Sometimes being Marva doesn't just mean being the Graphic Designer at Resources4Gaming, it also means getting to grips with some of the most beloved titles ever and bringing them back to you in the form of a review. After 3 years we find ourselves with a new Pokémon generation and once again we find ourselves facing it! Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the review of Pokémon Sun and Moon.
Alola!
Our journey starts from the Kanto region; here our character will in fact receive a call from professor Kukui who will await us with open arms in the Alola region, where we will get acquainted with his young assistant Lillie, accompanied by her Pokémon "Nebby", And with the young Hau, grandson of the island Kahuna. Here, as in every game, we are faced with an improved version of the usual or different formula of the title: go on an adventure to capture them all and prevent the plans of diabolical teams for the conquest / domination of the world. Unlike the other games, though, here we will not find any gym waiting for us to become champions of the region but we will have to face the "Tour of the Islands": a tradition of the place where we will first have to face the captains of the islands (coaches who have distinguished themselves in strength and intelligence among the various islands); these will put us in front of unique challenges that not only include the Pokémon battle, but also the skill of the player himself, a sort of game within the game. Once the test is over we will have to deal with the Dominant Pokémon in the area, a particular creature that in addition to having a boost on a certain statistic at the beginning of the fight (these will in fact be recognizable by the powerful aura that surrounds them), will also be able to call other allied Pokémon to get help during the fight and put us in difficulty in a fight one vs two. As a final obstacle, each island will have as its final challenge the one against Kahuna, chosen by the legendary Pokèmon of the home island: these will be the last step to complete the island and allow us to continue in the tour. The plot of the game (without spoilers) It's very interesting, it detaches a lot from everything we have seen so far and takes place in a fair and linear way… perhaps too much.
I wonna Be the very best BabySitter
If in fact on the side of Lore, the story is very fascinating, on the other the adventure itself does not allow us to set aside the lore written by the programmers to give us the wildest exploration. In fact, in Pokémon Sun and Moon, the story is so guided that after a few hours of play the absence of exploration is really felt and we will find ourselves making two Electrods the size of a Pokémon center in the role of Hau's babysitter, who fights for fun and cannot protect even a Rattata alone, and young Lillie who, in order to protect his beloved Pokémon, will get into the most disparate troubles. In short, our task will not be that of coaches but of real tutors for these two little troublemakers. Fortunately, in the post game we will be able to choose how to continue the story that will be divided into two great quests: a devotee to PvE and one in PvP thanks to the presence of Tapu and Ultra Creatures on one side and the new Battle Tower on the other.
Pokédex, Z-Moves and other news
Starting from the Pokédex, there are many innovations that await us both in PvE and PvP modes. The Pokédex will not be a classic static device but it will be a living element that will accompany us throughout our adventure. A live Pokédex!?!?!? Yes dear friends, it is a Pokédex specially modified to host a Rootom inside and allow us to have a multimedia guide during our adventure in the Alola region, which will keep us company in the minimap of the lower screen all the time reminding us where to go and what to do in times of crisis!
Another novelty of Pokémon Sun and Moon are the Moves Z! These particular moves work a bit like the Mega Evolutions mechanic: we have a bracelet, we have a crystal to give to the Pokémon, and we will have the use of a specific move throughout the fight. These moves work as a power-up of a type of move we already know (for example if we have Shadow Claw and our Pokémon can access the Dark-type crystal, we will have a special move that can be used only once per fight that will be affected not only by the damage of the move that we will use but even if the attack is Physical or Special; some of these moves will in fact do more or less damage based on this criterion). Other Z-Moves instead are peculiar to some Pokémon, they can only be assigned to the specific one and they will be linked to a certain move that this will learn (Snorlax for example will be able to access his Z-Move only by having Gigaimpatto in his move set and, as in the case of type moves, this will greatly increase the damage in that turn of the attack).
Staying on the competitive theme, GameFreak, in addition to having added the Z-Moves, has also decided to change the abilities of different Pokémon to give a dusting off to all those monsters institutions that have been asserting themselves in PvP for too long compared to others. In short, a nice refresh made at the goal that will surely lead the coaches to study even more new tactics for tournaments and the like.
Running has never been so good!
Another interesting factor in Pokémon Sun and Moon are the Pokèpassages, but first a small premise: an equally important factor in this title is given by theabolition of MN; these in fact have been transformed into MT and now they no longer interact with the world around us but are simple and pure moves that we can teach and make our Pokémon forget without the need for the eliminator. Here are the Poképassaggi, which give a breath of new and fresh air to Pokémon Sun and Moon: in fact, these will allow us to run and use different Pokèmon to break rocks, move boulders, take a quiet catch or whiz between the seas and, of course , move from one area to another flying on the shoulders of a majestic Charizard. Speaking of "FLIGHT", many have complained about the disappearance of the Hypervolus introduced in ORAS but essentially I'm not surprised by this disappearance; if in the previous titles this modality needed us not only to move but essentially to find the Mirage Islands, here, given the absence of the latter, the addition of hypervolus would have been a useless choice.
The frustration SoS
Now we come to one of the real problems in Pokémon Sun and Moon, Or the SoS Lotte: during our tests against the dominant Pokémon of the various areas, in fact, we saw an assistant arrive to give both offensive and passive support, and the SoS mode is nothing more than the same formula applied to wild Pokémon. These in fact, when put in difficulty, will call for help and other monsters will be able to arrive ready to rescue or, in some cases, predators of these who will not scruples in giving them the final blow to then deal with us. The problem of these SoS battles affects both PvE and PvP: in the case of the completion of the Pokédex in fact these battles are nerve-wracking when a Pokémon with little life calls another, so you are preparing to KO one in order to capture the other. but here also this calls a Pokémon for help and so on. This is a problem for a simple reason: like on X and Y for the Pokémon hordes, here it is impossible to throw the poké ball if there are two monsters on the ground; you can therefore understand the discomfort that such a situation can bring to those who unfortunately want us to complete the Pokédex. For PvP the situation is even more serious given that the only way to catch Pokémon with hidden abilities is to catch them after they are called with SoS help, but however, we will not have a 100% chance that it is with hidden ability… WHEN EVER! Here another problem arises: if in fact we defeat the Pokémon that started asking for help, we will interrupt the chain of calls and the only solutions will be either eliminate it and capture the other Pokémon (hoping that it has the hidden ability) or repeat the cycle. search catches until exhaustion, or even equip yourself with Pokémon with the Barter move and see if the ability is the right one and here too repeat the step until you come out with the hidden ability. But what if the Pokémon calls a predator? In this case, Heal Bell will be added to the move set, which will heal the targeted Pokémon for 50% of its maximum life to ensure that it is not knocked out by the predator and then redo the same cycle with Baratto until the right moment.
A real hell which is however diluted byPro workout which will allow our Pokémon to increase the IVs of a precise statistic directly to 31 (the IV or individual points are points that Pokémon have for their capture or hatching of their eggs ranging from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 31). However, this increase will not help trainers in the "breeding" phase (creation of Pokémon with the correct nature, ability and IV through eggs), simply because the use of this training will not affect the code of the Pokémon that will not pass the modified IVs to his children, IV who will even lose when he exchanges with a friend. Let's say that maybe GameFreak wanted to punish all those trainers who, thanks to the help of illegal tricks, managed to get Pokémon to their full potential in a few minutes; exemplary punishment which I personally think is too heavy for anyone.
Fantastic days, beautiful sunsets and bewitching music
As for the audio and visual sector we are certainly at one of the highest levels of the Pokémon saga, if not the highest! It is quite certain that the previous generation was a beta for the 3D game, but it must also be said that Pokémon Sun and Moon stand out as games that are aware of the past and look to the future. The exploratory part of the game is in fact greatly expanded by the strategic choice of the room that will allow us to scrutinize distant areas and giving us a real perception of the depth of the top (justifies the absence of 3D mode in the vast majority of the game); I also personally appreciated the animation change to many of the moves that now do justice both on a purely stylistic and meaningful level. The audio department is mind blowing and allows the player to better identify with each island and in the most cathartic moment of our adventure, making our experience like it has never been in the Pokémon world. To unify everything is the presence of countless cutscenes that surround the highlights of our adventure, giving a greater sense of immersion in the adventure on our part, unifying both the visual and musical department in an excellent way. All perfect if it were not for the expression always from "I'm dying internally but everything is fine" of our character who will find himself monoexpressive and with a stupid smile for the whole adventure.
QR codes and game in game
Two other particular game modes that have a right to be mentioned before the grand finale are QR scanner and Poké Resort, but let's see them in order: the QR Scanner, as the name suggests, is a QR code scanner that will allow us to scan any code and unlock (as seen in the Pokédex) a random Pokémon; the most interesting thing is that we ourselves will be able to show our friends the codes we have unlocked to allow them to unlock the vision of the same in one of its forms (I remember in fact that some Pokémon have different forms between male and female and will also have a code QR apart for their Alola forms, chromatic versions and Mega Evolutions). The interesting thing is that once we have scanned 10 codes we will be able to use the regional scanner that will give us the possibility to make a Pokémon appear in specific areas among those that are not part of the Alola Pokédex, allowing us to complete the National one. I remind you though that you will only have 60 minutes once this mode is unlocked so use it only with the knowledge that you have a maximum time available and that once used, of course, the points counter will reset and you will have to scan another 10 QR codes.
Last but not least is the Poké Resort: a management game within Pokémon Sun and Moon that will allow us to farm Pokémon, objects, statistics and so on in offline mode and with our console off, in short, as a real management minigame within the game itself.
Modus Operandi: the review you just read was written based on the version Nintendo 3DS of the title, after completing the entire main story, and playing several hours online in pvp.
