Pokémon Moon - Nintendo 3DS

As the Pokemon games reach their 7th generation, the formula of the games has become very much a standardized affair. Move through routes, defeat gym leaders, then face the elite four and challenge the champion. The games have each stood out individually for features such as Pokemon contests from R/S/E, customizable fashion from X/Y, the DexNav from Omega Ruby, and so on which have not been carried on to later games. The biggest change in Pokemon Sun/Moon is the removal of Pokemon gyms, replaced by Island Challenges where trainers fight predetermined battles and solve puzzles. I strongly dislike this change; while the total experience gained ends up matching gyms, the distinct feeling of a gym and gym leader is lost, and so areas lose some of their individuality. I hope that gyms return in the next series of games. Other changes have been made too, mostly positive. While the number of new Pokemon added is relatively small compared with games such as Black/White, new Pokemon Alolan forms have been added with new designs, typing, and movesets. The Alolan forms make for very interesting new designs and type/move combinations, and my personal favorite is the Alolan Ninetales, which is now blue and is an Ice/Fairy type. Customizable fashion and hairstyles have made a welcome return from Pokemon X/Y after being absent in Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, and there is a very Hawaiian feel to the clothing options. HM moves have been removed, replaced by Pokemon riding to break rocks, travel on water, or flying between cities. The day/night cycle has a renewed emphasis, where Pokemon can appear on routes depending on the day or night like in the original Gold/Silver games. Additional modes include the Festival plaza, where trainers can meet and interact, sharing stats and greetings and matching up for battles and trades. A second new mode is the Poke Pelago, small islands where you can grow berries, increase Pokemon happiness, levels, and EVs, and search for rare items. Both of these modes are fun and can be quite the time-wasters. One complaint I have is the relatively limited set of post-game activities. A small set of new areas open up along with the ability to catch new legendary Ultra Beasts, along with the Battle Tree, the new area where you can battle AI-controlled teams for currency to purchase rare items. However, these activities can be completed relatively quickly and the Battle Tree can become repetitive very fast unless you have a diverse set of Pokemon to battle with. Another complaint I have is the lack of backwards compatibility. Despite Pokemon X/Y, Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire and Sun/Moon all being 3DS games, there is no way to trade between Sun/Moon and the older games. The only possibility is using the external Poke Bank application to transfer your friends from earlier games to the new games, but not vice versa. This process makes it difficult to transfer teams across the games, and harms the replayability of those older games by not letting you use newly caught Mons. Overall the game is highly enjoyable and accessible for newcomers or those who may have not played for many years (I myself just recently purchased a 3DS and the newest 3 series of games). The new Pokemon and Alolan forms are very visually distinct and have interesting type combinations that make battles deeper. Most of the changes to gameplay are positive and add to the diversity of modes available to players. The difficulty curve, while on the easy side (It is still a childrens game after all) is consistent and compelling, and the environments of Alola are lovingly rendered and attractive to the eyes. I would recommend this game to any Pokemon fan as well as anyone interested in RPG games or curious about the Pokemon series.

Ive been apart of the Pokemon world for the last 20 somthing years since Red on the gameboy color came out and I have to first say that this is a nice different flavor to the run of the mill pokemon games although following the fundamentals of the games things have changed no gym battles but Island leaders as well with the ability to fly, surf and rock smash no longer holding a party pokemon down is fantastic. I highly recommend this game to all pokemon fans because its a breath of fresh air to the franchise. Although I suggest ultra moon or sun because this games the outdated ones like black and white where to blk/wht 2.

This is the first new Pokemon game Ive played since the original Sapphire back in ~2004, and I enjoyed this game quite a bit. The story and progression is really interesting in this game and there are lots of new and interesting pokemon to catch. The visuals are also very nice for a 3DS game, while still fitting in with what a Pokemon game is supposed to look like. My one complaint with this game, however, is that its extremely easy - to the extent that I would argue this is one of the simplest videogames I have ever played. For most of the game, I was able to 1-hit or 2-hit almost every pokemon, and wipe out every trainer I came across without any challenge. This is mostly because trainers always carry pokemon of a far lower level than what yours likely are, and up until the last act of the game they will only ever have 2 or 3 pokemon, tops. I think there was 1 trainer before the final act of the game with 4. However, to add more challenge into the game, I came up with a few gameplay restrictions that I feel make the game much more fair: - Turn off EXP share when you get it. EXP share is basically easy mode, and the game is much better without it. - Only hold 3 pokemon at a time, and not 6. As I mentioned, trainers never have more than 3 until towards the end of the game, so for most of the game this will simply make fights more balanced. There is no challenge in fighting a trainer with 2 pokemon while you have 6. - Dont use Z-moves. This is a bit sad to give up, since theyre really cool, but some of them are so powerful that it makes the game downright unbalanced to fight opponents who do not have these moves. I find the game better without them, at best restricting them to boss trainers. Playing the game with these three restrictions basically makes a hard mode, that puts you more in line with the opponents you will face throughout the game. I understand the need to open this series up to a new and potentially younger audience, but this is literally the easiest videogame I ever recall playing. These restrictions make the game better for older gamers who can handle a little challenge, or for anyone who preferred the difficulty of the early- to mid-2000s entries.

Somewhat of a different feeling from past Pokemon games. Its well made and compares to the others in features and length, but it tries to tell a heartfelt story with more character development than past entries in the series. The new slew of Pokemon is similar to past additions. Nothing too exciting. Its hard to innovate at this point. But they take advantage of the region it is set in to introduce the legendaries in an engaging and meaningful way. It was hard to put this down and I beat it in the same week/end that it was released, which is always a good sign. Well worth it. I got Blue the day it came out and to this day Im still happy with the handheld releases for this series.

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.

Ive been a fan since Gen 1, but its fun to see what new features / changes they make every generation. Pros: The graphics seem to have moved entirely away from the old everythings a grid format. Makes the world seem newer. I also like that they brought back character customization / fashion stuff. Though this will show up in the cons section, I do like the call for help mechanic. It shakes up the battle system and makes it feel a bit more organic. And it can help with the leveling. My favorite feature, though, is the removal of the HMs and bike and replacing them with the pokémon ride system. You now get to ride around on various pokémon to accomplish the same results without having to carry an HM slave with you or wasting move slots on your team members. Cons: Theres a lot of tutorial-ism in the game. Though I do sometimes like how the map has a marker showing you where to go (and this certainly makes putting the game down and picking it up later more doable), the game sometimes bashes you over the head with reminders of what youve gotta do next or (in one case) are in the progress of doing. Then again, it does seem like games are generally moving in that direction. My only other complaint is the one mentioned above: call for help. While it shakes things up and makes things feel more organic and all that, it can be tedious as hell. As in the pokémon can chain call for help and do so on the same turn you murder their friend, making it impossible to catch the pokémon or end the battle without retreating or AoE moves.

Aesthetically pleasing? Yes. You stop being excited about how great it looks after playing it for a couple of hours and seeing all the flaws. Seriously, there is no sense of accomplishment to this game period. Whoever developed it mustve just went, Hey, lets make this game easy for idiots. Dont bother grinding levels, you dont need it. The game tells you where to go and what to do. Cut scenes galore. I am also really irritated with how it tells you even what moves to USE in battle. Its always been about trial and error, and memorizing from experience how to battle. Besides isnt the whole point to pokemon to become a master trainer? You cant grow as a person much like you cant get better at a videogame if everything is handed to you on a silver platter. Now, the call for help feature....is such a tedious waste of time. Most people are not going to farm shinys for hours on end. And, as far as I can see, thats the only purpose it serves because I can kill everything just fine. It just eats up more of my day when my pokeball fails and another one drops from the sky and tells you that you cant throw it if two are on the field. If the island challenges were a little more difficult, you might actually get some satisfaction from obtaining a z-crystals. The game even gives you dire hits to waste on totem pokemon if you suck bad enough to need it. Your rival in the game is a joke and Gary would be ashamed of him. I read reviews of performance issues but I have a New 3ds so I cant really bi*ch about that. Festival plaza is super pointless other than the daily drawing where you can win an item. Poke pelago is actually implemented seemingly well. Honestly, I think this game is for children only. Teens and adults that are long time fans of the series are going to have much to gripe about. I see a lot of 5* reviews and just assume those people must be the ones you see at work or school that smile all the time and never get gloomy. Overall, its an okay game with untapped potential. I think its definitely a game people should try though your mileage may vary.

As soon as I saw the trailer for Pokemon Sun and Moon on YouTube,I knew I had to pre-order it.Lots of people have been waiting for so long to get their hands on this game and I was worried that as soon as I got mine,I wouldve been disappointed.When the demo came out,I instantly played it.I ended up craving more.But the wait was worth it! This game is so amazing even though I just barely started it.What I like about this is that you dont have to battle gym after gym in order to progress.There are around 4 islands in the game and each is controlled by an island Kahuna.The only way you can get to them is by completing some side quests or fighting in battles,which is completely different from previous Pokemon games in which you had to battle a bunch of gym leaders in order to get some progression.Another aspect that I like about the game is the time difference between Sun and Moon.Moon plays in a different time zone than Sun,which makes the game-play a bit more interesting.These are just some of the things that youll find different from previous game generations.Regardless,I enjoy this game and I know Ill spend a lot of time playing it.

Game Freak needed to release a new Pokemon game to reinvigorate the series, and Pokemon Moon is that game. Ive been fan since the beginning so I was a little skeptical about the change up from gym leaders to island hoping, but the experience is still 100% Pokemon adventure. The graphics a step in the right direction with fully a animated protagonists and NPCs as opposed the classic big headed sprites of previous games. Keeping with clothing customization from Pokemon X/Y was a smart move as well, especially now that you can see the details much more. I can keep describing how great it is but you really need to experience it for yourself. Again, its not your typical 8 gym, catch legendary, then fight the elite four adventure, but it is definitely worth your time.

As someone who played Pokemon since the Pokemon Special Edition days, I can say that the changes in this game has the biggest changes to the series, ever. First of all, they got rid of gyms for the Island Challenge, like it or not, and honestly, Im mostly mixed on it. In one way, I find going through them a bit easy, of course I havent finished the yet so I cant say that for all the trials, but they can actually be a bit fun at times. Another change they had, which is another like it or not, are the Z-Moves replacing the Mega Evolutions. Personally, I would prefer the Mega Evolutions, and the Z-Moves arent always exiting, but to each his/her own. The level design is also less grid-like, which I didnt even realize that in the demo, but its definitely a step up from the older grid-like design, since what worked in the past, where we had d-pads on portables, are just aged concepts with analog sticks/pads on the system. Now, the game itself is still Pokemon in core concept, and some of the changes are a bit light compared to others, such as effectivness rating on your move lists for example, but one of the changes I cant believe didnt come sooner is Pokemon Refresh. If you played X/Y or Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, you mightve heard of a feature called Pokemon Amie, which is mostly, in my eyes, NintenDogs Pokemon Edition. It was one of those features I barely used, mostly cause I couldnt find a point in it, and even the effects felt small to me, even if it was for better exp, dodging moves, or just help in evolving certain Pokemon. However, with Pokemon Refresh, I feel like its in my best to use it, especially when you can cure status conditions. I always hated having to run to the nearest Pokemon Center to cure that one Pokemon. Now, its just more convenient to cure your Pokemon than it has been before, and it actually made me want to use the other features. Another feature I really like is Pokemon Ride. Why? Because no more HM Slaves. Its like the Soar feature in Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, but with more options to go through obstacles and traveling faster, and again, no more non-removable HMs, freeing up your move lists for your favorite moves. There are also changes presentation-wise, such as trainers standing behind their Pokemon during battle and ACTUAL OPPONENT MODELS INSTEAD OF SPRITES. I kind of wish your opponent doesnt look a manikin after they lose, but its a step in the right direction. Even the new PokeDex can tell you the exact location of a Pokemon and gives you mission locations, via bottom screen. Overall, while there are more features and changes, I feel like these are great changes for the series thus far, making this game may favorite version of the game. Oh, and during daytime in real world, its nighttime in-game, because thats totally not the weirdest way of differentiating the version at all, but kept within theme anyway. Customization also comes back from versions X and Y, letting you make a more unique looking trainer than just identifying yourself as a Bug Catcher or Ace Trainer. Storywise, its the usual Pokemon affair. The only difference I can say is that your rival actually picks the weaker Pokemon instead of the stronger one, i.e. a fire-type Litten vs a Grass/Flying type Rowlet, but at least hes a cheery fellow. I also like the characters thus far, even the members of the crime organization youll fight most of the game, Team Skull, which has the most ridiculous members ever. Seriously, these guys are just hilarious, from their animations, the way they talk, to the boneheaded ideas they have, like stealing berries. Of course, I havent finished the game yet, and I likely wont put any spoilers on the review anyway, except for berry stealing, but I feel that this story, so far, is just the typical Pokemon affair, except with no gyms, and Im fine with that. As far as the Pokemon themselves, I think they look great. I even like some of the Alola Forms of classic Pokemon, such as Vulpix for example. Sure, there are some to make fun of, such as Alola Persian being compared to Garfield, and even Gumpshoos, in the head, reminded me of Donald Turmp when I first saw it (could be a coincidence, could be an office joke turned Pokemon, who knows). But for the most part, I feel like a lot of the designs are great, and I havent found too many designs to laugh at. I do have some small problems, though, I have, such as the removal of elements. For example, in Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, you can sneak up on Pokemon, but on this version, thats not the case. While its a small thing, I actually liked this feature as it felt like actual Pokemon hunting. There is also, mostly in battles and mainly due to upgrades, a good amount of slow down, which wont affect your gameplay experience, but it shows how old the hardware is, especially when they got rid of 3D (for the most part) in the game, which caused slow down in the older 3DS Pokemon games anyway. You only get it while using the PokeFinder, a little camera minigame more or less, which is already laggy at best anyway. Im also not crazy about the change from Mega Evolutions to Z Moves, but thats just me. Overall, I highly recommend either Sun or Moon. Really, whether which version to get, if both isnt an option for you, really depends on the Pokemon you want, so I would research the differences, but other than that, there arent that many, and even then, the two games connect to each other. If you want to move your Pokemon from X/Y or Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, youll be waiting until January to do that, so keep that in mind when you purchase either one of them.