Now the hype has died down, what are your thoughts on USUM?

Nah said:

It's basically what I expected it to be: just a 3rd version, as well as a (more) complete version of Sun/Moon. Nothing mind-blowing or spectacular.

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And, that, right there, is the main problem with USUM. While third versions were acceptable (if still money-grubbing) in the days of Gens 1-4, the bar has been raised since B2W2. Why buy a slightly upgraded version of a game you already bought when you could instead have a new game with a new story? And, look at how much more content B2W2 added compared to Yellow/Crystal/Emerald/Platinum. Richest postgame in the series outside of GSC/HGSS (which themselves were sequels).

It doesn't matter if USUM fix various issues with SM, as SM shouldn't have had those issues in the first place. The practice of half-assing the initial pair and expecting people to buy the director's cut later on should've died with Gen 4.

I didn't care much for S/M and despite being an improvement over the originals, I still feel rather indifferent to it. The fact that 3/4 of the game plays out mostly the same really didn't help either. I do enjoy the improved UI, added pokemon, and the shortened time to get your starter, but the issues that bothered me in the first game are still there. Also, what a tragic waste that the Ultra Megalopolis ended up being a simple corridor. Not to mention the Ultra Recon Squad felt awkwardly inserted into the story.

And playing what is pretty much the exact same game with a tiny bit of fluff injected into it for the first time in 10 years, I'm realizing how over this I am. I want sequels!

Sun & Moon were pretty forgettable and USUM didn't really change that.

Man...lots of negative reviews from people who've played the last few Pokemon games. I'm glad I went on a little hiatus because I absolutely loved UM.

To be honest... I thought USUM were an incredible disappointment.

I mean, I didn't put a lot of research into it before I bought it, and I had already played Pokémon Sun. But I had expectations that USUM were going to be different games that took place in the same area, just like B&W2. Instead, what I got was largely a shameless rehash with no differences other than a few changed events and some new Pokémon. At least, as far as I could be bothered to play it.

I for one regret spending the money on it.

Kept me engaged for longer and new Pokémon and legendary mons to help through postgame

Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon were a definite improvement in terms of additional content.

Move Tutors, Team Rainbow Rocket, new Ultra Beasts, the Ultra Wormhole, Necrozma's three new forms, I could go on and on all day, but so far, I'm having a blast with UM right now.

I do wish the Ultra Recon Squad were villains and explored more often, since they do have the features and a shred of backstory going for it. They could have been worse at the end of the day, but there's a lot of potential for them to be awesome at the same time. Hopefully a similar squad in Generation VIII will be more fleshed out. Necrozma was definitely a bigger threat on par with Kyurem and Giratina. You can only go so far when it comes to making a Pokémon the main villain, since they are necessary for completion.

At least Lusamine is a more mature person this time around. While I'll miss the deliciously wicked motivations of the first female big bad, I'm happy with her being a more open person than last time. With Lillie now in Alola due to such changes, I'm eager to see many awe-inspiring fan interpretations of her relationship with the player.

Positives:
-Lots of things to do.
-Lots of things to collect.
-Alot pokemon to catch.
-Rotomdex giving rotomrolls.
-Ultra space minigame.
-Mantine surf minigame.
-Lillie talking alot less (i think?)
-I like Fairy trial.

Negatives:
-Rotomdex talking everytime i am done battling.
-Rotomdex saying the same lines over and over.
-Nintendo kinda messed up parts of the new story for me. I dont know wether Lillies mom is bad or good. Sometimes shes nice, sometimes shes totally evil towards her and the room where she keeps dead frozen pokemon while at the same time giving lines like protecting the world. And the city where you fight ultra Necrozma made me feel let down.
-No Farfecht'd on the game still (i think) yet you are given a weapon to him. Really, just put him in the game and give him more love.
-Still not a game where Spinda, Luvdisc and Unown are usefull except getting items or something.
-Too much similarity to the regular sun and moon at the start.
-I dont like some changes. Like the totem pokemon fights. People say they are harder than regular sun/moon but i oneshot them all. And yeah whats up with being unable to find pokemon on trials except the triggered events? Make them not being able to be shiny but let us atleast face them.
-People said the trainer fights are harder. I expected trainers to have 4-6 pokemon each once again so i could run out of PP or have to use heal items. Nope, people lied. They all still have 1-2 pokemon that gets oneshot.
-This game still havent done anything to my poor Crabominable. It still gets killed by raindrops. It really need an unique ability to make it unable to get hit supereffectively in battles, or need to get the defensives boosted somehow.

I have to agree with whoever stated that these were what the games intended to be. Honestly, playing through it and having the little twists made the game much more engaging.

The new characters and gameplay are very fresh to me and I can see me playing this game a lot more now. It has been very fun to stream and I think this is one of my favorite out of the very little Pokemon games I have played.

Good stuff Ultra Sun/Moon.

Is this game worth purchasing? I never played Sun and Moon and nothing about gen 7 has compelled me to play it. That being said, I love the concept of Alola consisting of islands, and a lot of the new features seem really intriguing and cool. I think I honestly would enjoy Ultra Sun/Moon, despite the fact that I'm not a big fan of gen 7 pokemon.

Should I buy it or not? Just how good is the storyline?

Ninetales2000 said:

Is this game worth purchasing? I never played Sun and Moon and nothing about gen 7 has compelled me to play it. That being said, I love the concept of Alola consisting of islands, and a lot of the new features seem really intriguing and cool. I think I honestly would enjoy Ultra Sun/Moon, despite the fact that I'm not a big fan of gen 7 pokemon.

Should I buy it or not? Just how good is the storyline?

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It's not just about the plot, but the general consensus seems to be that the plot is slightly worse than it is in SM. However, overall, the new gameplay features such as an alternative means to get BP (Mantine surfing), tutors, legendaries and riding in Ultra Space could pretty much make this a more complete version of SM. Despite the plot setback, I'd advise you get it.

Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon can be summed up as refined Déjà vu. The first half of the game plays out the same way as Sun and Moon, except you have the Ultra Recon Squad making small cameos here and there. It's only during the second half there starts to be differences, such as completing the Poni Canyon first, then challenging Mina and finally facing Hapu; so I find the games to be better in terms of structure. The games are mostly better when it comes to the characters; Lusamine is no longer the psychotic antagonist like in Sun and Moon and is far better handled in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. Unfortunately, Lillie's story arc is somewhat shafted and she no longer stands out like she did in Sun and Moon.

Overall, the biggest sins Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon scream are the lack of changes made to the first half of the game and the bad marketing of the games, which is why the games have this negative consensus. I still believe that there is worth buying Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon since it is more of a complete game in terms of plot structure, characters, better graphics and offers more features than Sun and Moon.

I don't understand any complaints about these games being too similar.

Every third version is the same exact game with a few extra things added on. Yellow was the same game with events changed around, (starts you with pikachu, people give away the starters, team rocket occasionally appears) but the region had no big differences.

Crystal added animated sprites, lets you choose a female character, added Esuine and a couple new things. But it still plays out almost exactly like Gold/Silver.

Every "third" version does this, but I haven't seen any get a bad rep like these ones. Maybe it's because people were mislead by the title and expected something more like Black/White 2

These games have large differences by third game standards. In the beginning it immediately introduces a new team, adds a large amount of side quests, and halfway though it completely changes the plot. They even listened to the complaints about lack of post game and added onto that.

I'm still having a bit of fun with trading and battle spot. Waiting for the next pokemon events to come to :p otherwise game is really fun.

I think is was fine the only part I hated was team rainbow rocket but other than that it was fine.

Finally got USUM. Will be updating this as I go...

Stuff they changed that I liked:
- Getting starter was a lot faster
- Mantine Surf!
- Random sidequests or cutscenes, like Comfey in Paniola Town's PC
- Totem Stickers make me want to explore each town more
- I am really liking the braided look of the female protagonist

Stuff they did/didn't change that I didn't like
- No Team Skull double battles when two grunts challenge/mess with you
- Lana's trial is more straightforward, but I kinda liked how sneaky it was before
- Those damn tutorials. They shouldn't be present in the 2nd game of a generation
- Alolan Pokemon are still at a 5-10% encounter rate or are in areas with low Pokemon encounter rates (been looking for a Wishiwashi for 30 mins so far and it has a 40% appearance rate...)
- The Ultra Recon Squad being on the first island was quite odd
- Pretttyyyt sure in SM and previous games you could press B to select "Keep Old Moves" upon level up if a Pokemon could learn a new move but already has 4, but in USUM you have to tap the screen (First World Problems, I know, but minor annoyance)

Other things they added that I don't like or dislike:
- Did they give you 15 Revives by the 2nd trial in the original SM? So many in the first part of the game!

Things I didn't expect to change from SM, but are still really bothering me:
- Lillie telling Nebby to get in the bag when there are 3 people around, but letting him out/no sense of urgency when he is out of the bag in the middle of Iki Town/Heahea City/etc... seems inconsistent
- Honestly wild Pokemon calling for help is so annoying sometimes, I wish there was an item opposite of the adrenaline orb that made them NOT call for help
- the barriers "only strong Trainers who beat Trials can pass" are still dumb af because 1) Gladion and Guzma and others obviously pass them and are not trial-goers 2) it's not like Cerulean Cave where there's a friggin Mewtwo behind the barrier 3) people live beyond the barriers?? so are they just trapped between them or something???

Altairis said:

- Honestly wild Pokemon calling for help is so annoying sometimes, I wish there was an item opposite of the adrenaline orb that made them NOT call for help

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You'll be glad to know that SOS battles were nerfed in USUM. They'll only call for help once rather than several times over the course of the battle. If you throw an Adrenaline Orb, then they'll keep calling for help. In this case, an item opposite to the Adrenaline Orb wouldn't work in practice.

HeroLinik said:

You'll be glad to know that SOS battles were nerfed in USUM. They'll only call for help once rather than several times over the course of the battle. If you throw an Adrenaline Orb, then they'll keep calling for help. In this case, an item opposite to the Adrenaline Orb wouldn't work in practice.

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This makes me feel so much better honestly. I hate SOS battles lol. I like the idea of it: chaining to get a HA or shiny Pokemon. But I hate facing them myself haha

Altairis said:

- Pretttyyyt sure in SM and previous games you could press B to select "Keep Old Moves" upon level up if a Pokemon could learn a new move but already has 4, but in USUM you have to tap the screen (First World Problems, I know, but minor annoyance)

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Nope, you couldn't do this in SM neither. I'm starting to think it was intentional :) . Like they wanted to make sure you couldn't accidentally skip this screen if you're mashing B and potentially lose an interesting move.

I understand this decision, but I'm not crazy about it neither.