Pokemon has officially been around for 20 years, and the Pokemon company has had its many high and low points. Earlier this year, another Pokemon game came out; this was Pokemon Go. Pokemon Go had a very short life span of about three months. However, Pokemon Sun & Moon came out this year, too. Sun & Moon has changed up the algorithm of Pokemon immensely. There was the addition of Island trials, the Alola Region, Z-moves and Ultra Beasts. The Alola Region is a whole new region that is based on the islands of Hawaii. First off, in the Island trials, the trials were a lot of fun. Some of them do suffer though because of the plot of the game. Two of the trials are just battles that are somewhat difficult, and on others, there isn’t even a fight. At the end of each trial, you receive a Z-Crystal that is type based on what the trial type was. So, you gradually receive them over the course of the game, and the final one you get is ‘fairy’ which is really disappointing. Most of the Z-Moves are very underwhelming and can’t even faint a Pokemon.

While this feature is fun, it hardly replaces the satisfying animation and power that comes with a Mega Evolution which is completely removed from the game. Personally, this is the most disappointing thing because I believe that Mega Evolutions were very innovative and added a new strategic value to battles. Therefore, removing this feature seemed to contradict them adding it in the first place. In this game, they kept the theme of each game having its own specific legendary Pokemon. Instead of roaming legendaries, they added a new type of Pokemon called Ultra Beasts. They demand more effort to catch because it requires you to beat the elite four, and you have to catch them with special pokeballs that involve you capturing them multiple times until they are fully scanned which makes it a grueling task.

By far, the best part of this whole game is the diverse cast of characters. Most of the characters’ personalities are vastly different and all leave their own impact on the story. One of the most noteworthy characters is Gladion. In the beginning of the story, he’s made out to be a degenerate that ran away from home and wants to run around ruining everyone else’s adventures. You later find out that everyone in his group makes fun of him for not having a home, and he slowly, over the course of the game, becomes a very lovable character. Overall, I would definitely recommend Pokemon Sun and Moon to anyone who really enjoys Pokemon and potentially wants a different take on the Pokemon universe than they are accustomed to playing.