering that Twitter will act like a snowball thanks to its hashtag. It already happened with Animal Crossing: New Horizons in 2020. The most logical thing, therefore, is there may be some kind of wall where these images can be shared and a common Fotodex is created with the possibility of voting with “likes” on the photos of the creatures .
Thus, we would have —for example— the most outstanding photos of Torchic, Pikachu and company; something similar to the voting of levels of Super Mario Maker 2, but with photos.
Day, sunset, night … The technical detail is above any other Pokémon game to date.
2. Photo sharing with Nintendo Switch friends
Another very basic one is the exchange of images with friends that we have added to the console. Even, that there are incentives to chain these messages during consecutive days. This is something that works perfectly in video games like Pokémon GO, although the nature of both titles is different, since we do not know if New Pokémon Snap will establish its day-night cycle according to the real clock. In any case, it seems like a remarkable idea, especially if it is linked to the iOS and Android app.
3. Online rankings
What we look forward to the most in this writing. Can you imagine a small competitive component? Being indirect, it would not destroy the nature of the game, which strays from claims such as pitting users against each other; not in vain, a classification by routes based on scores would serve to encourage taking the best possible photographs.
The game itself includes an improved and expanded phytograph evaluation system (of which an overall rating is awarded for each species). We do not know how complex this can be at the programming level, since these requests are easier in our head than you can in practice, but we also believe that it is something plausible for Nintendo Switch and surely there is some demand among the community.
Soon we will leave doubts.
New Pokémon Snap is released in physical and digital format this April 30 exclusively for Nintendo Switch.
