At 1pm GMT on 10th May 2016, we got our first real peek at the upcoming Pokémon games Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon for the Nintendo 3DS, and we certainly got a lot of exciting information; possibly more than most people were expecting. So, let’s have a look at a breakdown of what we have discovered about the 7th generation of games from both the English trailer and the Japanese trailer.
Starter Pokémon
One of the biggest reveals from both trailers was the introduction of the newest starter Pokémon. These are Rowlet (The Grass Quill Pokemon), Litten (The Fire Cat Pokémon) and Popplio (The Sea Lion Pokémon). These three follow the traditional mix of Grass, Fire and Water starters and all feature a fairly strong design, though everyone is bound to have their own favourite. The addition of duel typing (Grass-Flying) for Rowlet also looks like it will add additional dynamics earlier in the game, which is a refreshing change.
Region
As most people suspected from the glimpse we were given in February, the new region appears to be based on the islands of Hawaii and is called Alola (Which sounds an awful lot like the traditional Hawaiian greeting of ‘Aloha’). With what appears to be a more tropical setting, including palm trees and ticki head statues, these games seem to be moving away from the more city based setting of X and Y (Based in France) which could prove to have an interesting impact on any other new Pokémon which may appear in the game.
Characters
In regards to the player’s avatar the Japanese trailer revealed there are now 4 skin tones to choose from when creating your character, whether male or female, helping to build on the diversity seen in X and Y. Also, the male player featured in the gameplay footage appears to be wearing a different coloured shirt at one point, so customisation may be being hinted at, though this may just be an avatar from earlier in the games’ development. Both avatars and NPCs also appear to have had a growth spirt, with the sprites losing the almost ‘Chibi’ appearance they had in the previous generation and all seeming to stand taller and appear more realistic, suggesting a new artistic style despite keeping the same 3D effects.
Legendary Pokémon
Just when you thought the trailers had given away all that they could, the developers drop a bombshell on us by showing the new legendries. Though the names have not yet been given, Sun’s legendary appears to be based on a lion and is presumably a fire type of some description, whilst Moon’s appears to be based on a bat and is probably a dark type. Both have wonderful designs and it is going to prove a real test for players to decide which version of the game to buy in order to get which legendary.
The trailer also gave us the release date: 18th November 2016. With just over 6 months to wait for the new games, and with what we have seen from these trailers, it is understandable why Pokémon fans everywhere are beginning to get excited. More information is sure to come as we get close to the date, but for now it is nice to know we have got something good to look forward to.
