After 20 years of slow but steady evolution, Pokemon gets a bit of a reinvention in Sun and Moon. An engrossing and rich new region makes the Alola journey — along with all the changes Sun and Moon make to the existing formula — enjoyable throughout the main adventure, and small interface and variety of upgrades along the way make a few of the things that stayed the same feel better than before.
But for every issue I found with Pokemon Moon, whether it was an old problem that just caught up with the series or something new -- I found solace in the indomitable likability of a cast member, or the thrill of finding another party member that I would battle with for years to come. I'm already seeing myself playing for several hundred hours before the end of 2016, and I haven't even fully experienced all of the online features yet. Such is the power of Pokemon, and I hope we get to see Alola's influences linger as Game Freak gears up for its next adventure.
Sun & Moon feels significantly different from previous Pokémon games. X & Y may have marked the series’ biggest visual change, but Sun & Moon shows Game Freak is willing to re-examine Pokémon’s tenured mechanics in order to improve the game. Sun & Moon is still Pokémon, but it showcases some of the biggest changes the series has ever seen – and that’s a good thing.
Pokemon’s celestial pair occupy a unique position, belonging to a bestselling series played by kids and adults alike. Sun and Moon not only maintain its broad appeal, but boost it into the stratosphere. It’s familiar enough and different enough. It’s complex but well-communicated (if a little heavy handed in its tutelage). Learning about each of Sun and Moon’s new monsters - how they run, fly, swim, feed, dance, and co-exist with locals - gives the games a marvellous sense of rolling wonder for anyone, regardless of age. Game Freak’s latest welcomes old fans disillusioned by previously samey entries and entices a whole new generation to pick up a Pokedex.
With Pokémon Sun and Moon however, I have a new one: the world of Pokémon is finally, exactly that: a world, with charming, textured characters not just in the named friends and foes you meet, but the random people on your journey, the region you live in, the music, the Pokémon themselves and the very soul of the journey. At long last, Pokémon is not just back. With Sun and Moon, it feels fresh again.
Pokémon Sun and Moon is the ultimate Poké adventure. It manages to introduce a lot of new features that greatly enhance the gameplay experience, but retain enough of the original DNA to make sure it doesn't feel totally alien to players who have been Pokémon trainers since 1996.
We can't wait to see where the series goes next, because with Pokémon Sun and Moon it's clearly the beginning of a new Pokémon era, not the closure of the last.
