Pokémon Sun - Nintendo 3DS

What’s Hot + Game is done in a full 3D polygonal world + Interesting Story + Graphics + Some unexpected plot twists + Alola Pokemon shake up the type match ups. What’s Not - Slow Load Times - Dropped frame-rates in some battles - Slow pacing - Miss Traveling to gyms - Hordes were removed… - Lack of a true Rival What is it? Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon are the newest entries into the Pokemon Franchise. The game takes a new spin on the franchise where you don’t have to travel from gym to gym rather you travel from islands battling Totems and Kahunas. Story: 4.5 This game is basically Pokemon goes Hawaii. The game starts out with you moving to the Alola region with your mom. The young shirtless, intrusive Professor Kukui eventually introduces himself and then you go through your normal tutorial as in all other Pokemon Games. Pokemon Sun / Moon is full of interesting Characters, Vast region to explore, as well as cool new Pokemon. What it lacks in is Pokemon gyms, and a true rival. Graphics: 4.5 This is one of the better looking Nintendo 3DS games, and probably the best looking Pokemon Game to date. The only real downfall is the dropped frames when battles turn intense. Audio: 4.0 This is your typical Pokemon stuff here. You get your usual town battle and route themes w/ your familiar Pokemon Center theme. Still, no voice acting and only Pokemon that says their name is Pikachu (I feel we have graduated from this Game Freak / Nintendo. It is about time we upgrade all the Pokemon cries.) . Replay: 4.5 Pokemon Games typically always have a high replay value due to there is always so much more to do after your finish the main adventure. Pokemon Sun / Moon is no different here. One you finish the game you still can complete the Pokedex, Take part in the Battle Royal, as Battle and trade with friends and strangers alike. Around The Web: 4.7 This game is currently holding a 4.7 on Amazon.com Thoughts Pokemon Sun / Pokemon Moon may not be the best Pokemon Games (at least in my opinion) but they are great in their own right. I found the game to be easy. The difficulty comes when you are trying to fill up the pokedex and you are waiting for that 1 Pokemon to show up and they never do; yeah I’m talking to you Dratini (insert angry emoji). Cut-Scenes, while scarce run long and there is no way to speed them up or skip. Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon places Hau as your rival which is a bit disappointing being that he is anything but a rival. He chooses the Pokemon weakest to you at the start of the game, He is way to cheerful and upbeat. Plus he constantly gives you helpful items and heal your Pokemon. He is more of a best friend. I find it hard not to recommend to anyone with a Nintendo 3DS. If you are shopping for a Nintendo and / or Pokemon fan, you can’t go wrong here. Score 22.2 / 25 89

This is a fun game for new comers but those who have played the game before, this will be a bit different with the cut scenes, and with no bike or roller blades to speak of. I enjoy not having to have to make one pokemon know many moves and instead you call on pokemon to do the job like Fly or Strength or Swim. Fishing for those who know of it from the other games has changed as well you need to fish in certain spots. Overall this is a fun game, but if you arent looking for a RPG this does have a RPG feel, but it has the same plot as the others. Evil corporation you must defeat and catch them ALL!

Story does NOT = Cutscenes. And yet, the people over at Gamefreak felt it necessary that you can barely take four steps in this game without having to sit through and spam A repeatedly to get through cutscenes. Its the worst slog of any Pokémon game since it doesnt even let you really play--you keep getting interrupted. Also, the setting of the game wears out its welcome. From the Hawaiian names and words, to the endless island setting, youll encounter similar environments all the way through. Third, the tenor of the game is the more childish and immature and meandering of all mainline Pokémon games. Even though in prior Pokémon games you played a kid, those games werent SOLELY for children (much like Mario is for everyone, not just children). But this Pokémon game was the most immature patronizing one yet. From your stupid pokedex AI partner saying yeehaw partner or boy Ive got a bad feeling about this, to your mindless dumb friend sputtering the dumbest dialogue lines Ive seen yet in a okémon entry constantly repeating over and over and over again about having fun, this game just assaults the player with mindless dialogue and characters. Yes, Pokémon games dont exactly have deep meaningful themes or characters, but at least some of them like N or Lance or Blue or Professor Elm are somewhat interesting. Here theyre all just painfully cookie cutter and soulless. Having constant smiles and yelling about having fun isnt actually the way to bring about fun. Another mistake was some changes with gameplay. In response to many gamers who consider Pokémon rules (i.e. Which elements are super effective against which) gamefreak decided to flat out TELL you which moves were super effective and which werent. This was a horrible decision. Instead Gamefreak shouldve displayed which elements the Pokémon themselves were, and then the player could DEDUCE the type matchups over the coarse of the game. Most of us longtime fans were able to figure this out when we were 8; it ruins the experience to have had it changed now. Instead of having interesting music, a halfway decent story (through situations and characterization and dialogue) Pokémon Sun takes what Pokémon fans have--for some reason--been asking for (cutscenes) and shoves it down the players throat. True story in games isnt meant to be brought out by mandatory cut scenes with completely cloned smiles and laughs from everyone. Instead its shaped through atsmosphere, trials, and NPC choices. But this game instead subjects you to the mindless cookie-cutter smiles. Furthermore, the game asks you to input your own dialogue choices, which are all of course completely meaningless and bring about no differences, I have no idea why gamefreak even added the option. There are just a couple improvements in this entry that should be pointed out: 1) no wasteful HMs. While they did serve a gameplay purpose back in the day, its high time we get rid of their burden 2) the (same tiresome) Hawaiian areas do look great, as do the battle environments 3) most importantly, the map tells you where to go. While this wasnt needed in actually good concise older Pokémon games where it could be intuited on whats needed to be done next, latest Pokémon games dropped the ball in making that clear, so map waypoints are a big help. I sincerely regret paying for this game, and of all the Pokémon games I own (I have one from reach generation) this will be the only one I never replay. Yes the graphics are better, and yes there are more new Pokémon, but in almost all other respects, this is the worst mainline Pokémon game. In making everything childish and happy and mindless, Gamefreak has ripped out any semblance of identity or soul that was present in the more traditional gym trainer games. If youll excuse me, Ill be going back to better previous games.

Ill review this by all of the game elements. Overall, this is my favorite Pokemon game in the series (Possibly better than Gen IV, dare I say.)! I defeated all the trials and am working on the Elite Four, therefore I did enough to review this game properly. Characters: 5/5 - At first glance, that characters seem bland, but as you continue on, there are plenty of twists and a lot of character development I didnt expect in this game. Team Skull is very funny and is sort of a parody of previous villain tropes and are, well, gangsters. They arent particularly evil, either, and also have development and become much nicer. Gen V was very developed in my opinion, but I think this has more twists. Music: 5/5 - The music is GORGEOUS. Some of it has a beautiful Japanese sound, and some is very Hawaiian. Team Skulls theme suits them perfectly with a gangster-ish sound.Theres not much else to say, but listen to the soundtrack on YouTube. Its great! Plot: 4 1/2/5 - Its the typical becoming a Pokemon Master and Champion quest, but with the island challenge instead of gyms. You face trials and defeat the island kahunas instead of Gyms. You have to face a villain team, which turn out to be wayy more developed later on and VERY interesting, as well as human. They are also very amusing, and theres this secret of strange beings similar to Pokemon and a mysterious group also trying to get them, that I will not mention further than that. It has a lot of surprises, and I love the legendary in Sun, Solgaleo. Theres also emphasis on Zygarde and its forms, 10% (Doberman look), 50% (the one from X and Y, like a snake) and the Complete form, which is like a mecha robot thing. Overall its a great plot. It didnt seem as great as it was at first, which is why it isnt 5/5. You have to fully play through it to appreciate the plot and characters. Z-moves are also an interesting, mysterious element that is optional for you to use, and look pretty awesome in battle. The biggest flaw is I never truly had an issue in fights, I never had that difficult of a time, save for the ghost trial with Mimikyu and one character near the way end, but I still pulled through. For people who want a big challenge, they may be disappointed, especially with Z-moves. Graphics: 5/5 - Great graphics. Animations look great, though you may experience lag in some detailed double battles, although it was hardly noticeable for me. The Pokemon look great, including many new ones, such as Rockruff, Lycanroc, Litten, Rowlet, many Alolan forms, Zygarde 10%, Solgaleo, Type: Null, and more. (That right there is my opinion, but there are bound to be Pokemon one would like. There are also Pokemon returning of other Gens.) What else can I say? Everything looks great. New Features/Returning features: 5/5 - Character Customization is back, but expanded upon. You can choose between lots of looks for the player and lots of outfits. Its like X and Y, but even better! You can also change the eye color with contacts and the hair style. Best of all, NO MORE HMS! TMs can be used unlimited times, but HMs are gone! No more rattatas to learn cut, or making a Pokemon lose a likable move because you need to get through somewhere. You have ride Pokemon and the ride pager, which lets you ride Pokemon to walk over rocky areas, destroy or move rocks and boulders, swim over water, and can ride Charizard for fly! You can also ride a Mudsdale instead of riding a bike, which is so cool looking. HMs are just regular moves now. PokeAmie also changed to Pokemon Refresh, which is really good. It encourages bonds between trainer and Pokemon, and makes them do much better in battles. It also is an option to heal ANY status problem without buying those pesky full heals. Yeah, its pretty useful as well as cute. Overall, a wonderful game. I highly recommend it.

Ive been playing Pokemon games since Red/Blue and this is the first one I havent finished because I just dont find it very fun. Maybe Ive out grown the game, but I was playing Y just weeks before I got this game and I played all the way through and was hatching eggs for IVs for hours a day when I finished. This is definitely the least challenging Pokemon game while also having probably the deepest story. For me, there are too many cutscenes too often and they can be long as well. Seems like there are a lot of unnecessary dialogue scenes when you just want to play the game in the beginning. The trials are much easier than the gyms were in previous games, and never once did I feel threatened by any challenger or Totem Pokemon. Freeing up a move slot by not having to have HM moves in your party is nice, but it does feel like some strategy is taken out of the game. For once, I dont see myself breeding for IVs once I finish the game.

I cant give much for a basis because I have never owned a different Pokemon game. But, when I bought this, I pre-ordered it and had no issues when it came to arriving on the correct date. The game is really fun. I know that it is very different from the other Pokemon games as far as doing the island trials and defeating the island kahuna. If you plan on getting a Pokemon game, I have been told that this one is the best one, it is a bias opinion but it is one that I hear a lot. I do recommend this game to anyone who is into the Pokemon franchise. P.S. This Pokemon is really easy to learn and has a nice way of showing and teaching you how to play Pokemon and how the new style of Pokemon on this island work.

Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon are the first 7th-generation main series Pokémon games. I have been a Pokémon Trainer for 20 years now, and the reason Im giving them a 4/5 rating is because while they do add significant improvements over the previous games in the series (X, Y, Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire), Game Freak has also managed to frustrate players by making some highly questionable decisions and removing certain features from the 6th-generation that, for all intents and purposes, should have remained in Sun and Moon. Ill start with the good points first, then talk about the controversial ones afterwards. --- POSITIVES --- * Graphics have been improved, though this time its not as noticeable as the difference between Gen 5 and Gen 6, mainly because the games are still restricted to using the same 3DS hardware that X, Y, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were designed on. * Music is very addictive and reminds you of the type of songs used in the Hoenn region. Also, the music changes depending on whether its daytime or night, similar to Gen 4 and the Sinnoh region. * Battle Interface now displays much more information, such as the opposing Pokémons types, the opponents team, if a Pokémon is affected by a non-permanent status condition (confusion, infatuation, stat increases/decreases, weather effects, abilities, etc.). * The creation of Z-Moves allows for a plethora of new strategies, since they are guaranteed to break through the protection moves, like Protect and Detect. At the same time, they give a particular Pokémon an incredibly overpowered move that they would not normally be able to use, like giving Arcanine an Electric-type move with a base power of 170. But the fact that only 1 Z-Move can be used throughout the entire battle means you have to pick the right time to use it, and hopefully not waste it. * Sun and Moon finally fix the Day/Night cycle. For the past 16 years, ever since Gold and Silver were released back in 2000, Ive always questioned why in the games, morning starts 4:00 am ET and night time begins at 9:00 pm ET. This is in stark contrast to what typically happens in the world, especially during winter, when its pitch black until 7:30 am ET, and daylight only lasts until about 5:00 pm ET. In any case, Sun and Moon attempt to rectify this 16-year problem, with daytime starting at 6:00 am ET, and night beginning at 6:00 pm ET, giving 12-hour periods between each cycle. --- NEGATIVES --- * Triple Battles, Rotation Battles, Sky Battles, Horde Encounters and Double Wild Battles have all been removed and replaced by the Battle Royal and SOS Battles. Battle Royals are essentially 4-player battles where 3 players gang up on 1 other player in order to win -- not a very thoughtful or interesting concept. SOS Battles are regular Wild Battles, except the wild Pokémon can call for help and summon an ally, making it a 1 vs. 2 battle. In any case, if you were a fan of any of these 5 different battle formats that existed in Gens 4, 5 and/or 6, youre out of luck in Sun and Moon. * SOS Battles are annoying and frustrating, both for collectors and competitive battlers. For 20 years, weve been taught that in order to catch a wild Pokémon, you have to get its HP as low as possible before throwing a Poké Ball. The problem with Wild Battles in Sun and Moon though, is that the lower the wild Pokémons HP, the higher the chance it will call for help and summon an ally. It can even summon an ally in the same turn that it attacks you. When an ally is summoned, you cannot throw a Poké Ball. To make matters worse, when a wild Pokémon is knocked out, its partner can call for help again before the turn even ends. This can go on and on for several turns, and until youre lucky enough to reach a turn where the wild Pokémon does not call for help (or where the call for help fails), you wont even be able to throw a Poké Ball at all, making it take substantially longer to catch Pokémon. Now, while it is true that you can paralyze or put the wild Pokémon to sleep to prevent calls for help, remember that Electric-types cannot be paralyzed, and Grass-types are immune to Sleep Powder and Spore, so getting around this annoying mechanic is not as easy as it seems. SOS Battles also attempt to simulate the ease of EV Training in Horde Encounters, but the attempt is poorly executed. Every time you knock out a wild Pokémons partner in a SOS Battle, when another Pokémon partner appears, that new partner will have double the Effort Values it normally has. The doubling of the Effort Values keeps continuing through subsequent knockouts, so its possible to fully EV Train your Pokémon after knocking out roughly 7 or 8 partner Pokémon, but its not a guarantee. When a wild Pokémon calls for help to try and summon a partner, it may fail, resulting in a wasted turn. It may also summon a completely different partner Pokémon that doesnt give Effort Values to the same stat youre training in. For example, lets say youre trying to increase your Pokémons Speed stat -- Magikarp provides Speed EVs, but if it calls for help and summons a Gyarados (which provides Attack EVs instead), then youll have no choice but to run away and break the chain of doubling your Effort Values, making it take that much longer to complete your Effort Value training. * O-Powers have been removed entirely. Introduced in Gen 5 and improved upon in Gen 6, these special powers gave you an easier time catching Pokémon, increased your prize money and the EXP. Points you received from battles, and they even cut the price of in-game shop items by half. All of these helpful powers no longer exist in Sun and Moon. This, coupled with the fact that Sun and Moon use Gen 5s Level-Based Experience System (whereby if your Pokémons level is higher than the opponents level, you get less EXP. Points when defeating it), means it also takes a lot longer to level up your team, especially if youre trying to get them to Level 100. * Questionable decisions have been made regarding the games connectivity features. Unlike in X, Y, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, where the player could be connected online at all times during the game, Sun and Moon force the player to remain in the Festival Plaza area in order to be connected to the internet. This small, restricted area, reminiscent of Join Avenue in Gen 5, doesnt even have a PC for you to organize your Pokémon, yet its the only area in the game where you can go online to trade and battle with other players. A definite step backwards in comparison to Gen 6s online features. * There is still noticeable amounts of lag and frame rate drops during battles, even when using the New 3DS and New 3DS XL systems. When youre battling Totem Pokémon (essentially tougher versions of regular wild Pokémon), after you select an attack, it sometimes takes 4-5 seconds before anything happens. It makes you feel like youre battling an opponent over the Internet and youre waiting for them to make a move, except in this case, its just an in-game computer opponent. In Double Battles, you notice the lag when the camera pans out on an angle to reveal both trainers and both of their Pokémon on the field. Apparently, I read it may be a RAM issue -- between the trainers, their Pokémon and any animated effects currently happening in the background or on the field (like the blades of grass moving), even the New 3DS doesnt have the power to handle it all, graphically-speaking. * PC Box Management has been made less touch-intuitive. When you touch a Pokémon with the Stylus to select it, a menu appears that prevents you from selecting another Pokémon until you close the menu. This was never the case in Gen 6, but from what I remember, it was the case in Gen 5, from which Sun and Moons coding seems to be based upon. It makes it less touch-friendly and if youre just quickly looking at your Pokémon in the boxes, its once again faster using the circle pad on the 3DS, rather than the touch screen, because of this unnecessary change. * Pokémon Contests (arguably the best alternative competition to battling) have again been completely removed from the game. Theyve been replaced by a less-interesting Pokémon Snap picture-taking side game, which doesnt provide the same kind of longevity or replay-ability that Contests or the Battle Frontier did, and neither of them are present in this game. --- FINAL THOUGHTS --- Pokémon Sun and Moon make some significant improvements to the core series of Pokémon games, especially with regards to the new battle interface, but at the same time, Game Freak makes an equal amount of questionable decisions, removing previously good features and including frustrating new mechanics that are counter-intuitive to veteran players and newcomers alike. Unfortunately, if youre like me and want to stay part of the competitive battling community, you have no choice but to put up with the frustrating aspects of these games.

Pros: HM moves abandoned for dedicated Pokemon that are not in your party for utilities like fly. This is implemented well, what they should have done from the start. TMs can be reused over and over, not new to this game but much appreciated continuation Totem Pokemon and island challenges are an interesting alternative to gyms. I liked it, but they could have had both in my opinion Game looks great and plays great Pokemon ally system is great for chaining for advanced Pokemon for competitive play The bean islands are a great addition, I can make mountains of berries quickly Cons: Team Skull is lame Most trainers have 1 Pokemon, I would prefer less trainers with more Pokemon Too easy No mega evolution Abandoned some nice features like the dexnav

This is hands-down one of the best Pokemon game Ive played, and the story is arguably one of the better ones of the series. There are a few caveats which keeps it from being 100 but its definitely worth the time of day to experience. Please note that at the time of this review, the access to the rest of the pokemon not available to the Alola region hasnt been patched in yet. PROs: + Better narrative +One of the better designed worlds in the series + The characters in the game are a lot of fun + You can run from the start! Also, Pokemon you ride makes covering distances a lot easier, even in the water later on into the game. + Its Pokemons return to challenging gameplay. Youll have a really bad time doing a Nuzlocke in this game. + The music will give Black & White, and Diamond and Pearl a run for their money. Arguably the highlight of this series. + The battle interface has been streamlined a bit for ease of use. + There are more battle boxes, so you dont necessarily have to constantly edit your team when the usual 2 is used up. + The PC box has been streamlined. Moving items and organizing your pokemon within the box is easier. + Team Skull are one of the most endearing villains in the series. + Breeding Pokemon are a lot easier, and there are visual cues as to when an egg is ready. + The Z moves are a welcome addition to the series. CONs: - Catching rare Pokemon in the water is a horrible experience - The game has one of the longest openings in a Pokemon game. Cutscenes will be very jarring for the first few moments into the game until you eventually get used to it. - NEBBY, GET IN THE BAG! - Festival Plaza, this games online hub, makes it an even more tedious journey to just battle someone online. It takes a lot more button presses/ clicks than usual. Its a step down from the X&Ys more convenient interface. - The Zygarde Core quest is infuriating. Its definitely a worse version of the megastone quest from X&Y - Acquiring megastones in this game requires you to go through the one of most tedious post-game challenges. To make matters worse, theyre also the most expensive.

Sun and Moon deserves praise than any versions of Pokemon. This game will make you quit Pokemon Go and other Pokemon versions. It is simply better due to its improved features and added convenient systems. If someone says Pokemon Sun and Moon is too easy and should not be rated 9 out of 10. They are not humble because the real challenge is in online battle and they will get crushed anytime soon. So I will rate this game 9 out of 10 overall. Anyway, I bought both Sun and Moon versions along with official Guide and one more Nintendo system to evolve and power up Pokemons.