New Pokemon Snap’s DLC adds a surprising amount of content

Last night, I told myself that at 9 PM Eastern I was going to sit down and play through the New Pokemon Snap DLC really quick so I could write about it today. That “real quick” had me looking at the clock at 3:30 AM realizing I still wasn’t done. This is because despite what may seem like three quick stages is actually a lot of content with a lot of replay value and maybe even a legendary… but only if you promise to behave.

The update doesn’t take too long to download; it took me roughly about 5 minutes. Then once you hop into the game you get a series of notifications letting you know that new content has been added. You even get a “Cool” filter and a couple of stickers for photo editing. Then Professor Mirror lets you know he needs to talk to you.

He lets you know that he’s located two specific spots on the islands that he’s recently discovered that seem to have Pokemon activity he’s yet to catalog.

There’s the Mightywide River, described as: “This nutrient-rich river flows throughout the entire island”. It’s a stage where you float down a river complete with rapids, sudden drops, a waterfall, and even the long-awaited Gyarados. If this sounds familiar to anyone who played the original Pokemon Snap, even series veteran Todd mentioned that this stage is “nostalgic” to him.

Then there’s the Barren Badlands which are described as “A wasteland overlooked by cliffs, where fissures spew heat and toxic gas.” It lives up to that description because this place is a dry barren hellscape with a massive toxic pit that serves home to some poison types. It’s also surprisingly busy despite being a dried-out badland.

After the new areas are explained Professor Mirror goes to wherever it is in his one-room home he disappears too and you get called over by Phil and Rita who let us know that they’ve found out that the Professor is working on a prototype piece of tech that will allow your vehicle (with you inside) to shrink down to the size of a fluffruit.

I mentioned in my original review how crazy it is that Professor Mirror built a TELEPORTER and no one seems to care but my dude also built a shrinking vehicle? This is world-changing. Like…this should have changed the way people live on your planet and you’re just taking pictures? Dude. Anyways…

Phil basically lets you know that the device currently only works in one location by a specific tree in the first stage Nature Park and he’s going to help you sneak it out and try it. Thus adds the third stage, “Secret Path”.

Let’s get into what each stage offers.

Mightywide River

The Mightywide River stage has you returning to Belusyva Island for a white water rapid tour that fans of the original game will immediately feel right at home with.

In this beautifully crafted stage, you’ll encounter several new Pokemon including Ursaring, Tropius, a very aggressive Feraligatr, and some adorable Cleffa.

As you make your way through the stage you’ll encounter a lot of really fun secrets. There’s a Psyduck that you can save from harassment. Small little side detours that can be unlocked by making certain Pokemon dive into the water near you pushing you up on the shore for a brief moment allowing you to hang out with Tropius, Venusaur, and the like. There are ways to discover who left massive claw marks over by the tree where an Ursaring sleeps (spoiler, it’s Ursaring). And even a waterfall that a bunch of hopping Magikarp seem to love hanging out at that may hold a secret to anyone who played the original.

This stage holds a really interesting mix of lazy river rides that move at a slow clip and let you take in your surroundings mixed with occasional areas of rapids that have half-second windows in which you can hit Crystablooms as you plummet past them.

One highlight which startled me even though the trailer showed this coming is if you play your cards right after you drop off the last small waterfall, you can look behind you and catch a Gyarados jumping off right behind you and getting crazy air. Snap this shot for an easy four-star picture.

Or do what I did and turn Gyarados into an old meme.

Eventually, as you make your way through the three levels of daytime research and two of nighttime research you’ll find side paths that take you through caves, interesting Drillbur behavior, and more ways to interact with Toucannons than you’ve ever wanted.

This one is easily the easiest out of the new batch. Now we’re going to head over to the Barren Badlands.