Certain courses may only be unlocked by achieving a baseline score, and capturing Pokémon in specific poses, recorded in a journal, results in additional bonuses.

Courses can be explored at different times of day, offering the player chances to capture unique Pokémon and poses and interactions.

[10] For each research expedition, the player travels in the NEO-ONE hovercraft to safely photograph Pokémon in their natural environments, including jungles, deserts and beaches.

[2][5] Each photo the player takes is graded by Professor Mirror on a scale of one to four stars based on how rare the current activity of the Pokémon is.

[11][12] Each photo is also given a score taking into account things like shot composition, how close the Pokémon is, and whether they are facing the camera or not.

[13] As players take higher-quality photos, they earn Expedition Points that go toward improving the Research Level of each area in the Lental region.

[1] This allows the player to change parameters like zoom, blur, and brightness, as well as add photographic filters, photo frames, and stickers.

[22] Suzaki's vision for the game was to keep the basic gameplay from the original, while adding new features that reflected how people currently interact with photographs.

[23] He explained, "The result is a simple game of taking pictures in a world where Pokémon are alive and well in nature, but at the same time there is a variety of contemporary ways to play with photography.

[46] In the United Kingdom, it sold four times as many physical copies at launch as its predecessor game, also taking the number one place in sales.