Courtesy of Pokémon Database
Welcome back, Pokémon trainers! If you’ve been keeping up with the latest Pokémon news, you’ll know that 2021 marks the 25 anniversary of the Pokémon franchise. Pokémon Day, the anniversary of the release of the original Pokémon Red and Green in Japan, was on February 27th, 2021. To celebrate this special occasion, the Pokémon Company released a Pokémon Presents video on its YouTube channel on February 26th to talk about multiple new Pokémon games coming out within the next year. If you did not watch the Pokémon Presents, then I am here to tell you what you need to know about the variety of upcoming games.
New Pokémon Snap
The Pokémon community has known about New Pokémon Snap for a few months now, but the Pokémon Presents gave us more information and footage of the game. New Pokémon Snap is a successor to the original Pokémon Snap, a popular 1999 Nintendo 64 game where you took pictures of Pokémon in various railcar levels. New Pokémon Snap looks absolutely gorgeous with all the new Pokémon and improved technology introduced between 1999 and 2021. You can use different items to make Pokémon exhibit cool behaviors or even to make them glow. Like in the original Pokémon Snap, smart item use and patience will reward you with stunning photos worth tons of points in the game’s photo ranking system. You can also use Nintendo online features to share your photos with other people. New Pokémon Snap will be released for the Nintendo Switch on April 30th.
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
For years, Pokémon fans have been yearning for remakes of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, and those remakes are finally here with Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl! For those of you fluent in Pokémon memes and references, it’s finally Sinnoh confirmed! We currently know little about these games, but BDSP will be faithful remakes of Diamond and Pearl. I do hope, however, that BDSP will incorporate the best elements of Pokémon Platinum, the third game of the DPP trio, such as the expanded Pokedex. The graphics of BDSP are an homage to the DS graphics of DPP; BDSP looks like a beautiful 3D version of DPP complete with the top down view and short characters that look similar to the original sprites. We know little about the specifics about the game, but Pokémon fans, including me, are excited nonetheless. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl will be released in late 2021.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus
Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the game that nobody expected, yet now everybody is eagerly awaiting its release. Legends is going to be an open world Pokémon game, a first for the series, set in the Sinnoh region of the distant past. You get to pick a starter Pokémon, but this time the starter Pokémon are all from different regions! You can choose Rowlet from Alola, Cyndaquil from Johto or Oshawott from Unova. You get to explore Sinnoh in a graphical style similar to that of Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and you battle and catch wild Pokémon right in the field. The mythical Pokémon Arceus will somehow be involved in your journey, but its role in the story is currently a mystery. I and many other Pokémon fans are looking forward to seeing what this new adventure for the Pokémon series is going to bring. As of right now, Pokémon Legends: Arceus will be released in early 2022.
New Pokémon Snap, Pokémon BDSP and Pokémon Legends: Arceus were the upcoming games that the Pokémon Presents video focused on last month. I hope that my article informed you about these games, got you excited about the future of Pokémon games, or both! Thank you so much for reading, Pokémon fans, and I’ll be back soon with another Pokémon article!