Pok?mon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon Versions - Thoughts:
Well, Pok?mon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon Versions (US/UM)were quite the shocker! At the beginning of the June 6th, 2017 Nintendo Direct (Pok?mon Edition), I saw footage of Pokk?n Tournament and was like "Yess; Pokk?n Tournament Deluxe exists, just like I anticipated at some point! But drat; our worst fears confirmed - agh, the presentation is dedicated to a spin-off game! The dream is dead; time to pack it in..". And then mere seconds later, US/UM confirmed! - "Worth it!", followed by the pleasant surprise of the Virtual Console rerelease of Pok?mon Gold and Silver Versions!
The "Necrozma armor (Prismatic Armor?)" looks a bit weird on Solgaleo/Lunala, but hey - new forms; w00t! ^^ But, ugh, why do Necrozma's limbs look so ugly and afterthought-ish?
Although many people seem to have been expecting a Nintendo Switch release of US/UM (purportedly "Stars", possibly?), I am fine with US/UM being the "last hurrah" for Pok?mon on the Nintendo 3DS, although I feel that the Pok?mon core series will move to either the Nintendo Switch or a hypothetical "Nintendo 4DS" eventually (mostly the former, in my eyes). At least, any potential Nintendo Switch core-series Pok?mon games will be that much cooler/meaningful when they do appear/exist - and for those who want them, potential Pok?mon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum remakes may turn out to be even prettier than Pok?mon OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire...!
This "alternate story" looks like it will be going the route of an "Alolan third version".. Either merely enhancing the Alolan story that we know, or doing a Naruto Shippuden: Road to Ninja alternate-universe-ish approach where not only events unfold a bit differently, but radically differently, with character personalities being significantly altered, along with different character and/or Pok?mon appearances..
But ugh... like a fellow Bulbapedian once said something similar to, it's like we know what US/UM are, but simultaneously don't know what they are at all! Game Freak are practically the kings of vagueness/ambiguity (which seems like the antithesis/direct counter to Bulbapedia's encyclopedic approach.. XD).. I can't tell if we will get new new Pok?mon forms (including or excluding Alolan forms), new Pok?mon entirely, or just non-Alola-Pok?dex Pok?mon! I am anticipating new Alolan forms/regional variants, non-Alolan-dex Pok?mon of past generations, and new Ultra Beasts, although I have a sneaking suspicion that all of US/UM's Pok?mon will manifest as new "otherworldly/alternate universe" Pok?mon despite looking like Alolan Pok?mon. And we also might get something "Generation 8"-ish as well; who knows?! But it's weird that the Pok?mon website is explicitly avoiding calling Alolan-looking Pok?mon by their names as we know them.. Tsk, tsk..
In any case, I still hope that Solgaleo, Lunala, and Necrozma are all available within one game like they are in Pok?mon Sun/Moon (SM)..
The timing of US/UM looks like an insult to the first-adopters of SM, though.. I mean, it hasn't even been a year since SM's release! Although we have had cool third versions in the past and they complete their "trios" relatively nicely, I thought we had moved past that practice, and now we're getting a "dual-release third version"? And in this age of easier-to-distribute downloadable content (DLC), "third versions" just seem like unnecessary double-dipping.. US/UM don't even have that much of a proper rationale, at least something like Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 had the "excuse" (if you want to call it that) of the 2011 earthquake of Japan's Tohoku region, but US/UM just seems like a blatant cash-grab.. I'll wait and see how the content turns out, but it's going to be annoying if US/UM's new content could've been easily implemented as SM DLC.. Somewhat fortunately, I don't have Pok?mon Sun Version yet (faux patience for the win, I guess? >_>), but I would've been livid if it hadn't been a year yet since the original release and Game Freak just went and announced the updated rerelease of Pok?mon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon Versions like that.. Well, I hope that people who bought SM already can at least get a discount on US/UM if warranted.. As it is now, I'm intent on just getting Pok?mon Ultra Sun, although I would probably get Sun/Ultra Moon if one game from each Generation 7 game is needed for something, or Sun/Ultra Sun if there's a tight story link like Pok?mon Black 1 and Black 2 had. I'll probably comment in other threads for further remarks..
Oh, and I'm glad that Europe's US/UM date is identical to the rest of the world now! The SM 1-week delay for Europe is just even more perplexing now..
