Pokémon Moon Standard Edition - Nintendo 3DS

This game gives a whole new take on Pokémon! Everything I knew from the previous games were changed coming into this one; and it excited me to have a fresh experience. They have made quite a few updates since the last installment, making it a lot smoother gameplay. I absolutely enjoy the immense interactive play you have with your Pokémon! Even if you're new to the Pokémon franchise, you won't have to worry about getting lost in the back story. A great buy for any enthusiast.

Pokémon Moon is easily the best game in the franchise, in my opinion. From the astounding visuals to the soundtrack, there is nothing else that I can say, other than it's a really good game.

Huge changes to the pokemon formula since Pokemon X & Y, no longer as it's strictly battle and collecting focused (although still present) as they added variety of mechanics to switch things up a bit and to bring more variety in gameplay. Changes include: 1. No HMs No longer do you have to carry around a HM slave (s). This has bothered me in the past games as I have to restrict 1 or 2 slots out of my party of 6 to help traverse certain areas of the world. In the place of HMs there are Poké Rides where you can ride pokemon interacting with them on the world map, some you may not be able to access until you've completed mission within the game. 2. Is it super effective? No longer do you have to look up guides online (unless it's your first encounter) to tell if a move is super effective or not very effective against the pokemon you're up against. After you battle a pokemon once, the game will tell you what moves is super effective or not in the battle menu once you encounter the same pokemon the second time. 3. No Traditional Gyms No longer do you have to battle your way through gym after gym to prove you're the best out of brute force. There are 4 islands in the game, each of which are controlled by 4 Island Kahunas To get to them you have to get pass Trail Captains and Todum Pokemon Trail captain will give you quizzes, side quests to complete, and/or fight in traditional battles Todum Pokemon. Basically typical pokemon you find the wild, but significantly stronger and have grunts that help them battle. 4. Rotom Pokédex Typical pokedex, but with a face and personality attached to it. 5. Alola Forms Basically different forms of pokemon you seen in previous generations. Either it's there physical form that is different and/or the pokemon's typing 6. Z-Moves With a Z-Ring and a Z-Crystal you can use a pokemon's ultimate move once per battle. It's not like Mega Evolutions where it stays constant 7. QR Scanner. You can now scan QR codes to get event pokemon. Also if you scan a random QR codes it will give you 10 points. Once you reach 100, you are able search an island for a rare pokemon. Each scan also gives you random trivia about pokemon 8. Battle Royal A 4 player free-for-all where the battle ends after all of one's pokemon trainer's faints. They tally the win-losses of each trainer and the one with best stats at the end wins 9. Hyper Training. Once a pokemon reaches level 100, they can go through hyper training which can improve a Pokemon's IV 10. Poké Pelago Your PC Box now has functionality to it. It's like a day care sort of thing, instead of just depositing your pokemon, you can passively train them in the PC or have them search for items 11. Festival Plaza. An online mode where you can battle other trainers and trade with them. You get festival coins for each interaction which you can spend on clothes, shop or upgrade your pokemon's stats. There's also missions you can undertake to get more coins. 12. Night and Day phase, New Pokemon Pokemon Sun goes the traditional time route while Moon does the opposite. In Pokemon Moon if you're playing in the daytime, the game will consider it night time in-game. Some events also play out differently like different Totum Pokemon on the same island/trail In traditional Pokemon fashion you can only get some pokemon in each version so trading is required either with a friend or if you own both versions. Also some pokemon evolve differently in each version now. I'd say some of overall models of new pokemon are better looking than the last batch in previous iterations of the pokemon series. 13. Auto Run Your run is as fast as a bike now, and it has unlimited use. You can now move in all directions instead of the traditional 4 and it feels very fluid 14. No Rod Fishing is now dedicated to specific regions in the world. You cannot fish wherever you want anymore. 15. Photo Taking You can now take Photos of pokemon in the wild. 16. Team Skull and Aether Foundation Team Skull is the new antagonist group like Team Rocket, but they have a new style to them as they try act gangster-ish with their animated hand gesters/movements. They have more personality and have a darker tone to their backstory and mission. Aether Foundation is the opposite of Team Skull as thier mission is to cure injured and hurt pokemon. The group is also conducting research on the Ultra Beast (Pokemon) which is a good mystery story in and of itself. 17. Graphical Upgrade Game looks better than the last, although there are some pixelation around the edges still. Models look more realistic than before, and the battle animations are more visually impressive. There are some framerate issues on 2v2 battles for some reason, but then again I own the launch 3DS. You may not have the issue if you own the New 3DS? It's a turn-based system so it doesn't really matter much in terms of gameplay, but the slow down is noticeable -Returning mechanics: Pokebank return, you can now transfer all your pokemon to Sun and Moon Clothing Options: Although more options are available, it still feel very limited. Mega Evolutions return, but none for new pokemon from what i've discovered Pokemon Refresh: don't remember if it's in the last game, but you can groom your pokemon in your party If you discover more changes, please put in comment below. Overall, love the changes to the traditional formula as it gives the Pokemon Series a nice refresh and is more streamline to play.

A few hours into game play and I knew I needed to write a review on this particular game. I absolutely love Pokemon games, and I have been playing since Leaf Green/Fire Red. Here are my impressions from the game. Pokemon Sun is a good game. I love all the new Pokemon, especially the three adorable new starters. The graphics are great. You can tell the improvement from Alpha Sapphire and XY. The overall theme, characters, colors, and customization are great. I'm glad they decided to bring back being able to chose different clothing items and stuff like that to make it a unique experience. However, they got rid of gym battles..... Which in my opinion is a major downfall. Any die heart Pokemon fan lives for gym battles and gym badges. Now we have something called Island Trails. Which are okay.... in terms, but no where near as fun as gyms. They also got rid of HM's and replaced them with pagers that you can use to call different Pokemon to aid you in your quest. This isn't a bad feature. Overall the game is very very different compared to what we have had in the past. There is ALOT alot alot of commentary in this game. Which I usually enjoy but it is a little excessive this time. If you can get past the changes the game is still a good buy. It still has the great Pokemon atmosphere we all know and love, just with several changes. I would recommend this game to a friend.

Pokemon moon is more than just another pokemon game, it is an evolution of the experience you grew up loving as a child. As someone who has played thousands of hours of pokemon throughout his life time, I can comfortably say this is among my top 3 of pokemon games all time. Only Red/Blue and Diamond would come before Moon. What seperates this generation from others is the dedication to change. The changes seem simple, yet drastically affect the gameplay and make the story something that is actually engaging. In most other pokemon games, beating the Justice league is just the beginning, the story beforehand is an after thought. That is not the case in Moon. The story and events leading up to the Pokemon League feel like an actual story. There is emotion, humor, and an actual reason to care about the characters. It is a grown up Pokemon in a child's world. The battle system has seen litte change. The biggest addition is that of the z crystals which act like the mega evolutions in prior versions, but only for one move. Pokemons also have the SOS ability now, which can allow wild Pokemon to drastically prolong an encounter and increase your chance of finding a shiny. And lasty, the starters feel more balanced than in other generations. Each feels useful, but not overpowering. Take the time and give Moon a few hours of your life. It'll end up taking far more afterwards. Easily my favorite game of 2016. 5/5 overall.

As someone who's been skeptical of new Pokemon releases (I've really only played the first and second generations to completion; skipped the third and fifth, gave up on the fourth and sixth), I have to admit that this game blew me away. There's just so much to DO, and the way all of the challenges are presented makes every new locale interesting in a way that Pokemon games rarely do. It's pretty, it's fun to to play, and it'll never feel tedious or boring. Moreover, Nintendo has pulled back from previous series conventions that hindered gameplay. For example, they've done away with HMs in favor of "calling" a specific Pokemon from outside of your party to do whatever it is you need, meaning your moveset and team aren't hindered by your need to get around. Also, key things such as access to breeding, move deletion, Fly/Surf, name rating and trading are available very early on, making the game less of a slog as you work toward the team you really want. My only gripe is that multiple mainstays don't appear to be in the game at all, even by trade, though I've been told they'll be available from past games once the Pokemon Bank opens up. Still, it's a little disappointing to not be able to get many originals by simply playing the game.

After a year of celebrating 20 years of Pokémon, 2 new games (Pokémon Sun and Moon) are released and they do not disappoint. The game has many similarities from previous games that have kept me coming back for the next Pokémon game, plus several new mechanics to introduce a new generation to Pokémon. Many new Pokémon to catch, including some new versions of some of our favorite classics. Some of the new mechanics make some aspects of game play not as tedious in past versions, and this has helped make training Pokémon more fun. My biggest con of the game is the beginning. It takes a lot of time to really start to get into the game. A lot of "hand holding" that for me started to take me out of the game a bit. However, once all of that introduction took place the game picked up and was great from there on. I think you will have a great time with this game. Join in the fun and catch 'em all!

This game marks the furthest departure from the traditional Pokemon formula that has been so key to all the prior games. Full 3D like X and Y, and an entirely new environment and culture. The gameplay remains the same as well, but the story elements are much more prominent, and it breaks from the regular formula of 8 gyms and instead introduces island challenges, which are themed mini-games that mark your progression. With the increased focus on the story elements, it does tend to be a little hand-holdy at times. It doesn't ruin the game, but it certainly is different from previous games in that respect. Overall, if you're a pokemon fan, you probably already have this, and if you're not, it's a great entry to get started. Highly recommended.