Joshua D. Guilas | Staff Writer

Back in the early 2000’s, Pokémon was a rather large part of my life. I dressed up in a Pikachu costume, bought a couple of videos with a few episodes and attempted to catch the series every Saturday on Kid’s WB. However, over time, my interests waned until I played “Pokémon Diamond” on my Nintendo DS. Once I played that game, my interests became peaked and I quickly gained an interest in Pokémon once more. Personally, I would say that Pokémon Black and White, the fifth generation of Pokémon that came out March 6, 2011 in America, was the first time I truly felt like I loved the series.

I have been on the Pokémon train ever since 2007, nearly 11 years after the first game came out. And on February 27, 2016, 20 years after Pokémon Red and Green came out in Japan, early in the morning, the games Pokémon Sun and Moon for the Nintendo 3DS were officially revealed to the audience. For those who are not in the know, every main series Pokémon game comes in pairs with minor differences in the story and what Pokémon you can catch, i.e.: Pokémon Red and Green (Blue for those who live in America), Pokémon Gold and Silver, Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Pokémon Black and White, Pokémon X and Y and Pokémon Sun and Moon just to name an example. On November 18, 2016, Pokémon Moon was officially delivered to my doorstep and the start of the Seventh Generation of Pokémon was set to begin. After three days of playing the game with around 19 hours of playtime, I can officially say that the newest series of Pokémon is my favorite game in the franchise.

I feel like I can say the following things: the Alola region, based on the real-life islands of Hawaii, feels so real and lifelike, the changes they made to the formula in foregoing the regular gyms in favor of island trials, the characters are the best characters seen to date in the series and, more importantly, the story of Pokémon Sun and Moon is the best story to ever be seen in the franchise to date, beating out the amazing story of Pokémon Black and White (which I considered to be the best story in the series).

Without getting into spoiler territory, the first few moments of the game really capture the idea of the story, which gets the forefront of the Pokémon Sun and Moon. Not only that, you feel like your bond with your Pokémon is high. However, I do want to note that the tutorial is a drag to get through, but it’s likely for people who want to come back in after years of not playing Pokémon or those who got Pokémon Go and are interested in playing an actual Pokémon game. Personally though, I would have made it that it would ask if you would like to go through the tutorial.

The gameplay might be the same old, same old, but I wouldn’t put it any other way. The whole game feels fresh enough while still celebrating the 20th anniversary.