When I first bought my copy of Pokemon Sun, it was only the second time that I have ever bought a new game the day it was released, and I had very good reasons for doing so. Before Sun and Moon were released, both games were being hyped up as these brand new experiences that were completely different than what Pokemon games were normally about. Sure, I love all the Pokemon games, so the repetition and the occasional new idea like mega evolution was fine by me, but the thought of all these new and drastic changes really excited me.

The idea of erasing gyms and adding in Alola forms just blew my mind away, so when the game first came out I was already expecting to have a blast, but what I actually found in the game was so much more than I could have expected. I remember back in the day when new Pokemon games cost $30 and $35, and the prices went up to $40 match all the new features and graphics, but I personally find that price to be an extreme deal for a game like this, which is a whole new experience, instead of playing the same thing over and over in the same way.

GRAPHICS-10/10

The graphics are just about the same as some of the other recent Pokemon games, only a lot better. I grew up with Pokemon Gold as my first and still my most favorite Pokemon game. The graphics of that game were great at the time. Then I remember about 10 or so years ago, Pokemon Diamond came out, the first game for the DS and I couldn’t believe the advancement in looks between Gold and that one, and I thought it couldn’t get any better.

The look of the game is amazing, whether it’s the battle animations and scenery, the Pokemon themselves, or just the towns and routes. Gone are the days of a simple birds eye view of the world, now we have something that more so resembles that of Gale of Darkness. I wouldn’t say that it’s too different than what the graphics looked like in the previous generation, but the graphics were already amazing, and now they are only better.

SOUND-8/10

I’ll be honest, I’m not a full fan of the direction that Pokemon music has been going over these past few years. I loved the original music, especially Gen 3 music, and then when Gen 5 came out, I really liked the futuristic feel of some of their music, but then once Gen 6 came out, I began to feel that the music was trying to change too much, so I started losing interest.

As for the music of this one, I do like some because of how they have added the whole “Island vibe” to it. To me, it again takes away from the Pokemon aspect but it helps fit in with the environment. There are a couple other songs I like throughout the routes and towns that I do like that are calm and relaxing, it’s just I feel that the music has lost touch with what made Pokemon music awesome.

As for the regular sounds of the game, they are as good as ever. You have a nice assortment or battle sounds, plus you have the various cries of Pokemon, which in case you haven’t noticed, there are A LOT of. Overall, I would probably put this game behind a few others in terms of sounds, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t great.

ADDICTIVENESS-10/10

Pokemon in general has already been a really fun and addicting game, and all the stuff that was added to this one only made that more true. I’m not going to lie, once I was a few hours into the game and first entered Hau’oli City, I couldn’t stop myself from playing with the Poke Finder feature for hours and taking hundreds of pictures. This feature literally serves no purpose other than sharing random pictures that you take online, but it’s still so much fun.

If taking useless pictures isn’t your cup of tea, then what about Festival Plaza? When I first unlocked Festival Plaza, you couldn’t get me out of it. There would be days where I would turn on the game, head into FP so I could win some prizes, and then end up spending my entire time playing there. I guess you could compare it to Join Avenue, but to me it’s better, because of all the mini games that you can play either alone or online and because of all the shops and activities that you can use to your advantage.

Probably the most addictive feature of the game is the fact that it’s all unexpected. The game was already a lot of fun when you pick your Pokemon, battle the gyms, and then become the champion, but Sun and Moon change everything to pit you against the trials, and captains, and Totem Pokemon. No matter how many Pokemon games you have played before, none of them could have prepared you for these kinds of changes, which are all a brand new experience.

Even if you started losing interest in Pokemon you would probably want to play this simply so you can begin to understand all of the new stuff that’s going on. Plus Z Moves look both sick and hilarious. I would literally spend hours battling random wild Pokemon just so I can watch Torracat use Breakneck Blitz over and over, the animation is both cool and just plain funny. Overall, I’d say the game manages to keep you interested all the time and is one of the most fun, unique, and addicting Pokemon games of all time.

STORY-10/10

Like I have mentioned a few times before, the story of this game is so different than what everyone is used to from a Pokemon game. There are no gyms, instead, you go through various trials of each of the 4 islands, you battle powerful Totem Pokemon, battle Island Kahunas, you learn about incredible new moves called Z Moves and you battle the incredibly dumb Team Skull. Seriously, when I first encountered Team Skull I was like

“Oh my god, who are these people? They sound and look just stupid.”

Then the battle started and I saw the battle animation and was like

“Woah, that’s a sick opening maybe Team Skull is cool after all!”

*Team Skull sends out Zubat!*

Oh, never mind then.

I never had a problem with the story of the previous games, which have always found a way to spice everything up a little, whether it was with backstories, legendaries, or whatever, but this complete renovation is wonderful. Even if there are people out there who personally find that the story of Sun and Moon is worse than that of previous games, they would probably give it full credit anyway for being shaken up.

DIFFICULTY-3

I’m going to be switching this up a bit and talk about the difficulty first because I’m going to ramble about the depth for a while. The game isn’t hard at all. I mean come on, there’s so many ways for you to get an advantage that would have probably been unheard of in games like 5 years ago. Two of the biggest aspects that make the game so easy would be Festival Plaza and the EXP Share. The moment you saw EXP Share, you probably already knew what I was talking about.

The EXP Share has been so different since the start of Gen 6 and to the point where I even heard some people say that it’s an unfair advantage. You get the EXP Share so early on in the game now, it doesn’t have to be held by the Pokemon anymore, and of course it gives EXP to EVERY SINGLE POKEMON in your party, so you don’t have to keep switching Pokemon in and out. You get to level up your Pokemon so much faster now and it’s great for evolving as well.

Festival Plaza helps a lot too because all you need to do is have a few of the prize shops set up and every day you get a few free prizes, from Berry Juice all the way up to Nuggets, PP Max’s, and more. Even if you get the really cheap items, you can still use those or sell them, so free items is always a good sign. Other than that, if you find yourself at a point where your enemies are too strong, you just need to go and battle wild Pokemon over and over until you are strong enough. Let’s not forget about your Rotom Pokedex, because being lost is now a thing of the past since it will always tell you where you need to go.

DEPTH-10/10

I would be lying if I said that the game had a lot going on, because that would be an understatement. First off I’d want to talk a bit about the islands. When I first started playing Sun, I thought the idea of having only 4 islands was bad, and I had also thought that they were pretty small as well. I thought I would breeze through the islands easily, but I was wrong because by the time that I had first gotten to the 2nd island, I had already invested more than a dozen hours into the game. Each island had its fair share of things to do and places to explore.

Also, when you are talking about a Pokemon game, you can’t mention the depth aspect without talking about how many Pokemon there are in the game. I mean, who even keeps track of them anymore? I know there’s a fact that there’s more than 100 Pokemon just on the first island alone, and after spending more than a dozen hours on said island, I still haven’t even been able to catch half of them. In addition to the number of Pokemon, you have a decent amount of cities, towns, routes, and houses to explore.

FEATURES OF AWESOMENESS

Now I’m going to talk a bit about some of the new stuff that I find to be the best.

Poke Finder- I already talked a bit about Poke Finder, and it’s easily my favorite part of the game. When I first got the ability to take pictures, I was like meh, this doesn’t seem all that great but then I started to have a lot of fun taking different pictures. It always ended up being a competition against myself to see how good a shot that I can take and how many of the likes my best shot can obtain. Also let’s not forget that some of the AI comments towards your pictures can be hilarious as well. So far I have probably put in 3 hours alone into Pokemon and have more than 200 pictures saved to my SD card.

Festival Plaza- Like Poke Finder, this is one of my very favorites. You get Festival coins for doing pretty much anything. You can talk to other players who visit your plaza and as long as you don’t mess up you get coins. You can also do fun missions. These range from type matchups to language lessons, to whatever else. You can do a few per day and depending on how well you perform you get coins. Coins are life, you can use them at various shops to buy things or to treat your Pokemon to fun activities. My favorite part of Festival Plaza is the prize wheels though, just today I won a Full Heal, a PP Max, and two Berry Juice!

RIDE POKEMON!!!!!- Possibly better than both Poke Finder and Festival Plaza is the fact that you can now ride Pokemon. Forget walking and running, and throw your bike and/or roller blades in an active volcano because you won’t need them now that you have your own Tauros to carry you around everywhere. I love the fact that you can just press one button quickly, and in half a second you’re going to be in full gear on top of your Pokemon of choice. Just riding a Pokemon alone is faster than walking, but using that Tauros Dash gets you wherever you need to be faster than saying “…”.

All of that is just the tip of the Pokemon-berg because there are so many other new features, like Z Moves, Berry trees that have multiple different berries and replenish on their own, special “shadow” Pokemon, and so much more. All this merges together to give you one hell of a game with so much to do.

OVERALL-9.8/10

Overall. I would say that this would be one of the best Pokemon games that I have ever played. I’d even go as far as to say that it could be one of the best DS games that I have ever played as well. If you were able to pre order the game or buy it when it first came out, and played it at the same time as everyone else, along with the few events that have been released, then you have been a part of something awesome, but if you are unlucky enough to not have the game, and you get it later on, then it’s still awesome and you should still totally get it.

It’s a $40 game and if you have a 3DS, then there is no other game that you should be getting if you have the money, it’s money well spent. Overall, the game was a blast and my final grade for Pokemon Sun will be a 9.8 out of 10.

zanderlex : Amazing review as always. I read reviews but later in the day like the next day I would post in since I would need thoughts on what to say. If I am going to be honest with myself. I doubt if I would ever get the chance to play pokemon sun or moon for a fact. I know as of now its an amazing game to play if I would play that would mean I have to catch up with the storyline on pokemon to know who the regular villains are now. That's how it  has always been for me for playing pokemon games. '-'

Ha ha, great review. I love the sarcasm you put in in the Story part of the review, it actually made me chuckle, and I love it when there's a hint of sarcasm in a review, it makes me feel like I can relate to it better. Looking forward to whatever you do next!