Customers recognize the engaging gameplay and enjoyable story of Pokémon Sun, with many praising the new Pokémon and features. Positive feedback also highlights the game's ease of use and the introduction of a new region to explore. However, some players expressed disappointment over the changes made to gym battles and found the game's difficulty level to be lacking in challenge. The absence of 3D features in the game was also noted by a few customers.
This summary was generated by AI based on customer reviews.
The vast majority of our reviews come from verified purchases. Reviews from customers may include My Best Buy members, employees, and Tech Insider Network members (as tagged). Select reviewers may receive discounted products, promotional considerations or entries into drawings for honest, helpful reviews.
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Pros mentioned:
Gameplay
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
New Pokémon, New Locale, Same Winning Formula
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Not going to lie here, I was not optimistic about this game. But I wanted some new Pokémon and I took a chance and I'm glad that I did. Pokémon Sun is a great addition to the Pokémon world. The same gameplay is there that existed way back in Pokémon Blue (which is where I started) and the new gimmicky things down ruin the game. If you're on the fence about this game, I'd say give it a chance. I think you'll enjoy it.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Gameplay
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Pokémon is STILL the man after all this time!!
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
These games just keep on giving!! Hours upon hours of good.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Pokemon
Cons mentioned:
Gym battles
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
A massive change...for the better!
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
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.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Gameplay, Story
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Pokemon Sun
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Sun and Moon are great new entries in the series that change up the formula, feature new Pokemon as well as new forms of existing ones, and offer a more compelling story than previous 3DS entries.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Gameplay, Pokemon, Story
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Possibly the best Pokemon yet
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Pokemon Sun is an incredible game. The Pokemon series has been going for 20 years now, and the newest generation just blew so much life back into the series. It changes things up in many fantastic ways. The graphics have never looked better. There is actually a compelling story. The new Pokemon look great. I bought this for my wife, who doesn't really play many games, and she has played almost non-stop since Christmas. If you have a 3DS, you need to own this game.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Gameplay
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
More like Pokemon Fun! (Sorry)
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
I've tried a few times over the years to get into Pokemon games, but never found one to hold my interest until Sun and Moon. The basics are all there: pick a starter (Team Litten!), battle other Trainers, catch wild Pokemon to round out your team, become the region's champion trainer. But Sun and Moon add a compelling storyline to the mix, and I think that's what kept me going long enough to really appreciate the depth of the game underneath the cute surface. I still don't have the patience for catching 'em all or the complexities of breeding, but this generation is the one that finally caught me in its PokeBall, and has me excited for Ultra Sun/Moon.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Gameplay, Story
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Most refined Pokemon game yet, but at some cost
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Pokemon Sun and Moon are the most refined Pokemon games ever made it terms of gameplay. Every generation adds more and more user-minded features that make the game more streamlined and less cumbersome, and this generation does that more than ever. For the first time they've really nailed the 3D environment (the 2D Pokemon games were perfect; they struggled with going to 3D for the first time in Pokemon X & Y). It feels more like a world designed in 3D from the start, rather than a 2D world that drawn with 3D art. They've also changed the Pokemon formula more than ever before. Gone are the Pokemon Gyms that we've all grown accustomed to, now replaced with a system of travelling from island to island to challenge trials and eventually each island's respective kahuna. The story is also a larger focus with each new generation; expect a number of cutscenes as well as scene jumps where you're skipped ahead in time to a slightly different location. Things are not just "character talks to you in a speech bubble for a while, and then you move on".
The downsides? That 3D world I mentioned can sometimes be a pain to navigate and learn. I found myself constantly forgetting where important locations were, and how to get back to them. This is because of a few things: for one, the camera will spin and pan around cinematic-style, which screws with your sense of direction; you may be running downwards (South) onscreen, and the road hooks to the left, but instead of turning your character, the camera turns, so you're still running downwards, except now you're running West. Over hours of playing you do start to get twisted around. On top of that there's the scene jumping I mentioned. A character may encounter you on a road, and says "follow me", so the screen fades to black and then you're in new location, and then they say "let's head back home", so it fades to black and now you're at that character's house. It hinders your ability to form a proper "mental map" of the world, learning how each place connects to the next, which makes navigation very frustrating sometimes, The map is awful; they put in on the bottom screen, and when you click on the center, it just talks to you. You have to click off-center to open. I couldn't figure out how to open the map for hours. Actually, you don't even get the map for quite a while as it is.
All the multiplayer features are in one part of the menu in a strange 2nd world kind of environment, with a sort of mini-game aspect to it. It's called Festival Plaza. They've done this type of thing over many generations, and it always turns out being very weird and disconnected from the rest of the game, so much so that I usually don't use these features. I think it's the developers' way of taking years worth of various multiplayer features, added game-by-game, and trying to collect them all into one cohesive menu. It's just not gonna work.
And finally, the actual gameplay itself. Like I said it deviates from the norm more than ever, but it also feels less like Pokemon with each passing generation, and more like any other generic JRPG. Also, there's not many new Pokemon; over the first 12 HOURS of play I had only caught 2 of the new generation Pokemon. Most of the others were Gen 1. Perhaps that is because of the popularity of Pokemon Go, they know a bunch of people are gonna be returning to the games, so they crammed the beginning with Gen 1 Pokemon. Maybe not. Either way it's pretty disappointing.
Overall the game is fun, but I honestly think the problems I mentioned all combine to to make the new Pokemon games feel just a little less like Pokemon than they should. They're missing a lot of the charm of the older games. Pretty much the only thing that's still around from those days is catch Pokemon and battle them. All the other aspects of the game, the atmosphere, the FEEL of Pokemon gen 1-3 is gone, and these new games are left feeling a bit empty, generic, and kind of part their prime. Please know, this is coming from someone who has played every single mainline Pokemon game; and yes, I mean every single game, each version, not just 1 version from each generation. I don't like having to say it, but it's what I feel; Pokemon is getting more and more refined while also becoming less and less of what many of us consider to be "Pokemon". I think that new players will enjoy Sun and Moon quite a lot for what it is, but players with experience in older Pokemon games will likely notice the significant change, and may find that it doesn't quite measure up to what they're looking for. I am sticking with a 4-star rating, as I do recommend the game, but with the understanding of the qualifiers that I've mentioned here.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Gameplay
Cons mentioned:
Gym battles
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Great Game
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Great game and my kids loves it. 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.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Gameplay, Story
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Another great entry.
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
I've been into pokemon since the start, my first version being Pokémon Yellow. For those first few years, I played pokemon all the time. Going on that same adventure over and over. And this continued with each generation throughout the years. When the series moved to 3d in XY, I was fully immersed once again, and could not wait for what was next. With Sun and Moon, I was not disappointed. You still have the usual. A grand adventure through a new home, gotta catchem all, defeat the greats and work your way up to the top of the league. But it's also new, and refreshed. Gone are the traditional battle the minions and then battle the gym leader. Now you have challenges, each one different, using many different features before you get to the actual battle. These island challenges really kept me interested and I looked forward to seeing what the next one would bring. The story, one of my personal favorites. It has a lot of weight to it, and I felt actually engaged as the problems began to grow more series, furthering my need to save this world and it's people. The pokemon? Love them. The new designs are fun, and the alolan versions of kanto pokemon made playing with old favorites all the more interesting. Wether your new to the series or a returning fan, this game is an excellent entry in the series. Can't wait for the next one, keep em coming Game Freak
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Gameplay
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Pokémon Sun
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
This game is really fun, and its just great exploring the new region seeing other forms of pokemon you thought you were familiar with.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Gameplay, Story
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Pokemon's back!
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Wow, they've made great improvements with the newest generation. With new Pokemon forms, increased graphics and story, and a whole new region full of secrets, you can't go wrong with this. Whether you've been a fan from the beginning, or this is your first one, this game was a pleasure throughout.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Gameplay
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Gen 1 player here!
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
The last time I had played a Pokemon game released from Nintendo was Pokemon Yellow back in the Gen 1 days. After those games I feel my interests shifted to other things and Pokemon had seemingly decided to get more complicated and complex as years went by. With the nostalgia and fanfare from Pokemon Go I decided I wanted to play the next entry of the Pokemon series and Pokemon Sun/Moon enters the scene!
Overall coming in with only in-depth knowledge of how things are with Gen 1 I was still easily able to grasp the new mechanics and systems that have been entered in. The developer was smart to include some new non-intrusive, helpful systems by showing you the effectiveness of a move after you have battled and encountered a Pokemon from before. That system is just one example of something that is very helpful while not being cumbersome or entirely unnecessary.
I can easily recommend this game to both old fans and new fans alike!
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Features, Pokemon, Story
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
GREAT addition to the Pokemon series!
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
This just might be my favorite Pokemon game yet, and I've played them all! It introduces SO MANY great new features along with a new story and a lot of awesome new Pokemon! This is definitely a MUST HAVE for any Pokemon fan!
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Gameplay
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Fun
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
This was a REALLY fun pokemon game. I played it through in a couple of days but there's extra game play and a lot of side quests. I liked the new twists on old pokemon. My only complaint is that the cut scene videos were SOOO long. It was like watching a movie! Still, definitely worth getting through.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Gameplay, Pokemon
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Pokemon! Slight changes to a tried & true formula!
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
My husband & I are both playing through (he's on Moon) and are loving it! New region, new Pokemon, slight changes to the look & feel all make Sun/Moon a blast to play through!
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Gameplay
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Great fun
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
My wife and I purchased Sun & Moon together and are having a blast playing together when we can. We have been helping each other catch certain version only pokemon and trading them with each other. This game does not have much 3D but the game over all is great.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Gameplay
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Great game
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Great game. Possibly the best Pokemon game to date. Love the 3d world (although the 3d feature for 3ds isn't in the game most the time unless you're taking pictures). Tons of different Pokemon and lots of gameplay fun and features to be had.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Story
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Pokémon Sun 5/5
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Z moves are the main draw for Gen 7. You get a unique campaign from Sun, great emphasis on story and characters. Post game, it’s still the same core Pokémon experience, but Z moves are a welcome mechanic that adds new twists to battles.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Gameplay, Story
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Another Great Installment
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Beautiful region with new updated graphics, Pokemon, and a whole new story to adventure in! Definitely a great addition to the Pokemon franchise.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Gameplay, Story
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Improved formula, same great gameplay.
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
If you have played X and Y you will have a good basis for what to expect from this iteration. Most of the changes they have made from last generations games have been for the better, if you've played many of the past games you will appreciate the way they have mixed up the formula here with 4 Kuhunas as opposed to 8 Gym leaders, island specific versions of classic pokemon, and the way they handle alot of the story elemenrs this time around, make for an extremely refreshing take on this generations pokemon game.