New Pokemon Snap: How to Take 4-Star Photos

In New Pokemon Snap, every photo you take is rated on a 4-star scale. A basic photo of a Pokemon will get you 1-star, but the rarer or more unusual a Pokemon’s behavior in a photo, the higher the rating. There are a number of ways you can affect a Pokemon’s behavior to increase the photo’s rating, and in this guide, we’ll run you through how to take 4-star photos in New Pokemon Snap.

How to Take 4-Star Photos in New Pokemon Snap

Getting a 4-star rating on your photos can be accomplished by using the various items at your disposal. We’ve listed and explained each of these below.

Scan the immediate area by pressing X. Doing this will make a green dot appear by points of interest and you can press and hold X to get information about it. This may be something you can interact with to cause a Pokemon to act differently.

Throw Fluffruit by pressing B. Some Pokemon will be lured towards it so you can move them, and get extra stars for pictures of Pokemon eating the Fluffruit. Other Pokemon will quickly move out of the way when Fluffruit is thrown at them, which is again considered unusual behavior.

Play a Melody by pressing R. By playing a melody, you’ll be able to get certain Pokemon’s attention. It can also awaken other Pokemon, or make them behave in a certain way such as dancing around. Sometimes it just lures a Pokemon out into the open so you can get a nice, clear shot of them. Give this a try if you’re struggling to get a 4-star photo for a particular Pokemon.

Throw Illumina Orbs by pressing Y. You’ll need to unlock the correct color Illumina Orb for each island before you’re able to use them. Throwing an Illumina Orb at a Pokemon will make them glow, but also sometimes react to it, which can increase the star rating. More commonly, you’ll need to throw an Illumina Orb at a Crystabloom Flower, of which there is one on each course. This makes the flower light up and glow brightly, and this can cause Pokemon to react to this, or new Pokemon appear altogether.

For example, in the image of Corsola below, this was given a 4-star rating because we threw an Illumina Orb at a Crystabloom Flower next to it. This caused the Corsola to walk over to it and light up in the sunlight. This special behavior is what makes it a 4-star photo.

It’s worth pointing out that the requirements to get a 4-star photo vary for each Pokemon in the game. As such, you’ll need to do a bit of trial and error in order to get them all, but almost all 4-star photos can be attained by using any of the methods listed above.

And now you know how to take 4-star photos in New Pokemon Snap, you’re all set to do the Professor proud. For more tips and tricks, head over to our wiki, or see more of our coverage on the game below.