New Pokémon Snap has changed many things from the original game that was released over 20 years ago, ranging from visual and gameplay aspects all the way through to the main story.
The story of the New Pokémon Snap revolves around the player, Professor Mirror and a select few other friends striving to discover as much as they can about the Lental region and the history and significance surrounding the Illumina phenomenon.
10 It Is Unique To The Lental Region
While the region’s various landscapes such as desert, volcanoes, and meadows may look familiar, the Illumina Phenomenon is exclusive to the Lental region. Throughout the game, the player will discover more about the history and significance surrounding the Illumina mystery.
Professor Mirror oversees research in the region and has been searching for more answers regarding the Illumina Phenomenon. Despite the Illumina Phenomenon being new and unique to the Lental region, the Pokémon found here are from the established 8 generations.
9 Captain Vince And His Findings Inspired Professor Mirror’s Entire Project
Captain Vince supposedly encountered Illumina Pokémon when he was just a child, which prompted him to embark on a massive ecological survey of the Lental Region 100 years prior to the events of New Pokémon Snap. He would eventually publish the oldest record of Illumina Pokémon in his Lental Travelogue, although the resulting photos are of pretty poor quality.
His work went on to inspire Professor Mirror to research the Illumina Phenomenon further. This is ultimately why the player’s arrival and work is critical to updating these records and research.
8 Helping The Professor to Make Illumina Orbs Is Essential To The Entire Project
Illumina orbs are throwable balls that make their surroundings glow and light up and they are made by Professor Mirror to help the player with their collective research and studies. However, in order to make Illumina orbs specific to each location, he first requires information, more specifically, a photograph of a Crystabloom flower in bloom. Once unlocked, Illumina orbs can be used for that specific island in order to create unique situations and potentially better camera shots.
7 Crystabloom Flowers Emit Substantial Illumina Energy And This Can Be Utilized
Crystablooms are aptly named as they are crystal-shaped flowers that give off strong Illumina energy when in bloom. In order to create Illumina orbs, the player must seek these flowers out and photograph a glowing one that is giving off strong energy.
The player must rely on their own intuition to scan and find every Crystabloom as they are not always obvious. When lit up, Crystablooms act as a beacon and light up the immediate area, sometimes triggering changes in certain Pokémon’s behavior.
6 Illumina Orbs Can Trigger Events, Interactions And Just Make Photos Look Better
Throwing Illumina orbs at Crystabloom flowers is certainly a good way to light up the immediate vicinity and perhaps attract Pokémon to come and check it out, but throwing orbs at the Pokémon themselves is also a way to get good photos. Worst case scenario, this will just light the Pokémon up which still makes for a good picture especially at night. Best case scenario, it can wake a Pokémon up or encourage it to move to the next phase of it’s movement for that particular level.
Experimenting with throwing orbs at as many things as you can can certainly uncover more of a level than just slowly progressing through it and looking around.
5 Completing Certain Tasks Can Unlock Illumina Spots
In order to unlock the Illumina spots where the player can meet and photograph the large and mysterious Illumina Pokémon, certain tasks have to be completed. The most common of these is finding and unlocking an alternative route on one of the courses of that particular island or area.
For example, in order to unlock the Lental Seafloor Illumina Spot, the player must throw an Illumina orb at a Clawitzer and witness it open up an alternate route, before scanning and selecting the alternate route, which leads to a new area where the Illumina Spot happens to branch off from.
4 There Are 6 Majestic Illumina Pokémon To Meet
In New Pokémon Snap, there are 6 Illumina Pokémon which are basically the photography-game equivalent of a boss battle. They are Meganium, Milotic, Wishiwashi, Volcarona, Steelix and Xerneas. Apart from Xerneas, they are all related thematically to the area in which they appear, which makes complete sense as they are still Pokémon living in their appropriate habitats.
As the story progresses, and as the player encounters and gathers more information about them, it is made obvious that they are older and more significant than they may appear.
3 Throwing Illumina Orbs At An Illumina Pokémon Will Reveal Their Special Patterns
As the player faces off against the Illumina Pokémon, throwing Illumina orbs at each of them will not only set off certain reactions and behavioral changes, but it will also reveal colorful and mysterious patterns. While it is difficult to fully capture these in their entirety on camera, they still make for incredible snaps.
In order to complete the Illumina Spot levels, at least one photo of these patterns must be taken and submitted to Professor Mirror for analysis.
2 Signs Point To An Ancient Illumina History
As the story progresses in New Pokémon Snap, it is understood that the 6 Illumina Pokémon were, and still are, the powerful guardians of the Lental region. To be more specific, it is believed that they banded together to help protect the region from a meteorite, 2000 years prior to the events of this game.
It is assumed that Xerneas, at the very least, needed to rest after protecting the region from the meteorite as it had exhausted its energy, but an Illumina Pokémon appearing to Captain Vince sparked the region-wide search for the truth regarding the incident, which Professor Mirror and the team continue.
1 So Much Is Still Unknown About The Events Following The Meteorite
Despite having additional information from the mural discovered towards the end of the game and from Captain Vince’s Travelogue and findings, the events that would follow the Illumina Pokémon saving Lental from the meteorite are still somewhat unclear. It is assumed that the Legendary Xerneas had to essentially hibernate to recover, but what of the others?
It is heavily implied at the end of the story of New Pokémon Snap that the Illumina Pokémon, and all other Pokémon for that matter, are drawn to the player due to mutual love and respect.
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