25 years of one of gaming’s most beloved franchises brings a lot of reason for celebrating, reminiscing, and of course, looking forward to new beginnings. Well, February 26th’s Pokémon Presents checked all three of those boxes.
New Pokémon Snap
The presentation shows off 3 minutes of new footage of New Pokémon Snap, the overdue sequel to the Nintendo 64 classic. Players explore the Lental region while taking up the role of a Pokémon photographer. You’ll be venturing around the jungle, desert, and seas in your sweet new vehicle, the Neo-1. Accompanying you in your research are Professor Mirror, Rita, and Phil. Of course, you can also feed fruit to the Pokémon on your journeys.
A look at the ranking system for photographs was also teased, as well as the game’s online share mode. The photography-based game comes to Nintendo Switch on April 30th, with pre-orders now available.
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl
The news fans have been waiting for with bated breath, at long last, a remake for one of the Gen 4 Pokémon games has been announced. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl are now getting a new look on the Switch, in the form of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl. Originally released on the Nintendo DS in 2006, and after 15 years the game is going from 2-D to 3-D visuals. The original line-up of Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup will be available as starters to choose from.
The developer of Pokémon Home, ILCA Inc., will be developing the remakes this time around, alongside the original game’s director Junichi Masuda. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl will be getting a release in late 2021, with more information to be revealed further in the year.
Pokémon Legends Arceus
A huge deviation from the mainline Pokémon games, an open-world based Pokémon game is now in the works. Taking place in the feudal Sinnoh region, Pokémon Legends Arceus will feature Pokémon starters across multiple generations, namely Rowlet, Cyndaquil, and Oshawott. In this brand new experience, players venture out to create the region’s first Pokédex, in a time where Pokémon trainers or Leagues are non-existent. The titular mythical Pokémon, Arceus will be the forefront of this game.
Pokémon Legends Arceus will be launching worldwide in early 2022, with more information to be revealed in the future.
You can also watch the entire show on their official YouTube channel. Interested in news about the Nintendo Switch? Check out our op-ed article A Switch Gamer’s Thoughts on Nintendo Direct 17.2.2021!
Which announcement are you most excited for from the Pokémon Presents? Let us know in the comments!