#Pokémon25 -Presenting an End of February "Pokémon Presents" Riff.

Hey fellas: this may be the shortest month of the year, but for fairly obvious reasons; it sure didn’t feel that way. Nevertheless, I was pleased with how my previous “Pokémon Presents” post turned out; so here’s another one addressing the presentation that streamed this past Friday.

After a reel celebrating “25 years of nonstop adventure,” the presentation contained three major announcements that I’m eager to share my thoughts with you all about. The first is more information on “New Pokémon Snap,” the long-awaited followup/re-imagining of the beloved Nintendo 64 game. On top of expanding on elements from the original game, the gameplay and scoring system have been completely reworked for a new generation: it’s way more elaborate than just making sure it’s in the middle of the frame. I also like the aspect of sharing the pics you take online: as someone who remembers printing out shots at Blockbuster (or remembers Blockbuster at all for that matter), I think that alone could have the same impact online the likes of “Animal Crossing New Horizons,” “Fall Guys" and “Among Us” have had. This definitely has me looking forward to launch on April 30.

Next is not one, but two announcements that finally see the Sinnoh region being revisited on Switch. The first is “Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl,” slated for release in late 2021 (presumably during the holidays in Q4). In a series first, not only will the lion’s share of the  content from the original Nintendo DS games be preserved for a new generation of fans as well as existing ones of Generation IV (Hello!); but the games will be developed by relative newcomer ILCA. They not only developed the Pokémon Home app for both Switch and mobile phones; but they also worked on titles including “Metal Gear Rising Revengeance,” “Yakuza Zero” and “Nier: Automata.” As someone who is a big believer in the “not broken- don't fix it” approach to game design; I rather like how they’re giving the games a higher resolution along with the right amount of technical improvements. Even as someone who is often apprehensive of farming out development to other companies (for every Sonic Mania or Metroid Prime we’ve gotten from that; we’ve had dozens of failures like Metal Gear Survive and DMC Devil May Cry), I’m actually glad with this approach. I’ve seen plenty of people (myself included) compare this to the 2019 remake of “Link’s Awakening;” which I rather enjoyed as a big fan of the original. This also brings me to my next point.

The last reveal is a new experience slated for early 2022 (most likely within the ballpark of Q1): rather than a reversion of Platinum or the rumored “Arceus episode,” Nintendo and Game Freak will instead be creating a new title in the main series: “Pokémon Legends: Arceus.” Set centuries before the events of other games in the series; you take up the role of a young researcher venturing through an open world in ancient times of Sinnoh. This not only builds upon the “Wild Area” concepts of Generation VIII and its expansions; but provides a window into what lies ahead for Generation IX. The player characters also appear to be ancestors of the players in Generation IV; so that aspect intrigues me. I’m very eager to experience the game upon its release.

I’m looking forward to all three of these titles; and plan on getting them all upon release (especially once the Sinnoh games have concrete release dates). I look forward to bringing you more content in March, so be ready for it. That will be all for now, take care.