Since Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are comming out soon, I want to say some things in regards to Sun and Moon.
Sun and Moon ended up really dissapointing me. They are not bad games, but I feel they lack some things that could easily make them the best pokemon games ever. I figure I’ll just break it down into points. And before anyone gets their jimmies rustled, this will contain a mix of facts, opinions, and personal viewpoints. Please keep common sense in tact.
Sun and Moon feel like a watered down version of ORAS
I don’t care how controversial this viewpoint is. I came right off of ORAS when I started playing Sun and Moon and I noticed the differences between the games. I don’t want to get into in this point here as that would take away from other points I want to make. You will see what I mean as I go along.
I feel some key features are missing
So you cannot re-challenge trainers…I do not like that at all. I don’t want my offline battles resigned to the battle facilities, wild encounters, and the elite 4. Horde battles are also gone. I liked horde battles. They were great for EV training, It made shiny hunting less of a chore, and it was fun to see something different. SOS battles are not bad, but they cannot compare in my eyes.
I am also mift at the fact that there is no viable way to get to level 100. Grind the elite 4? NO. It doesn’t give that much EXP and Z-moves are annoying. Also it takes forever. I do not mind grinding, but excessive grinding is where I draw the line. Plus I don’t even know what that does to the 3DS hardware. Festival plaza? I need to be online to get good level up stands and you need to get lucky to find the right people. And you need a lot of festival points… I didn’t expect the Blissey bases to come back (even though those were a freaking god send…), but something would have been nice.
The game holds your hand like crazy
Come on people, you cannot deny there was an uncomfortable amount of hand holding. I get that the game is aimed at kids. But kids should be allowed to explore and not have the majority of the game be a scripted event. Hau, Lillie, LET ME DO MY OWN THING.
I know what people are going to say: “This game isn’t for you…” Well I started out with Gen 3 and I was able to figure things out by wandering around. Plus hand holding is a much hated trope in video games regardless of how much there actually is. I also noticed X and Y had an issue with hand holding. It is becoming an issue in recent pokemon games. ORAS didn’t have this issue, but to be fair they were remakes.
Plus this game was way too easy. Z-moves did not make it harder, they made the game more annoying. The game is a cake-walk if you have the right Z-moves…
The pokedex was good, but it had some duds
Why does the first non mega, non legendary Fire Dragon look like a stereotypical modern cartoon turtle? That upset aside, I feel the Sun And Moon pokedex was good, but had some duds. For the most part, they nailed it out of the ballpark. But obviously you have got the fillers (cough) Harambe Oranguru, Comfey, Komala, Passimian… (cough) and the missed potential cases.
UItra beasts and legendaries? Fantastic, keep at it gamefreak. But no roaming legendaries? Seriously?
Alolan forms? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING GAMEFREAK? I do not hate the idea of Alolan forms, but there is so many missed oppertunities and pokemon that did NOT deserve them. An Ice type Vulpix and Sandshrew would make more sense in northen Sinnoh than Hawaii-based Alola. Rattata, Meowth, and Grimer…Pretty sure there is better choices. Golem: Why does it have a rail canon? Why does it not have a volcano or is made out of volcanic rock? Alolan Execgutor? That actually make sense considering it is based off of a palm tree. Alolan Raichu? Pretty sure they did that because Pikachu… Alolan Marowak…It looks cool, but I don’t even know. Alolan Dugtrio: MEMES. And the sad thing is that majority of the gen one dex is in the game with a lot of pokemon (especially aquatics) that should have gotten alolan forms.
Zygarde is shoe-horned in…I don’t care about the financial reasons for skipping Pokemon Z. It’s still shoe-horned in.
And for the love of Arceus gamefreak, stop making pokemon hate each other in lore. It makes no sense for every Mimikyu to hate Pikachu’s. What are they a hive mind?
Alola is small and questionable…
I think Alola is the smallest region we have had in a while. It doesn’t help that a lot of doors in this game are fake. Vinny from Vinesauce made a Rick and Morty joke in regards to this and it is fully valid. It feels like Alola is more show than substance.
And gee, there seems to be a lack of swimming and diving for a region based on Hawaii. And why is there an Ice mountain in a Hawaii-based region? It made sense for Sinnoh and Kalos to have ice areas because they are up north. I assume Alola is in the tropics. Why does it have an ice mountain?
Also Alola feels like a guided path to me. But they may be issue with the series itself now that I think about it.
Z-moves and Mega evoultions…
I hate Z-moves. To me, they are an inferior Mega evolution mechanic. I’ll use them, but that doesn’t mean I like them. And Mega evolutions got the crap end of the stick this generation. So we went from a strong bond between trainer and pokemon to MEGA EVOLUTIONS ARE EVUL! YOU ARE ABUSING UR POKEMON! Excuse me? Can we please fire the team working on the pokedex right now? They seem to be more concerned with messing with the players head rather than making coeherent lore.
Oh, and the limited amount of mega stones available is lovely. Sorry, you have to get the rest through online distrubutions. The only problematic mega stone in ORAS was garchompite. Otherwise you could find all of the mega stones easily. And I don’t want to hear any crap about Megas given that there is wide a variety of Z-moves.
Overall verdict
Watch, someone is going to overreact and claim I hate Sun and Moon… I like Sun and Moon, but they could have been better. I see a good game here. But even with that in mind, the games are still fun. There is no such thing as a bad Pokemon game, just a flawed game…barring spin off games obviously… Sun and Moon are still an enjoyable experience.
If I had to make recomendations for modern games, here is how it would go: You’re not missing much with X and Y, so you can give them a pass. But you will be missing out on the Nordic trio and one of the best dragon Pokemon ever (Goodra). ORAS are a must have, especially if you liked Ruby and Sapphire. Plus they give you a convient and streamlined entry into competitve play. Sun And Moon look nice and have redeeming features. Plus there are some great pokemon and the story (while not perfect) is pretty good. Plus the Ultra Beasts are the coolest thing ever…
And my viewpoints don’t make Sun and Moon bad. I am just expressing how I feel and getting out my frustrations. I maybe a little old-fashioned, but that doesn’t inavalidate anything I say.
And I am done for now. You are welcome to agree or disagree with me. Just keep in mind that may or may not agree with you. I am not you. All I ask is that at least stay civil (but hey, everybody expects this).