Pokemon Sun and Moon Is Basically a Secret Sequel to Pokemon Snap

Pokemon Snap was a criminally underrated Nintendo 64 game that put players in charge of a Pokemon [...]

By Christian Hoffer

Pokemon Snap was a criminally underrated Nintendo 64 game that put players in charge of a Pokemon photo safari. Set on a remote island, players took pictures of different Pokemon and slowly unlocked more items that could be used to lure rare and powerful Pokemon out of hiding. Pokemon Snap remains beloved by many Pokemon fans in part because it was the first video game to show Pokemon living and interacting in their natural setting.

Well, it looks like Pokemon Sun & Moon will incorporate some of the elements of Pokemon Snap. Today's trailer showed off a new feature called the "Poke Finder" that lets players take pictures of Pokemon they see in the wild. Similar to Pokemon X & Y, which had specific photo opportunities in front of various landmarks, players can only pull out their Poke Finder camera at certain locations marked in your Rotom Dex's map.

poke finder
(Photo: The Pokemon Company)

The photos players take with the Poke Finder will be evaluated online and scored with "thumbs up" in what appears to be a fictional socia media platform. As players collect more thumbs up, they can unlock additional Poke Finder features, such as a zoom button.

The trailer showed three examples of what Pokemon Sun & Moon fans can expect when using the Poke Finder. One example showed a Pikachu preening and cleaning itself in a meadow, another showed an Eevee and a Lillipup chasing each other in a park, and the third showed a Dragonite flying around a distant mountain's peak.

Of course, this isn't the direct Pokemon Snap sequel players have wanted, but it's a pretty cool addition to an already exciting game. There's lots of possibilities for the Poke Finder, especially if it has deeper integration into the new Rotom Dex. Could you imagine using the Poke Finder to register new Pokemon to the Pokedex, or adding Poke Finder photos to existing Pokedex entries?

Nintendo didn't announce whether players could share their Poke Finder pictures online, but it's likely you'll at least be able to show them off on your Nintendo account.

Pokemon Sun and Moon comes out on November 18 in the United States and Japan and November 23 in Europe.

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