Pokémon Moon - Nintendo 3DS

One of the best main series Pokemon games Ive ever played! I like how much love they put into the storyline and characters this rime around, and the new Pokemon are very good. They really stepped up their game since X and Y. There are also so many things you can do. Like side quests for extra money, looking for creatures for the Zygarde Cube, taking photos of Pokemon, and Poke Pelago. Some of the bigger changes, like the Trials instead of Gym Battles, and removal of HMs really lends to the culture of Alola, and the progression of Pokemon as a game. Z-Moves are a better addition than the Mega Evolutions and are incoporrated into the story and gameplay pretty well. Z-Moves also scale with the Pokemons stats. Customization has improved, too. My only greviances are that there should be more Alola Pokemon (because they are so good) and there are performance issues during battles that are not 1v1. But if you can get past that, then you are going to enjoy all that the Alola Region has to offer you.

Pokemon Moon is the first Pokemon game that ever took me more than a week to beat. And no, its not because Pokemon Moon is difficult. The reason it took me over a month to beat Pokemon Moon is because it is boring. I could barely play over an hour of it at a time. My excitement was quickly dashed after starting up the game for the first time. Thirty minutes of cutscenes later, and I still wasnt on my pokemon journey. People seem to love bashing the Gen VI games but if theres one thing those games did correctly, it was the short introductions. Pokemon XY barely had a tutorial section; I was catching Pokemon only ten minutes after popping in the cartridge. And I understand that tutorials are essential. Ive been playing Pokemon since Gen I so I know how to play the games. Someone just entering the Pokemon series might find the tutorials useful. However, we arent talking about a massive open world rpg. Its Pokemon, guys. Just demonstrate to the player how a basic battle works and how to catch wild Pokemon. Pokemon Gold and Silver did that in under ten minutes so can anyone tell me why 16 years later in Gen VII it takes over half an hour? The very least they could have done was to make the cutscenes skippable. You think its just the introduction, right? Nope. The game is cluttered with them. I swear I spent more time reading through all those cutscenes than I did exploring the various Islands. Not that there is much to explore, however. Pokemon Sun / Moon are not the games you were promised. 1) Exploration Although no Pokemon game is really non-linear, never before have I truly felt confined to a corridor than I have been in Moon (or FFXIII, take your pick). The novelty of having multiple islands to explore quickly dissipates as you realize that almost all of the routes feel exactly the same. Much of this can be attributed to the lack of the variety of Pokemon. A lot of the same Pokemon will keep sprouting up across all of the islands, taking away any uniqueness or sense of discovery. However, the routes themselves just arent particularly interesting. Most of them look the same, with the few trainers littered throughout being the only way to distinguish one route from the next. 2) Festival Plaza I cant even begin to guess why this exists. What was wrong with the PSS from Gen VI? Why did they replace that with this? Festival Plaza is one great big mess, a convoluted manner in which to connect players that totally breaks any immersion and fun because of how obnoxious and tedious it is. 3) Trials and their Captains After hearing about the decision to remove the classic Gym Battle system, many people were excited to find out what the trials of Sun and Moon would be. I myself was quite intrigued as I wondered what they implemented. Trials and their Captains were meant to spice things up, offering a new way of growing stronger as opposed to the previously established Gyms. However, different isnt always better. Instead of gym puzzles, gym trainers, and gym leaders, Gen VII offers a tedious activity coupled with a battle against a Wild (though powered-up) Pokemon. After the first two trials, it becomes clear that the concept was not properly hashed out. Most of the trials end up feeling just like gym battles anyway (Looking at you, Acerola >_>) so its a lackluster experience. 4) Rivals A lot of people wish for a classic Rival, akin to Blue or Silver. Someone cold, rude, derisive, and powerful with maybe a superiority complex sprinkled on top. After the lackluster comedic Rivals of Gen IV and Gen VI, most people felt tired of the lack of competition. Seriously...does anyone remember Barry? Or the XY Trio? They were among the most useless of characters in their games and pathetically weak as well. However, I guess there are people out there who appreciated them, though how anyone can like a character like Tierno is beyond my capacity of understanding. So in a spineless attempt to please both crowds, they included two Rivals in Sun and Moon. Hau, the happy-go-lucky native who barges into the story whenever he feels like it, is the goofy comedy relief Rival who never poses any threat to you or your ambitions. This is clearly outlined in the first hour of the game, when Hau, your RIVAL, does the opposite of all other Rivals in Pokemon games, and selects the Pokemon with a weakness to yours. Throughout the game, he is obnoxiously cheerful and never changes or develops as a character. He is just as useless by the end of the game as he is in the beginning and youll groan out loud every time he appears on screen. On the other hand, we have Gladion. Unlike Hau, he is an aloof and calculating individual who believes in individual strength. I really dont have anything bad to say about Gladion. Hes obviously a throwback to Silver, the Rival from Gen II, but theres nothing inherently wrong about that. Out of all the characters in this game, Gladion is written the best and his character actually experiences credible development throughout the game. Not to mention, his battle theme is INCREDIBLE! 5) Lillie Ugh...I cannot stand this character. Lillie, the little coward who cant do a single thing on her own, tags along with you for most of your journey through Alola. This wouldnt be an issue except that Lillie is one of the most aggravating and pointless characters of all time. Sun and Moon spend a lot of time (and a million cutscenes) trying to get you to love and adore her, as if shes the most precious, delicate flower in the world. However, after hearing Lillie tell me for the third time that she didnt enjoy watching Pokemon get hurt, I just couldnt find it in myself to care. Lillie is meant to be written as a selfless heroine trapped behind insecurities and trauma. However, the game doesnt do a good job of presenting her that way. Cutscenes of yelling Nebby! Get in the bag! and I wish I were more like you! are not nearly enough to build a character. Show, dont tell! Instead of telling us about how brave Lillie is or having all of the characters in the game compliment and praise her on her (non-existent) growth, show us that shes becoming more mature, more responsible, more courageous. When the climax of Lillies growth and transformation finally arrives, it just feels so forced and contrived. At no point was I ever convinced Lillie had developed one bit as a character. 6) Your Character (Protagonist: Sun and Moon) Protagonist Sun and Moon have absolutely no soul. With giant, wide open eyes, permanent smiles on their face, and strangely robotic walk cycles, Sun and Moon look and act like zombies. Compared to these two, Red is a rambunctious extrovert. Sun and Moon have no character. Most of this is Lillies fault. So much of the story is centered on her that it leaves little room for Sun and Moon to properly develop. You spend more time fulfilling favors for her, listening to her drone on and on about this or that, or saving her from another disaster than you do learning anything about yourself. 7) Team Skull While I have grown to love them, I can understand why some people dont care much for Team Skull. As an antagonistic group, Team Skull is laughably pathetic. When compared to Team Rocket, Team Aqua / Magma, Team Plasma, the rapping punk goons fall flat on their face. However, while I disliked them in the beginning, I am rather fond of them now. Their music is cool and the dialogue from their members are witty and funny. Its also incredibly hard to dislike their leader, Guzma. I think Team Skull is fine. Just dont take them too seriously and youll be okay. Overview Its not the worst game ever. Even a (relatively) bad Pokemon game is still better than 70% of games out there. Anyone who gives this game a 1/10 is a liar. However, I really must advise caution for long time Pokemon fans. Sun and Moon are not the games you think they are and you will most likely be disappointed by many of the unwelcome changes to the Pokemon formula. It is certainly different but change is not inherently good. Some things, like Ride Pokemon, are very good. No longer is there a need for HM Slaves. However, many other things are bad. With the repetitive nature of the game, annoying unskippable cutscenes, hit-or-miss music, boring / tedious trials, super linear gameplay, and so many plot convenieces, this is the worst Pokemon generation so far.

This game is probably one of my favorite Pokemon games. I love the story line that is more involved than many of its predecessors. It actually makes me feel like Im getting my moneys worth out of the game! The pokemon are just as cute in this one. I usually find in many Pokemon games that I go for the same old team in each one, but this one I ventured out and tried different pokemon. The festival plaza is one of my favorite things about this game, as well as Poke Pelago. I seriously could see myself playing this game even after I beat the main story line this time.

This game does not utilize 3D capabilities. The overall quality feels a bit unfinished. The story gets an incredibly slow start. The Rotom Dex is more annoying than Clippy and Navi combined. Every other line of Team Skulls dialogue makes me cringe because their body language is like the choreography for a rap video on meth, and they stereotype gang culture with African American Vernacular English so it comes off as a bit racist even with white characters saying it. The gameplay has been changed a lot since the previous generation. Some of the essential basic features that have been there since gen 1 have been removed, so its hardly even Pokémon anymore. There are no gym battles. There arent even gyms. There are no HMs, and the replacement for them doesnt even make any sense. There are no bikes, probably because the writers decided everyone would be happy with riding a Pokémon. You can no longer transfer Pokémon up from previous generations, except Bank(a service you have pay for annually) will enable that starting next month, but Pokémon cant hold items when transferred through Bank, so I will lose all of my rare items that I worked hard to earn and find. Online gameplay is flooded with cheaters that Nintendo refuses to do anything about. Even well-known players in official tournaments are obviously cheating and harass anyone who mentions it. The only reason I havent sold the game is because I still do link battles with my partner.

It was actually really great. Bought it used and it worked great aftrr i deleted previous user.

Having played through the Pokemon series, flaws and all, I can say the added features here make this one of the best Pokemon Ive ever played. While the story mostly follows the traditional formula (Collect, Train, Unlock New Areas, Beat the Bad Team, and become the Champion), it does it in a way that finally makes the game feel like its not working against you. Probably the best feature added to this game (and possibly the best addition to the entire series) is the removal of HMs. Instead of having to find the one or two HMs that can be viable on an actual member of your team and having to load as many as possible onto an HM slave (Thank you for your years of service Golduck!), you are now given what becomes effectively a summon ability. At certain progress points through the game, you get access to different Pokemon that function as ridable HMs. A Charizard will help you fly. A Tauros will smash rocks in your path and allow you to dramatically improve your run speed (very helpful with egg hatching). It means your team can be 6 Pokemon that you choose, not 5 plus one just for HMs. The key drawback I found for this game was the hard push to expand the Poison type. While it is nice to see some old faces rejuvenated (looking at you Muk), the sheer number of additional Poison types makes this game feel like youre exploring the poison islands. While I realize this is likely a response to help tone down the power of the Fairy type, which was a response to tone down the Dragon type, it feels a bit heavy handed. Granted, Poison types have been underrepresented for most of the history of Pokemon, but I think they could have been a bit more creative in their execution. Other than that complaint, I think the overall execution of the game was fantastic, as were some of the new additions to the roster. One other nitpick is that there is no National Dex, even after completing the game. Not the biggest deal, but a good FYI. You can see many other reviews that can tell you about the different areas and features, so by all means check those if you;re curious. What it boils down to is if youre remotely interested in Pokemon, you should play this game!

One of the best games in the series to date. Ive played since gen one, I have to say that the characters and writing in sun and moon is amazing. The closest would be gen 5, but that was more story driven than character in my opinion. The designs may take some getting used to, but after a month even the ones I didnt like originally have grown on me. The only complaints may be that the beginning of the game is rather dialogue heavy, so for kids that dont like reading or even others, it may come off as tedious. Other than that, the post-game is rather small and similar to X and Y/ORAS.

I was very disappointed with Pokémon Alpha Sapphire, but Im still a Pokémon fan so I HAD to order this game. Im happy to say the bad taste went away completely! I feel really excited when I play this game, discovering new Pokémon and forms! The story is interesting and the characters are all likeable so far. The new mechanics are great and well implemented. I LOVE to ride Tauros, I thought I was gonna miss my bike but hell no! Also the trials are entertaining, I dont miss gym leaders at all. One in particular made me laugh a lot. Also you get to see Pokédex descriptions everytime you get a new Pokémon, either from capturing, evolving or trading, which is great. Some of the descriptions are pretty cool or even creepy! I only wish we had Pokémon Bank already, my dear friends from previous games are waiting for me there. If youre a Pokémon fan, youll LOVE this game!

The best pokemon game I have played in several years. I have been a fan for 15 years and with the change to 3D I have not had a good time with it. X and Y was not that fun, while omega ruby and alpha sapphire I found to be a poor remake of the original, but I found Both Sun and Moon to be a refreshing new take to pokemon. It has it`s changes true and It has a rather slow start which to a series veteran was very annoying, but in the end I think it was a new and great change addition to the series.

I had been waiting for this game for SO LONG. It was worth it to pre-order because: 1) I got it shipped to me the day it came out and 2) it was at a discounted price!! What more could you want?? I absolutely wouldve paid $400 for this game. I wouldve given Nintendo my soul. For the months leading up to it, I would show my friends and family the new trailers by shoving my phone in their faces and waiting for a reaction. Pokémon has been a part of my life for over 14 years and I couldnt live on if they stopped making games. I couldnt. You may laugh, you may scoff, but I am as serious as Sirius (Black). I also chose Moon because its so much cooler and less basic than Sun. In Moon, the clock is 12 different from the real world so its DARK WHEN ITS LIGHT AND LIGHT WHEN ITS DARK IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. Alright, thanks for reading. Or not reading. Either way, have a fantabulotistic day.