I've been out of the Pokemon games since Diamond and Pearl. I liked them a lot, but now I'm curious about the stuff I've missed. So in your opinion, are Pokemon Sun and Moon worth playing? Why or why not?

They're okay. Definitely a step up from X and Y (which were just bad). They do have several very annoying features though (game forcefully holding your hand throughout the whole region (no real exploring), wayyy too many cutscenes, and double battles just straight up drop your FPS) but the graphics are great.

If you are looking to get back into the series, I would honestly recommend waiting until Pokemon Sword/Shield drops for the switch. Those games look really promising so far.


If you can't wait that long, try Black and White. Followed by Black 2 / White 2. Those games are underrated gems.

I was in a similar situation to you. I actually stopped playing them since FireRed. But in the last few years, I played Heart Gold, X, and Alpha Sapphire. Each of these games is great in their own right.

But I have a friend who's played nearly all of them. And he says that Sun/Moon were the best he's played in years. I heard they actually removed the required HM's for progression. The starters are pretty cute too in my opinion. Now, if this ties into your 3DS vs Switch debate. I'd say it's well worth it. Sword/Shield aren't coming out for over half a year anyway.

However, you should probably aim for Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon. I heard the stories are better in the originals. But Ultra has far too much extra content for it to matter.

Edit: Also, Furret is right about Black & White, but they're not underrated to my knowledge.

Honestly I'd go grab the ultras... they're the "enhanced" versions with more endgame and a bit more story over the base Sun and Moon

(This comment has been deleted by the user.)

Sun and Moon are decent entries to the series, but they can be very convoluted and hand-holdy at times, especially to someone that left off at Diamond and Pearl which were much simpler times. As a few others have suggested, I would recommend picking up Black/White and Black 2/White 2 and then possibly Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire if you don't feel like waiting 3 more months for Sword and Shield.

I will say that if you are looking for a more challenging pokemon game, you might be a bit disappointed with gen 6 and 7 as they are undeniably some of the easiest titles in the franchise. X & Y and ORAS aren't very heavy on story which is why they aren't a slog to get through like Sun/Moon and US/UM are at times. Be prepared to wait about 30-40+ minutes before being able to get your pokemon and finally set out on your adventure. It's not all bad though, graphically, the gen 7 games are the best looking 3DS titles and have a decent story compared to past entries.

Regardless, I think gen 5 is better than both 6 and 7, so if possible I would start there. If you don't mind more story, more cutscenes, and being spoonfed more than normal, then you could give Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon a try since they have the better story and extra content.

I think that they are worth playing playing because I think both the look and feel of the game are really great in their own right and so is the general atmosphere of it too, I also really enjoyed the music throughout my play though and it really helped to immerse me into the Alola region. I also think it did try to bring a lot of new things to the table which can be pretty fun and unique so I would say that generally overall I do think that it is worth playing and seeing for yourself what you think of it first hand.

At this point, I would skip right over to Ultra Sun and Moon since you're basically getting the same game with a lot more content.