Pokémon season: 20

A show of further things lớn come for the franchise, & an enjoyable game, though perhaps not the blow-away title of 2016


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Poketháng Sun & Moon’s world & story are deliciously nuanced & alive sầu. Photograph: Publithành phố image
Poketháng Sun and Moon’s world and story are deliciously nuanced and alive sầu. Photograph: Publithành phố image

It’s been a rough year.

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This summer, post-Brexit, many people turned to lớn Pokémon Go, the augmented-reality game from Niantic và the Pokémon Company, as a nostalgic and social respite from the ills and ails of the world. As if on cue, another Pokémon game – Pokétháng Sun and Moon – has arrived to lớn help numb the sting of being a person in the never-ending car crash that is năm nhâm thìn.

Sun and Moon, much lượt thích its predecessors, puts players in the shoes of a young Pokémon trainer. The protagonist arrives from the Kanto lớn region of the previous games to lớn the four Hawaiian-inspired islands of Alola, where many new iterations of well loved Pokémon from previous generations can be found. They will, as trainers must, try & catch ‘em all, be the very best there ever was, và probably save the world.

Pokémon has been around for 20 years now, which means that for many gamers there have sầu been more years with Pokémon than without. The structure of the series is fairly cemented. You are now 11, & the world is ready for you. Travel to new areas, collect Pokétháng, battle a thể hình, roll out of town. Many Pokétháng games have sầu given a few tweaks here và there lớn the structure or appearance of the game, but none have gone so far as Sun và Moon.


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The most notable difference is the absence of gyms. Photograph: Publithành phố imageThe most notable difference is the absence of gyms, in favour of Islvà Trials: a series of small feats with Isl& Captains scattered across the isl&, which eventually lead up to lớn a battle with an Islvà Kahuna. These Grvà Trials reward victors with Z-Crystals instead of badges, which offer powerful Z-moves for Pokétháng khổng lồ learn – a far more useful prize than the badges in years previous.

At first, these Islvà Trials felt too kitschy – not in the shabbily decorated Havana-themed bar sort of kitsch which endears itself, but rather, as seemingly tiresome fetch quests, or “Spot the Difference” puzzles, which would intermittently reward players with battles. As the game progressed, however, they started khổng lồ feel lượt thích textured additions to the world, or a way lớn better understand the people and culture of certain islands. There is not the grandiosity of gyms, the image of an 11-year-old girl walking wide-eyed into lớn a series of high-stakes battles devoted to lớn a single-type of Pokémon so that she can prove her worth. These trials are more flexible and laid bachồng, but the trade-off is tangible.

The world & story are both deliciously nuanced & alive. For the most part, Pokétháng games have never leaned too heavily on “plot”, as it were; favouring the stop-the-shadowy-corporation-with-friendship school of thought, và leaving it there. Sun và Moon has a more focused narrative. It’s clear that this attention is new for the franchise, as it can get a touch cutscene-heavy, keeping players on rails for too long in some instances. You may wonder, “Since when is Pokémon a JRPG?” as your thumb almost gives out from A-press fatigue. Overall, however, the world is lush, & the characters characterful (though the questionable caricatures of street-dressed “troublemakers” could have been done without).

More technical differences include changes to lớn battle systems, such as the “Hotline for Help” move sầu for wild Pokémon, allowing them to lớn hotline another Pokémon lớn battle at their side when under duress. This means that many encounters overstay their welcome, & savvy trainers should keep repels in their bags at all times.


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Fans will find things khổng lồ love in the game. Photograph: Publicity imageA more welcome addition is the effectiveness indicator for moves in the battle interface. While in previous games it took an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of type-relationships (Psychic moves are super effective sầu against … Fighting? Ghost? Steel?), Sun and Moon logs the effectiveness of each type against a certain Pokémon after its first encounter. This is a relief for many who, even after 20 years of exposure, still find themselves Googling what will best take down a certain type of Pokémon.

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All-in-all, fans of battling, wonder-trading, và scratching their Pokétháng behind the ear will still find things lớn love in the game, & for many, the changes in Sun and Moon are a refreshing reinvention of a classic formula. It may be initially jarring to lớn veterans, but it is an attractive sầu option for those who have sầu been away from the series for a time to return. It is not the blow-away game of 2016, nor does it seem to have sầu the staying power of Ruby and Sapphire, but it’s enjoyable. Pokémon games are their own beasts, và hopefully Sun và Moon is a show of further changes & things khổng lồ come for the franchise.