New Pokemon Snap has it all: nature parks, jungles, forests, deserts, volcanoes, snowfields, caves, ruins, deep sea reefs, oversea reefs, beaches that also sort of have a reef. It’s difficult to think of any traditional biome – especially in the case of ones often represented in video games – that Snap actively ignored.
Or is it? What about space, the original biome that gave way to all other biomes? Our boss even wrote about how space proves we might live in a proper video game-style simulation, although now he’s claiming he was in a fugue state when he wrote it. Anyway, Snap deserves to go spacebound in a future expansion purely because the amount of potential that idea has is absurd.
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In case you hadn’t heard, New Pokemon Snap is getting its first official update next week, which is set to introduce three new areas, 20 new Pokemon, and a whole new mechanic that shrinks the NEO-ONE down to a microscopic size on certain routes. Sounds cool, eh? I agree, which is why I think New Pokemon Snap should become a proper live-service game. That’s not what I’m writing about here, though. Instead, I want to discuss why space is such a perfect fit for a game like New Pokemon Snap.
Have you ever played Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon? If so, you’ll already be aware of the time Pokemon got super weird and introduced a bunch of wormholes and powerful Pokemon known as Ultra Beasts, all of which are a bit… odd. Pumpkin dragon? Check. Swole housefly? Check. Four-legged stone fortress? You guessed it – check. These weird ‘mons are all from some strange part of space, while previous Legendaries like Dialga and Rayquaza are based on lore that is inherently intertwined with all things cosmic. I mean, just think of Solgaleo and remember that its previous evolutions are literally called Cosmoem and Cosmog. I’m not arguing for a level where Charizard gets rocket ship wings and suplexes someone from the stratosphere, but there are already more than enough Pokemon in existence to justify a full-fledged space level.
On top of all of that, just look at the NEO-ONE. If it can be shrunk to three inches tall, there’s already some sort of weird quantum stuff going on. Provided the glass visor is airtight, it’s reasonable to assume it could have some sort of internal oxygen supply that allows Todd Snap and the lads to knock about the Moon for a bit. Will the camera work up there? I mean, there are already real-life photos of space, so a) yes and b) this is Pokemon, a series where electric mice shoot thunderbolts out of their cheeks and orange dragons can circumnavigate the globe in 16 hours. Yes, the camera is going to work, you silly billy.
There are over 600 Pokemon yet to be added to New Pokemon Snap, although I highly doubt even a sixth of those will actually make it in before support is cut. Regardless of that, if Bandai Namco ever decides it’s time to add in a whole new region as opposed to just an additional alternate path on an existing map, there’s no doubt in my mind that we should be snapping stars and supernovas while Necrozma does all the weird stuff Necrozma is known for.
Or give us a map in Ireland, eh? Sword & Shield came so close with the Isle of Armor that I felt like crying. Please, Nintendo, we’re starving here.
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