Sun & Moon VS USUM- Which is Better?

[Mr.Munchlax]

I know Gen 7’s nearing its end, but I wanted to start this discussion up since I want to see what everyone thinks is he better Alola Region game?

Obviously, USUM is the obvious choice since it’s more complete with the move tutors, additional Ultra Beasts, Team Rainbow Rocket, & the ability to travel Ultra Space. However, the one element the original Sun & Moon has over their remakes (or whatever you prefer to call them) is that they have a better story. While the protagonist is more of a blank slate in every incarnation of Alola than anything else we’ve seen in a Pokémon game, I feel the first games specifically have a stronger plot due to Lillie’s character arc, Lusamine as a villain makes more sense, & the elements with Nebby & Tapu Koko are wrapped up in a neat bow. Though USUM kind of spoiled the original game since the replay value isn’t as good, I still think that Sun & Moon has the best story to come out of a Pokémon game since Black & White.


So, before everyone heads over to the Galar region, I want to see what people consider to be the better Alola Pokémon game

 

[wolf jani]

This like with BW vs BW2. SUMO has better plot but everything else is better in USUM.

 

[Zhydra]

As games. USUM hands down. The Trials are better realized, it actually feels like a challenge, there is a reason to keep playing the game long after you beat RR and of course, more variety of pokemon, move combos thanks to the tutors and other things.

As Stories, I still say USUM does a lot of things better. Humanizing Lusamine, bringing up Mohn as her true motive for the things she is doing IN the main story. (The things that happened in the story still make sense with that change in motive, especially if you connect things from the Manga like I have.) Giving more depth to Gladion and why he ran. (In addition to getting away from control freak Lusamine, he wanted to protect his family from falling apart more than they already have. In his own way.) Expanding on Ultra Space. Giving Guzma a redemption arc. Making Hau NOT a waste of space, along with making you the player feel needed.

In addition to most of the good stuff still intact from SM. (Most of Lillie's Arc.) The way things wrapped up in the end is MUCH more complete, makes more sense to the characters and having actual closure. Something Sun and Moon didn't give us. (Yeah, Lillie standing up to Lusamine was nice and everything... but the girl went back to her mother in the end to help her recover, immediately forgiving her and mending things off screen... not a very inspiring ending with that set up along with leaving A LOT of things unresolved when the credits rolled.)

Not to mentioned Ultra Necrozma >>>>>>>>Mother Beast Lusamine any day of the week.

We also got trade offs to anything that was better handled in SM. For example, Lusamine isn't as scary of a villain in USUM, but she is a MUCH better character this time around since we see her actually come off as human instead of a caricature of an abusive parent.

Or another example, Lillie and her family isn't the central focus on USUM's story this time, so certain things about that do come off as weaker. (Less focus does that.) And less big moments with Lillie might seem bad at first. BUT the closure they got, more than makes up for the lessened focus and gives an outcome that doesn't fly in the face of everything that was set up.

Lillie's arc wasn't "ruined" in USUM. It just wasn't the most important thing this time around and it took a slightly different course due to all the Necrozma stuff going on. She still has the same growth, still says the same things she would have said in Exeggutor Island. (Look up the dialogue at vast poni canyon. Most of it is STILL said.) And is still one of my favorite characters in this series.

You should take her to the battle tree after RR. With the right pokemon with you, she is rather good there. (Plus her ending in a healthier environment with the resolve to get stronger to better protect those close to her is a good closure to her. It makes feel happy for her.)

The only things I would also criticize USUM's story on... the Ultra Recon Squad could have been implemented MUCH better than they have and Necrozma could have had more build up.

 

[shoz999]

I know Gen 7’s nearing its end, but I wanted to start this discussion up since I want to see what everyone thinks is he better Alola Region game?

Obviously, USUM is the obvious choice since it’s more complete with the move tutors, additional Ultra Beasts, Team Rainbow Rocket, & the ability to travel Ultra Space. However, the one element the original Sun & Moon has over their remakes (or whatever you prefer to call them) is that they have a better story. While the protagonist is more of a blank slate in every incarnation of Alola than anything else we’ve seen in a Pokémon game, I feel the first games specifically have a stronger plot due to Lillie’s character arc, Lusamine as a villain makes more sense, & the elements with Nebby & Tapu Koko are wrapped up in a neat bow. Though USUM kind of spoiled the original game since the replay value isn’t as good, I still think that Sun & Moon has the best story to come out of a Pokémon game since Black & White.


So, before everyone heads over to the Galar region, I want to see what people consider to be the better Alola Pokémon game

Story-wise. SM
Gameplay-wise. USUM by a large margin. Probably has the second most content next to BW2.

 

[raichu27]

USUM. It has more features and stories to it.

 

[Ignition]

Storywise: SM. I still don’t know how GF could butcher the best story in the franchise in USUM.

Gameplay wise: USUM. There’s so much more to do

 

[nel3]

gen7 has many many issues as a whole but barring the "updated" rotomdex, USUM is more of a complete game. its marginally better than SM but its still a gen7 game.

 

[D*N]

Sun and Moon, the story still made sense in that game. In usum you can see they just made a weak effort to put necrozma in as main villain, butchering the original story.

Some other features were added but they didn't make up for the loss in story for me

 

[Zoruagible]

Ultra's better in almost every way.
The only criticism I have is that Looker and Anabel were demoted to mere cameos.... like what? They still should have played a role in the story

 

[AgentKallus]

I think usum are better games but I still like sm more, there is more content in usum and it expands on sm in many ways but I don't typically get third versions yet since usum was another pair like b2w2 I hoped it would be more than just a third version, I thought Ultra Megaoplis would be more than a corridor, I though Team Rainbow Rocket would appear before the postgame and I was disappointed. Story is obviously subjective but I much prefer sm's story. So whilst I can accept that you get more for your money with usum, I cannot rank them higher than sm.
*It obviously depends on your team but I found Ultra-Necrozma easier than Mother Beast Lusamine*

 

[PokeMon2.0]

USUM. I liked going through the games and beating all the stuff & trying new Pokémon.

 

[RoughCoronet0]

I think that the Ultra games are the more complete package, story and gameplay wise. While there are a few parts that might be a little weaker for certain characters, most of the characters had much better plot and growth then in the original story. Plus I really enjoyed the Necrozma story and the final battle between the deadly light dragon. The Rainbow Rocket post game was a lot of nostalgic fun and I greatly enjoyed riding through the ultra wormholes to collect Pokemon.

Plus the addition of my favorite ultra beast, Naganadel.

 

[OshyHikari]

S/M may be better in story direction, but US/UM is superior in terms of content. The Move Tutors, Mantine Surf and Ultra Wormholes are enough to keep you wanting to play. Helps that I took up a hobby of Wonder Trade as well to get some really good foreign-bred Pokémon with good moves, abilities, Apricorn Balls or all at once.

 

[Leonhart]

US/UM had more content given the extra Pokemon that were exclusive to those games, with Zeraora being one of my favorite Gen VII Pokemon overall. But even I have to admit that the original S/M had a better storyline. I just liked how Lusamine was handled in those games with the battle in Ultra Space in particular, which I preferred over the Necrozma subplot from US/UM.

 

[Aidoneus]

I’ve got a used 3DS that came with Sun and Ultra Moon. I take it from this thread there’s basically no point playing Sun, and I should jump straight into Ultra Moon?