With the demo having been out for almost three weeks and plenty of juicy leaks hitting the web right now, people are forming a pretty good idea around what to expect from the newest Pocket Monsters instalment. So in light of this information, and after spending some time with the quick demo, here’s what I’d like to see from the full release of Pokémon Sun and Moon.
More Poké Riding
The ability to travel atop Pokémon is back in the Poké Ride feature but this time we have more monsters and traversal options at our disposal. Sun and Moon will now take us to the land, sea and sky on fully fleshed out versions of Pokémon that will not be in our party. So far, Charizard, Lapras, Sharpedo, Stoutland, Tauros and Mudsdale can all be ridden in various landscapes. But why not more? I’d like to see more iconic Pokémon with the ability to haul my lazy butt around, as the experience was pretty fun, as well as being a big upgrade from the generic beast sprites that we were dealing with in versions past. At the very least, Game Freak should give us the options to travel around in Kangaskhan’s pouch, right? No? Maybe I’m the only one who dreams about that.
More Mega Evolutions
Speaking of Kangaskhan, mega evolutions were a neat concept introduced in X & Y and then successfully implemented into the ORAS remakes. They slightly broke up the monotonous back-and-forth that some long-time fans have become sick of. So why wouldn’t we want to see some more with Sun and Moon? Power Up Gaming’s Dallin Schmidt had a thing or two to say about the matter in his “Top 10 Pokémon That Need Mega Evolutions” article, and quite frankly I think the world is ready for a Flygon and Milotic mega evolution. With that said, it would be nice to see at least another 5-10 mega evolutions get thrown into the mix.
Less Poké Finder
Something I want to see (but only in strict moderation) is that dang Poké Finder. In the demo you’re tasked with taking three picture of a new dragon-type ‘mon, and each time you snap a shot, a battle would ensue. While the 10 minutes it took me to do this wasn’t particularly draining, I don’t want that to crop up constantly throughout the game’s progression. I love Pokémon Snap as much as the next ’90s kid, but this is one feature that should embrace the “a little bit goes a long way” motto. According to the Sun and Moon website, Poké Finder is only available in certain spots, which is more than okay, as long as it’s mainly an optional feature. That way, people who like the Poké Finder can enjoy hours of extra content, while the rest of us will likely dabble, get bored and immediately get back to the action.
Battle Royal-Only Tournaments
Last, but absolutely not least, is more something I’d like to see because of Sun and Moon, and that’s Battle Royal-only tournaments. For those of you who don’t know, Battle Royal is a new battle format that allows four people to fight each other at once, or as I like to call it, Pokémon Battling: Mario Party edition. Competitive players are going to fight me on this tooth and nail (as they rightly should) but there’s something about this free-for-all format that just makes sense to me when it comes to Pokémon. Serious trainers will do their best to construct the best three-man teams specialising in kill stealing and, for once, this would introduce a sense of chaos that we’ve never seen from the franchise before. The good news is that winning doesn’t just require you to be the last trainer standing, but rather is judged based on how many Pokémon you’ve taken out and how many you have remaining. You can imagine the amount of protect Pokémon we would see if it was last man standing. Call me crazy if you like, but you know it’ll be fun to watch people rip their hair out at the unpredictable nature of the format.
No matter whether these suggestions are implemented into the final game, I can say that after spending some time with the demo, I am excited for Sun and Moon. If Game Freak can still produce that feeling after two decades of Pokémon games, they’re obviously doing something right. I still want to ride around in a Kangaskhan’s pouch though.
Pokémon Sun and Moon’s European release is set for November 23, while the rest of the world will have their hands on it November 18. Be sure to check in with Power Up Gaming in the future for the full review.