You know, I think we’ve made a connection over the past few months. It’s almost as if it’s… Psychic. With the month of love well underway it’s time I made use of our connection to relay to you my top 5 favourite Psychic type Pokémon… Generations 1-7, but you already knew that. 🙂
Gasp, shock, horror. Yes, you didn’t misread that, I have a fondness for the Unown. Based entirely on their role in Pokémon The Movie 3: Spell of the Unown. Their powers are so surprisingly powerful and it was nice to have a lesser well received Pokémon take the spotlight in one of the films. Their intricacy and untapped potential strength should be a real worry for people living in the Pokémon world with them and they have such a mysterious aura to them as they’re never fully explained. Though, I cannot deny their sheer uselessness in the games, which is why I feel no shame in putting them at number 5.
We travel to my journey through Kalos for this entry. Having alluded be in the Unova region when I caught a Solosis in Reflection Cave I decided to give it a try. No regrets. As she grew and eventually evolved to Reuniclus my love for this thing only grew along with her. She was a powerful member of the team and saw me through many battles, but I don’t have any specific memories of using her in particular other than a vague recognition of her wiping the floor with Malva of the Elite Four. Hence only being able to achieve #4 on this list.
Everyone back in the day was using Alakazam in Red & Blue but I never had anyone to trade with so I had to seek alternate Pokémon to use. Hypno was my Pokémon of choice and it has served me well on many teams over various generations. It has a creepy design and an even creepier lore – what’s not to like about this thing? It’s morbidly fascinating and pretty strong to boot. It probably doesn’t hold up against an Alakazam but as an only child growing up in the 90s with no access to a link cable it was the best thing I could have hoped for and it returned to help me just as well as I recall in the virtual console release of Pokémon Yellow. Recommend.
In the build up to Gen IV all I wanted for a Meowstic on my team on Pokémon Y. I preferred the female design so I went for that one over the male and it proved to be a great addition to my team. She was 1/6 of a very important team for me as I felt her team was one of the strongest I’d ever used and they all worked in sync with one another. Chesnaught, Diggersby, Lapras, Talonflame, Tyrantrum & Meowstic… Good times. Also, expect all of these to be in one list or another at some point in these countdowns.
Now onto my most recent team in Pokémon Chronology. Pokémon Moon presented me with the option of trying a Pokémon I’d passed by for nearly two decades – Staryu. I decided to give it a try, curiosity for the starfish winning out and it very suddenly became the best member of the team. It was a force to be reckoned with and it never even fainted at any point in the game. MVP of the Alola region. Easily. Try it. I can’t wait to use it again in a later generation because I love this thing.
I bet there was at least one surprise in this type, am I right? I didn’t expect Unown to appear here either but when I really had to put some thought into who would be in my top 5 they just kept appearing, dancing around my head and singing their names in unison. It was… Interesting to say the least. But another type is done and onward to March we look. Tune in then to find out my thought on my top 5 Flying Type Pokémon.
So last time we looked at the events of Melemele Island, the good, and the bad. However, the island ended off on a good note on one of the game’s most unique new additions, the Mantine Surf minigame.
On Akala Island I found some good parts, some bad parts and some really samey copy/pasted parts. It was on this island that my team for the game began to take shape and I had decided to try all new Pokémon at this point. I’d gone from a Rowlet to an interesting mish-mash of Pokémon I’d never even considered using before – even if some of those were sneakily transferred over from Pokémon Sun via PokéBank. My justification of this was the game was already being samey enough I may as well throw a curveball and shake up the game a bit.
My team at the start of Akala Island
So, much like last time I will list my good points and my bad points of this island and try to explain my reasoning of each part. I will be comparing this game to Pokémon Sun because it is a retelling of the story and like all interpretations should stand up to the original or even improve upon it.
In Sun & Moon I wasn’t a huge fan of Mallow’s Grass type Island Trial in the Lush Jungle. In Ultra Sun I found myself quite liking it. It felt like the Lush Jungle was bursting at the seems with wild and interesting Pokémon and having a chance to interact with them in a game of chance added a slight hint of tension to it. If you picked the wrong item that a wild Pokémon had its eye on, it would come and fight you for it just before the Totem arrived so the pressure was on to get them right. I got one right and had to fight two Fomantis before the Totem Lurantis came.
Totem Lurantis
It was a beast in Pokémon Sun, it was a monster in Pokémon Ultra Sun. I actually lost to this thing the first time I fought it. It’s the only time I lost to a Totem Pokémon in Sun, Moon and Ultra Sun up to that point and it brought back that drive to progress in this game and take it down. That difficulty spike I mentioned in part 1? It reared its head again here, and it was very welcome.
Kaiwe’s Trial
Trial Captain Kaiwe
While this happens before Mallow’s Trial I have it after that in my notes, so I’ll go with that. In Sun, Kaiwe’s Trial was a light-hearted pain in the back end. The dancing Alolan Marowak always seemed to jumble around for me and I could never get the right differences between them. In Ultra Sun I got all of them right first try and it made me feel more accomplished, that I’d grown more observant since last time. The Trial itself was very samey though. Totem Marowak provided some challenge though.
Ultra Recon Squad
As I said last time, when this game tries to be its own thing and not just copy/pasting Sun & Moon, it’s actually really good. Better than Sun & Moon in some accounts – it’s just a shame this is the 3rd time I’ve sat through it this year. When we encounter the Ultra Recon Squad on Akala Island they battle us with a Pokémon from their world – a Piopole. In the lead up to these games this new Pokémon had gone completely over my head so I had no idea it existed. I freaked out a little with glee. That was the most fun moment of the game at that point.
One thing I was sad about missing out on in this game was the boat ride to Akala Island with Hau & Lillie. In Pokémon Sun there was an exciting cutscene showing their journey and setting up the characters you’d be going through the game with a bit more. It was a nice little cinematic that established a friendship between you, Hau & Lillie. It was cut from this game in favour of introducing the Mantine Surf but I won’t complain about it too much because it’s only a small detail that was replaced with a fun and exciting new minigame.
The Zygarde Cell Quest – Or Lack Of
When we arrive in HeaHea City we’re approached by Dexio and… *Googles* Sina who challenge us to a battle. At this point in Sun & Moon they give us a Zygarde Cube and tell us to collect the Zygon Cells to give us a side-quest that goes on for most of the game. This time, however, the entire Zygarde Cell collection side-quest is taken out of the game and replaced with a Totem Sticker quest, which just made their appearance in this time a bit pointless. Furthermore it makes the Zygarde Cell quest in Sun & Moon seem unnecessary and redundant.
Lana’s Trial
Trial Captain Lana
Tried to be different, was slightly different, didn’t work as well as in Sun & Moon. Still interesting though. Totem Aquaranid didn’t fit the scene as much as Totem Wishiwashi. Of all the Totem changes in these games this was the most unfitting.
Too Much Exposition
When you’ve beaten Mallow’s Trial you are required to return to HeaHea City for the biggest exposition dump of the game. In Sun it was interesting and I enjoyed reading it. In Moon it dragged on a bit but I was still engaged enough to be reminded of everything that had happened so far. In Ultra Sun I spammed the A button until I stopped seeing text screens and was allowed to leave the building. There was nothing different to the other two games and it seemed never ending.
Olivia’s “Grand” Trial
Kahuna Olivia
Imagine this, you’re the top of the leader board in your home town. Everyone who comes there to win a challenge has to go through you to proceed on their journey. What do you bring with you to have in your team? If you said a Lilleep, an Anorith and a Lycanroc get out. Lycanroc, fair enough, it’s a good showcase Pokémon for the 7th Generation… But Lilleep and Anorith? Really? In a Grand Trial? Talk about a disappointment. I JUST defeated a hard-as-nails Lurantis and now I have to take on a Lilleep and an Anorith. That’s progressive.
So on that rather disappointing note Akala is mostly exactly the same in both tellings of the Alolan story. There are a few new differences but nothing big enough or different enough for me to justify saying that it felt like I was playing an intentionally different game.
By the time I defeated Totem Lurantis and knew I then had to go to HeaHea City and sit through a load of exposition for the rest of the Island I kind of game up on the game for a couple of weeks. If I played it, it was only for a few minutes and then had to stop again. I knew I had to get through it to proceed with the game for this review but I wasn’t looking forward to it whatsoever. I eventually forced myself to sit through it and meekly trailed off to the Aether paradise to sit through that mountain of exposition which was exactly the same as Sun & Moon’s mountain, even down to setting Lusamine up as the villain and battling Nihilego before meekly being dragged along to Ula’Ula Island.
I include to visit to the Aether Paradise here because there would be no point whatsoever in making a review part for that and that alone so there it is.
My team by the end of the Aether Foundation visit
Pokémon Ultra Sun – Part 2: Akala Island gets another 4/10.
So on November 17th 2017 the newest main series Pokémon games were released. Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon. The 2nd additions to the 7th generation of Pokémon main series media. These titles had something different in store though. In a similar vein to Generations 2, 3 and 4, Generation 7’s latter games were “Perfected versions” of the games prior. Generation 3 had Ruby, Sapphire and then perfected the story of those two with Emerald, for example. Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon are the “Perfected versions” of Pokémon Sun & Pokémon Moon released in 2016. Nearly 8 years after the last time we had a “Perfected version” game in Generation 4’s Pokémon Platinum. It was once the tradition of the main series of Pokémon games to have the third version of the story but in the most recent games, Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon acted as the 3rd & 4th versions of the Sun & Moon storyline.
If that made sense, well done, it’s a strange one to explain. Anyway, when Pokémon Ultra Sun & Pokémon Ultra Moon were announced at the beginning of last year I was excited. I hoped they’d follow the example of Generation 5 and have them be direct sequels to Pokémon Sun & Pokémon Moon (Just like Generation 5’s Black/White & Black2/White2) but it was revealed shortly after that the new games would be an “Alternate telling” of the events of Pokémon Sun & Moon. I freely admit I was slightly disappointed by this as when main series Pokémon games do direct sequels they tend to be fan favourites (example: Gold/Silver/Crystal) but I was willing to give these new game’s the benefit of the doubt. It was entirely possible that an “alternate telling” could be radically different enough to feel like a brand new game and now just another version of Sun & Moon.
When release day came I awaited patiently for the post to arrive and then it happened. I tore the packaging open and there it was, Pokémon Ultra Sun in all its glory. I booted it up and began playing. My heart sinking slowly as I progressed through the exact same story points that Sun & Moon had began with. Being the optimist I went on believing the game would diverge from the Sun/Moon themed railroad and move on to be its own thing.
I decided to begin taking notes of things I liked and disliked in order to make a review for this blog but as I progressed I decided this would be better as a miniseries of reviews. Each part focusing on the events of each of the four (technically five, or even 6) islands of the Alola region. So, this is part one of however many parts that I require for this review – Melemele Island.
Aside from a few differences Melemele Island of US/UM is very similar to the Melemele Island of S/M. From here I will list my good points, then my bad points and try to explain my feelings toward them as best I can.
As I was playing I was getting more and more nervous that this was just Sun & Moon again with new things thrown on at the end and then the Ultra Recon Squad showed up. It was nice to have something at least a bit different at that point as I’d already played the events of the game twice already in completely different titles. They weren’t in it for long though, which disheartened me and enforced my hypothesis that all the new stuff would just be crammed on at the end.
Totem Gumshoos:
I don’t know why, but I found the Totem Gumshoos really hard and only won by the very marginal amount of HP I had left on my last party member. It was nice to have a challenge in a Pokémon game again – though it may have just been because I was under-levelled from trying to get through Melemele Island as fast as possible.
Difficulty Harder Than Sun & Moon(?)
I’m not sure of the truth of this, but in the early game it felt as if it were harder than Sun & Moon, akin to the difficulty spike of Generation 5’s Black 2/White 2 sequels. It made me remember when effort was put into a sequel to a main series Pokémon game.
4: Rotom Dex:
Early in the game the Rotom PokéDex seemed to interact with you. It’d ask you questions and seem like a travelling companion you’d share your journey with. It was something a bit different and interesting but it seemed to fizzle out after Melemele Island. Fun while it lasted, I guess.
Mantine Surf
Finally, something substantial that is also new! At the very end of Melemele Island you seem to be given the illusion of a choice: Take the boat to Akala Island with Lillie and Professor Kukui, or partake in a Mantine Surf contest against Hau to reach Akala Island that way. An illusion of a choice because it seemed obvious to me whether I picked the Mantine Surf or not I’d end up being railroaded into it. So I hopped on my Mantine and surfed through the crashing waves of the Alola region doing flips and tricks the entire way. It was a fun little minigame that fit very well with Alola’s Hawaiian/tropical theme and I loved seeing the distant Akala Island grow closer and closer with each stunt. An approaching view that offered me hope I’d find something new on the next leg of my third time around the Alola Region in less than a year.
I can kind of understand this one because Kukui, Hau & Lillie’s stories are the same as Sun & Moon to this point and have yet to diverge from the Sun & Moon version of events, but if this is an alternate version of the characters they COULD be different. Hau could be less happy-go-lucky, Lillie could be a trainer in some way, etc. Just small things that could have made the game at least FEEL different from the get-go. They didn’t even have different designs. I think this cemented the feeling of “This is exactly the same” for me more than anything else. Especially when your character had a different style than in Sun & Moon.
Your Character:
One of the things I disliked most about the original Sun & Moon was my character. I’ve seen this complaint a lot so I won’t linger on it. You show no emotion whatsoever no matter what happens outside of a goofy grin. No matter the circumstances going on around you, you just smile blindly and it’s really, REALLY distracting.
The Trial:
It was exactly the same and it was at this point I was certain the only changes I’d find for the first half of the game would be menial and barely worth noting down.
Customization:
Blocking off certain customizable options on which version of the game you have and how far you’ve progressed through the game is a unique idea on paper but it’s rarely appreciated in practise. Generation 6’s Pokémon X and Y had full customization and wasn’t severely hindered like it was in Generation 7. I don’t understand why wine red hair can only be unlocked in the post-game. It was annoying in Sun & Moon and it was even more annoying they didn’t do anything different in Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon. I also found the hair styles you began with to be the best options available.
The Grand Trial
The difficulty spike I had suspected in the early half of this island was shattered when I reached the Island’s Grand Trial against Hala. With a party consisting of three Flying type Pokémon against his Fighting type Pokémon the battle was over with before I could let out a sign of dissatisfaction. And the difficulty spike was never seen or heard from again. It was also the exact same as Pokémon Sun & Moon’s.
The Pokémon/Trainer Photo Club Minigame
Pokémon Photo Club
After the Grand Trial, or before, I can’t recall, I was railroaded to the new Pokémon Photo Club. It was alright. Killed the pacing and extended my stay on this island a little longer. Not exactly the innovative new feature that was promised though. I found myself never returning to continue playing this minigame, unlike Mantine Surf. Shame really as this minigame showed at least some potential in the lead up to the game’s release.
Ultimately I was a little underwhelmed by Melemele Island in Pokémon Ultra Sun. I understand it is a retelling, but it is because of it is a retelling I compare it to their predecessors. You may think it’s unfair to compare Pokémon Ultra Sun to Pokémon Sun but this was the angle Nintendo were aiming for when they announced they would be retellings so I see no reason why NOT to compare the two.
Melemele Island in Pokémon Sun was a fantastic way to introduce us to the Alola region and its unique customs and scenery. It had colourful characters and an interesting set up as you learned the new rules and meet all the newly introduced Pokémon, as well as encountering some old favourites along the way.
Melemele Island in Pokémon Ultra Sun is exactly the same. And that’s the problem with it. It plays it safe. Too safe. Pokémon Ultra Sun came out just under a year after Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon, so there hasn’t been enough time for the dust of those games to settle or to forget some of the more unique aspects of those games. When Ultra Sun is trying to be its own thing with the Mantine Surf & the different way to encounter your starter – moments that visually took effort to make and weren’t just copied and pasted were excellent and I really enjoyed them. It’s just a shame those new things only amounted to about 33% of the first act of the game.
Pokémon Ultra Sun – Part One: Melemele Island gets a 4/10.
I intend to do these reviews for each of the other three islands of the Alola region, and then perhaps one for the Aether Foundation and another for the post-game when battling Team Rainbow Rocket. As for release times of these review parts, I have no idea. One a month perhaps? Or whenever I get time? Or every week? Who knows, stay tuned though, because next time we’re off to Akala Island.
Happy New Year to all! What? I’m a week late? Oh… Well… I have no excuse. ANYWAY! It’s January and the holidays are over. Everything is back to Normal again and with a new month it’s time I take a look at a new type. With that in mind, shall we take a look at my top 5 Normal type Pokémon (From Gens 1-7)?
You know those Pokémon you always wanted but could never have? That was Porygon in Red/Blue/Yellow for me. I was terrible at the slots game and so I never had the patience to grind up to achieving enough coins to acquire a Porygon. I suppose that’s why I’m not a fan of Dratini’s evolutionary line. Anyway, time went on and eventually I got my hands on Pokémon Platinum and my passport to a Porygon became easy. I quickly set to work evolving it to Porygon2 and then on to Porygon-Z and it was simply divine. For the longest time I never thought I’d get a chance to use Porygon, but then it made up for those years lost out and then some. I still remember how achieved I felt when I finally got a Porygon-Z and I remember using it vividly whilst ignoring the planes in the sky above during the 2009 Sunderland Air Show.
Gen V was an interesting one, wasn’t it? For the first time since Gen I you could only use the regional Pokémon through the main story of the game. I knew this going in to my copy of Pokémon Black and there were only two things I really wanted on my team – A Galvantula, Lilligant, and a Minccino. Blame my desire for a Minccino entirely on how irresistibly cute it is. It was probably one of the weaker members of my team but I didn’t care, it was cute and I liked it, which is all you really need in a Pokémon game – to like the ones you’re using. When the time came I decided to evolve it, though I find Cinccino less cute, because of the evident difficulty spike in the latter half of the game and because the poor thing was starting to faint in every battle. Still, it’s one of the cuter designs, I think.
Remember back in the late 1990s when this thing was an utter monster in the anime? It still is, in the game. When I finish a main series Pokémon game I tend to create a new team for the post-game quests. In my Pokémon Y game, this post-game team consisted of Roserade, Gardevoir, Huntail, Noivern, Rotom and Tauros. A badass team and each of them were excellent in their own right. I have great memories of conquering the Battle Laison with this team and I owe a lot of those victories to the sheer bull-like strength of Tauros.
For the longest time Furret was my favourite Pokémon, bar none. It was cute and because I never really had much of a chance to play a Gen II game it was somewhat of an enigma. When the time came for Pokémon Platinum to be played I set out to put a Furret on my main team for the game and, admittedly, it was rather weak, but it made for an excellent meat shield. Why number 2 on this list? Nostalgia, probably, and lingering loyalty to the younger me who would be disappointed that Furret isn’t #1 on this list. I recall designing a version of Furret for each of the then 17 types, the Pre-Alola Alolan forms of Furret, so to speak. What can I say? It’s still really cute though, isn’t it?
Like Furret before it, Aipom is now probably my favourite Pokémon. It’s cheeky, charismatic and has a very clever and unique design. I often see posts on social media asking if you could have just one Pokémon be real I see people commenting Charizard or Mewtwo or other more popular Pokémon that’d probably kill us all or be incredibly hard to control and I just simply type in the word “Aipom”.
Thing is though, I never used to like Aipom. I had a real problem with monkey-like things because in every Calendar the month of June was always represented by a monkey, and I was born in the Year of the Monkey so they always seemed to be following me everywhere and I grew to resent the idea of monkeys for that reason. That was a long time ago though and I recall enjoying seeing the Aipom in Pokémon The Movie 3: Spell of the Unown interect with the other Pokémon and trainers. From that point on my liking for Aipom slowly grew without me even knowing.
When Gen IV came along I tried it and evolved it into an Ambipom. My love for it slumped a bit after that. It took until 2017 with the release of Gold & Silver on the virtual console to make me want to give it a chance again, from its own time before it was burdened with a very underwhelming evolution. It’s the main player in my Silver team now and I love it. It’s so over levelled because I never use anything else. Aipom and I have had a rocky start but now we’re best friends and I only wish Ambipom didn’t exist to weigh down this amazingly simple yet greatly enjoyable little primate.
So Normal type is done. Wonder what will come next. Who knows? Well, I know but you can’t read my mind, can you? 😉 Anyway, what do you think of my list? Were there any surprises in there? Do you share any of them with me? I’d love to hear your thoughts. But until next time I bid you all a good day!
The Spectacled Observer 