Pokemon Sun/Moon Review

*Note: I played the Pokemon Moon version, but like past Pokemon games, the experience varies only in the species of Pokemon available to capture without trading.

Yeesh, this review is well past its worthiness date. Nevertheless, I've completed most of the major events within the seventh-generation installment to the world famous Pokemon franchise. And while this game does have significant improvements throughout, I'm not completely sold on everything yet. But overall, Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon are a welcome addition to the franchise for fans both old and new.

Presentation

Man, does this game utilize all that the 3DS hardware is capable of. Now, granted, there have been much more structurally-complex games that have appeared in the 3DS library (Metal Gear Solid 3D comes to mind), but I don't think I've ever seen a 3DS game that has looked as dynamic as this. The islands which you, the player, call home, are colorful and vibrant, teeming with life from both NPCs and brand-new Pokemon to meet and capture. Each island, while relatively small when examined on their own, has somewhat of a unique style to them. One of them might be more tropical, while another is inherently more barren. This diversity in ecosystem makes exploring the islands somewhat of a more engaging adventure than exploring any past Pokemon region, since almost every ecosystem under the sun was explorable in all past games.

And as for the island theme, that's something that Pokemon Sun/Moon really digs deep into. Local lingo is inspired from the Oceanic islands that populate our own world, and the islands remain almost untouched from the societies we as players have been exposed to in past games; the characters of this new region hope to keep the islands pristine and free, and the towns and areas you travel reflect that. Granted, this can make the islands a bit of a bore to walk through as you pass the third grassy hill rather than through a bustling metropolis as in past games, but the art direction is so solid that one hardly gets bogged down by this loss.

Gameplay

Pokemon has always been described as 'baby's RPG,' and this series continues to hold that title firmly in its grasp. However, this iteration of the franchise does some different things with the exploration portion of the genre. No, the battle system hasn't changed since the original games debuted in Japan in 1996 (save for the creation of some new types to spruce up the rock-paper-scissors formula), but how and when the player navigates the world takes on some deviations from franchise standards. For example, the player is no longer hampered down with moves that are required to progress through certain areas. Instead, pre-determined Pokemon that can be called on at any time throughout the game help players navigate through certain areas. Using these Pokemon are cool, but I still would have liked to call on more at any opportunity. There are only about 12 the player can utilize, and the new fly ability isn't even manually-controlled to allow players to soar over the islands as they were in the previous games, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. These are all nitpicky, but they raise some questions and answers about what the focus of the game development was - expansion and alteration of the core mechanics of exploration and battle.

As for battle, much remains the same: unlike Pokemon X/Y, there's no new types added to spice up the battle strategies. And there's only one new battle mechanic in place of the Mega Evolution to add some variety, which are the Z-moves. They are superpowered moves that deal massive damage, and only one can be used per battle. There is a set amount, barely any unique moves special to specific Pokemon (aside from about 6 or 7), and they can still miss when they are used! As a mechanic of battle and gaming, this is probably the most frustratingly annoying addition to Pokemon yet.

Final Thoughts

Pokemon Sun/Moon is a fantastic foray back into the Pokemon world, and an excellent showcase of creativity from GameFreak and Nintendo. The island location is a breath of fresh air, and the new Pokemon are just as fun to get to know as the Pokemon from Red and Blue were. Some additions and replacements detract exploration and battle slightly, but they don't ruin the experience overall. They're just as annoying, though.

Rating: 8.75/10