Pokémon is celebrating its 25th anniversary on February 27, and one day ahead of that milestone, The Pokémon Company has premiered a Pokémon Presents. After debuting the format in June and using it to announce New Pokémon Snap, Pokémon Unite and smaller projects like Pokémon Café Mix, as well as updates to GO and Sword and Shield, Pokémon Presents returned to announce the franchise's plans for its silver anniversary.
Like many of these presentations, the Pokémon Presents began with a retrospective of the franchise's many endeavors. This really emphasized how much Pokémon has done in 25 years, including the obvious from games and anime to more bizarre things like swing motion toys and pedometers. From there, the stream went into announcements regarding upcoming games and special events. One of these was the long-awaited Pokémon Diamond and Pearl remake, coming later this year, while another was a major surprise.
New Pokémon Snap
The first game featured was, predictably, the next Pokémon game releasing for Nintendo Switch. While we've already seen quite a bit from New Pokémon Snap so far, the presentation went over previous announcements while showing off a few more of the game's mechanics. We got to see more ways players will be able to interact with Pokémon, including playing music and throwing Illumina orbs that can make them glow.
Also announced were New Pokémon Snap's online features. Much like in other games with photo modes, players will be able to edit the pictures they take and share them online. They'll also be able to see photos from other players around the world, with those that become popular being featured, presumably on the home page or some kind of curated list. According to the fine print, this is an in-game feature that requires a Nintendo Switch Online membership to use.
Pokémon Day Special Events
Next, Pokémon presented a couple of anniversary-centric events going on in various games right now. Sword and Shield will be holding special Max Raid Battles until February 28 where players can take on Gigantamax Pikachu. Pokémon Café Mix is holding a promotion that'll give players 2,500 golden acorns just for logging in, also ending on Feb. 28.
Additionally, the original Generation I Legendaries Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres and Mewtwo are appearing in Legendary Raids as part of a Kanto event running until March 1. Finally, Pokémon Masters EX has added Galar Champion Leon and his Charizard through a special event that ends on March 17.
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
Fans have been asking for Generation IV remakes for years, and they're finally getting them later this year with Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. These will be faithful recreations of the original games, which indicates that they may not include the changes and improvements that Platinum brought to the games. The games are being developed by Ilca Inc (which worked on Pokémon Home) and directed by Ilca's Yuichi Ueda and Game Freak's Junichi Masuda (who directed the originals).
Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl's art style is more cartoony than other Pokémon games, especially in regards to its human characters in the overworld. This colorful, cute aesthetic mimics the original games' sprites, which made every character look to be the same shape and size outside of battles. The style itself is reminiscent of another Nintendo handheld game turned Switch remake, Link's Awakening. The games will launch in late 2021, likely in mid-November just like the past few Pokémon releases have.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus
Finally, the presentation ended with the surprising announcement of a Pokémon game unlike any we've seen before. Pokémon Legends: Arceus will be an open-world title that explores a historical version of Sinnoh based off of feudal Japan. This world is full of Pokémon roaming freely around nature, and the player's goal is to the create Sinnoh's first Pokédex. Despite taking place in the distant past, there are Poké Balls, and it looks like players will be able to sneak up on and catch Pokémon using some sort of stealth mechanics that haven't existed in previous games.
The starter options for this game will be Rowlet, Cyndaquil and Oshawott, which originated in Generations VII, II and V respectively. These Pokémon were brought to Sinnoh by a currently unnamed professor, who found them while traveling. After obtaining one of them, players will set off from their village (described as their "base") to explore Sinnoh, engaging in battles that look like the turn-based ones from the main series. However, these battles seem like they could be much larger in scale, with the camera circling around the action and the trainer standing beside their Pokémon the entire time.
Additional information on the game's story remain a mystery, but it's clear it will have something to do with the Mythical Pokémon of the title, Arceus. Introduced in Generation IV, Arceus is said to have shaped the universe and is directly connected to many of Sinnoh's Legendaries. This Pokémon will, somehow, be connected to the player's journey, hinting at an epic tale worthy of the myths told about the Alpha Pokémon.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus is currently set to release for Nintendo Switch in early 2022.