Now That The Dust Has Settled...

[Corey]

How do Sun and Moon compare to the other mainline games? In other words, how did you feel about Sun and Moon?

In my opinion, Sun and Moon were wonderful games, and I enjoyed playing them very much. I've already played through them three times, and after I finish Red, I intend on replaying Moon again. The plot of the games is the best of all mainline games for sure. However, my issue was that the Pokemon weren't as great as I had hoped they'd be. And because the new Pokemon matter most to me when it comes to a new generation, Alola took a hard hit. Regardless, the plot was amazing, and Alola did produce some of my favorite 'mons of all-time (most notably Primarina, Ninetales, Tsareena, and Ribombee), so I'd probably equate Sun and Moon with Gold and Silver.

XY > SM ≥ GSC/HGSS > BW/B2W2 > ORAS > DPPt > RBY/FRLG > RSE

[Blaquaza]

I too think Sun and Moon were some of the best games the franchise has had to offer, certainly in a long time. The story was phenomenal, the gameplay was revitalised by changing Gyms to Island Trials, and these were the first games since I played Pearl in which that sense of awe was present as I walked around the region for the first time. It made me feel like a little kid again. My overall rankings thus far would have to be:

RSE > DPPt = SM > B2W2 > ORAS > XY > HGSS > BW > FRLG > GSC > RBY

[Otter Mii-kun]

I haven't played through much of my copy of Moon, but I will say that I'm not all that impressed with it, unlike most people. Seems to me like they changed too many things just for the sake of change rather than actual necessity, even if keeping the old ways of doing things made the series stale.

[Suicune's Fire]

I was extremely bored with the storyline the whole way through until Lusamine goes into the other dimension or whatever. xD It just felt really lacking. I wasn't overly impressed with the gameplay either. I was excited at the start of the game, and my interest only declined from there. I don't know, the whole adventure felt tragically underwhelming. I'm not sure why. I just didn't connect with Moon the way I have with previous games.

The trials were also pretty boring. It felt like a pokemon-esque JRPG rather than a Pokemon game. I know that Pokemon is technically a JRPG, but to me it seemed to easily distinguish itself, where a lot of JRPGs felt relatively the same to me. The Aether Foundation was weird and I feel like the whole thing was a sham, yet it's not at the same time? They were sort of the bad guys but also still somehow the good guys? Idk. Maybe I'm getting more cynical the more games I play and I become less impressed with things that I would have loved years ago. Just didn't impress me. xD

I like a lot of the pokemon, but I think it's also my least favourite generation. The concept of Ultra Beasts disinterests me and detracts from pokemon. It's sort of like a cheap way to shove in OP pokemon without calling them legendaries. I preferred X over Moon for sure, and still prefer the older games to the newer ones.

[Soups]

I haven't played Sun/Moon yet, but from what I've seen and heard, I'm assuming it's good. Then again, what Pokemon game isn't good?

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Rant incoming!

Well I haven't picked up Sun after defeating the E4. ^^; I think that about sums it up for me. I did enjoy the story and found it interesting while playing, I liked that team Skull were so silly and had me laughing out loud, but when it comes down to it, it just didn't feel like a main Pokemon game to me. I felt like I was playing Fossil Fighters: Pokemon Version or something. xD There was too much different for me to really enjoy it as much as I enjoyed XY and ORAS. :(

I know people complain about Pokemon being the same thing over and over but the new Pokemon are usually enough to make it different and interesting. The Pokemon are the MAIN thing, you know? And they open up a hundred new stories, ideas, battling strategies and new info about the Pokemon world. This time I felt like the story was the main part of the game, and the Pokemon were just an aside. To be fair, this may be because I did not like a lot of the Pokemon and that there weren't as many Pokemon as I was hoping for. I felt there were too many joke/"funny" Pokemon like Alola Dugtrio, Exeggutor and Persian. Luckily there were still some great ones like the starters, Rockruff, Cutiefly, and Pikipek lines. I was disappointed by most Pokemon I came across after that strong start, unfortunately.

I also found the Alola forms to be really disappointing overall. There were so few and they didn't really seem to improve the Pokemon in major ways. There was so much potential for great typings yet most things seemed to just gain Dark or Steel type? xD I really liked Marowak as that made sense in reference to the ghost in Gen I games. But the others seemed really out of left field. I still haven't seen most of the ultra beasts but I don't like the idea so far and the ones I have seen just look like weird animals or "things" and not Pokemon at all??? I don't know. I wasn't impressed by any. I also didn't like the strange shift to make mega evolution some kind of evil force. I'd rather have seen more megas than Alola forms and ultra beasts.

For the first time, I didn't feel like I was in control of my journey, I felt like I was just going through the motions. I felt the path forward was too defined, and I think the 3D graphics and story really contributed to that feeling, rather than the feeling of going on an open adventure. I didn't feel the need to linger in any one spot to explore, for example. There didn't seem to be much complexity to the caves, the routes etc., whereas in previous games there were always heaps of little places to go back and explore when getting a new HM.

I didn't mind the ride Pokemon but I think it could be much improved by letting you use your OWN Pokemon like you would with HMs. But I did mind the lack of gyms and found the island trials pretty easy and childish.

My last complaint is that I think Festival Plaza is a real step back and belongs back in BW and not in 7th gen which I would have hoped the communication features would be more integrated into the actual game. Especially after the PSS which was fantastic in XY/ORAS! I loved coming across other trainers, sending O Powers and interacting. I don't wanna have to go into another dimension thingo to find my friends and be able to trade! So yeah real step backwards in my opinion.

I didn't hate the games at all even if it sounds that way. They were good, just not as good as I had hoped going in spoiler free. So yeah I am pretty sad about it. I am a bit worried that I have outgrown Pokemon tbh. :'(

[Suicune's Fire]

@Pokemon Trainer Sarah you summed up everything I was thinking. xD I agreed about the storyline feeling more forced than normal, and a lack of interest when it came to exploration. Also with Festival Plaza...very big step back. Hugely difficult to find your friends, too. :P Just stupid.

I agree that it felt like a side game. And not even one I enjoyed that much, either. xD Like, I'd prefer to play Pokepark or PMD. Lel.

[Blaquaza]

I think we can all agree Festival Plaza was a bit of a horrendous mistake. The PSS was everything the online mode in Pokémon should be, and it was just so easy to access. With Festival Plaza though, you need to connect to the internet EVERY SINGLE TIME you go into it, and that takes a lot of time. It's also extremely difficult to find friends; one time I found a friend instantly, and another time I couldn't find a different friend at all. What kind of online system makes it impossible to play with your friends? A bad one. It's probably my main criticism about the game, and don't get me wrong, as much as I loved them I know there are a few issues.

Another flaw would be the Trials were rather anticlimactic. They were different from Gyms, which was nice, but also so much easier. There was no challenge in most of them; only one Totem Pokémon - Wishiwashi, even though I had a Dartrix - made me struggle. I did feel as though the Elite Four of the game more than made up for that, especially the last battle. I was underleveled because I was turning the EXP Share on and off at that point to match ordinary trainers, so the level jump made the battle so much more intense. :D

[Coru]

For me, Gen 7 is a bittersweet Gen. The new formula they did for the games was nice and there were some good Pokemon but I feel like it was changed too much and they catered way too much for their younger fans and didn't really do much for the older fans.

I really like the Alolan Pokemon gimmick and I like the island trials, it was a really good change and I think they can develop a load of stuff for the third game (if there's even going to be one *cough* Z *cough*) Also there were some really good Pokemon introduced and some really interesting typings and abilities. Mimikyu and Salazzle are two personal favourites of mine. I also like the calling for help idea, it adds an extra challenge to a battle because there's a chance you have to defeat 2 Pokemon at once rather than the one that you originally encounter.
However, although I really wanted change, I feel like it changed too much. So much so that to me it didn't even feel like a main story game anymore. Getting rid of HMs, although really helpful and actually pulled off really well, takes away the challenge from the game that you would have because of a waste space for your poor HM slave. I miss that, but it wasn't a huge issue I had with the game. I also think that although the storyline was amazing, much better than most we've had so far, it was badly worked out in terms of the elite 4. It kind of just appears out of nowhere and there's no reason for it other than Kukui wanting one, and the Kahunas also step up to it so it ruins the surprise of the teams and difficulty, plus, shouldn't they be on their islands protecting it and doing their job? My main issue with it is the lack of explanation for why the ghost trial captain is an elite 4 when she was not a huge part in the game (surely Hapu was much more qualified) and also, where did the flying type elite 4 member come from? I'd rather have a full set of new trainers or them all be familiar.

Also, don't get me started on Festival plaza, I hate it. So confusing and not needed, It should have remained like gen 6's. Don't fix something that isn't broken. However, some things that they changed or added I really liked. Poke Pelago is an amazing idea, I really like it and it's something that gets me to go on every day. Also the camera app idea is really good, It's something nice to do to fill up a little time and you can get nice close ups of Pokemon too.
Now this isn't a huge thing because it doesn't really impact the game but they took out so many good things that just so happen to relate to shiny hunting. I wasn't expecting the Pokeradar or Dexnav to return, but I don't understand why they got rid of hoarde encounters, which I found really good to have because it was good for shiny hunting and it was also quite nice to see a random hoarde encounter every now and then, and there's no real reason why Alola wouldn't have them.
Now, lets talk about fishing, and how Sun and Moon totally destroyed it. I really dislike how they have completely changed it and how now, instead of freely fishing anywhere, you have to fish at designated fishing spots. I used to like how free it was where you can fish in any open water area, but now it's so restricted that I don't even bother, especially since chain fishing is non existent now. Also the shiny animation is horrific. It looks like a stamp.
I also don't like the new childlike colourful layout of everything. It doesn't feel like Pokemon to me and it just makes the whole thing look quite cheap and gimmicky. I feel like they have tried way too much to make it look good to little kids and I feel like, yeah although that is their main target audience, they should have noticed that these days, their main consumers are maybe 16+ and at least cater for them a bit. A difficulty slider and a way to make the game look a bit more adult by removing the bright gimmicky look of the pokedex and stuff.

So overall, although it seems like I hate it, it's quite good. I'd give it a solid 7/10, I just wish that they didn't try to fix things that didn't need fixing and that they didn't make it too simple and childlike.

I'd rank the games I've played in

HG/SS >> DPPt >> SM >> ORAS >> B2W2 >> XY >> BW >> RGBY

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

but I don't understand why they got rid of hoarde encounters, which I found really good to have because it was good for shiny hunting and it was also quite nice to see a random hoarde encounter every now and then, and there's no real reason why Alola wouldn't have them.

I agree with you on everything! How bad was fishing?! All I found the whole time were Magikarp and some Wishiwashi in that lake. Seriously. I have not found any of the other water types you're supposed to be able to get by fishing because I got bored after 5 Magikarp at each spot. xD And only being able to fish in certain spots defintiely contributes to the closed world vibe!

The only thing I actually know is that they didn't do hoarde battles because the game couldn't handle it!!! There are no triple battles either. Did you notice how laggy it got in double battles? The framerate dropped so bad. I don't know what they changed from XY (I didn't really notice any aesthetic differences) but they really messed it up! o_o