Pokemon Sun/Moon: A miscellany of good and bad points

Hell is in the details, as they say; and so is heaven, as I often add. When it comes to games, my keen eye tends to linger on the most uncanny details; and my feelings for a game can often grow fonder or colder just because of a minute element that may pass the next gamer completely by. You probably know where I'm going with that, dear fellow gamers; without further ado, here's my list of all the details that charmed me and irritated me in Pokemon Sun and Moon. Enjoy!

"Lurid Ranger, go!"

The "Gimme more":

• No HM moves. This is totally the feature I've been dreaming of without even knowing it. Gosh, how heavenly it is to be at long last able to dispense with HM slaves that clutter your team and serve no purpose beyond occasionally clearing the way. I fervently hope that this change is here to stay and that HM moves are now buried in older Pokemon entries for all eternity.

• Being able to lie down in random people's beds, and getting informed comments about the state of said beds. Gee, how I dig up feeling like some kind of perv and sneaking into NPCs' intimacy. MCs in RPG can usually do whatever they please in NPCs' homes, but rolling around in bed sheets and burying your nose into pillows take that impunity to a whole new level. 

• The sound effects at the Pokemon Center Cafés. Hearing these deliciously realistic pouring, slurping and gulping sounds invariably makes me want to pour myself a warm cup of tea—which I usually do. I swear that my daily tea consumption has tripled since I started playing Sun and Moon. 

• The Team Skull encounter theme, as well as their battle theme. And the wonderfully silly way they wriggle when they talk. Oh, and their no less wonderfully silly battle pose. Heck, I love everything related to the hilarious Team Skull; they're my favourite villain team ever, period. 

• The Z-Moves poses. They remind me of the Power Rangers TV show I used to watch when I was a kid; and watching my Trainer flail about in such a cheesy yet totally heartfelt way really puts me in an upbeat and combative mood. Had I been ten years old, I'm pretty sure I would have reproduced the moves while playing outdoors.

• Encountering a tanned, long-haired version of Professor Oak as I was cruising around Alola. Boy, did I have a shock when I recognize him! And yeah, I know this guy is supposed to be Oak's cousin; but I prefer to picture him as the original Professor Oak, and I'll stick to that version. 

• The '80s-inspired colourful clothing in stores. I'm a sucker for bright colours, garish prints and '80s fashion overall, and it was pure delight to deck up my Trainer in outfits so gaudy that they could make one's eyes bleed. 

Oh, the joy of sneaking into strangers' beds.

The "Get outta here":

• Not being able to engage in double battles without having at least two 'Mons in my team. Like, why on earth? Isn't it my right to be a daring masochist and take two 'Mons single-handedly if I feel like it? This stupid feature soiled my solo run by forcing me to recruit an extra 'Mon just to partake in these battles. 

• Too many doors that cannot be opened. I don't remember having seen so many doors used as mere wall decorations in older Pokemon entries. What's the point of teasing me with these doors if I cannot see for myself what's behind them? This frustrates the explorer in me, it really does. 

• Changing the battle protocol on the fly. Most of the time, you get the opportunity to save your progression before an important battle. However, the game sometimes gets a flight of fancy and throws you into battle right after an unskippable cutscene without giving you the opportunity to save. It's absolutely infuriating to get trapped in one of these vicious battles when your 'Mon's health is at its lowest; and given the game's difficulty, this can easily lead to defeat and having to redo the whole battle. 

• The english traduction present in the European version of the game is horribly lacklustre. Very little humour and wit, no puns on 'Mons' names, no effort made to enhance character's personalities by tweaking their vocabulary. On one hand, it makes sense to make the english traduction as neutral as possible given the prevalence of the english language; but on the other hand, this is the European version and it would thus have been perfectly acceptable to pepper the english text with purely British references. 

• The TV broadcast is utterly dull and uninteresting. The only thing you'll ever hear on Alolan TV are lame commentaries about malasadas that let you know that sweet malasadas are sweet and sour malasadas are sour. Why, thank you, Captain Obvious! After the delightful interviews in Sinnoh and the Japanese lessons and move explanations in Kalos, this lack of substance really stings. 

Look at me, cool as a cucumber while the world is crashing down around me.

And there you have it, dear fellow gamers: the details that enthralled and enraged me in Pokemon Sun and Moon. And with that, you also have my last post dealing with overall aspects of the games—so to speak. All future posts about Sun and Moon will be solo run reports; and given how much I love these games and how many 'Mons inspire me and make me want to cruise solo with them, I'd wager that there will be a couple more posts about Sun and Moon down the line. Thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!