Pokémon Sun and Moon/Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon

Pokémon Sun and Moon/Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon
Adventure awaits you in the Alola region!
Protagonist(s): Elio Selene Genre(s): Role-playing Platform(s): Nintendo 3DS Release Date: Sun/Moon: WW: November 18, 2016 Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon: WW: November 17, 2017 Developer(s): Game Freak Publisher(s): Nintendo Country: Japan Series: Pokémon Predecessor: Pokémon X and Y (core series) Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (by release date) Successor: Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon Let's Go, Eevee! (by release date) Pokémon Sword and Shield (core series)

Pokémon Sun and Moon are a pair of role-playing games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. They are the core series games for Generation VII, and

One year later, a pair of updated versions, Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, were released on November 17, 2017, and includes several changes and additions from the original games.

Why You'll Wanna Catch 'Em All in Alola

Overall

1. The gameplay has several improvements, which show how far the series has come up to this point. Examples include, but aren't limited to:
   • Movement is no longer tied to a tile-based grid system, so your character can now move in a truly 3D space.
   • You no longer have to remember exactly how each type affects others, as the battle menu will show you this when you select your moves.
   • You can now choose whether you want to add a Pokémon you caught to your party or send them to a Pokémon Box. This also applies to Pokémon Eggs, which no longer require an extra Pokémon space to obtain, as you can now send them to a Box.
2. The Alola region, which is the game's setting, is a lush, tropical archipelago based on Hawaii; this also applies to the region's culture and some of their Pokémon, such as the four Tapus and Comfey.
3. Gym battles are replaced in these games by Island Trials, which are challenges that vary depending on the area in question (such as making stew for Mallow's trial or spotting the differences in photos for Kiawe's), and at the end you fight a Totem Pokémon (which is a larger version of a normal fully-evolved Pokémon with boosted stats).
4. Pokémon Refresh is a worthy successor to Pokémon-Amie from the previous game, as you can not only tidy your Pokémon up, play games, and feed them Poké Beans (this game's version of Poké Puffs), but also cure their negative status conditions.
5. You can now catch over 800 Pokémon total, 86 of which are newly-introduced ones!
   • The new Pokémon's designs range from cute (e.g. Brionne, Comfey, Ribombee, and Rockruff) to epic-looking (e.g. the four Tapus, Incineroar, Decidueye, Solgaleo, Lunala, and all four of Necrozma's forms), and are sometimes based on Hawaiian flora and fauna.
   • Regional Forms are introduced in this game (albeit only for Kanto Pokémon), which are variations of existing Pokémon that have different designs and types due to changes in their natural environments.
   • Beings known as Ultra Beasts, which come from alternate dimensions that can be accessed once you beat the games, are unique creatures that incorporate a Lovecraftian element into the series.
   • Zygarde's alternate forms, including its 10% and Complete Formes, make an appearance in this game, which is a nice callback to the Pokémon XYZ anime.
   • If you played the Sun and Moon demo, you can add a special Greninja to your team with the Battle Bond ability, which turns it into Ash-Greninja.
6. Z-Moves are introduced as this generation's primary mechanic, which makes Pokémon battles more interesting. Like Mega Evolution (which returns in this game), Z-Moves can only be used once per battle, and some of them are unique to specific Pokémon, such as Pikachu's Catastropika, Decidueye's Sinister Arrow Raid, Incineroar's Malicious Moonsault, Primarina's Oceanic Operetta, the Tapus' Guardian of Alola, etc.
7. The game is a lot more plot-driven than previous games, with many twists and turns to keep things interesting.
8. The infamous HM's have been removed completely, with a new Poké Ride system taking their place; rather than having to keep at least one Pokémon on your team as an "HM Slave", you can just call a Pokémon to do the job for you.
   • Tauros Charge functions as the Bike and smashes huge rocks on land, similarly to Rock Smash.
   • Stoutland Search is similar to the Item Finder/Dowsing Machine, as it allows you to search for hidden items.
   • Mudsdale Gallop lets you cross rocky terrain, which is slightly similar to Rock Climb.
   • Machamp Shove, just like the Strength HM, allows you to move boulders out of your way to solve puzzles.
   • Lapras Paddle allows you to cross bodies of water as if you were using Surf. You can also fish on Lapras' back.
   • Sharpedo Jet functions like a combination of Surf and Rock Smash.
   • Charizard Glide functions like Fly, thus allowing you to fast-travel across the Alolan Islands.
     • This feature will later return in Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
9. The graphics are fantastic, especially for late 3DS standards, with a more realistic look to the characters and buildings. This is a first for the series, as more unrealistic sizes were often required to fit into the games' tile-based grid system.
10. Many memorable characters appear in this game, including Professor Kukui, Hau (this game's "friendly" rival), Lillie, Gladion (Lillie's older brother and the more typical "jerkish" rival), Lusamine (the main antagonist of the original SM and the secondary antagonist of USUM), Guzma (the "Big Bad Boss" of Team Skull), Nebby (who later evolves into Solgaleo or Lunala), etc.
    • In particular, Lillie is the most fleshed-out of all the characters, with her goal being to protect Nebby from the Aether Foundation and take it back home to where it belongs, all while having an amazing bond with it that is very relatable for a majority of players.
11. Top-notch soundtrack that incoporates Hawaiian themes into it, with the older tracks not being ruined by this musical style and still keeping their charm.
12. This generation introduces Hyper Training, which allows players to maximize their Pokémon's IV's.
13. Uniquely for a Pokémon game, you become the Alola Region's first Champion, and can then participate in a Title Defense mode
14. At the Battle Tree (the Battle Facility for this game), not only do you fight Red and Blue when you arrive, but can also take on characters from past games, including Wally, Anabel, and Grimsley.
15. Overall, the games helped keep the series relevant for modern times, due to its technical innovations to the series that prevent them from becoming too stale. It also served as an influence for future games (for better or for worse), as they do similar things to this game, but on a much larger scale, thus making Generation VII the most innovative games until Legends: Arceus released.

Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon

1. While it is largely the same game, these also feature several improvements to the story, gameplay, and include some new Pokémon.
2. The Alola Photo Club allows you to take photos of yourself alongside your Pokémon, and you can change the background, poses, outfits, etc., to make the perfect photo.
3. Necrozma plays a much larger role in this game, where it is the main antagonist of the story and has three new forms the player can use in battle, those being Dusk Mane Necrozma (fused with Solgaleo), Dawn Wings Necrozma (fused with Lunala), and Ultra Necrozma (accessible via Ultra Burst).
   • You can swap out Necrozma's forms using the N-Solarizer and N-Lunarizer, which are given to you by Colress (the same guy who gave you the DNA Splicers in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2). You can also use Ultra Burst in battle with the Ultranecrozium-Z, which turns the fused Necrozma into Ultra Necrozma.
4. The Z-Ring is replaced by the Z-Power Ring, and six new Z-Moves were added, those being Splintered Stormshards (Lycanium-Z), Let's Snuggle Forever (Mimikium-Z), Clangorous Soulblaze (Kommonium-Z), Searing Sunraze Smash (Solganium-Z), Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom (Lunalium-Z), and Light That Burns the Sky (Ultranecrozium-Z).
5. Once you become Champion, you can access new Rifts that allow you to catch Legendary Pokémon from past games.
6. The post-game content is expanded, including Episode RR, where you fight off Team Rainbow Rocket (which consists of the leaders of past evil teams from alternate dimensions led by Giovanni) in your Festival Plaza.

Bad Qualities

Overall

1. As per usual, the opening hours as slow-paced and have a multitude of unskippable tutorials.
2. This is the first time the National Pokédex has been absent in a mainline Pokémon game since its introduction in Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, so only the Pokémon you can catch in Alola have Pokédex entries. Fortunately, the National Pokédex was moved to Pokémon Bank to make up for this loss.
   • Not helping one bit is that this problem would continue into future games.
3. This game has more prevalent framerate drops from the target 30fps than ever, which can even happen in the overworld. Triple and Rotation Battles were removed because of this.
4. This is the first game in which you must first become the Champion to get all Pokémon to fully obey you, regardless of their level (including ones you transferred from older games).
5. The Festival Plaza (which is this game's communication method), while having an attractive look to it, is more underwhelming than its predecessor, the PSS.
6. While the Island Trials are innovative, frwsh ideas for the series, they come off as inferior replacements for Gym Battles and can get monotonous at times, considering that most of them involve the player walking down linear ways to do a few battles, fetch quests with tedious handholding, easy quizzes, or just a series of cutscenes and dialogue moments. As a result, they tend to zigzag in quality, thus making them inconsistent.
   • Additionally, the Trials were added very late in development (near the game's release, in fact), since Gyms were originally supposed to be in the games, but had to be cut and replaced due to the 3DS' hardware limitations, which makes no sense considering that X and Y had Gyms. This results in the Trials sometimes feeling rushed and a bit unfinished.
7. Alolan forms are only found on Kanto Pokémon, likely for "Kanto Pandering" purposes, which can disappoint fans of future generations. Thankfully, Sword and Shield will feature regional forms for more than just Kanto Pokémon.
8. Most Trial Captains aren't very interesting and are forgettable at best, and they don't really serve much purpose to the story, which can be seen as wasted potential.

Sun and Moon

1. SOS Battles make catching Pokémon more tedious, due to the player not being able to catch them if there is more than one, and new Pokémon being called in to replace the fainted ones. USUM changed this so that the Adrenaline Orb is the only way multiple Pokémon are called.

Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon

1. As before stated, despite a few story changes and new content, these games are largely the same as the originals.
2. No new regional forms are introduced in this version, despite there being new Ultra Beasts and forms for Necrozma.
3. The battle against Ultra Necrozma, while it does have an epic yet haunting theme, is a brutal difficulty spike.

Reception

All four Pokémon Sun and Moon games received largely positive reviews from critics and players (on Metacritic, Sun and Moon scored 87/100 and 7.6/10, while Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon received 84/100 and 7.6/10). The games were praised for their new innovations and ideas to the series that gave them a different feel from other generations, while USUM got minor criticism for being too similar to the originals.

Trivia

• If you put the two Ultra titles' boxarts together, you can see Ultra Necrozma in the center of the full cover.
• Both pairs of games are set 12 hours apart from each other; while Sun and Ultra Sun follow real time, Moon and Ultra Moon take place at night when you play them in the day and vice-versa.

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