The newest 'Pokemon' game is as good as catching 'em all gets by Alex Perry on Nov 28, 2016, 3:37 PM With the massive initial success of "Pokemon Go" earlier this year, the monster-collecting cash cow entered the public consciousness in a huge way. Excitement about Pikachu and co. was as high as it's ever been since the franchise blew up in the late 1990s. That timing turned out to be great, as there's a pair of brand new "Pokemon" role-playing games out for Nintendo 3DS: "Pokemon Sun & Moon." These games have always been the primary driving force behind the franchise, ever since they debuted on the original GameBoy in 1996. Whether you're a longtime fan or someone who just got into "Pokemon" this year with "Pokemon Go," great new features make these the most fun and refreshing critter collecting simulators in years. Here's why: SEE ALSO: Everything you need to know about the newest 'Final Fantasy' game First, some things you need to know if you're a newcomer  "Pokemon Go" is a GPS app where cute creatures occasionally show up for you to throw balls at. "Pokemon Sun & Moon" are fully-featured RPGs with a story, a huge world to explore, and much deeper combat than their mobile cousin. However, don't let that intimidate you; the "Pokemon" RPG games have always been casual and accessible as a means to attract a younger audience. "Pokemon Sun & Moon" do an even better job of easing in new players than previous games. Sun & Moon are not separate games so much as they are slightly differing versions of the same game. Basically, the kinds of Pokemon you can find and catch will differ based on which version you get, with the most significant difference being which legendary Pokemon you'll find near the end of the game. Otherwise, the world, story, and gameplay mechanics are more or less the same. Buy whichever one has a cooler looking Pokemon on the box. The basic concepts you might know from "Pokemon Go," such as different Pokemon having different strengths and weaknesses, are basically intact here. You will make your way through the world, catching Pokemon to make the best and most varied team of six battle-ready pocket monsters you possibly can. Put simply, there's never been a better time to jump on the bandwagon.
The basic structure of the series is upended, making it feel truly refreshing  The main problem with the "Pokemon" games is that they've followed the same repetitive structure for 20 years. Any changes made to the formula before now have generally felt marginal from a casual perspective, which made it difficult for me to care for several years. "Pokemon Sun & Moon" shake things up for the first time, completely uprooting the design in favor of something better. You see, in the old games, you would travel from town to town, leveling up your team and taking on each town's Gym Leader. When you conquered a gym, you would get a badge that would let you take on the next gym. This time around, we're in the new, Hawaii-inspired region of Alola, a chain of tropical islands. Each island has a set of unique, element-based trials to complete, with each trial eventually rewarding you with access to powerful, spectacular super moves for your Pokemon. Once you finish all the trials on a given island, you take on that island's Kahuna, who essentially replace Gym Leaders in Alola. Each Kahuna has a varied team of powerful Pokemon, so you'll need to keep a well-balanced team yourself. The new trial-based setup brings a ton of much-needed variety to the series. In one of them, you have to watch Pokemon dance and memorize their moves, while in another, you navigate a haunted grocery store on a ghost hunt. Each trial culminates in a battle with a Totem Pokemon, which is a beefed up version of a regular Pokemon. These battles can be tough, as Totem Pokemon can use unique abilities and call in allies to ruin your day. Overall, it's several orders of magnitude more engaging than the old Gym system because there is so much variety. Not every trial is amazing, but the good ones far outweigh the bad ones.
The new Ride Pager system is a crucial addition  In the older "Pokemon" games, you would occasionally need to use moves such as Fly or Surf to navigate the world when your feet wouldn't do. That means you had to teach those moves to a Pokemon and keep that Pokemon in your party in order to get around, even if the Pokemon wasn't of any use in battle. It was a frustrating, antiquated feature that needed to go. Thankfully, it has, thanks to the new Ride Pager system. With the Ride Pager, you can summon a handful of different Pokemon to ride on, with each having different abilities to help you out. Tauros can run quickly and crush rocks, Machamp can push huge blocks to solve puzzles, Charizard can fly, and so on. You don't actually get those Pokemon to use in battle, but the fact that you no longer need to keep inferior Pokemon around just to navigate the world is a massive improvement.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
| 
0 comments:
Post a Comment