Pokemon Sun and Moon have been out for about a month now, providing fans and newcomers alike with an unforgettable journey through the exotic new region of Alola. Even though the latest duo of Pokemon games is the third set made exclusively available for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems – following in the footsteps of X & Y and Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire before it – critics are loving it more than its predecessors and have expressed heaps of praise. To see what several of them had to say about Pokemon Sun and Moon, check out the review excerpts below:
Nintendo Life – 10/10
“Simply put, Sun and Moon are best Pokémon games that Game Freak has ever produced. Poké Pelago, the side quests, the absolutely stunning nature of the presentation, it’s all a sheer joy from start to finish. Game Freak hasn’t missed a beat and has managed to carefully balance the inclusion of new mechanics without totally ruining things for the most hardcore fans. It’s got content coming out of its ears, a much more interesting story, and rewards exploration in a way no other title in the series has. Whether you’re a Pokémon fan new or old, this is an absolutely essential purchase.”
Digital Spy – 5/5
“Pokémon Sun and Moon is the ultimate Poké adventure. It manages to introduce a lot of new features that greatly enhance the gameplay experience, but retain enough of the original DNA to make sure it doesn’t feel totally alien to players who have been Pokémon trainers since 1996. We can’t wait to see where the series goes next, because with Pokémon Sun and Moon it’s clearly the beginning of a new Pokémon era, not the closure of the last.”
IGN – 9/10
“After 20 years of slow but steady evolution, Pokemon gets a bit of a reinvention in Sun and Moon. An engrossing and rich new region makes the Alola journey — along with all the changes Sun and Moon make to the existing formula — enjoyable throughout the main adventure, and small interface and variety of upgrades along the way make a few of the things that stayed the same feel better than before.”
RPGamer – 4.5/5
“The Pokémon franchise is one that has been consistently good throughout its twenty year history, but Pokémon Sun & Moon aren’t just good, they’re fantastic. With age-old complaints finally rectified, and the formula given a much needed shake-up, Pokémon Sun & Moon join Gold & Silver and Black & White as one of, if not the best, generations in the series. While the main game will likely take most trainers thirty to forty hours to complete, the post-game includes a storyline involving a group of legendary Pokémon called the Ultra Beasts; the ability to catch the four legendary guardians of the region; and the Battle Tree, where trainers can encounter two very familiar faces. Sun & Moon have also boosted the difficulty a bit from the previous generation, though experienced trainers should still find them relatively easy. Unfortunately, at this time the game does not support the Pokémon Bank, so transferring Pokémon from previous games is currently impossible, but this feature is set to go live in January 2017. Consider it a brand new opportunity to once again catch them all.”
Forbes – 9/10
“Overall, I loved playing Sun and Moon and despite the fact that this is the umpteenth Pokémon game released, it’s still incredibly compelling and brilliantly paced. The story and characters are very nicely done too, though the Team Skull grunts are wonderfully cheesy in their attempt at being hip-hop infused gangsters. My only real piece of advice from my playthrough though, is that you need to save often. You can lose yourself in this game for hours on end and if you are not careful, you may end up running out of battery power or inadvertently ejecting the game cartridge while playing (yes, I did this and was suitably mortified at my own idiocy). In any case, Pokémon Sun and Moon are wonderful investments of time and I can happily recommend them to anyone that owns a 3DS, regardless of whether you want to catch all the Pokémon or not.”
Trusted Reviews – 4.5/5
“Pokémon Sun and Moon prove that with steady innovation an old dog can certainly learn new tricks. The developers should be applauded for being consistently brave in making changes to the series that appease both newcomers and series veterans alike. With so many new things to do as well as a whole new journey to embark upon, this is an excellent entry and one that no fan should miss.”
USgamer – 4.5/5
“The Pokémon series’ single-player campaign is long overdue for Sun and Moon’s shake-up, but it’s kind of hard to fault Game Freak for waiting this long. Pokémon X and Y is the series’ first transition into full 3D, and Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire is built off pre-existing material. Pokémon Sun and Moon feels like Game Freak told itself, ‘All right, we’ve got our house in order, so let’s have some fun in the sun.’ And the final product does indeed deliver fun in the sun. Can’t wait to see what Pokémon does with the Switch.”
Yahoo! – 4.5/5
“My one major gripe with Sun and Moon is how often you’ll end up getting attacked by wild pokémon. In open fields that’s not so bad since you can avoid tall grass to stay out of trouble, but, as usual, caves are another story. Walk more than two feet and you’re going to get jumped by another freaking Zubat. It tends to get old fast, and you sadly can’t avoid caves altogether. Still, Pokémon Sun and Moon are the best “Pokémon” games in years. “Alpha Sapphire” and Omega Ruby were great entries in the series, but they were largely re-skinned versions of X and Y. For the first time in ages (or at last since I uninstalled Pokémon Go), Pokémon feels like a new, exciting experience. If you’re a fan of the series, you’re going to love Sun and Moon, and if you’ve been gone for a while, you’ll be happy to come home.”
Destructoid – 9/10
“While it’s far too early to tell what the legacy of the seventh generation will be, right now, it feels like a substantial step in the right direction. This is the most enthralled I’ve been with a Pokémon game since the original Silver and Gold and their DS remakes. If I’m disappointed by anything major in Sun (other than the pesky but tolerable slowdown on the standard 3DS), it’s that the creators didn’t take the experimentation further. I get that Pokémon has become a bankable institution and change can only realistically happen so fast, but the risks they took here have almost all been worthwhile. Simply put, Pokémon has never felt more alive to me than it does in Sun, and while I did have high expectations coming in, I can’t say I saw that coming. This series is catching up with our imaginations.”
Polygon – 8.5/10
“Pokémon’s 20th anniversary year has been all about celebrating what’s great about the series, but the newest pair of games prove that the series is ready and able to make big changes without sacrificing that original spirit. Without the heaps of content of series-defining entries like Red, Silver and X, Sun and Moon don’t quite stand as endlessly replayable classics, but they’re a wonderful testament to why Pokémon is still so special all these years later.”
GameSpot – 8/10
“For better and worse, Sun and Moon is essentially the same Pokemon experience that comes out every few years, just with enhancements to make it feel more modern. But this an entry that should appeal to more than just the series’ devoted fanbase who’ll notice those details. For players who have loved or been interested in the franchise before, but who felt that the growing roster and feature set made it too unapproachable, Sun and Moon is like meeting a long-lost friend again. And for everyone else, Sun and Moon is the perfect game for understanding what makes Pokemon so popular.”
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