Pokémon Ultra Sun Review

                When I first heard about this game, I became incredibly excited. I have played Pokémon since I was in elementary school, when it came out (I’m 26 now). I played Gen 1 and 2 when they launched, Gen 3 years later (shortly followed by Gen 4), skipped the black/white games (because I already played a version of Pokémon and didn’t think they could add much to the experience), became VERY excited when x/y came out on the 3ds and got that, only to skip Sun/Moon. I generally only like getting one Pokémon game per console generation, and so when I heard Team Rocket would make a comeback, on top of whatever the sun/moon story was, I couldn’t pass it up. Sadly, the hype didn’t live up to my expectations. I have become increasingly bored of the direction the series has been heading.

                When I was a kid, Harry Potter came out. The amazing part about the books and movies of Harry Potter is the fact that they grow up with you; they aren’t all cheesy and kid friendly, like the first one. They become increasingly darker, have greater depth and lore, and explore more intense concepts (which is appealing to a more adult audience). Pokémon, on the other hand, hasn’t grown up. Sure, they’ve added convenience and quality of life improvements, here and there, but it is still clearly targeting a child, which is fine (but doesn’t make for a great game from my adult perspective). The story was weaker than X/Y, in my opinion, and Team Rockets return, which I was hoping would have some revolutionary new concept, was just more of “why take over one world when you can take over all worlds muwhahaha!” nonsense. I could probably go on for a while describing the story I WISH this game would have had, but I won’t because it won’t change anything. In general, the game has done what previous generations have done, slowly and slightly made changes from the previous games in the series, making an overall unoriginal game with a lackluster story.

Originality:  8 /20

Graphics:   8 /10

Art Style:  12  /15

Story:       15 /30

Music:      3  /5

Controls    5  /5

Is it fun?  9  /15

Total –

72 / 100

Non story–  81 / 100

Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition – 100

Warhammer: Total War = 98

Zelda Skyward Sword-98

Mario Rabbids Kingdom Battle - 96

Shovel Knight – 95

Shadow of Mordor = 95

Zelda Breath of the Wild - 94

Hyrule Warriors – 93

Batman: Arkham Asylum - 93

Zelda Minish Cap – 92

Bayonetta 2 = 91 NR

Bayonetta (Wii U) – 91 NR

Zelda Oracle of Ages – 91

Metroid Fusion – 91

Paper Mario – 90

Overwatch – 90

Zelda Twilight Princess – 90

Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon - 90

Guildwars 2 – 89

Mario and Luigi: Dream Team – 89

Shadow of War - 88

Pokemon X – 88

Kid Icarus Uprising – 88

Darksiders 2 - 88

Fire Emblem Awakening – 88

Super Mario Odyssey - 87

Portal 2 – 87

Portal – 87

Assassin’s Creed 4 Wii U – 86

Zelda Windwaker HD – 86

Mario and Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story – 86  

Mass Effect - 84

Super Mario Maker = 84

Dishonored - 84

Animal Crossing New Leaf – 84

Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark - 84

Paper Mario Sticker Star – 83

Rome 2: Total War - 83

Zelda: A Link Between Worlds-83

Mario and Luigi Paper Jam - 82

Batman Arkham Knight - 81

Batman: Arkham Origins – 81

Mario and Luigi: Super Star Saga – 80

Trine – 80

Zelda: A Link to the Past – 78

Civilization 6 – 77

Mass Effect 3 – 77

Xenoblade Chronicles 3ds - 76

Mass Effect 2 – 76

Mr. Shifty - 74

Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D – 74

Black Ops 2 - 74

Rome: Total War-74

Yoshie’s Wooly World – 73

Super Mario 3d land – 72

Diablo 3 – 72

Pokémon Ultra Sun - 72

Fire Emblem Warriors - 72

Just Cause - 71

Paper Monster Uncut (Wii U) - 70

Red Alert 3 – 70

Xenoblade Chronicles X - 70

Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze - 68

Snake pass - 66

New Super Mario Bros. U – 66

New Super Mario Bros. Wii – 57

Assassins Creed 3 – 57 NR

Player Unknown Battlegrounds – 53

Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition – 53

Mighty Gunvolt Burst - 47

Puzzles and Dragons Z: Mario Edition - 46

Kirby Squeak Squad – 43

Donkey Kong Country Returns 3d – 42

Yoshi’s New Island - 27

Project X Zone - 18

NR means Not Recommended based on inappropriateness.

Non Story – A score that has nothing to do with story, for those of you with less narrative concerns.

I like the ideas for a lot of things, and some worked out while others not so much

- Ride Pokemon: no more HM slaves or wasted moves
- Removal of Gyms: non-traditional Pokemon, adding in boosted Pokemon as a 'boss'
- Pelago: Removal of Berry Patches, source of items
- Z-moves: Yokai Watch inspired
- Stickers: another collectable

.. and so on

I do welcome some of the changes and accept others that I'm not a fan of because it does shake things up a bit. My issue is, by playing the original before, makes this one way to similar as a 3rd game. Normally they space the 3rd games apart so revisiting it seems somewhat fresh, but with this edition 1 year after the original makes it seem uninspired. Maybe that's just me

I'd say you were a bit generous with the Originality score, US/UM are literally straight copy-pastes of S/M until the post game. (Since you didn't play them that's fine though haha)

You should definitely go back and play at least B2/W2 though, they are the last great Pokemon games, full of content and polished to an extremely high standard.

My hype and love for Pokemon has died down significantly. It comes to the point where I just don't even care anymore. I don't know if I'm growing out of Pokemon or what. Lately I replayed SoulSilver and enjoyed it more than the last couple Pokemon games that came out. Even though Soulsilver is one of my favorite ones it still feels like it has more meat and content than the current games. I didn't get to play Ultra S/M and probably won't but from playing regular S/M doesn't seem like much was different.

Honestly, when it comes to 3rd versions, I treat them as original games and disregard the original version.

Maybe one day I'll do b2/w2, who knows!