Game Review: Pokemon Moon

The game which I'll be reviewing today is one which I have been playing quite a bit as of late, and it's more than likely that you're familiar with the series if you've ever owned a handheld console, it's Pokemon Sun and Moon. The version which I'm reviewing is Pokemon Moon which has a few small differences from Pokemon Sun, though none of them are anything too important overall. Pokemon Sun and Moon were released back in late 2016 for the Nintendo 3DS, developed by Game Freak and published by The Pokemon Company. Pokemon Sun and Moon brings us into the 7th generation of Pokemon games, which is pretty incredible in my opinion. Time really flies by without even noticing, as I really can't believe how far they've come from the Kanto region back in the Red and Blue days of Pokemon games. 

This time around on our pocket monster adventure, we're taking a trip to the fictional region of Aloha, which happens to be the equivalent of Hawaii in the Pokemon world apparently. As with every other version of the Pokemon games of the past, we get to explore some cool new areas and of course find some interesting new Pokemon. Though, this time there's plenty of new features added to the game which we haven't even come close to seeing with a Pokemon game before. I can personally say I believe that Pokemon Sun and Moon is probably the best Pokemon game to be released since the original Red/Blue/Yellow series. 

So, let's talk about some of the changes to the game compared to what we're used to with the past games. First off, let's begin with our rival in this game. In the past games we played, our rival always took the Pokemon that was strongest against whatever type you chose, so if you chose a fire type, then he'll pick a water type for example. However, in this game our rival named Hau actually takes the Pokemon that is weak against our starter type. His personality is also quite different from past rivals, not really caring one way or the other about winning or losing. He's very calm, relaxed and laid back. I don't remember any hostile or angsty lines from him throughout the game, the majority of the time he's just talking about food or making odd facial expressions. 

As a matter of fact, not only is your rival pretty laid back, but the majority of all of the characters in the game are as well. Even the bad guys in this game going by the name of Team Skull really aren't especially all that bad compared to previous villains like Team Rocket. They're more wacky and annoying than anything else, not even close to being evil or considered "bad". The professor of this game is named Kukui, and he is also another example of this. Compared to Professor Oak or Professor Elm, he is quite different in pretty much every possible way. Some of the reasons are things like his dress style being a bit odd, considering he runs around with no shirt and an open lab coat with shorts, and his alter ego *Minor Spoiler, although I'd be shocked if you couldn't guess this within a second of seeing it* is a luchador style Pokemon trainer in the battle arena. 

Something else you'll quickly notice is that this game has done away with the gym's and gym badges. Instead, we get what is called kahuna's instead of gym leaders, and instead of gym badges we get stamps on our trainer passport. Each of the four islands in the Aloha region has a kahuna, as well as several captains that you can battle. Before you're able to face the kahuna's, you have to complete their trials which also involve captains. The main goal of these trials is to find and fight against a strong Pokemon referred to as Totem Pokemon. This system keeps the core of the gym system, but adds a nice spin to it and changes things up to something new/different. 

Another interesting change to the game which I think is a positive is that they've turned the HM machine moves into something called Poke Ride. You unlock these as the game progresses, and instead of having to go capture a Pokemon to learn these specific moves and wasting a slot on your team just to make sure you have what HM moves you need, you can just use these whenever without having any limitations set on your party of Pokemon. I was always annoyed with having to either drag a Pokemon along just to use those moves in the past, or having to be stuck with a crippled moveset on one of my useful Pokemon basically. So, I personally like this change and think it was a smart idea that saves effort/time. 

A few more changes that were for the positive which I'd like to talk about is the Rotom Pokedex, Poke Pelago and Poke Refresh. The Poke Refresh was a welcome addition since it allows you to cure status conditions on your Pokemon after the battle is over, so if you're light on supplies or money you can still take care of your Pokemon which can be useful in a nuzlocke or just in general. Especially with poisoned pokemon, as I can't even tell you how many times I had a pokemon faint on my way back to a Pokecenter when I didn't have an antidote handy. 

The Rotom Pokedex also brings in some new features such as a QR scanner which uses the camera that is on the back of the 3ds. After you've scanned 10 Pokemon QR codes which you can find online within 24 hours, the game will drop a random rare Pokemon down from the previous generations of games which you can then try and catch. The first time I tried it I was happily surprised to encounter a Cyndaquil which definitely wasn't a wild pokemon you could find in Pokemon Moon. Oh, I should also probably mention that they've also implemented a Pokemon SNAP like feature in the game, for people who are into that sort of thing. 

Poke Pelago is also pretty neat in it's own right, although I honestly ignored this feature for awhile since I didn't feel it was all that helpful at first at least. Later on, I realized that it can actually be fairly useful though. This feature allows you to use all those pokemon you've caught previously that are just sitting inside your PC boxes in a multitude of ways. Some of the different ways which you can utilize the PC Pokemon are things like growing wild berries, collecting Poke Beans, encountering random wild pokemon that find their way to your Poke Islands, stat training your pokemon, and even finding rare items to use or sell. Later on this becomes very important, as a specific item found here can be used for Bottle Caps, which are needed for hyper training. 

There are some other things that were changed which I just kinda felt neutral on, with one in particular where I actually kind of bordererd on feeling negative about overall. Z moves are a new addition to the game, which are a parallel to the mega-evolutions which were introduced in the previous past few games. These Z moves allow Pokemon to perform special moves besides their normal 4 moves. You get to use these once per battle, and they come with a neat little animation for each one. Though, eventually watching these animations got old for me and just started feeling like it was adding on more time to finish the battle. I really believe that they should have incorporated a way to skip past the cut scenes to save time, as this can be a pain if you're trying to burn through battles quickly. 

They've also added 81 new Pokemon to the game, which seems like a small number I'm sure considering how many Pokemon we have now. However, to help try and counter this in a way they've added Aloha variants of past gen Pokemon. This allows us to see Pokemon from the past in a new light which I personally really liked. Some of the pokemon included were Vulpix, Sandshrew, Rattata, and even a strange looking Raichu. It was a nice little surprise being able to see these Pokemon with a new design, not to mention with new abilites and movesets. They've also done some other interesting things with Pokemon designs like having a certain Pokemon look one way over another depending on which game you're playing, and have also added some very strange unique abilities to certain species. 

There's also the multiplayer area built into the game called Festival Plaza, which is the thing I mentioned before that I almost feel is a negative to the game. I know I must not be the only one which felt this way, since they're releasing new versions of sun and moon soon that have completely removed this section of the game. While I still enjoy the random trades with people across the world from time to time since it can be a massive help to build up the Pokedex, there are things that are flat out annoying with the system. The festival coin system especially is just the worst, I can't even tell you how much this has frustrated/annoyed me. The tasks you have to do are sometimes beyond ridiculous, such as having to guess what players visiting train certain Pokemon. And, other times you'll feel like the game thinks you're a 4 year old child, as it makes you ram a Pokemon through boulders in a circle. I just cannot get behind this feature, and I think it's a good thing it's being removed in the new version. 

The story of the game is similar to the past games for the most part, although this one tends to hold your hand more than any of the other ones which I have played. At the start of the game we have a rather long tutorial set up, which I really think they should have cut in half at the very least. I realize they've probably added it for the new generations of kids picking up Pokemon games for the first time, however, I believe they could have taught us the basics just fine with doing what they did in the old games. Even with the new features added, there surely had to be a way to explain them without burning up so much time and dragging things out. 

But, let's get back to talking about the narrative. The story is very straight forward and pretty much the same as what we're used to with most of the old Pokemon games. So, I can't say the plot of the game is anything too special at all. Fight the kahunas, deal with an "evil" (Seriously, it is laughable to call them evil) organization, and catch some Pokemon. Though there is an addition of a new type of Pokemon brought into the game called Ultra Beasts, which was something interesting as they're found in wormholes of space/time. I think it was probably the only thing that really stood out in the story of the game. Though, I'd be shocked to hear that more than a few percent of people bother to play Pokemon for the story, so I don't think the game having a linear/old school Pokemon story is an issue. I mean, I personally didn't pick this up expecting an amazing RPG story or anything at least. 

There's also an after game type mode that you can play through once you've beaten the main storyline which was a nice addition as well, albeit a bit repetitive after a short while. This involves catching and battling against the Ultra Beasts for the most part, as well as other legendary Pokemon. There's also an area you can go visit called the Battle Tree, where you will encounter the main characters from Red/Blue for a quick moment, and then battle your way up the tree against many skilled trainers. Hyper Training IV stats also becomes available which is something I'm sure a lot of hardcore fans were happy about. 

Overall, I would say this is probably the best iteration of a Pokemon game which we have gotten in recent years, and although it still follows the same cookie cutter formula in a way, it has plenty of new features added and changes up the old features to help keep things feeling fresh and new. I wouldn't say to expect an amazing story at all, because you won't get it. So, if that's what you were hoping for I'm sorry to disappoint you. However, considering that this is more than likely the last Pokemon game we'll be getting on the 3DS, I would say it definitely has went out with a nice bang. For any fans of the past Pokemon games, I'd definitely recommend you check it out! 

Thanks for checking out my review! Hope it's helped you get some interest in the game!