Pokémon Moon - Nintendo 3DS

The first mainline Pokemon game that feels like it really tries to mess with the formula since the FireRed/LeafGreen introduced the Sevii Islands. I also really appreciate how well the levels scale, making battles actually somewhat tense, especially from the Elite 4 onwards. It was quite a surprise when I became Champion and the story actually brought me to somebody who was about as difficult as the previous trainer. The Poke Pelago is a neat addition, as well, and participating in that both encouraged me to catch any Pokemon I saw and made maxing out affection significantly more streamlined.

Great addition to the Pokemon family. This game has innovated on several fronts compared to the library of pokemon games. For example, for the first time ever, there are no badges, instead your character undergoes trials. This is refreshing after having played 20 years worth of pokemon games. Next, one major annoyance, especially in the last game, was the use of moves such as surf and fly to have in-game, out of battle effects. The problem was that these moves took up a valuable slot for battles. Pokemon has innovated, and de-coupled the moves needed, from your pokemon. So you can fly whenever you want, and not have to have a pokemon with fly in your group. Finally, this game has a very interesting story/plot. Overall, the game feels very fresh and fun.

The game came in a sealed package and works fine luckily, but it was the UAE World Edition when I specifically bought the US version

Pokemon Moon is the first Pokemon game that ever took me more than a week to beat. And no, its not because Pokemon Moon is difficult. The reason it took me over a month to beat Pokemon Moon is because it is boring. I could barely play over an hour of it at a time. My excitement was quickly dashed after starting up the game for the first time. Thirty minutes of cutscenes later, and I still wasnt on my pokemon journey. People seem to love bashing the Gen VI games but if theres one thing those games did correctly, it was the short introductions. Pokemon XY barely had a tutorial section; I was catching Pokemon only ten minutes after popping in the cartridge. And I understand that tutorials are essential. Ive been playing Pokemon since Gen I so I know how to play the games. Someone just entering the Pokemon series might find the tutorials useful. However, we arent talking about a massive open world rpg. Its Pokemon, guys. Just demonstrate to the player how a basic battle works and how to catch wild Pokemon. Pokemon Gold and Silver did that in under ten minutes so can anyone tell me why 16 years later in Gen VII it takes over half an hour? The very least they could have done was to make the cutscenes skippable. You think its just the introduction, right? Nope. The game is cluttered with them. I swear I spent more time reading through all those cutscenes than I did exploring the various Islands. Not that there is much to explore, however. Pokemon Sun / Moon are not the games you were promised. 1) Exploration Although no Pokemon game is really non-linear, never before have I truly felt confined to a corridor than I have been in Moon (or FFXIII, take your pick). The novelty of having multiple islands to explore quickly dissipates as you realize that almost all of the routes feel exactly the same. Much of this can be attributed to the lack of the variety of Pokemon. A lot of the same Pokemon will keep sprouting up across all of the islands, taking away any uniqueness or sense of discovery. However, the routes themselves just arent particularly interesting. Most of them look the same, with the few trainers littered throughout being the only way to distinguish one route from the next. 2) Festival Plaza I cant even begin to guess why this exists. What was wrong with the PSS from Gen VI? Why did they replace that with this? Festival Plaza is one great big mess, a convoluted manner in which to connect players that totally breaks any immersion and fun because of how obnoxious and tedious it is. 3) Trials and their Captains After hearing about the decision to remove the classic Gym Battle system, many people were excited to find out what the trials of Sun and Moon would be. I myself was quite intrigued as I wondered what they implemented. Trials and their Captains were meant to spice things up, offering a new way of growing stronger as opposed to the previously established Gyms. However, different isnt always better. Instead of gym puzzles, gym trainers, and gym leaders, Gen VII offers a tedious activity coupled with a battle against a Wild (though powered-up) Pokemon. After the first two trials, it becomes clear that the concept was not properly hashed out. Most of the trials end up feeling just like gym battles anyway (Looking at you, Acerola >_>) so its a lackluster experience. 4) Rivals A lot of people wish for a classic Rival, akin to Blue or Silver. Someone cold, rude, derisive, and powerful with maybe a superiority complex sprinkled on top. After the lackluster comedic Rivals of Gen IV and Gen VI, most people felt tired of the lack of competition. Seriously...does anyone remember Barry? Or the XY Trio? They were among the most useless of characters in their games and pathetically weak as well. However, I guess there are people out there who appreciated them, though how anyone can like a character like Tierno is beyond my capacity of understanding. So in a spineless attempt to please both crowds, they included two Rivals in Sun and Moon. Hau, the happy-go-lucky native who barges into the story whenever he feels like it, is the goofy comedy relief Rival who never poses any threat to you or your ambitions. This is clearly outlined in the first hour of the game, when Hau, your RIVAL, does the opposite of all other Rivals in Pokemon games, and selects the Pokemon with a weakness to yours. Throughout the game, he is obnoxiously cheerful and never changes or develops as a character. He is just as useless by the end of the game as he is in the beginning and youll groan out loud every time he appears on screen. On the other hand, we have Gladion. Unlike Hau, he is an aloof and calculating individual who believes in individual strength. I really dont have anything bad to say about Gladion. Hes obviously a throwback to Silver, the Rival from Gen II, but theres nothing inherently wrong about that. Out of all the characters in this game, Gladion is written the best and his character actually experiences credible development throughout the game. Not to mention, his battle theme is INCREDIBLE! 5) Lillie Ugh...I cannot stand this character. Lillie, the little coward who cant do a single thing on her own, tags along with you for most of your journey through Alola. This wouldnt be an issue except that Lillie is one of the most aggravating and pointless characters of all time. Sun and Moon spend a lot of time (and a million cutscenes) trying to get you to love and adore her, as if shes the most precious, delicate flower in the world. However, after hearing Lillie tell me for the third time that she didnt enjoy watching Pokemon get hurt, I just couldnt find it in myself to care. Lillie is meant to be written as a selfless heroine trapped behind insecurities and trauma. However, the game doesnt do a good job of presenting her that way. Cutscenes of yelling Nebby! Get in the bag! and I wish I were more like you! are not nearly enough to build a character. Show, dont tell! Instead of telling us about how brave Lillie is or having all of the characters in the game compliment and praise her on her (non-existent) growth, show us that shes becoming more mature, more responsible, more courageous. When the climax of Lillies growth and transformation finally arrives, it just feels so forced and contrived. At no point was I ever convinced Lillie had developed one bit as a character. 6) Your Character (Protagonist: Sun and Moon) Protagonist Sun and Moon have absolutely no soul. With giant, wide open eyes, permanent smiles on their face, and strangely robotic walk cycles, Sun and Moon look and act like zombies. Compared to these two, Red is a rambunctious extrovert. Sun and Moon have no character. Most of this is Lillies fault. So much of the story is centered on her that it leaves little room for Sun and Moon to properly develop. You spend more time fulfilling favors for her, listening to her drone on and on about this or that, or saving her from another disaster than you do learning anything about yourself. 7) Team Skull While I have grown to love them, I can understand why some people dont care much for Team Skull. As an antagonistic group, Team Skull is laughably pathetic. When compared to Team Rocket, Team Aqua / Magma, Team Plasma, the rapping punk goons fall flat on their face. However, while I disliked them in the beginning, I am rather fond of them now. Their music is cool and the dialogue from their members are witty and funny. Its also incredibly hard to dislike their leader, Guzma. I think Team Skull is fine. Just dont take them too seriously and youll be okay. Overview Its not the worst game ever. Even a (relatively) bad Pokemon game is still better than 70% of games out there. Anyone who gives this game a 1/10 is a liar. However, I really must advise caution for long time Pokemon fans. Sun and Moon are not the games you think they are and you will most likely be disappointed by many of the unwelcome changes to the Pokemon formula. It is certainly different but change is not inherently good. Some things, like Ride Pokemon, are very good. No longer is there a need for HM Slaves. However, many other things are bad. With the repetitive nature of the game, annoying unskippable cutscenes, hit-or-miss music, boring / tedious trials, super linear gameplay, and so many plot convenieces, this is the worst Pokemon generation so far.

I have not been a fan of any of the Pokémon games that came out after platinum but this one is really great. THE GOOD: The whole world is in a 3D view instead of a top down or mixed viewpoint. I think they did a really good job of implementing it because I hated it in xy. One of the things I hated about xy was all the new stupid Pokémon and the abscense of the original 150. However in this game the original Pokémon are abundant and I think they did a great job refreshing some of them with the aloa special looks. Having to complete challenges instead of gym matches is a refreshing mix up, and still decently challenging I never liked mega evolution. It just felt forced, and a little over powered. It really takes no place in this game and instead you get to use z powers which are a once per battle powerful attack of one specific type. I think this was a nice addition to the game, but still a little over powered THE BAD: I am playing on a new 3ds xl and have not had any issues but some of my friends with a regular 3ds xl have said that the game lags a bit in some of the bigger battles. Team skull is pretty cringey in the way they talk and try to act gangster. They dont really feel evil to me and just seem like a minor nuisance There are four islands and the entire first island is really just a giant tutorial All of the avatars are super feminine. As a guy I would prefer if I could make a guy that looked at least somewhat like a guy You dont really have a rival, your opponent chooses the starter weak to yours and is never really any trouble to defeat

By far the best Pokemon Game since the originals. I own two 3ds and since I bought both sun and moon I run them on both. The graphics cause the original 3ds to lag some, however theyre still amazing graphics and great games! I also really love the new regional variants they introduced here. I havent beat the games just yet, because Ive also been working but I look forward to playing the end game as well, after having heard good things about it as well! Minor downside if you ask me is the tutorial (wish there was an option to skip or give a condensed version) and cut scenes are a tad on the long side. However, they are enduring to the story lines!

Long time Pokemon fan. This game does a lot of things good. It is a different style Pokemon game, while still maintaining the basic principle of the series. Looks great, plays great. The music is great to listen to. Pokemon designs are pretty cool, I really like the new type combinations. With all that being said, it doesnt really keep me hooked as well as previous games. I dont find myself sitting down and playing it for hours at a time, or it being the only thing I do. Overall its a good Pokemon game with alot of new and exciting features, as well as the old features that makes Pokemon great.

This game takes place in the newer region of Alola. It introduces new mechanics and improves on gameplay that made previous games feel tedious such as grinding for levels to fight in gyms or going out of your way to fight against the newest villainous group. However, the story feels incomplete and some sections of the game are empty spaces making it look like a mouth with missing teeth. The game is better than previous generations and with Poké Rides you finally are not forced to teach members of your party moves in order to explore the world. I had rated the game before playing Ultra Sun, its still a great game even though it now feels like the light-version of Ultra Sun/Moon. I would still recommend it if you want a game you can replay and if you are looking for a short game during a break.

Ive been apart of the Pokemon world for the last 20 somthing years since Red on the gameboy color came out and I have to first say that this is a nice different flavor to the run of the mill pokemon games although following the fundamentals of the games things have changed no gym battles but Island leaders as well with the ability to fly, surf and rock smash no longer holding a party pokemon down is fantastic. I highly recommend this game to all pokemon fans because its a breath of fresh air to the franchise. Although I suggest ultra moon or sun because this games the outdated ones like black and white where to blk/wht 2.

Been eargerly awaiting the release of this game since the announcement of Gen 7. A lot thought these games would be like Pokemon X & Y where theyd be pretty easy and very fast to get through. For those of use familiar with Gen 1, this game and Pokemon Sun bring back the challenge element that was present in Generation 1. While you know a certain Pokemons type, you may not know what move is super effective so would need to look it up. For those who liked the use of strategy and planning ahead from previous generations, like Gen 1, that element is once again present which is a welcome change. Game mechanics have also changed and instead of the gyms there are island trials to varying degrees of difficulty and the totem Pokemon definitely require some strategy to defeat.