News 'Pokémon Ultra Sun' and 'Ultra Moon' Coming in November for the 3DS!

[Guzma]

Are partner Pokemon a thing again?

 

[TheRealBro..]

Given that a lot of people especially me were hoping for DP remakes, this is a huge kick to the shins. SM was the worst main series game we've had in a long time. I seriously cant imagine playing through it again. The story was short, Z moves were a bust, almost no post game, and the handholding made me want to break my DS

I actually agree. At first I really liked the fresh look, but looking back this really is the first time I have zero interest in replaying a main series Pokemon game. Another thing that was wrong with it in my opinion was the lack of gyms. The new Totem mechanic seemed somewhat fresh at first but it was ultimately a very bad idea to remove the gyms. That feeling of entering a gym with puzzles and some smuck trainers is part of what the Pokemon excitement was all about. Not expecting too much from these remakes because of this. It seems way too quick and the fusion thing has already been done, ringing all the alarm bells for a cheap quick game release on top of what was already wrong with Sun & Moon. Now even the freshness is gone because, well, it's a remake. Hope to be wrong!

 

[Eggrolls13]

Is this a remake or a sequel?

The article says "alternate timeline". Interpret that as you will.

 

[Rindon]

Still don't see why SM don't get so much hate. I thought the overall story, although not as good as BW or RS (which is actually my favourite) was ok. I do agree with most though in that the totem battles are not as fun as figuring out the gym puzzles to get to the gym leaders battles. I am hoping for a much larger alternate dimension storyline than what platinum provided In the distortion world.

 

[Bolt the Cat]

Given that a lot of people especially me were hoping for DP remakes, this is a huge kick to the shins. SM was the worst main series game we've had in a long time. I seriously cant imagine playing through it again. The story was short, Z moves were a bust, almost no post game, and the handholding made me want to break my DS. I didnt think XY could have gotten moved from the bottom spot of my list of games, but somehow they did it. Atleast XY had the trainers resort or whatever it was called. The region was also super pretty, and the story wasnt awful. I felt like XY mashed in a bunch of things from previous generations and it worked. I honestly wish we had gotten a sequel to XY to go further in the region, as well as learn more about Mega Evolution and what the Anistar city Crystal had to do with it. They could have included some subtle hints to a gen 3 remake by adding a moon mission where you fight mega rayquaza or something idk. SM was the last game that needed a sequel or alternate story or whatever. Some people argue that Necrozemas story didnt go anywhere, well Zygardes didnt either, and for that same reason XY should have gotten a sequel too. The only reason id buy one of these games is if the story was a sequel, but if its just slightly different I may have to skip buying a main series game for the first time in 13 years. I didnt like BW, but BW2 made the difference and gave me a fun story. ORAS was remake of my favourite gen tied with gen 4. XY was a new game and it seemed pretty interesting. SM followed the same the only difference to me is that XY gets slack cut because it was the first game on the 3DS, and they probably didnt want to push the limits on the 3DS. I even look at ORAS as the better game, even though it was missing a lot of key RSE features (battle frontier), it tested the graphics to the max with Latias/Latios soaring. I cant believe thats something we didnt get in SM. SM changed too much of the pokemon formula and that worked for sales as it built hype, but it just did not deliver in gameplay. I just cant see why they would focus on another game of the already worst selling (not by a lot though) game in the series (not including third versions). The numbers show (even BW2) that the follow up games always do about 50% worse sales wise. If this was a money making idea, it sure wont workout. DP was already the third best selling game in the franchise, huge missed opportunity to make some big sales.

Overall, apart from Pokken DX which im very excited for as I havent played the original, this years main series pokemon game will more than likely be a bust, and will almost surely not get a sale from me.

Well IMO SM wasn't terrible, I actually found it a pretty great game, but if anything, that doesn't help the potential of a followup game because now the games don't really have much to improve. Part of what made Platinum exciting was that DP's Sinnoh Dex was terrible and Platinum corrected it, likewise with BW only having new Pokemon in its Unova Dex and in general being a small and shallow region, it made BW2's changes to the regional dex and region design that much more exciting. I look at SM and I don't see any glaring flaws in the game or anything that could reasonably done better with a second game, about the only thing I could see them doing is opening up the islands by removing most of the barriers and letting you go anywhere on the island you want from the start, but I don't see Game Freak doing that. So there's really not much they can do to make new areas or extra Pokemon exciting.

 

[MrCoolViking]

The hype is back!

I hope for brand new Pokémon. And I guess some new Alolan Forms is OK, too.
And I wonder if there will be new areas/islands/Routes?



By the way, as I studied the trailer I saw something I didn't think about before, even when I played Pokémon Sun/Moon. In your room there's a globe, and Africa is the only continent that is completely shown...!

Could that mean that the region in Gen 8 will be based on Africa? That would be really cool!

 

[Mitja]

Given that a lot of people especially me were hoping for DP remakes, this is a huge kick to the shins.

Sinnoh is my favourite region hands down, yet I'm sooo glad this wasn't "DP-remakes".

Considering how Gamefreak handled "remakes" till now, I can already see all the little details that would bother me...
-the changes to the region itself would have been minimal (same grid-based layouts)
-the plot would be unchanged, most additions from Platinum completely ignored. Oh, but the game pretending like mega evolutions were always a thing and having you use them by the time you reach the 4th gym.
-the same damn trainers standing in the same damn places... perhaps gym leaders having less pokemon or have them lower levels
-focus on Dialga/Palkia with some new glorified form but hardly affecting the story.
-Giratina and Distortion world summed up into some "Platinum-episode"
-possibly the whole postgame area to the north being replaced by just an island with a Battle Tower lol
-features like the underground making a return, but minimally changed or improved
...

Not to mention the short development time with this release-schedule (while totally appropriate for follow-up games)

I would prefer if, when we do re-visit Sinnoh, we don't do it with a remake, but as a sequel at the very least, which I doubt would have been the case if they would have done it right now.

 

[Luigi08]

Did you read the rest of my comment?

I mention how it could be like 1st gen and 2nd gen. where they could trade back and forth but 2nd gen could only use pokemon available in 1st gen.

finish reading the post first before you comment.

But you still made a false statement by saying that ORAS could battle XY with the new Megas...

 

[Their Goominess]

(a bit off before I start but I'm actually not disappointed that we're not getting D/P remakes, particularly if they're handled the same way ORAS were)

Ok I have some initial thoughts from seeing the trailer etc
-the main bodies of the legendaries seem to be more of an illusion/projection rather than physical bodies (in the official art anyway, the footage of them ingame doesn't), or maybe Necrozma fusing(?) with them just gives them that appearance.
-"new Pokemon not originally in S/M" - does this mean that we're getting actual new Pokemon? It would certainly make up for the small number of new Pokemon in the original. Hopefully it includes new regional variants as well
-"alternative storyline" - this is what intrigues me the most. Whether or not it's just the same old Alola with a different storyline, new characters etc will be interesting to find out.
-Wingull following the player - I'm hoping that this means we can have Pokemon following us again. (the only other reason I can think of it going on exactly the same path as the trainer is if it's an NPC's Pokemon which guides us somewhere or takes something from us etc)
-The Pikachu area is kind of interesting and I'd like to see similar places with different Pokemon in them (although I can't help but feel like it's just gonna be that one and not have any major purpose in the storyline)
-New Z-Crystal - OR it's something else entirely. It has a completely different shape to a regular Z-Crystal, plus it seems to lack any design on it that regular Z-Crystals have, and it kind of looks like it's doing a different thing that regular Z-Moves do. Maybe it has something to do with Solgaleo/Necrozma and Lunala/Necrozma.

anyway, I have a few hopes as well:
-Something new happening with the starters. It's safe to assume we're still having Rowlet, Litten and Popplio since they appeared in the trailer, so it would be nice to see something (even just something like them having new Z-Moves) just so they aren't the exact same ones from S/M.
-Some kind of difference in the Alola region. I don't dislike the region, but it would be nice just to have something to change it from the one we've already played through. Or if it isn't changed, I'm hoping we at least go through the islands (and the areas on the islands) in a different order.
-Some kind of Battle Frontier (I think the message on ORAS said it was coming soon -correct me if I'm wrong- and yes I'm still holding on to hope for it)
-Something new in place of the Trials - I didn't dislike them, but they just didn't give me much of a challenge that I wish they did.
-A lot of new characters. I'm sure we will get some, but if this is an alternative storyline then I really hope we have a new set of characters to compliment it. (with characters from the original S/M making cameos in US/UM)

 

[Perfect_Shot]

Sinnoh is my favourite region hands down, yet I'm sooo glad this wasn't "DP-remakes".

Considering how Gamefreak handled "remakes" till now, I can already see all the little details that would bother me...
-the changes to the region itself would have been minimal (same grid-based layouts)
-the plot would be unchanged, most additions from Platinum completely ignored. Oh, but the game pretending like mega evolutions were always a thing and having you use them by the time you reach the 4th gym.
-the same damn trainers standing in the same damn places... perhaps gym leaders having less pokemon or have them lower levels
-focus on Dialga/Palkia with some new glorified form but hardly affecting the story.
-Giratina and Distortion world summed up into some "Platinum-episode"
-possibly the whole postgame area to the north being replaced by just an island with a Battle Tower lol
-features like the underground making a return, but minimally changed or improved
...

Not to mention the short development time with this release-schedule (while totally appropriate for follow-up games)

I would prefer if, when we do re-visit Sinnoh, we don't do it with a remake, but as a sequel at the very least, which I doubt would have been the case if they would have done it right now.

Completely agree. I liked that HG/SS more resembled Crystal, but with a bunch of useful additions like the Safari Zone. Even though the Battle Frontier was copy-paste it was still nice to have.

OR/AS was just a lazy nostalgia grab that was hardly any better of a game than X/Y, and the whole Frontier tease was insulting. The fact that GF nowadays couldn't care less about postgame makes buying games like these pointless in my opinion, since most of the games follow the same process and what endgame we have revolves around a battle facility where the AI resorts to using annoying gimmicks since they are simply terrible at battles otherwise. The last three main series entries have just felt so incomplete.

It's hard to care about main series entries anymore, sadly. The later Gen IV games had it right.

 

[Metoro]

Wish they would edit the graphics of the game more...It looks almost exactly the same as the regular Sun/moon, which is my biggest disappointment with the teaser. I'm kind of tired of the very colorful game of only Trainers with baby faces....Everything looks so simple and plain...I want more shadows, details and other battle backgrounds! With the 3DS graphic card, it should not be a problem to go closer to the Pokémon Colosseum graphics.

 

[Hackzo23]

Just a few thoughts/predictions:

1.) Pretty sure that these are Necrozma's new forms, and not Solgaleo/Lunala. Just look at B2W2 and Kyurem.

2.) Im pretty sure these games are the "Pokemon Stars" game. two examples, look at the logos, in the middle of the sun and moon logo you have a black star. Also on the back of Necrozma is the same star.

3.) Necrozma's moon poked entry states, "Light is apparently the source of its energy." So I'm gonna guess its gonna take its power from Solgaleo/Lunala depending on which version you're in. This would explain why its apparent fusion with Solgaleo/Lunala have them in their "radiant sun/full moon" phase. Cause its gathering their energy. And from the official art of "ultra Lunala" and "ultra Solgaleo" it looks like Necrozma disassembles and attaches to them. And that pyramid thing on their head is a way for Necrozma to control them. I don't know if any of you have seen Zoids, but it looks like Lunala/Solgaleo are voids and Necrozma are the "upgrades" to them. Just take a look at this comparison of Solgaleo and the Liger Zero. The resemblance is uncanny. Both are white, hints of red, gold claws, a black undertone.
With this new "ultra Solgaleo" it looks like the liger zero with its upgrade. Its pretty close to looking like that. Obviously not the exact same but you can definitely tell there are similarities.
And because of this makes me think Necrozma just attaches itself to Solgaleo/Lunala and doesn't fuse.


4.) Now for my theory, ever since the Delta episode we know that there are different dimensions in the Pokemon games. this is especially apparent in SM where the version differences are the different dimensions. They are the same game, but one take place during the day and the other at night. And you can enter that alternate dimension through the lake of sunne/moone.
I bring this up because Junichi Masuda said USUM are alternate versions of SM. So perhaps this game has to do with alternate dimensions in some way. What the way may be I don't know.

 

[Bolt the Cat]

@His Goominess You should never read too much into statements like that. They're PR, they're made to make the games sound more exciting than they actually are to get you to buy them. Look at what they said about ORAS when that was announced:

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire are a fresh take on Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire, which launched in 2003 and were fan-favourite hits on the Game Boy Advance system. The new titles promise to take players through a dramatic story within a spectacular new world.

And that basically just translated into Ruby and Sapphire + Megas + Delta Episode. And IDK if you remember this, but there was a lot of confusion surrounding that statement which led people to believe it would be a BW2 style sequel and not a remake. So the moral of the story is try not to overanalyze PR or you'll just end up disappointing yourself when the actual game doesn't live up to that statement.

As far as this game goes, it could be something new, but it could just as easily be a typical third version. "Alternative storyline" can easily just mean a slightly different ending, and "new Pokemon" is thrown around a lot and usually just refers to new forms (BW2 and ORAS have also used the phrase "new Pokemon" and they were just referring to new forms and Megas). So that entire statement could be interpreted as generic third version stuff, who knows. Personally, I would keep your expectations low. As I mentioned earlier, Alola doesn't have as much to build on as say, Unova did, and they've only been working on this game for 1 year after SM. They probably didn't change a whole lot in this game.

 

[Chariblaze]

This Direct was in the usual main-series announcement timeslot (May-ish), so it was obvious there was going to be a new game in it. But what could it be? Definitely not remakes, those have been every other gen, and once per system. The sequels of Gen V worked out great, but it just seems way too soon for something like that. And surely we're not going back to third versions, right? The last one was Platinum, which I'll always love, but they just don't make sense for existing owners to double-dip with. There would have been justification for it if it was bringing the SM engine to Switch, but Game Freak/Pokemon has never rolled that way with a new system.

So what is it? Multiple enhanced versions of the game that came out last year? Oh my gosh, they didn't just make a third version, they doubled down on it! What are they thinking!?

But of course it might not be that. Masuda saying "alternative story" was interesting--maybe not a SM sequel, but a SM sidestory? But Nintendo's press release saying there will just be "new additions to the story" isn't reassuring.

I thought about it more today, and I found the best possible scenario: USUM ("oosum") are released as a new SKU for new players, but are also released as a $20 expansion pack for existing owners. Very similar to the Street Fighter IV expansions. They totally have the tech this time.

You might say they wouldn't do this because releasing only the full SKU would make them more money, but I really don't think it will. SM were a great success, selling over 13 million. Most of the people who wanted to play it probably did. Why would they drop $40 to play it again a year later? If they don't buy it, the market is down to the few people who didn't play it the first time through, and those few who will double-dip (perhaps begrudgingly). That could maybe work if it was coming out in the traditional third-version timeframe of two years after launch-- by then you'd surely have more double-dippers who want an excuse to play the game again with new stuff. But it just doesn't make sense this soon after SM's launch.

 

[Their Goominess]

@His Goominess You should never read too much into statements like that. They're PR, they're made to make the games sound more exciting than they actually are to get you to buy them. Look at what they said about ORAS when that was announced:



And that basically just translated into Ruby and Sapphire + Megas + Delta Episode. And IDK if you remember this, but there was a lot of confusion surrounding that statement which led people to believe it would be a BW2 style sequel and not a remake. So the moral of the story is try not to overanalyze PR or you'll just end up disappointing yourself when the actual game doesn't live up to that statement.

As far as this game goes, it could be something new, but it could just as easily be a typical third version. "Alternative storyline" can easily just mean a slightly different ending, and "new Pokemon" is thrown around a lot and usually just refers to new forms (BW2 and ORAS have also used the phrase "new Pokemon" and they were just referring to new forms and Megas). So that entire statement could be interpreted as generic third version stuff, who knows. Personally, I would keep your expectations low. As I mentioned earlier, Alola doesn't have as much to build on as say, Unova did, and they've only been working on this game for 1 year after SM. They probably didn't change a whole lot in this game.

Yeah, I'm not putting my hopes up too high. It would be nice to have a storyline completely different from S/M, but I can't help but feel like it's probably just gonna be S/M with a few differences regarding the legendary Pokemon (and maybe a few other minor parts of the game).
The 'new Pokemon' thing could go either way, but a part of me feels like it's just their way of saying 'existing Pokemon that weren't in the originals will be in this one'.
Hopefully we'll get some new info soon which can hopefully give us more insight as to what it actually means.

 

[Leaf_Ranger]

There's so much that can be said about UMUS but to make it simple and not repeating what some have said above, it seems worse than SM already was and the marketing of it was pure crap...(amazing how we are in 2017 and it can still be discussed what is happening with the japanese game industry)

I'm excited about Gold and Silver and sad that there is no Crystal.

 

[Metoro]

What if instead of a fusion this is all Necrozma creating an illusion of sorts to gain the power of the two stronger legends. Necrozma is based off prisms which can be used to create holograms. D/P came out in '08 and Nintendo like to use anniversaries to launch stuff. Plus gen 4 is the only gen that cannot connect to bank

I think you might be on to something. The bodies of the Ultra Legendaries looks very spectral as if they consists of pure light. Not very physical at all, except the Necrozma armor parts.

Also, I could imagine both Lunala and Solgaleo forms brighten up intensely (sending out light in all directions), where the black parts of the armor would block some of it (like an eclipse) forming some kind of pattern on a reflection surface - possibly a map of the Ultra Space or something.

 

[Arsin88]

solgaleo's new form reminds me of liger zero from zoids

 

[AdamLambert]

I'm surprised no one has brought up the fact that Colress was in Sun/Moon. Another fusion makes sense, and I assume he'll be much more prevalent in USUM. The new forms look fine. Not as cool as Black and White Kyurem, but they're acceptable. Especially considering that they had to merge something as "angled" and "unnatural" as Necrozma with two Pokemon that seem a lot more organic. It's really weird though thinking of Necrozma as the 3rd Legendary. It's just so different from Solgaleo and Lunala. But back to my main point, I think fusion is pretty predictable considering Colress's presence. If he's not involved in these games, Gamefreak missed a huge opportunity

 

[solarbeam]

I also think Colress will be involved in some way. Perhaps he'll replace Lusamine as the new head of the Aether Foundation.