General Discussion & Speculation Thread

[.Aerodactyl.]

Hopefully we can get move tutors outside of the "standard" ones as some Alola Pokemon would like a greater variety of moves. Will also be curious to see how the story pans out if Necrozma ends up being a key factor in Solgaleo and Lunala's new formes.

I think move tutors are a given. They tend to add move tutors in the next games as incentive to buy them. It's one of the few things I'd be willing to bet money on.

 

[Rio!]

I think move tutors are a given. They tend to add move tutors in the next games as incentive to buy them. It's one of the few things I'd be willing to bet money on.

As usual, move tutors are going to be a serious boon for certain pokemon. I wonder if there are going to be a couple new ones.

 

[erebus]

From the previous discussion on the S/M thread: 'Pokemon not found on the original games', that sounds to me like the legend's alternate forms, and maybe some known pokemon that we weren't able to find in Alola the first time. It really doesn't sound like new pokemon at all.




But the concern is about quantity over quality. Sun/Moon felt rushed, there were very few new pokemon and not a lot of post-game (for reference, Yokai Watch 2 was released at about the same time, I've logged many more hours on it, yet I'm closer to what I'd consider 'completing' S/M). The question is, is a year really enough time for them to fix the issues of S/M, and add in enough stuff to justify another $45 game?

Sun and Moon didn't feel rushed to me, and imo they are the most well thought-out games in the main series to date. With a bigger emphasis on the story I think they've got their priorities sorted (apart from post-game which, I'll grant you, is lacking in most main series pokemon games). I'd say that the two biggest gripes I has with S/M is that they've fallen into the trap of excessive hand-holding with their past two gens (which needs to stop), and that they refuse to add a difficulty choice to give older players more of a challenge. However, these problems are more due to the attitude of the company rather than problems caused by 'rushing' the development. You may have differing opinions, but I can't honestly point to any glaring faults with Sun/Moon that could be blamed on a rushed development. Now X/Y otoh? Talk about a poorly thought-out, unsatisfying gen...

The thing with these new US/UM games is that the region, pokemon, most of the characters, etc. have already been designed, and if this is a retelling of S/M as opposed to a sequel, then a lot of the story elements are already in-hand too. In other words, I don't think it would take too long to develop a new game based on an already rendered region, with already developed character designs, using a similar story to one that has already been written, etc.. I don't think quality will be an issue with US/UM, I think customer dissatisfaction due to buying a slightly altered version of a game they've already owned for over a year, might be.

As for the number of pokemon thing: I think less pokemon per new generation will be the norm going forward, simply to keep the number of overall pokemon reasonable.

 

[Pyrax]

As usual, move tutors are going to be a serious boon for certain pokemon. I wonder if there are going to be a couple new ones.

I'd like Shell Smash, just so Kommo-o can actually be dangerous for once. Close Combat (again, for Kommo-o) too.

 

[Grey Wind]

Whew. So by "alternate telling" or whatever I'm taking that these are essentially third versions? I'd have preferred sequels in all honesty, but I'm interested. I'm curious to see how Necrozma ties in and if there'll be any shakeups to the trial captains (my initial thought was no, but the cut scenes with Lycanroc reminds me of a totem). Also hoping for some sort of Battle Tree revamp (more cameos maybe?), post-game trial captain rematches and maybe a dex expansion.

The clips of Lycanroc and Mimikyu I'm almost certain are exclusive Z-moves. What I really want is more new forms (aside from the two that we already know about), preferably Alola forms for Johto Pokemon.

Totem cut scenes were my first guess, but this makes sense too. They're both popular Pokemon regardless so I wouldn't be surprised to see them with exclusive moves.

Other wants that I just thought of: Change up location based evolutions so you can do them earlier.
IE:
-Crabrawler -> Crabominal @ Tapu Village
-Charjabug -> Vikavolt @ Blush Mountain

Yeah, I'd love to see this. Crabrawler was becoming a dead weight for me by the end of Akala, I can't imagine lugging it around until the league.

 

[Nerdy McNerdface]

I just thought of something.

In the Sun and Moon Dex entries for the UBs there are statements of their power, but if only Guzzlord and Nihilego had entered that universe before the SM plot, and the other UBs didn't cause any damage to the world around them when they entered during the plot, then how do they know this information?

It's unlikely, but possibly there is some damage done to this version of Alola by the UBs?

 

[PrinceOfFacade]

I know a lot of us got completely hooked, lined, and sunk upon the word 'alternate,' so to help myself out I decided to go back listen to what all Masuda said.

He said that Ultra Sun and Moon "features an alternate story taking place in the world of Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon." This means that this upcoming game takes place within the preceding game. The one thing I gathered from this is that the story of Ultra Sun and Moon is not a retelling of Sun & Moon's story. Considering the games' title and the content within Sun and Moon, my guess is Ultra Sun and Moon will take place in the alternate universe the player can venture into in Sun and Moon through the Ultra Wormhole. This makes sense via a number of reasons:

1. We already know the Alternate World exists, and most of us have likely already been to it.
2. The Alternate World features a completely different Cosmog, separate from Nebby, which explains the existence of another Solgaleo/Lunala.
3. The Ultra Wormhole leading to the Alternate World has never been expanded on.
4. The concept of alternate universes had already been posited in ORAS.
5. Necrozma ain't done **** yet.

Given all of this, however, there is no telling where this 'alternate story' will take place before, after, or during the events of Sun and Moon. For that, we will most definitely have to wait out the coming months for more information.

 

[Mr.Munchlax]

If they end up going down the alternate universe route, I'd like it if they mixed up some of the characters' personalities like the do with AU tropes on TV (or even the mirror world from XY) to try and shake up the plot a little more. For example, Lillie could be a tough and serious trainer who takes Gladion's role in US/UM or Sophocles being a sports fanatic who loves social interaction

 

[Nerdy McNerdface]

If they end up going down the alternate universe route, I'd like it if they mixed up some of the characters' personalities like the do with AU tropes on TV (or even the mirror world from XY) to try and shake up the plot a little more. For example, Lillie could be a tough and serious trainer who takes Gladion's role in US/UM or Sophocles being a sports fanatic who loves social interaction

Gangster Kukui and Surfer Dude Guzma for the win.

 

[diakyu]

Switching Gladion and Hau's personality seems like the most obvious change since they contrast them together so much in the original game.

 

[.Aerodactyl.]

Gangster Kukui and Surfer Dude Guzma for the win.

I actually wouldn't be surprised if Guzma is a gym leader/Trial captain this universe. Actually, wouldn't it be crazy if he was the professor? Isn't that sort of his narrative with Kukui, that they took different paths?

 

[XY&Z Legend]

Turning Faba from a cowardly joke into a megalomaniac bent on world domination makes him too much like Apocalypse from X-Men.

 

[Ex0lon]

Am I the only one who thinks that the final two seconds of the trailer being in a SIGNIFICANTLY different art (or I should say rendering) style is strange?? The rest of the gameplay in the trailer is completely pixelated and that part just so happens to be clean? That's weird, right?

 

[diakyu]

Am I the only one who thinks that the final two seconds of the trailer being in a SIGNIFICANTLY different art (or I should say rendering) style is strange?? The rest of the gameplay in the trailer is completely pixelated and that part just so happens to be clean? That's weird, right?

Nah, it isn't unusual for trailers to have their own rendered scenes. Also the intro of Sun and Moon has very similar looking scenes.

 

[Nerdy McNerdface]

Am I the only one who thinks that the final two seconds of the trailer being in a SIGNIFICANTLY different art (or I should say rendering) style is strange?? The rest of the gameplay in the trailer is completely pixelated and that part just so happens to be clean? That's weird, right?

They did it with the SM trailer that came with the demo. It's nothing new to this Gen.

 

[PrinceOfFacade]

If they end up going down the alternate universe route, I'd like it if they mixed up some of the characters' personalities like the do with AU tropes on TV (or even the mirror world from XY) to try and shake up the plot a little more. For example, Lillie could be a tough and serious trainer who takes Gladion's role in US/UM or Sophocles being a sports fanatic who loves social interaction

Sounds rather interesting.

Perhaps Lusamine is the one who "dies" in the accident and Mohn is the one who goes crazy.

 

[Nerdy McNerdface]

Sounds rather interesting.

Perhaps Lusamine is the one who "dies" in the accident and Mohn is the one who goes crazy.

It seems to predictable to me. I'm not denying that Mohn is probably gonna play a more major role though.

 

[Endless]

I interpret the text 'alternative stories' as just new or strongly modified stories set in the already established SM universe. But if I'm wrong I personally hope we don't get any alternative universe shenanigans like flipped characters. I would prefer to see the minor characters we already have fleshed out or more new characters.
Most characters are already very flat, so I also fear that the flips would end up very one-note in most cases.
I wouldn't mind seeing the dimensional portal being explained and perhaps having it play a bigger role though.

 

[Nerdy McNerdface]

I interpret the text 'alternative stories' as just new or strongly modified stories set in the already established SM universe. But if I'm wrong I personally hope we don't get any alternative universe shenanigans like flipped characters. I would prefer to see the minor characters we already have fleshed out or more new characters.
Most characters are already very flat, so I also fear that the flips would end up very one-note in most cases.
I wouldn't mind seeing the dimensional portal being explained and perhaps having it play a bigger role though.

I can see where you're coming from here. I'd personally rather they be alternate universes where the character personalities are mostly the same, and it's their surroundings that have changed.

----------------------

What I want to know is, what will Lusamine do in this game? We know how she went completely crazy in the original SM and fused with Nihilego, and normal Solgaleo/Lunala went to save her with Lillie and MC, but after what we've been shown we know that Solgaleo and Lunala's story is gonna be very, very different, signifying that Lusamine is also gonna have an extremely different role.

 

[Sulfurian]

Honestly the characters really are flat. Maybe the sequel could attempt to really flesh them out? For example that team skull girl (forgot her name) was pretty interesting to me, and I wish we got more from her. Or maybe make Gladion as enjoyable as N. Hau I feel like has no potential other than just being an npc to help the player advance.