Pokémon Sun And Moon got rave reviews from us and other critics, but that doesn’t mean the 2016 iteration is totally perfect. In an otherwise solid experience, here are five of the most annoying hang-ups that happen during your quest.
1) The Dilemma Of S.O.S. Battles : S.O.S. Battles are one of the most controversial new additions to Sun And Moon for good reason. At its best, they can be an avenue to catch some high-IV party members with hidden abilities. At their worst, they become a totally unnecessary slog.
The main gripe with S.O.S. battles is how long they can potentially carry on. In some cases they persist for a good 30 minutes, and that’s no fun when you really want to save or catch the treasured monster that’s right in front of you. The biggest flaw is that helpers spawn when a wild monster’s health is low. That wrinkle clashes with the sacred catching formula in a huge way. Even if you appreciate the benefits S.O.S. Battles offer, I think we all agree it could’ve been implemented better.
2) Early-Game Cutscenes : Pokémon is a franchise that’s endured for decades, and, in that time, the main franchise iterations have very much relied on the same successful formula. That being said, especially on the first island, there’s way too much forced hand-holding in video form. Welcoming new players is admirable, but odds are the vast majority of folks interested in Sun And Moon know the basics of battle and catch. There were almost no cutscenes to explain those concepts in Red And Blue, so why do we need so much of that today?
There’s also the matter of cutscenes triggering when they’re not necessary. Why should I have to watch a full Z-Move tutorial if I’ve already used them effectively? There’s too much explanation and not enough exploration from the jump.
3) A Few Bad Eggs : We’re not going to ride Sun And Moon too hard for this one because it can be difficult to design and create dozens of new monsters in a universe of hundreds, but some of the new companions just aren’t that great in attack or aesthetic. In fact, we just made a list of the five worst Sun And Moon additions.
The most critical errors came with the Alola Forms of classic Kanto beasts. Most are alright, but it’s the few, like Raticate and Persian, that look worse this time around. Both of these characters got really fat in the new region and it took away some of their original sleek factor. That’s just our opinion of course, but you could likely swap out our personal picks for a few of your own.
4) Those Roadblocks : Roadblocks are one of many aged facets of the Pokémon series and they don’t go away in Sun And Moon. Without getting too deep into potential spoilers, there are plenty of times where a Pokémon or NPC stands in your way until you’ve reached a certain level. More often than not, they push you toward those nagging cutscenes we talked about earlier.
This is a sin in Sun And Moon specifically because your Pokédex often issues a warning when you’re hitting a geographical boundary. In this modern era of open-world games, we shouldn’t have to deal with such an archaic gating mechanism that openly limits progress. The next generation of games should embrace a design that encourages more freedom for trainers.
5) The Endgame Is Just OK : Pokémon titles are often scrutinized for their endgame content, and Sun And Moon are no different. It essentially involves progressing through the Battle Tree, Zygarde cell collection and tracking down Ultra Beasts.
That stuff adds several hours to the base campaign, but it’s not as deep as it could be. We don’t get to see a new region or a vast collection of fresh monsters. It’s more of the same mechanics in a place we’ve already scoured for long enough. Especially when there are lingering allusions to Kanto, it’s a shame we don’t go there. If the Pokémon Stars rumors are true, we hope that changes.
Pokémon Sun And Moon are available now on 3DS.
