Pokemon Sun and Moon are great entries in the Pokemon series and a breath of fresh air for anyone who has been a long time fan of the game. And now that I have spent that last week exploring every area of the game and enjoying everything the game has to offer, here are a lot of the pros and cons of the game that I have noticed, as well as some added notes.
SPOILER WARNING - this review may have a lot of spoilers. proceed at your own risk
Pros:
1. The Story - this is one of the better stories you will find in a main series pokemon game. Unlike past games, you participate in the island challenge in order to become a stronger trainer and bond more with your pokemon. Along the way you meat Team Skull, a criminal gang that harasses citizens of the Alola region islands. Team Skull isnt evil, like you would expect though. They are just a team of thugs that really dont know what theyre doing. Half the members you interact with dont even know the true intentions of their leader, and the other half are by no means on the same page as each other. Then you run into the Aether Foundation who claims to be a peaceful organization focused on conservation. You then discover that their leader was using the organization in order to study and capture Ultra Beasts in order to... well, do something. I beat the game and it still wasnt fully explained. The president just wanted them. It was a bit disjointed at times and it feels like they may be setting up for a sequel like B2W2. but it was still a great story, right behind BW.
2. The Region - the removal of the grid really opened up the game to have more complex setups, and the multiple islands provide a ton of diversity between locations. The first island is calm and perfect for starting the game on, the second is filled with extra activities and locations, the third is used to unwind a huge amount of the story, and the forth is almost entirely canyons and wildlife that is perfect for lategame grinding.
3. Ride Pokemon - the days of "HM moves can not be forgotten" are over! you can now just call up any pokemon you need to perform certain tasks. but it isnt just handed over to you. you only get certain ride pokemon at different points in the game. It is a much better setup and i hope every future game keeps this.
4. Characters - Professor Kukui has more personality than any other professor ever. instead of staying in the lab 24/7 and asking about your pokedex, he travels the region with you as you discover new things. He even turns out to be a secret fighter, and he is even the last person you bettle before being declared the champion- which leads into my next point
5. You become the champion - After beating the elite four, the characters actually redognize that you are the champion and every time you rebattle the elite four, it treats it like you have to defend your title. Its a nice toch that i really enjoyed.
6. The PC boxes - with your inventory being big enough to hold every item, and some random guy keeping track of all your elite four records, the PC is now dedicated to pokemon storage and nothing else. its so much more convenient just to go in, do what you need and hen leave without any intricate menus to get through first.
Cons:
1. Hau - he barely leaves an impression on you and then practically disappears in the later parts of the game. Lillie plays a way bigger part than Hau ever does. leading me to my biggest question - HAU did we get stuck with this guy?
2. Loss of Surf - Surf is now a TM move, meaning you have to go out and find it. This is annoying because water is my favorite type and surf is one of the best water type moves there is. it was really convenient to always be able to teach your pokemon this move with an HM. while i dont miss HMs, i really miss Surf...
3. The Postgame - there is actually a lot to do in the postgame, but the way it is presented is terrible. As soon as you beat the elite four, Looker asks you to help him find Ultra Beasts. and then you find and capture all of them with the help of a new pokeball called Beast Balls (5x multiplier on UBs, 0.1x on anything else) within the span of about an hour. THATS IT. never any story details on the UBs. theyre just tacked on extra legendary pokemon. Then you have the Battle Tree, which is this games Battle Tower. which is great if youre into that. but they could have opened up a whole second story arc to the UBs but canned any potential they could have had.
4. New pokemon - not including legends, UBs, etc, we have 34 new pokemon lines. only a few of them are 3-stage lines, and a lot of them dont evolve at all. most of them are rare as well, so good luck finding them.
Notes:
1. There is no national dex, at least not yet and currently the game is limited to the 300 or so included but when the Pokemon Bank gets updated that may change. but it confuses me as to why there is no National Dex.
2. The Rotom Dex talks.... like its probably the most vocal character ever in a pokemon game.
3. The bottom screen now acts as a map. However, it doesnt work in all locations. Its still a plus because its the first time we really had a dedicated map. ORAS had one sort of but never this detailed.
4. this game leaves enough lose ends behind to justify an entire sequel and has enough callbacks to the Kanto region to make me wonder if they are making another entire new game set in Kanto. it really is anyones guess.
So overall, I do really enjoy Sun and Moon. I would rate it 8.8/10 just because there are so many lose ends left behind that it almost doesnt feel like a completed game. but beyond that this is a solid entry and is perfect for long time fans and new fans.
