There’s a pair of cꩲards in the new Pokemon TCG expansion, Temporal Forces, that I’ve been fawning over ever since they were first revealed. These Illustration Rares, as they’re called, feature Deerling and Sawsbuck and join together to form a diptych of the two Pokemon in a vibrant, technicolor forest.
Each card is divided into three monochromatic segments - orange, blue, and pink of Deerling, pink, green, and red on Sawsbuck - to artistically represent the changing seasons. This is perfectly thematic for both Pokemon, who have different forms based on ♉each season. I’m not a huge Deerling or Sawsbuck fan, but beautiful cards like this can make you appreciate Pokemon in new ways, which has always been my favorite thing about collecting the TCG.
That was also my favorite thing about New Pokemon Snap, which, coincidently, also featured Deerling and Sawsbuck in a richly thematic environment. The Elsewhere Forest, one of the most creative and complex courses in the underrated photography sim, centers these Pokemon as the focus of a journey to discover different seasonal variants hidden within the cജourse and photograph Sawsbuck in each of its forms. It’s a fantastic puzzle box level that, like the cards, spotlights a lower profile Pokemon and lets its p♔ersonality and identity shine through.
New Pokemon Snap is full of stuff like this. Every single course is fꩵilled with interesting moments and little details that show off the unique qualities of eꦇach Pokemon. There are small moments, like Ariados trapping Bounsweet in its web in Founja Jungle or Torterra cuddling with Pichu and Grookey at night in the Florio Nature Park, that bring the world of Pokemon to life in a way no other game ever has. And the big moments, like Charizard fighting Tyrantrum in the base of Fireflow Volcano, or Squirtle riding on Blastoise back as they fly through the air in Maricopia Reef, remain some of my favorite Pokemon memories.
I Wish I C𓄧ould Spend More Money In Pokemon Go
Pokemon Go's monetization problem isn't the amount of microtransactions, its෴ the valu🥀e they offer.
New Pokemon Snap is one of my all-time favorite Pokemon games, but when it released in April 2021, it got a surprisingly lukewarm reaction. Fans were critical of the progression, which required you to run courses many times in order to gain experience and un🔯lock new encounters. Another common complaint was the lack of evolution puzzles, like the way you could knock Charmeleon into the lava to evolve it into Charizard in the original Pokemon Snap.
But New Pokemon Snap had great puzzles of its own, and they were far more involved than the ones in the original Snap. Courses like Elsewhere Forest and Founja Jungle were packed with alternate routes and secret encounters that you could only find through repe꧂tition and trial and error. It encourages you to pay close attention to small details and observe the behaviors of each Pokemon carefully. Granted, sometimes the solutions were a little too arcane for the game’s own good, but they served to create the atmosphere of a living, breathing world of Pokemon that’s unique to this series.
New Pokemon Snap isn’t perfect, but if you’re looking for perfection you really have no business playing Pokemon games. I’ve always been confused at the nitpicking over this game, because I connected with it more than any mainline Pokemon game I’ve played in years. It has compelling gameplay, genius level design, and a vision for the world of Pokemon that’s beyond compare. Three years later, I think it’s time we look back and give New Pokemoꦚn Snap the respect it deserves.
