Ah, Nintendo. We may love their games, but we really wish they'd get their E3 sorted - having opted out of doing a traditional conference at the annual industry trade show several years ago, they've been pretty much flailing ever since. Previous years saw them streaming hour-or-so long Nintendo Direct broadcasts, which weren't the best, but this year's approach of several days solid of live streaming games takes the biscuit. Fortunately for us, the Pokemon show didn't quite reach the six hour epic that was Zelda (and if you missed that, here's ten thing we learnt about Zelda: Breath of the Wild) - but for those of you that don't have the best part of an hour to watch a video, we've picked out the best parts of the Pokemon Sun and Moon demo so you don't have to!
Zygarde Returns
This one will probably only mean something to you if you've played through Pokemon X and Y fairly extensively. While Pokemon X and Y had several Legendary Pokemon, at least one of them will be making an appearance in Pokemon Sun and Moon too. Zygarde, affectionately known as 'Squishy' in the anime, is a green and black serpent-like 'mon who dwells in the Terminus Cave - but it seems that the version of Zygarde we found in Pokemon X and Y is only part of the story. You see, Zygarde actually comes in three different 'Formes' (five if you're an anime fan), with the one we've came across so far, his 'standard' version, being his 50% Forme. Two new versions of Zygarde will appear in Pokemon Sun and Moon, known as his 10% Forme and his Complete Forme, which take the shapes of a dog and giant golem-like beast respectively. Quite how these extra Zygardes play into the Sun and Moon stories, we're not too sure - but it certainly sounds like he'll be important!
Zygarde in his 10%, 50% and Complete forms.
More About The New Region
A new Pokemon game, a new world to explore. Set in the tropical Alola region, which is a collection of four islands (itself inspired by Hawaii), Pokemon Sun and Moon have nature at their heart. In fact, even their names are inspired by the impact both the celestial bodies have on our lives here on earth.
In the Alola region, Pokemon are steeped in mystery and superstition - in fact, some are revered as gods, with both of the previously revealed Legendary Pokemon playing their part in the island's history. Pokemon have long been a part of Alola's culture, with battling and various festivals playing a part in the daily life of the land's inhabitants, who've had some seriously flashy shrine-like battle arenas set up to truly take advantage of their 'mon - the E3 demo showed the main character and his friend/rival Hau taking part in a traditional battle ritual, seemingly as a way of asking some gods for protection on their region-spanning journey.
Given Alola's tropical climate, you'll find the uniform of most of the characters you encounter to be somewhat summery - you can tell who the game's Pokemon professor is based on the fact he wears a lab coat over his board shorts, for example. Your character, which can be one of several different boy or girl designs, is also dressed in summery garb, and much like with Pokemon X and Y, you can buy new clothes and accessories during your journey too. Also of note is the bracelet both main characters are wearing, although Game Freak stayed schtum as to it's precise purpose. We wouldn't be surprised if it's related to something akin to the Mega Evolutions of previous games, where Pokemon could transform mid-battle into a more powerful state.
Note Professor Kakuhi on the left, bare-chested but still wearing his all-important lab coat.
Battle Refinements
On a more practical note, Pokemon Sun and Moon are set to add a few tweaks to the tried and tested turn-based battle system we've come to know and love. There's nothing phenomenally drastic here, in that you and your opponent's Pokemon take it in turns to sling attacks at each other to try and reduce each other's health to zero, but a few useful additions will be making it's way over in November. First, poking either your or your enemy's Pokemon icon on the Touch Screen lets you take a look at any stat changes currently in play, showing whether your attack has been buffed, or your opponent's speed decreased, for example, at a glance. But perhaps more usefully, when facing off against any Pokemon you've battled before, you'll get a heads up on how effective each of your attacks will be, whether they'll be Super Effective and deal tons of damage, or whether they'll do very little harm being not very effective. As someone who's always getting the different type strengths and weaknesses backwards, much to the pain of my Pokemon team, it's the kind of feature that will be a blessing.
New Pokemon
We've already been introduced to the three Starter Pokemon who'll join you on your adventure - the fiery kitten Litten, chubby grass-type owl Rowlett and adorable sea-lion water 'mon, Poppilo, who have apparently all been designed with cute in mind, right down to their in-battle animations. The lion-like Pokemon Sun Legendary Solgaleo and Pokemon Moon's Lunala bat-thing have already been revealed too, and it sounds like they're going to play a fairly big part in the legends and superstitions of the tropical islands. Yet much like with the aforementioned Zygarde, it seems these guys will have alternate forms too. When "releasing their mighty powers" each will change in appearance, with Solgaleo switching to its Radiant Sun phase, while Lunala turns into its Full Moon phase, both of which see the Pokemon glowing bright white and yellow and surrounded by black smoke.
Currently, it's unclear whether these forms will have any stat increases and whatnot associated with them.
But Nintendo brought more than just a few new versions of previously revealed Pokemon to E3, as their Pokemon demo revealed even more brand new Pokemon you'll encounter on your adventure. First came Pikipek, a little orange, white and black woodpecker, whose high-speed head can peck sixteen times a second - and have even been known to shatter stone. Pikipek attacks distant enemies by firing seeds, blasting them out his beak with enough force to embed them in nearby trees, and also has a touch of the magpie about him, seeking out small, glittering objects to stash amongst their food stores. This game's obligatory Normal/Flying bird Pokemon, Pikipek comes with one of two abilities - Keen Eye, which prevents your accuracy being lowered and ignores any boosts to your foe's evasion, and Skill Link, which ensures that all multi-hit moves will strike the enemy the maximum number of times.
Pikipek at the top, Grubbin at the bottom, and Yungoos with the best face.
Next comes Yungoos, our personal favourite of the latest batch. With an adorably angry face, this Normal type Pokemon is known for its humongous appetite, and its terrible temper when hungry (we can relate!) - a consequence of the fact its body is mostly stomach, and its digestion is pretty speedy. Its abilities are either Strong Jaw, which increases the power of all biting moves by 50%, or the brand-new Stakeout, which powers up Yungoos attacks to deal twice as much damage to any Pokemon that enters into the fray mid-battle, either by switching in or following up a fainted 'mon.
Finally, we have the Larva Pokemon, Grubbin, a Bug type that relies on it's strong and sturdy jaws both as a weapon in battle and to help them burrow into the ground. Grubbin can shoot sticky threads from its mouth, wrap them around trees and swing from place to place, Spiderman style too. Its ability, Swarm, powers up any Bug-type move by an additional 50% if the user has less than a third of its health remaining too.
Magearna is a kind of clockwork Pokemon.
Then there's Magearna - a metallic, bipedal, mechanical Fairy and Steel Pokemon, known as the 'Mythical Pokemon'. Created by a scientific genius some 500 years ago, it has the power to perceive the thoughts, feelings and emotions of other Pokemon. In the centre of Magearna's chest lies it's Soul-Heart, the source of its artificial life, which was created from the life energy of other Pokemon - and it's this that powers its unique ability, also called Soul-Heart, which raises Magearna's special attack by one level every time another Pokemon in the arena faints. We also got a look at Magearna's new Fleur Cannon move, which blasts enemies with a beam of powerful pink light, dealing Super Effective to the poor Pangoro she was facing off against.
As for returning 'mons, we spotted the ladybird-like Ledyba, little Caterpie, both Pichu and Pikachu, an Eevee, the huge angry panda Pangoro and the bright red croc, Krookodile during the presentation too.
Battle Royal Mode
The Pokemon series has always been focussed on trading and battling between players, and it looks like Pokermon Sun and Moon is set to continue the trend, this time with a brand new multiplayer mode. This 'Battle Royal' mode sees four players facing off against each other in a ring, all at once, in a free for all four way. Each chooses up to three Pokemon, and the battles proceed in the usual turn-based fashion, with each player picking an attack and a target in turn. As four players are taking part, there's a whole extra layer of strategy involved too, as while you may be strong against one person's Pokemon, you'll likely be weak to someone else's, so you'll need to pick and choose your moves and Pokemon carefully. The battle ends when one of the players is out of Pokemon, at which point the game will tally up the number of Pokemon each trainer has defeated, and the number of Pokemon everyone has remaining, to decide the 1st, 2ndand 3rdplaces.
Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon will be hitting 3DSes everywhere this November, on the 23rd in Europe and the 18th in America. Why not check out the latest trailer, which shows of the new 'mons and Battle Royal mode below:
