X/Y or UltraSun/UltraMoon?

[LusoTrainer]

All of a sudden, I found myself owning a New 2DS XL. It was at a great price and I decided to make the jump.

Now, I haven't owned a Pokémon game in almost 15 years, so in general I'm fairly ignorant about all the new mechanics and changes. I started with Red back when it came out, then Silver, Crystal and FireRed. Years later I played HeartGold temporarily through a friend of mine back in '09 or '10, but never finished it properly. Didn't get into the other games because they didn't interest me. I found them, and the respective Pokémon, unappealing. And I had more important interests as well.

Now with a 2DS (haven't even opened it yet), I made a quick research and out of the four games that came out, I settled on the ones in the title. I never cared about Hoenn, so no OR/AS. And Sun/Moon got improved versions with US/UM.

I like the first 251 Pokémon, I don't really care about the rest. I might endure the new Pokémon but the ones I prefer to use are the ones from Kanto and Johto. As such, their availability is a very important factor to me.

I'm going to list the things I liked and didn't like to find out about each and I hope you guys can clarify on what I got wrong or what am I missing:

X/Y:

+ Plenty of Kanto/Johto Pokémon available from the start
+ Regular Pokémon adventure (Gyms + Elite Four)
+ Interesting setting
+ Trainer customization
- Mega evolutions (are they necessary/obligatory?)
- Horde encounters
- Not very challenging
- Friend Safari

US/UM:

+ Plenty of Kanto/Johto Pokémon available (but less than X/Y)
+ More legendaries
+ Improved graphics (the Pokémon models and animations look the same though)
+ More customization
+ More challenging
+ Classic characters can be challenged
+ More recent and still being supported
- A lot of handholding
- Annoying Pokédex
- No gyms
- Alolan versions (this looks like a big minus, not only I don't like any of them, but it prevents the regular versions of the Pokémon from being available, specially the evolutions)

Right now, I'm more inclined towards X/Y. Did I get anything wrong? Am I missing something important?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Kevin24]

x and y are the worse pile of garbage in the series. annoying brain dead friends, garbage champion, piss easy elite 4, garbage villains, garbage lackluster postgame, it's pacing, gen 1 pandering. gen 7 is way better. x and y are worse than naruto fillers and boruto

 

[BCVM22]

You're going to get more out of playing a Generation VII game at this point because they're still the current standard (for another two months), unlike Generation VI which is a generation defunct now. You'll find more people playing online and trading and such with the most recent titles than you will the older titles. But they're both fun and both still playable.

Definitely do not put much stock in anyone that tells you definitively that one is better than the other, because that's not the case. It's all subjective. You clearly have a good idea of what each game does and doesn't entail, and what you don't know can be answered by the mountains of information out there. Ultimately there's no inherent or objective answer should dictate one over the other for you. If you don't find something that weights one over the other, flip a coin.

 

[Zhydra]

Get USUM. It has a better story, better cast of characters, is actually a challenge and you are the champion in the end.

 

[Leonhart]

I'd suggest UltraSun/UltraMoon, simply because the Alola region is more varied and interesting than the Kalos region from my viewpoint. The graphics in UltraSun and UltraMoon are also much more advanced and gameplay is generally a lot smoother, too.

 

[Lunalah]

The Rotom Dex is one of the most annoying parts of USUM, but I still think that the games are just better and more up-to-date than XY, so my advice is to go with USUM and try your best to ignore Rotom's annoying quips.

 

[shoz999]

USUM. It's the closest people are going to get to BW2 since BW2.

 

[janejane6178]

x and y are the worse pile of garbage in the series. annoying brain dead friends, garbage champion, piss easy elite 4, garbage villains, garbage lackluster postgame, it's pacing, gen 1 pandering. gen 7 is way better. x and y are worse than naruto fillers and boruto

You mean in your opinion. I dont see it as a garbage and I LOVED it. Thankyou

 

[Ignition]

XY were more enjoyable for me but USUM would be my choice. More content and difficulty. Only downside is the downgrade of a story. And, no, Megas aren’t obligatory outside of the mandatory tutorial which you can beat in ~3 turns.

Shame you’ll be missing out on the majority of Pokèmon but it’s your choice

 

[Xuxuba]

I think XY's main problem was it's difficulty, but that can be solved if you change your team every so often in order to not make your pokémon overleveled and also if you avoid using OP pokémon. It is not ideal of course and the game still won't be crazy hard, but at least it's solvable.

The story was cliché and dumb, but that is just how most Pokémon games go, aside from BW.

The postgame was average. Not as good as BW2, HGSS and Platinum, but not as bad as some other games.

USUM wasn't that difficulty either, aside from maybe 2 or 3 battles, it was really easy to get overleveled aswell. The postgame areas we had to explore were pretty small and linear. The only battle facility i found enjoyable was the Battle Agency and even then it wasn't that great. The postgame new story focused sidequest was pure fanservice with no actual depth or emotional value.

Overall, i prefer XY because i think the Kalos region had more diversity and there weren't as many cutscenes stopping the gameplay.

 

[nel3]

XY are better in my opinion but that's just me. Gen6 falls inline with the usual things you'd see and expect from a Pokemon game series. Gen7 has some advantages in improved functions but it also removed some longstanding features we were used to seeing in-game. The balance of what was gained or lost in gen7 is up to you but if you go gen7 then go USUM. USUM is slightly more of a complete game than SM and has more features than SM.

I did like the um battle agency, it cheated rather frequently to destroy your loaned Pokemon but that was a returning feature I liked alot that was present in HGSS. though the rotomdex is a poor and more annoying replacent for O powers especially in USUM.

If the rotom dex ever gets too annoying in USUM, DONT interact with it at all. You will lose out on the O power type boosts but it will thankfully get bummed out to the point where it will only ask a question when you start the game up for the day. It also wants to take pics of your newly evolved Pokemon. Aside from that it won't really pester you further.

 

[LusoTrainer]

As an update, I did end up buying Pokémon Y. So far, I'm actually enjoying it and haven't found it to be that easy, at least when compared to past Pokémon experiences. I'm completely unfamiliar with a lot of the new Pokémon and respective typing so that probably helps with the challenge.

If I have any criticism so far is that the 3D approach made the overworld rather 'empty'. Specially when it comes to all those huge rendered buildings and pan shots only to have an handful of pointless NPCs scattered through. Also, I miss an actual rival...

I might give an overall update when I finish the game and wether or not I'll decide to give a shot to US/UM.