New Pokémon Snap takes players to the vast region of Lental, an archipelago made up of six islands. Fans of the original Pokémon Snap will be greeted with a familiar premise but refreshed gameplay mechanics, such as the Illumina Orb, which elicits special reactions from Pokémon in certain situations. New Pokémon Snap also has far more courses to try out its new systems on, lending it a higher level of replayability than the first game.
The original Pokémon Snap took place on Pokémon Island, a volcanic island with a variety of climates and regions. In the classic photography rail-shooter, players took on the role of Todd Snap, a Pokémon photographer seeking photos of the creatures in their natural habitats. The original game didn't take much time to beat; with only seven areas, including the secret Rainbow Cloud containing only Mew, players could make it through the game in just over four hours.
The islands in New Pokémon Snap encompass many biomes, ranging from the vast desert of Sweltering Sands to the frigid, icy landscape of Shiver Snowfields. Players explore the islands one by one as they level up their Research Level for each stage. Each stage is then broken down into different courses that affect which Pokémon will be seen on the tour. As players progress and add experience to their Research Level, more Pokémon appear in the wild and, in some areas, secret paths open up.
New Pokémon Snap Adds Nighttime Photography
When starting New Pokémon Snap, players first get access to Florio Nature Park, a lush, green forest that is open to the public. This first stage actually has three courses, highlighting another new addition to New Pokémon Snap: nighttime photography. Once the daytime course for Florio Nature Park is leveled up enough, players gain access to the nighttime course and, subsequently, the Illumina Spot course. This formula doesn't quite track with the other stages, as the others alternate between either a nighttime course or an Illumina Spot course, but all stages after Florio Nature Park have at least one of these in addition to the standard daytime version.
New Pokémon Snap has 11 stages for to explore, each of which has two courses - apart from Florio Nature Park's three. This, in addition to the Research Lab, gives players 24 courses to explore. Early estimates for how long New Pokémon Snap takes to beat puts it between 9 and 15 hours, potentially more than tripling the amount of gameplay of the original.