Pokémon Moon - Nintendo 3DS

Im 24, and at the beginning there was a lot of hand-holding, which I hated. As the game progressed that went away, but be prepared for the first hour or two of game play to be clicking A. I got Sun for me and Moon for my boyfriend. We play together and it is a really fun game to enjoy with others. There are some Pokemon like Rockruff that evolve into something different depending on the game you have, so it is a good idea to plan out with a friend to each buy a different game so you can collect them all. Some additions to the game that I like: Easier maneuvering on the pokemon PC. You can now deposit, withdrawal, and move pokemon at the same time. The ability to ride different Pokemon. I also really like how it shows all the evolutions that you have, or dont have when you catch any Pokemon. Some additions I dont like: There is no 3D, which I think is ridiculous. I heard it was because they made it for other systems too, but I think that is unacceptable because I have a 3DS, so you better make it 3D capable.They also made it pretty immature and seemly for a very young audience, and at times things seem too easy, but luckily catching Pokemon seems to be more difficult as the game goes on. I am halfway through the game, but overall I love it, and would recommend it.

The game is definitely a low point for the Pokemon franchise. Dont get me wrong, I LOVE mega-evolution and Z-moves, I think the Alolan forms are 100% wonderful, I think Team Skull are the best antagonists since team rocket, and the Ultra Beasts are cool. I love so much in this game, but I still consider it basically unplayable. The core gameplay mechanic appears to be a mini game where you try to escape from conversations with random characters that you dont care about by pressing A as rapidly as you can. This mini game is repeated over and over again. I put 400 hours into White 2, another 200 into Y (which had similar problems as this one, but not as bad), and at least 100 into Omega Ruby (which despite the time I spent was far superior to X&Y), but I havent been able to make myself finish this one. Aside from my issues with the random cutscenes and monologues that the game is filled with, the actual game is very very easy. It feels like no trainer has even 3 pokemon in their party, and there are random people offering to heal you every ten feet. Dungeons (such as they are) are very short and nearly completely linear.

This Pokémon game really feels like a next step, its crammed with so many features, itd overwhelmingly exciting, nothing feels difficult to get into. If youre looking for a challenging game, Ive never felt any Pokemon game is challenging, and the same applies here. I would have given it 5 stars if they had further simplified how to get competitive Pokémon, they did introduce new mechanics to make IVs better, but you still have to farm natures, and spend time making different sets of the same Pokémon for the competitive scene, if you just want to have fun its an amazing game. If youre looking to get into its competitive side, just keep in mind you still have to spend a lot of time breeding, grinding EVs, getting the right nature, the right moves, and hidden abilities. Ill go ahead and update my review if I happen to find its much easier to go competitive.

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.

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 takes place in the newer region of Alola. It introduces new mechanics and improves on gameplay that made previous games feel tedious such as grinding for levels to fight in gyms or going out of your way to fight against the newest villainous group. However, the story feels incomplete and some sections of the game are empty spaces making it look like a mouth with missing teeth. The game is better than previous generations and with Poké Rides you finally are not forced to teach members of your party moves in order to explore the world. I had rated the game before playing Ultra Sun, its still a great game even though it now feels like the light-version of Ultra Sun/Moon. I would still recommend it if you want a game you can replay and if you are looking for a short game during a break.

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.

Totally agree with the other 5 star-reviews. Incredible that this game runs on the same hardware like XY and OrAs. Graphics is awesome and I really like that the music is more atmospheric (reminds me of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon sometimes, really like it). I play the Pokémon series since the beginning and this game was really refreshing. They tried something new and it was nice. Althought Im more the competitive player who always spend a lot of time to breed and train in the postgame, Ive really enjoyed the story. One of the biggest improvements: The apricorn balls are back (and they gave a us the Beastballs)! Okay, its really sad that they just gave us one of each per game, but male Pokémon of same species and genderless Pokémon can inherit they ball on their offsprings too now. I may sound like a total nerd, but for me, this is awesome. People who have balltism too can relate to that. I really like to breed/catch my Pokémon in a ball that matches their design/color. Ive created a facebook group where people can trade they special breedjects: check it out and help to spread the balltism -> Pokemon Balltism-Exchange!

PROS: -3D environment looks really nice -More difficult than expected; I expected this game to be a breeze if it was anything like X and Y, but I surprisingly found myself struggling in certain areas -Trial challenges are a welcome change to the typical Gym leader layout -Instead of HMs, you can summon different pokemon entirely to interact with overworld obstacles. This is great seeing that teaching pokemon HMs that while needed to get through the game, are really bad moves in an actual fight. For example, instead of teaching a pokemon rock smash, instead you can summon a tauros to ride on, and to dash into rocks to break them. POSSIBLE CONS (some of these are subjective and problems that I personally dont like, but I know a lot of people do like them) -SO MUCH STORY - This is a problem that I feel is getting progressively worse with each new pokemon game. I feel like I cant walk two steps without triggering some kind of cut scene that I just DO NOT CARE ABOUT. Containing characters that I DO NOT CARE ABOUT. ESPECIALLY in the opening of the game, which takes waaay to long to finish. Ive talked to a lot of people who do love the story and characters, and I guess its just a To each their own thing, but if you were annoyed at the number of cut-scenes in the last pokemon generation, this is even worse. There are so many side characters that tag along to wherever you go, and will not shut up whenever I just want to go back to playing the game. Especially Hau. I HATE Hau. In-fact Im going to go on a tangent about Hau: Remember how in the first generation (I should mention that I am not a first-gen-fanatic like others, I prefer the 3rd generation and the remakes of the 2nd gen), your rival was the biggest jerk in the world, and you wanted to beat him so bad and it felt so good when you did? Apparently gamers cant handle that kind of conflict, so instead every Rival now are the nicest, most PG, and most boring characters in the game, who pick the starter pokemon that are weak against your starter because a challenge against your rival is too much to ask for. Every time I see this character waiting in the distance with his stupid smug face, waiting for me to get close to trigger a cut-scene that I cant escape, and play a battle that is now a chore because I dont care about this boring character. (In case you didnt want to read this novel above me, allow me to simplify: Too much boring story and too many boring characters that keep you from actually playing the game) -The introduction takes way way too long, and is especially boring and pointless to anyone familiar with pokemon games -Another complaint is the use of way points and a radar map. I enjoy being able to figure out what I need to do in order to progress throughout the game. Its a great feeling when you figure out the next step in your adventure by yourself with little help. In Sun and Moon, you are given a radar map on your bottom screen, and on that radar are way points that tell you exactly where to go which means that there is no room for any exploration in this game, because the game designers felt the need to hold your hand throughout the game, and always point to where you need to go. This makes the cutscenes that explain to the player what they need to do because it doesnt matter what they say, the waypoints will show them where to go anyways. (TLDR) So, overall, Ill say this. If you arent a fan of the newer generations because of the excessive story, and very easy nature, etc. etc., this certainly wont do anything for you, especially with the addition of waypoints. The only thing that I like more in this than X and Y is that some of the Trial pokemon battles are actually pretty tough and may even warrant some grinding. If, however, you really like the new games, and all of the story involved, and you want your adventure to be easy, then buy this game by all means. And even though I trashed this game in most of this review, I will still give it a solid 3 stars. It is still a pokemon game, after all, and you would need to do a great deal to screw up a pokemon game enough to be a bad game.

As an original Pokemon player, Ive grown and experienced it all. And while itll be easy to simply say Sun and Moon have completely departed from the series and created something revolutionary and new like Nintendo has tried to market this generation as, that simply is not the case. Yes things feel fresh up to a point; there are no gyms, no established Elite Four, and a few other minor differences, but at the core of it you still are going from city to city challenging trainers to battles. This is what Pokemon is at its core. You can call it Island Challenges if you want, but they are still Gym battles. The biggest inclusion are the Z Moves which function as a last ditch super power up move. We see this in many games, but not yet in Pokemon, at least not until this year. Pokemon Sun and Moon are great games that are great games because it follows the traditional formula which made Pokemon a household name. All they did was simply tweak the names and paths you go through and that is how it feels fresh. Game Freak has had a successful track record and this generation continues it.