Well worth the wait for this sequel to the original N64 title!!!
It improves upon nearly every aspect of the original while keeping most of the charm intact.
I'll quickly get my two main disappointments out of the way:
1) The music is the most bland and forgettable stuff they could've picked. Maybe they did that not to distract from the Pokemon in their habitats but the original managed to have catchy tunes so..... yeah
2) A lack of the evolutions mechanic. The original had some nice puzzles with knocking a Charmeleon into lava for Charizard to pop out or Magikarp up a waterfall for Gyarados to pop out. It's a shame they didn't do that here but it's not a deal breaker.
In every other aspect though, this is a superior sequel. The courses offer multiple routes to show off Pokemon in different areas. They also have research levels to build from your scores unlocking more interactions and Pokemon as you replay levels keeping things from getting stale.
The Illumina Pokemon act like bosses in a similar way to Mew in the original where you have to figure how to get them to glow to take a photo of them. Speaking of the Pokemon, the roster choice is a fantastic show of Pokemon across all generations. No Gen 1 bias here as Pokemon like Milotic, Meganium, Vivillon, Joltik and many more are given the chance to shine while a lot of the more prominent Gen 1 Pokemon of recent games (cough Charizard cough) take a while to show up and aren't given any special focus. In fact the final Illumina Pokemon is an inspired choice and fits the theme of nature very well.
What this game does incredibly well (and something that has been missing from the series for a while now) is show off Pokemon in their natural habitat just being themselves. Whether it's Squirtle riding on a Lapras, Grookey and Pichu playing in fields, Wailord emerging from the ocean, Kecleon camouflaging itself, or Froslass creating blizzards, the Pokemon are given a chance to shine and make you smile as you see the many interactions they have. It gives them a way to imprint on people's minds that has been sorely missing since the earlier days of the franchise.
Finally, the game offers a ton more content than I expected. There's over 200 Pokemon to see, each with 4 different star levels of pic to snap, multiple varieties of courses, and even bonus objectives to complete if you so desire. It took me around 15-20 hours to get a picture of every Pokemon and I'll gladly revisit it someday to try and fill out more of the 3 and 4 star entries.
A brilliant sequel and well worth the wait! We can only hope there's more to come because there's so many Pokemon deserving of a chance to shine!
It improves upon nearly every aspect of the original while keeping most of the charm intact.
I'll quickly get my two main disappointments out of the way:
1) The music is the most bland and forgettable stuff they could've picked. Maybe they did that not to distract from the Pokemon in their habitats but the original managed to have catchy tunes so..... yeah
2) A lack of the evolutions mechanic. The original had some nice puzzles with knocking a Charmeleon into lava for Charizard to pop out or Magikarp up a waterfall for Gyarados to pop out. It's a shame they didn't do that here but it's not a deal breaker.
In every other aspect though, this is a superior sequel. The courses offer multiple routes to show off Pokemon in different areas. They also have research levels to build from your scores unlocking more interactions and Pokemon as you replay levels keeping things from getting stale.
The Illumina Pokemon act like bosses in a similar way to Mew in the original where you have to figure how to get them to glow to take a photo of them. Speaking of the Pokemon, the roster choice is a fantastic show of Pokemon across all generations. No Gen 1 bias here as Pokemon like Milotic, Meganium, Vivillon, Joltik and many more are given the chance to shine while a lot of the more prominent Gen 1 Pokemon of recent games (cough Charizard cough) take a while to show up and aren't given any special focus. In fact the final Illumina Pokemon is an inspired choice and fits the theme of nature very well.
What this game does incredibly well (and something that has been missing from the series for a while now) is show off Pokemon in their natural habitat just being themselves. Whether it's Squirtle riding on a Lapras, Grookey and Pichu playing in fields, Wailord emerging from the ocean, Kecleon camouflaging itself, or Froslass creating blizzards, the Pokemon are given a chance to shine and make you smile as you see the many interactions they have. It gives them a way to imprint on people's minds that has been sorely missing since the earlier days of the franchise.
Finally, the game offers a ton more content than I expected. There's over 200 Pokemon to see, each with 4 different star levels of pic to snap, multiple varieties of courses, and even bonus objectives to complete if you so desire. It took me around 15-20 hours to get a picture of every Pokemon and I'll gladly revisit it someday to try and fill out more of the 3 and 4 star entries.
A brilliant sequel and well worth the wait! We can only hope there's more to come because there's so many Pokemon deserving of a chance to shine!