Pokemon Sun Thoughts

At this point I've completed the main story and I've started exploring the post game content.  I've given it about a day to let the dust settle and collect some of my thoughts about the game.  I'm going to keep this spoiler free as possible.

Sun/Moon is my new favorite Pokemon game.  I don't think it's a contest for me at this point.  The earlier games in the series did a lot to refine the core mechanics of the game into what we have today, while the focus on the newer games seems to be trending towards a more accessible game with a more engaging single player experience.

I'm really happy the game decided to do away with some established elements to try something different.  The most obvious thing was the removal of the Pokemon Gyms in lieu of having Trials instead.  Functionally they do the same thing as far as progression goes, but this format does a lot for the story.  With this format the gameplay and story were more able to blend together, whereas the Gym format felt like it clashed with the story driven direction of the newer games.  The Trial format also allowed the developers to try many things which meant few of the Trials felt the same.  I also felt the Trial format made the side characters in the game more memorable.  I really hope GameFreak decides to experiment with the progression of the story in future games.  It's not often I praise Pokemon for its story and while Sun/Moon isn't exactly Shakespeare I felt engaged for most of the game.  The game did surprise me in a few spots and I wanted to see what happened next.  Black/White used to be the game I pointed to for best Pokemon story but Sun/Moon beats that for me now.

Sun/Moon did a lot to make the gameplay feel better, what many would call quality of life changes.  The menus are extremely efficient.  So much information is available on one screen with most additional information you'd need being available with just one click.  More information about the deeper mechanics are available too.  I haven't looked too much into what they've done for breeding and competitive stuff but by all accounts it's all improved. The main thing is a lot of information is all in the game without having much of a need to look stuff up, but there are some exceptions to that which I will cover later.

HMs were removed for a ride system.  They both accomplish the same thing gameplay wise by closing off certain areas in the game until you've progressed enough, but it removes all the annoyances the HM system had.  This was the first time in a Pokemon game that I didn't run a Water type on my team because I wasn't required to use Surf.  This removal of HMs and the Exp Share system from X/Y allowed for even more freedom with my team composition.  My team at the end wasn't the most sound type matchup wise but I was still able to make it through some of the tougher matchups.

A lot of people like to say Pokemon games are too easy nowadays.  I didn't lose a single trainer fight, though I definitely had a few difficult ones.  Some of it was based on not having a good type matchup or not knowing what the enemy Pokemon's typing was, but there were definitely a few tense moments for me.  Your experience will vary for a number of reasons, whether you spent a lot of time leveling up, had good type matchups, looked up things in advance, or you've played older games in the series.  The last point is more of an influence on the difficulty than anything else.  Even though I cruised through the majority of the fights I still enjoyed it and I'm not playing Pokemon for something that is tough as nails anyway.

The music is very good, but I've come to expect that out of the series at this point.  Three themes stick out in my mind, though one of them by its name alone is a minor spoiler so I won't mention it.  Poni Wilds and Elite Four theme were the other two.  A lot of the music in general just fit the area they are featured in.

The only major problem I had with the game was the call for help mechanic.  It was great in Totem fights but during normal wild encounters they were mostly frustrating.  It makes things harder to catch and it also makes it more difficult to catch everything you can along the way.  X/Y had massive variety in nearly all of the routes and it felt like I was seeing something new all the time.  Sun/Moon didn't feel like it had this variety, or if it did, it was all hiding in the summons.  I spent an hour trying to find a Pikachu in the early game and couldn't find one, only to find out later that it was a summon.  This mechanic was the only reason why I had to look up stuff on the internet because I wanted to know where Goomy was and surprise, it was a summon.  It was a shame because I really didn't want to have to look up anything for this game, but between the summon mechanic and some Pokemon having specific evolution requirements I wasn't able to completely remove myself from internet information.  I'm willing to give this a pass though because I thoroughly enjoyed everything else about the game.

That's all I have right now, there's probably other stuff I'll mention on Twitter here and there as I think about it.  Great Pokemon game, great video game in general.  I hope GameFreak is willing to take more chances with the series moving forward.