The release of New Pokemon Snap back in April was met with plenty of positivity with players able to find over 200 Pokemon in their natural habitats. Players were met with additional excitement recently with the announcement that some free DLC is being released on August 3rd for players worldwide. This DLC will be adding 20 new Pokemon for players to find and photograph in the game.
While this new DLC is exciting, it is also unknown if this will be a one time thing, or if more will be released for New Pokemon Snap in the future. Even without this knowledge however, there is plenty of room still to speculate on what Pokemon could be arriving at some point or another. At this point, there are eight Pokemon confirmed to appear in New Pokemon Snap's free DLC. These Pokemon are Rockruff, Swalot, Snorlax, Gyarados, Psyduck, Shroomish, Feraligatr, and Tropius. This still leaves plenty of Pokemon to consider when it comes to who should get to appear as well.
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With returning courses from the original Pokemon Snap coming to New Pokemon Snap, it only makes sense for all of the game's original Pokemon to be included as well. The odds of this happening with the upcoming free DLC seems very likely, with the previously missing Gyarados making its return in the DLC's trailer. It seems surprising that certain Pokemon that appeared in the original weren't included in the new sequel. These missing Pokemon that aren't yet confirmed for a return are as follows.
- Charmeleon
- Butterfree
- Kakuna
- Pidgey
- Sandslash (Kanto)
- Vulpix (Kanto)
- Jigglypuff
- Zubat
- Vileplume
- Diglett
- Dugtrio
- Mankey
- Growlithe
- Arcanine
- Poliwag
- Weepinbell
- Victreebel
- Rapidash
- Slowpoke
- Slowbro
- Magnemite
- Magneton
- Doduo
- Grimer
- Muk
- Shellder
- Cloyster
- Haunter
- Electrode
- Koffing
- Chansey
- Goldeen
- Staryu
- Scyther
- Electabuzz
- Magmar
- Ditto
- Porygon
- Articuno
- Zapdos
- Moltres
- Dratini
- Dragonite
Many of the Pokemon that were left behind in the original game a very well remembered by the original players, making their exclusion all the more confusing. The biggest example of this is Jigglypuff, who is a very well-known Pokemon. In the first Pokemon Snap, players would be able to watch a Jigglypuff concert if they rescue all the Jigglypuff in a certain stage. It is often considered one of the most memorable moments in the game, making it a big hope for New Pokemon Snap's DLC.
New Pokemon Snap has many different legendary and mythical Pokemon that players can get on film for their albums and Photodex. One Pokemon that isn't included in this bunch however is the legendary Pokemon Mewtwo.
Mew appears in both the original Pokemon Snap and New Pokemon Snap, although it takes on a lesser role in New Pokemon Snap. Its original role, however, could play a part in a special DLC where it can lead players to Mewtwo. This could have the potential to parallel the search for Pokemon Signs from the original, taking players on brand new adventures in search of a very mysterious Pokemon.
The encounter with Mewtwo could play out in a similar way to the Illumina Pokemon encounters, where players will need to essentially solve a puzzle in order to get the right shot. Considering Mewtwo generally being known to distrust humans, players could have to figure out how to earn the Pokemon's trust in order to get the photo for the Photodex.
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The main final encounter of New Pokemon Snap's story was Xerneas, a Pokemon that represents life itself and the box art legendary for Pokemon X. Being a box art legendary, however, means that it has a counterpart. This counterpart is Yveltal, a Pokemon representing death and destruction as well as the box art legendary for Pokemon Y. Despite its relation to Xerneas, it has remained strangely absent from New Pokemon Snap completely.
With Xerneas being a protector for the Lental region and its Pokemon, it would make sense for Yveltal to be an attacker against it. It has the potential to serve as an antagonist for a side story in future New Pokemon Snap DLC where players need to gather all the Illumina Pokemon in order to calm Yveltal down and stop it. This has the additional potential for even more lore to be added to the Lental region's history as well as Xerneas.
Something that many long time New Pokemon Snap fans missed from the original game was the ability to help certain Pokemon evolve and catch a picture of the evolution process. Because of this, its return in possible new DLC would be a welcome addition, especially for Pokemon that don't have their evolved forms in the game.
There are quite a few Pokemon that make good potential candidates for helping evolve. One is the Alolan Vulpix that can be found in Shiver Snowfields, as Alolan Ninetales cannot be found in New Pokemon Snap yet. It would be pretty great to help out the Alolan Vulpix when it comes to getting stronger until it evolves into Alolan Ninetales.
Another Pokemon that has potential for a triggered evolution is the Sandgast found on the Blushing Beach course. Players could potentially get Pikachu or another Pokemon to pile more sand onto the Pokemon, allowing it to become even bigger and evolve into Palossand.
If the game designers want to get tricky with some of the evolutions, Inkay is a good choice for players needing to go out of their way in order to evolve it into the still unincluded Malamar. The original Pokemon games require Inkay to level up past 30 while the game console is held upside down in order to evolve. While the Nintendo Switch might have to be held upside down in a similar fashion, there is also potential for players needing to take pictures of an Inkay while upside down in-game. This could trigger the evolution in a way many players will be unable to forget.
Overall, there's still a lot of potential for what can be still added in New Pokemon Snap's future. Players can only hope that content like this will be added at a good pace instead of being a one time thing. Only the developers at this point know the true path the game will take going forward after this upcoming DLC.
New Pokemon Snap is now available on Nintendo Switch.
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