New Pokémon Snap could. Though the photography game is known for its unique portrayal of Pokémon, the latest game fell short of depicting the creatures' lifestyles. Thankfully, Pokémon Legends: Arceus delivered on many opportunities missed by New Pokémon Snap and supplied a Pokémon game that combined exploration with core features from the mainline series. Despite its less-than-impressive graphics, Pokémon Legends: Arceus becomes more of a safari experience than New Pokémon Snap could hope to.
New Pokémon Snap explores the Lental region, which houses an impressive range of biomes and environments for rare monsters. Players completed special tasks to unlock other tracks and visit different levels at different times of day, offering the chance to see different species or how creatures' behaviors changed compared to previous trips. Unfortunately, the process quickly became monotonous and transformed into a battle against New Pokémon Snap's in-game judgment system to secure perfect scores. Additionally, the behaviors of certain monsters became repetitive with little to no variation between levels and severely limited the game's lifespan. These shortcomings and more ensured the game fell short of the safari adventure it could've been.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus creates the first open-world-adjacent experience in the franchise, embracing a Monster Hunter-styled exploration throughout different Hisuian biomes. Players take out research tasks from various mission boards and NPCs around Jubilife Village that help players increase their Research Level, unlock different Pokémon spawns, and explore new territories. Unlike traditional Pokémon games, there aren't Gym Battles or a Pokémon League to progress through, and players instead lend their services to the Galaxy Expedition Team in surveying Hisui. As a result, the region is largely unsettled and explores several adventurous avenues that New Pokémon Snap can't compete with.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus Created Immersive Environments
While New Pokémon Snap players likely experienced far more beautiful settings than Pokémon Legends: Arceus players, the latter creates more immersive environments that better depict the Pokémon world. Despite a significant lack of gleaming colors and impressive graphics, the Hisui region represents several critical differences from the Lental Islands. While humans sparsely inhabit both environments, the latter feels far more artificial given the game's context and mechanics. This disconnect likely stems from the fact that New Pokémon Snap needed a free-roaming exploration aspect to its gameplay. Like its predecessor, New Pokémon Snap restricted players to a ride-along mechanic in a machine meant to keep the photographer safe during its tracks. Unfortunately, this holds the game back from becoming an authentic safari, instead feeling more like an amusement park ride.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus Embraces The Franchise's Danger
New Pokémon Snap only lets players see Pokémon attacks and battles from the safety of their vehicle, but Pokémon Legends: Arceus puts Trainers on the wild front lines. As players progress through the various Lental region levels at day or night, they may witness monsters battling one another for territory or food. This allows players to become ive observers for violent behaviors without putting the player at risk. Instead of presenting an obstacle to the players' goals, New Pokémon Snap makes violence between monsters a predetermined event to capture on camera for research. Unfortunately, in doing so, the photography game undermines the effect of being so close to dangerous animals and removes the opportunity to make its gameplay formula more exciting.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus embraces the inherent danger of its universe by flaunting the hazards of exploring beyond Jubilife Village. Every time players leave Jubilife Village, they face deadly risks, as many characters remind them to be careful before venturing out. The most common dangers faced in the wilds are Legends: Arceus' powerful Alpha Pokémon or confronting the Noble Pokémon that have gone into a rage. While this naturally raises the stakes when completing any tasks in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, turning once benign encounters into pulse-pounding action sequences. The 'Run' mechanic from battles has now turned into an active gameplay form, with players required to avoid dangerous encounters to continue their adventures.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus Feels Wilder Than New Pokémon Snap
Though New Pokémon Snap is supposed to give players an experience untethered from the safety of mainline Pokémon games, it falls short compared to Legends' Hisui region. From the moment players start the game, Professor Laventon reiterates how dangerous it is for the player character to be out on their own. Many villagers fear Pokémon, and many more have suffered injuries from brutal encounters. As a result, the immediate feel of the Hisui region becomes far wilder than the Lental region. Though both games lack organized civilizations across their regions, Pokemon Legends: Arceus successfully develops a unique relationship with Pokémon through more organic means. Exploring the region and encountering monsters feels less like a performance and more like a never-ending adventure.
New Pokémon Snap separates players from the world through their vehicle, making its gameplay loop feel like players are screenshotting a movie. While photography games focus more on the experience than the goals, they can restrict the authenticity of observing Pokémon in their natural environment. As a result, this game's natural experiences pale in comparison to Legends, which shows the beautiful and ugly side of monsters in the wild. Each Hisuian area consists of different features that attract different creatures, meaning that players are rewarded for understanding types and Pokémon behaviors throughout the world.
Though both games cost the same at retail, Pokémon Legends: Arceus defeats New Pokémon Snap as a Pokémon safari game. The new free-roaming adventure provides players with wild adventures spanning a beloved region. The ability for players to interact more closely with friendly and dangerous Pokémon and explore areas more freely solidifies that the Snap formula is holding the spin-off series back from something great. Thankfully, reception to Pokémon Legends: Arceus has been resoundingly positive, with many hoping Game Freak and Nintendo continue utilizing these features for future Pokémon games.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus is now available exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
