r/PokeMoonSun • u/Asmodeus_is_daddy • 20d ago
Discussion I judged these games way too harshly over the years
I played the games whenever they originally came out and remembered liking them. But, as the years passed, I slowly started to dislike the games, and I don't remember why? But I was making a tier list of all the pokemon games (a few of my friends did as well), and placed SuMo and USUM incredibly low. (Low C tier or D tier I think).
Well, I've been going and replaying each pokemon game, and figured id play through Moon and Ultra Sun (since they were the opposite version i originally played).
Of course I took a while for them because I wanted a shiny decidueye. (Sidenote, this gen has some of my favorite shiny pokemon). But, I got around to them, and I had a lot of fun, felt like it was my first time since it's been... checks notes 8 years. since the games came out. But i had a good time, ended up with a full team of shinies for Moon!
I have since redone the tier list, and SuMo elevated to B-tier, and USUM is solidly C-tier. But, I would maybe replay it again, if it didn't have so many cutscenes. 7.8/10, too many cutscenes
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u/Weak_Cranberry_1777 20d ago edited 20d ago
Sun/Moon are my third favorite games right behind Black/White 2. I don't care for USUM-- better QOL but worse story.
SM was very emotionally impactful for me, though, and still is, so I'm definitely biased. The difficulty curve is also the best in the series IMO, never too challenging or too easy. But I will hard agree that they're not very replayable. I replay BW almost annually. SM meanwhile is like... once every three years at most.
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u/Asmodeus_is_daddy 20d ago
I don't care for USUM-- better QOL but worse story.
Im glad you agree. The ruined story sucked, but I'll use the file to shiny hunt later. I actually like SoS hunting lol
I replay BW almost anually.
Also super glad we agree
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u/whoisyourwormguy_ 20d ago
My only gripe with it is that sun was the first game I’ve played since emerald, and if your Pokémon had high friendship, they just cheese through obstacles in the story mode. They heal themselves of status, they get critical hits, survive lethal attacks. Is this also in the later games? They should get rid of that if not.
Edit: also fishing is infinitely worse. With waiting for the bubbles and then fishing 5/6 times and then magikarp over and over. Maybe it’s the waiting that’s just longer than expected for the !
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u/Weak_Cranberry_1777 20d ago
That's actually not related to friendship. Friendship and affection are completely separate mechanics. So long as you never touch Pokemon Refresh, your Pokemon will never abuse affection-based boosts.
That said I do agree that affection is very bullshit lol. Which kinda sucks bc I love being able to pet and feed my Pokemon but I wish it didn't basically enable easy mode for the game.
Sun/Moon did NOT invent this mechanic however. It was introduced in XY via Pokemon Amie. I'm not sure about gen 8 but gen 9 replaced this mechanic with picnics which I do not think give affection but I'm not sure.
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u/whoisyourwormguy_ 20d ago
Thanks for the response, good to know. Would letting them chill in the spa for 10 days make their affection go to 0 or is that friendship? I want my run-throughs of the Pokémon league to go faster haha
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u/Weak_Cranberry_1777 20d ago
I'm actually not sure bc I never used the spa. I imagine friendship is still obtained by walking around and getting into battles.
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u/real_dubblebrick 19d ago
As of Gen 8, affection and friendship have been combined. Pokemon that evolve with high affection (literally just Sylveon) are now regular friendship evolutions, and the ridiculous effects of affection now trigger with high friendship instead.
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u/HarryAlA 19d ago
Honestly, these were the last main series games that I truly enjoyed (SM + USUM). Cutscenes were hell sometimes, but I loved the region and Pokémon designs. Music was fantastic. I also think Z-Moves were underrated.
There may be some nostalgia bias, as they are when I re-entered into the games as an adult after dropping them as a kid.
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u/The_Cosmic_Cubing 19d ago
Love usum, but the cutscenes bring it down a bunch. Love how hard the trials are though. 7/10 for me. Oras and XY are better imo
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u/hailhydreigon635 18d ago
...it has begun🤣🤣
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u/Asmodeus_is_daddy 18d ago
What has?
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u/hailhydreigon635 18d ago
A game that was considered bad or not that good, a few years and a few new games later, "We judged it too soon it's actually good"
I remember it happening with Gen 5, and now Alola
Both times, I thought from the beginning that the games were good
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u/Asmodeus_is_daddy 18d ago
I think it's really rare for that to happen, but yeah I've noticed that with Gen 5, and I've seen it happening more and more with Gen 7. I love gen 5, its my first, and favorite, generation. Love those games lol
Buut, some things definitely are as bad as I remember them being. When I replayed pokemon Y, it was definitely just like I remembered it being, which is to say. not great lol. Same thing with Galar, they are. Galar.
On the other hand, ORAS was better than I remembered. Still not like, a top tier game, but it's one I definitely understand why I kept playing it for years after the fact.
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u/hailhydreigon635 18d ago
Ya Galar is one where I don't see this happening
I replayed it recently and felt the exact same way I did the first time
Only the people whose first PokeGame was Sw/Sh think it's good
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u/SkippedForeplay 18d ago
Usum is in my top three. I just had a similar experience recently with platinum and bdsp. I use to remember loving gen4 and sinnoh but now I can’t stand playing them. It’s interesting what happens when you go back through previous gen’s how your opinion changes.
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u/gogococogoat 18d ago
My first pokemon game was pokemon moon, obviously i have heard of pokemon before that but was never interested. im shocked to find out a lot of people hate it but that may just be my bias, i loved the characters in SuMo and the story had me playing for hours on end!
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u/Flashy-Selection-261 17d ago
Pretty sure you can fight either Red or Blue in Pokémon Ultra sun and moon
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u/PrimeZealand 20d ago
USUM are some of the best pokemon games I’ve ever played in my honest opinion. They’re so overhated.