Sun/Moon Impressions

So, let's talk Sun & Moon.


Let's start with the big negatives:

First thing off the bat, they are obviously trying to go the standard jrpg route. The first 15-20 minutes of the game boil down to unskippable cut scenes before you get your first Pokémon. The quest to quest story line is pretty boring so far, and we're still obviously in tutorial mode (and I just beat the first trial). They even have a minimap on the bottom screen with indicators of where your current quest is taking you. It's blending WoW with Pokémon in weird ways that I'm a bit skeptical about.

I still am a little miffed about only being able to use the joystick for movement, but whatevs

Another totally unnecessary change was that, in the Pokémon ordering screen, you can no longer hit A to get a list that includes "switch". Switch has been moved to its own button. I'm sure I'll get used to it, but for now it's obnoxious because it's different.

The Exp Share is the same as in XY, and of course you get it super early on (basically right after the first rival battle).

Rival is okay, very forgettable. Pretty bland team so far, and he still only has 2 Pokémon after our third battle. This might still be part of the tutorial bit, since every trainer i've come across except for maybe 3 have only had one Pokémon in their party. I'm really hoping this changes.

Now the positives so far:

The variety of Pokémon so far is great. There are probably 7 or 8 Pokémon on the first route, and I would guess 35 wild Pokémon up to the point I am now. This includes Ghosts (like misdreavus), fire types (like growlithe), and psychic types (like slowpoke). Very pleased by that.

There are a few tiny tiny things that I think really improve the game as well. Trainers you face stand behind the enemy Pokémon during fights, and when they send out each Pokémon, they're often in a variety of pokeballs outside of standard (I've seen lots of nest and great balls so far). The little things are nice.

Also, the move animation for Astonish is incredible.

The trial itself was surprisingly difficult, though lackluster. The first one does not have a picture taking mission, instead it's knocking out random wild Pokémon in a cave. That's followed by the Totem Pokémon which got me down to my last guy (the call for allies function making it 2v1 shat on me). I miss having the diverse cast of Gym Leaders, but each island has its own Kahuna which I think might take the gym leader's place.

After battles where you have had status conditions, you get the option to "cure" your Pokémon, which is essentially rubbing medicine on them and curing the condition. Even though this makes the game even easier, I think it's alright. PLUS it makes your Pokémon love you more when you do it

Z-moves are surprisingly complex, as they replace existing moves. For instance, if I give the normal z-crystal to a Pokémon with tackle, echoed voice, and supersonic, I get 3 z-move options (one physical, one special, one status).

Again, I'm not very far into the game and almost everything I've done is "go here *cutscene* go here *cutscene* go here *trial*" and i've spent about 1.5 hours in the game. I'm hoping it really opens up better here soon.

Stats:
1 trial beat, 1 z-move
Team:
Popplio, Trumbeak, Grubbin, Makuhita, Growlithe, Grimer (team highly likely to change)

game sounds terrible from what you've said but i'll keep checking back in case that changes

Alright, been playing a bit more today where I get a chance.

I made it to the second Island, which they have said contains 3 trials. I just beat the second trial of the game, 1st trial of the 2nd island.

Truly, the trials are actually great. There are "captains" that lead over each trial, each with their own personality and challenge. Both trials I've done so far have been pretty intense and unique. Both have involved battling wild Pokémon and then beating the Totem Pokémon who calls an additional ally. So the totem Pokémon has boosted stats, has been as high or higher leveled than my team, and there's the 2 v 1 aspect.

When you beat a trial or kahuna, you get inundated with rewards. Z-crystals, important items, ride Pokémon, pokeballs, etc. At least these aren't just given at random and directly as rewards for progressing, but I do hope it tones down a bit soon.

Ride Pokémon is pretty awesome. VERY pleased with how they've removed HMs. I've unlocked 3 ride Pokémon:
Tauros = Rock Smash
Stoutland = Itemfinder
Lapras = Surf

Stoutland's my fave. Pretty sure he has the fastest normal run speed, and holding B lets him sniff out items. Unfortunately, using the sniff really reduces your move speed...but he's so aesthetically pleasing.

The variety of Pokémon continues, not to mention some Pokémon that come really late in previous games can be caught on the first island. Bagon and Carbink are two examples.

Also, Pokémon are very abundant but can be hard to find. Grass patches on the same route hold different Pokémon. For instance, pichu on Route 1 is only in like 2 of the 4 grass patches. Bagon is in just one grass patch of like 10 on a route. Luckily, the Pokédex zooms in on the map down to the grass patch level to show you exactly where each Pokémon can be found.

Unfortunately, any time the story progresses, that means more cutscenes. These are pretty short and have been leading to battles lately. But the handfeeding of information is kind of annoying.

As far as my team, Alolan Grimer has exceeded expectations. It learns bite/fang moves, so poison fang + poison touch = everybody getting poisoned.
Charjabug/Grubbin are awesome. So far, my fave Gen VII Pokémon.
Other Pokémon are pretty standard. I highly doubt Fomantis sticks around (pure grass is dang boring), but it was useful in the second trial.

Kahunas Beat: 1
Trials Beat: 2
Z-Crystals: 3
Team: Charjabug, Trumbeak, Grimer, Brionne, Fomantis, Makuhita

short update

I have made it to the 3rd Island and beat the first trial, so the details are:

Trials Beat: 5
Kahunas Beat: 2
Z-Crystals: 8 (they gave me a bonus crystal after this trial)
Rides unlocked: 4
Team: Toucannon, Grimer, Charjabug, Brionne, Hariyama, Fomantis

I haven't been using the Exp Share and I'm getting rekt for it. I went up against my rival right away upon landing on island 3, and he outleveled me by 4. I couldn't even beat his first Pokémon, and he finally had 3 in his party!!

One thing I haven't commented on is that when you catch a Pokémon and you have a full party, it gives you the option of sending it to the box, or replacing a current party Pokémon with your newly caught Pokémon. If you keep the newly caught in your party and send your other Pokémon to the box, it gives you the option to take the item from the Pokémon before sending them to the box. Logistically, it makes sense that you could do this (if you can send a newly caught Pokémon straight to a box, why not just send a different Pokémon to the box instead?), but i'm on the fence about it.

Also I failed my first trial on Island 2 (it was the 3rd trial). It was the first one to have a filler lead up to the totem Pokémon. It was basically a Spot The Difference between 3 dancing marowak, but they kept throwing jokes in that had me chuckling, so I can forgive them. This is probably the funniest Pokémon game, so take that as you will.

Lastly, I've already run into some great throwbacks to old games. Dexio and Sina appeared for a bit (the XY professor's aides), and Oak appeared on island 3 (complete with long hair and hawaiian shirt).

All in all, this game is super interesting. I think the map is one of the best, but the story is kind of weird but it makes it very compelling to play. They're starting to tease Ultra Beasts which is bizarre, but the trials are GREAT. Going in with low expectations has paid off.

EDIT: When you first meet the leader of Team Skull, he is talking with the region's Pokémon Professor (kukui). They are discussing how they don't like the Trial system and Kukui is working to implement a Pokémon league in the region. It's like they knew exactly what we were all thinking...that sort of meta game is beautiful. Also, you can catch a Beldum early on the 3rd island so this game is only getting better the more I play it.

VERY OVERDUE UPDATE:

I am currently at the E4...so good news that there's an e4 and champion!! The E4 are *mostly* people you've run into through the game except for one person. I haven't made it to the champion, but I have a good idea as to who it is.

The last half of the 3rd Island and through the 4th island, you jump deep into Story Mode aka Team Skull et al shenanigans.

I have every elemental Z crystal except for Psychic. You get various Z crystals from the trials, and then others you get through various means (missions, exploring random caves, beating certain trainers, etc). Also, the E4 use Z Crystals.

I've seen a lot of hate on the rival, but I feel he's fine. If there's any character I dislike, it's the edgelord pseudo-rival who appeared to be a member of Team Skull for a while. But oh well.

I have some gripes about the 4th Island.

The 4th island is essentially uninhabited except for an altar place where the legendary stuff goes down. It also has a mountain with no electric Pokémon where electric Pokémon evolve (probopass, magnezone, etc) which doesn't make much sense to me. This might just be me getting used to the atmosphere, but by the 4th island almost nothing stood apart. All of the routes from the last half of the 3rd island on seem to have the same Pokémon, they're pretty standard island paths with no real definition. Where the first few islands had SO many Pokémon available, it feels like the last two islands have no wild variation. Because of this, the game definitely felt like it slowed down...not to mention story advancing means endless cutscenes.

In any case, once you get past the story, you're essentially right at E4 and the difference in levels is astounding. When I started E4, my highest level was 53, and all of the E4 have 55-56 as their average. It's the same formula introduced I think in Gen IV where you can battle the E4 in any order, but luckily they brought back the 5 Pokémon team sizes again. Really upped the difficulty.

I think in general, this game suffers like X/Y where you almost need to be using the EXP Share to keep up with the game level wise...but when you do that you miss out on using some Pokémon in your party for half the game.

Now that I've seen most of the Pokémon available in this game, I've already got my next team planned out. I'm looking forward to trying again, but the looming issues of cutscenes kind of make me nervous. Also, Toxapex is now one of my favorite Pokémon. Anyway:

Team:
Primarina, Vikavolt, Toucannon, Kommo-o, Dhelmise, Toxapex
Trials Beat: I think 7 was the grand total, one does not have a captain
Kahunas Beat: 4
Z-Crystals: too many to count, essentially all but Psychic