So, Pokemon generation 7 is a really controversial topic, some love it, others hate it.
.Now you might be looking at the title, and going "But Heartgold had two different regions!" or "Black/White 2 were full on sequels!", and you would sorta be right, but let me clarify that by ambition I dont mean how much content you can cram in the game. I mean getting more creative, taking more risks with the tried and true formula, even if they all dont pay off. As much as I like Heartgold and Black 2, way more than gen 7, they were still relatively safe games that follow the established formula closely.
Here's what Pokemon Sun/Moon did to really shake up the formula (not all of them are for the better, in my opinion):
- Remove gyms, add trials and kahuna battles instead. You fight a boss pokemon, the totems, that is of a bigger size than the normal species, instead of a gym leader. A lot of totems, at least in my experience, were way harder than gyms have ever been.
- Alolan forms: regional variants of pokemon from other regions, adding a sense of freshness to otherwise old creatures.
- Z-moves: Superpowered moves with a really cool animation, though you can only it once per battle, and it takes up the item slot. Most balanced and fair Pokemon "gimmick" so far. While X/Y only had you verse a mega only THREE TIMES in the story, Z-moves are used more abundantly, even with random ace trainers.
- Ultra Beasts, these weird other-worldly pokemon that are from other dimensions.
- Finally gets rid of HM's, with Pokemon
- Completely replaces the bottom screen features with a Rotom dex that talks to you, and has an included pokemon snap like minigame.
- Adds the Poke Pelago
- Adds the Festival Plaza, replaces the perfectly fine PSS (bad change)
- Make Alola the first non grid-based region, and improving the battle presentation significantly with way more detailed backgrounds and human triainers behind Pokemon.
This is not even an exhaustive list, by the way. The point is, Sun/Moon threw the Pokemon you knew out the window. The story is drastically different from past Pokemon games to, breaking traditions of the series.
There's more focus on story now, which also breaks some traditions, with there now being two different evil teams
Pokemon Ultra Sun, I feel like, is all about making Alola more lived in.
- You can interact and play with other people's pokemon.
- You can see more of them in the wild, like wingulls flying above the first route
- Short little vignettes, almost like side-missions, that breathe more life into the region
I think the USUM Alola, despite still being linear to a fault, feels like the most lived-in and believable region region.
In addition:
- 100 new pokemon added to the regional pokedex, including a few brand new ones.
- Side activities like Mantine Surf and Photo Club (which has surprisingly depth)
- Rainbow Rocket, Battle Agency, Ultra Warp Ride make the entire post-game drastically better.
- Ability to own totem sized pokemon (always wanted different sized pokemon of the same species, this was our first foray into it)
- QOL changes across the board (only one SOS call per battle, some pokemon evolve way earlier in the game)
- The mountainous area before Pokemon League has become a full fledged victory road.
- Added difficulty, probably some of the most difficult games in the series.
The main issue with the changes are, the most drastic ones are near the end of the game, meaning that the majority of it would largely feel the same. The same flaws remain. The handholding, the linearity, the slow as molasses cutscenes and dialogue.
The story, I admit it's worse, just not as focused. They completely butcher Lusamine's arc, in an attempt to tie in Necrozma to the plot. I think they could've kept her arc fine, and implement Necrozma at the same time. I think Lillie's story is a bit weaker too.
Even if you don't like US/UM, I don't see how you can call this game a cash-grab, and worship Crystal and Emerald at the same time. This changes more than those two games ever did. I think USUM is better in every way except than the originals except story.
This is one of my favourite moments from Ultra-Sun:
It's really weirdly disturbing, especially for Pokemon standards. I liked visiting the wierd-wacky envorinments these ultra beasts call their home (even if they were straight corridors)... but Guzzlord just takes the cake. It's in a ruined city. The music sounds like Hau'Oli city, but reversed and distorted, like it's coming from a broken radio, and Guzzlord has wreaking havoc there. And once it dawns on you, where exactly you are, (Hau'Oli but in a different dimension), it's really chilling.
This moment sort of encapsulates how weird and wacky Game Freak went with the 7th generation. And although I can't call these games much more that "good", due to huge flaws, I really appreciate Game Freak actually attempting to take risks, really try to up the ante compared to past games.
I hope they really go balls out creative again, for generation 9, cause I know the teams there are capable of something special. Hopefully they get enough to deliver finished and fully featured games this time around. Thoughts?
.Now you might be looking at the title, and going "But Heartgold had two different regions!" or "Black/White 2 were full on sequels!", and you would sorta be right, but let me clarify that by ambition I dont mean how much content you can cram in the game. I mean getting more creative, taking more risks with the tried and true formula, even if they all dont pay off. As much as I like Heartgold and Black 2, way more than gen 7, they were still relatively safe games that follow the established formula closely.
Here's what Pokemon Sun/Moon did to really shake up the formula (not all of them are for the better, in my opinion):
- Remove gyms, add trials and kahuna battles instead. You fight a boss pokemon, the totems, that is of a bigger size than the normal species, instead of a gym leader. A lot of totems, at least in my experience, were way harder than gyms have ever been.
- Alolan forms: regional variants of pokemon from other regions, adding a sense of freshness to otherwise old creatures.
- Z-moves: Superpowered moves with a really cool animation, though you can only it once per battle, and it takes up the item slot. Most balanced and fair Pokemon "gimmick" so far. While X/Y only had you verse a mega only THREE TIMES in the story, Z-moves are used more abundantly, even with random ace trainers.
- Ultra Beasts, these weird other-worldly pokemon that are from other dimensions.
- Finally gets rid of HM's, with Pokemon
- Completely replaces the bottom screen features with a Rotom dex that talks to you, and has an included pokemon snap like minigame.
- Adds the Poke Pelago
- Adds the Festival Plaza, replaces the perfectly fine PSS (bad change)
- Make Alola the first non grid-based region, and improving the battle presentation significantly with way more detailed backgrounds and human triainers behind Pokemon.
This is not even an exhaustive list, by the way. The point is, Sun/Moon threw the Pokemon you knew out the window. The story is drastically different from past Pokemon games to, breaking traditions of the series.
There's more focus on story now, which also breaks some traditions, with there now being two different evil teams
Pokemon Ultra Sun, I feel like, is all about making Alola more lived in.
- You can interact and play with other people's pokemon.
- You can see more of them in the wild, like wingulls flying above the first route
- Short little vignettes, almost like side-missions, that breathe more life into the region
I think the USUM Alola, despite still being linear to a fault, feels like the most lived-in and believable region region.
In addition:
- 100 new pokemon added to the regional pokedex, including a few brand new ones.
- Side activities like Mantine Surf and Photo Club (which has surprisingly depth)
- Rainbow Rocket, Battle Agency, Ultra Warp Ride make the entire post-game drastically better.
- Ability to own totem sized pokemon (always wanted different sized pokemon of the same species, this was our first foray into it)
- QOL changes across the board (only one SOS call per battle, some pokemon evolve way earlier in the game)
- The mountainous area before Pokemon League has become a full fledged victory road.
- Added difficulty, probably some of the most difficult games in the series.
The main issue with the changes are, the most drastic ones are near the end of the game, meaning that the majority of it would largely feel the same. The same flaws remain. The handholding, the linearity, the slow as molasses cutscenes and dialogue.
The story, I admit it's worse, just not as focused. They completely butcher Lusamine's arc, in an attempt to tie in Necrozma to the plot. I think they could've kept her arc fine, and implement Necrozma at the same time. I think Lillie's story is a bit weaker too.
Even if you don't like US/UM, I don't see how you can call this game a cash-grab, and worship Crystal and Emerald at the same time. This changes more than those two games ever did. I think USUM is better in every way except than the originals except story.
This is one of my favourite moments from Ultra-Sun:
It's really weirdly disturbing, especially for Pokemon standards. I liked visiting the wierd-wacky envorinments these ultra beasts call their home (even if they were straight corridors)... but Guzzlord just takes the cake. It's in a ruined city. The music sounds like Hau'Oli city, but reversed and distorted, like it's coming from a broken radio, and Guzzlord has wreaking havoc there. And once it dawns on you, where exactly you are, (Hau'Oli but in a different dimension), it's really chilling.
This moment sort of encapsulates how weird and wacky Game Freak went with the 7th generation. And although I can't call these games much more that "good", due to huge flaws, I really appreciate Game Freak actually attempting to take risks, really try to up the ante compared to past games.
I hope they really go balls out creative again, for generation 9, cause I know the teams there are capable of something special. Hopefully they get enough to deliver finished and fully featured games this time around. Thoughts?
