WARNING: Light spoilers for the beginning of the game. Turn away now if you want to go in blind.
With 2016 winding down, it looks like the 3DS s looking to send off the year with a bang in the form of Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon, the next set of mainline games that are scheduled to release on November 18th. Across nearly a year of trailers, teases and rampant speculation, we finally got a chance to try the beginning of the full game, all while having some of our most burning questions answered. From what we’ve played, the games are shaping up to be some of the most ambitious titles yet, doing away with many series staples in order to give them their own identity, all while opening up more than a few new questions in the process. With that game time under our belts, here’s what we’ve learned, (and what we didn’t), during its first 30 minutes.
These game will be much more story focused.
A persistent complaint across nearly every Pokemon game was its basic level of storytelling. Somewhat forgiven in the early days since the audience didn’t expect much from a Game Boy or Game Boy Color game, future entries seemed to actually regress in their depth of storytelling, to the point where fighting the newest team or collecting a new set of badges felt more like a chore in between better Pokemon than a fulfilling part of the game. Black and White broke away from this trend, but fell right back into it with its sequels, and to a lesser extent, Pokemon X and Y. From the early portions of Sun, it wastes no time upping the stakes, involving Pokemon and people alike in a much more dangerous situation than previously encountered. As your character protects a mysterious creature, (which we’ll talk about more below), from being assaulted by a flock of Spearow, the bridge they’re on collapses, resulting in what would have been a REALLY short game if it wasn’t for Tapu Koko, the island’s guardian, swooping down and rescuing you at the last second.
This is all before you pick your Starter.
What’s Lillie’s relationship with the Ultra Beasts? And what’s in her bag?
From the moment the Ultra Beasts were revealed, fans quickly linked the first one’s appearance to Lillie, Professor Kukui’s assistant. In case that theory needed any more fuel to add to the fire, the whole bridge incident I mentioned above began when the creature in Lillie’s bag broke out for some fresh air, only to be assaulted by a flock of Spearows. If you’re wondering what’s so weird about a person accompanying a creature in a world full of weird beasts, it’s because Nebby as it was called, was not a Pokemon. It was not in a ball like almost every Pokemon carried by the main cast throughout the main line games, it didn’t fight back when attacked, and it seemed completely helpless. Since it’s being made very clear that Ultra Beasts are separate from traditional Pokemon, what else could Nebby be? My guess is that Lillie’s relationship to Nebby, the Ultra Beasts, and the Aether Foundation’s need to study them will all be major plot points throughout the game’s story.
HMs are dead, but what about the moves themselves?
As reported previously, Pokemon is FINALLY doing away with the dreaded HM, moves that were needed to progress outside of battle while taking up a valuable move slot with an attack that was usually useless in combat. Rather than carrying around one or two useless Pokemon to have these moves in your inventory, your character will now be able to call on Ride Pokemon for these tasks. Using a pager straight out of 1996, players will call on helpers such as Tauros, Charizard and Sharpedo to navigate the field.
Yes, this is a step in the right direction for sure, but among the awful moves were accurate, yet powerful moves like Surf, or the physical Waterfall that remained popular in regular battles. Will those moves be making a return in the form of standard TMs? Unfortunately, this might not be the case. While it was confirmed that those moves will still be attached to any Pokemon you transfer over from Pokemon Bank that knows them, (meaning you should be able to breed them onto new Pokemon), it could not be confirmed if we’ll just be able to teach them the moves if we want to.
Alola has no gyms, but might gyms make an appearance anyway?
Recent news has also revealed that as speculated, the Island Trials, where trainers have to complete unique tasks before fighting powerful Totem Pokemon and the Island Kahuna, will replace the traditional eight gyms that measured your progress. Considering there are only four islands, it makes us wonder what else will change in between, since the game obviously won’t just end when you complete four challenges. With the inclusion of two potential rival teams in Team Skull and The Aether Foundation, the Zygarde side quests and the Ultra Beasts, signs are pointing to the surrounding narrative being even more important than fighting to be the very best this time around.
But then again, that’s not to say that gyms aren’t involved at all. At the start of the game, Professor Kukui makes a comment about just returning from visiting Kanto, only to get beaten pretty badly by the Gym Leaders of old. Sure, this has been hinted at in previous games, resulting in a whole lot of nothing each time, but considering how much of an overhaul the game has received since the last time we visited the region, the fact that your character is originally from Kanto, and the huge focus on the original 151 Pokemon with all the new Alola Forms, it wouldn’t be too crazy to imagine taking a trip to Pallet Town once again.
Original Forms of Alola Pokemon can be found… Kind of. And what happens when they breed!?
The first thing I noticed when the game fired up was an Alolan Meowth in your room. Yet, in the living room, a standard Meowth is hanging out with your mother. Naturally, this led me to ask whether or not the original forms could be found throughout Sun and Moon.
It was confirmed that they CANNOT, and the only reason why a regular Meowth was in your house was because it was brought over from Kanto during the family move. Following the trail further, I asked what would happen if you breed a Kanto version in Alola. Would the egg hatch as an Alolan form? Unfortunately, we have no idea! This question remains one of the mysteries heading into the full release, and likely won’t be discovered until we get the chance to test it ourselves. For now, I would suggest breeding your best classic Pokemon in the old games before transferring them over until we receive final confirmation.
Pokemon truly are your partners this time.
In every other previous game, your starter Pokemon was gifted to you by the game’s professor. Considering new mechanics like Z-Moves and Greninja’s Battle Bond ability are directly tied to the bonds the Pokemon holds with the trainer, it’s no surprise that this connection seems to play a much bigger role in Sun and Moon. With this bond often said but not seen, Alola shows it when you receive your first Pokemon in a much different manner than in previous games.
Rather than being locked in their Poke Balls, Rowlett, Litten and Popplio are each lined up in front of you, waiting for you to make your decision. Yet, you’re not the only one with a say in the matter, because once the Pokemon is chosen, it then has to choose you in return. Standing across from each other like the thrilling, climactic final scene from Air Bud, the Pokemon has to decide whether or not they feel a strong enough bond with you to accept your choice. This type of freedom for the Pokemon themselves would make Team Plasma proud! Oh, and speaking of…
Sun and Moon will likely surpass Black and White as the most polarizing games in the series.
Once I had time to absorb everything that I had played and what we’ve learned so far about the games, one thing seemed abundantly clear to me. Sun and Moon have the real potential to be the most polarizing entries in the series to date. The last time a generation approached the games in such a drastically different way, we ended up with Black and White, which scrapped all previous Pokemon for an original set 0f 150 until after the game was completed, had the biggest focus on story compared to its predecessors, made Gym Leaders mean more than bosses, and bad guys that weren’t one dimensional. As a response to the huge shake up in the roster however, (among other more technical complaints), people seem to either love or hate the fifth generation with very little middle ground.
For every change that will be universally adored, (like the full range of 3D motion and how much more fluid the game looks and plays because of it, some of Sun and Moon‘s bold changes are so drastic, that they’re almost sure to divide the fanbase to an extent. Z-Moves, Alolan Forms rather than new Pokemon, Bottle Caps that instantly raise the IV stats of a Pokemon, making what took hours of work now take what can be a matter of minutes, displaying the weaknesses and resistances on the battle screen to make an easy game much easier, and the removal of series staples like gyms are just some of the ways these games are taking huge risks. From what we’ve played so far though, it seems like they’re paying off.