Pokemon is kind of an interesting game to analyze design-wise. As a long running series, around 20 years old at this point, it finds itself stuck in a rut of people wanting more of the same game. Therefore, more games get released that are essentially re-skins of older games.
Sun and Moon, on the other hand, made a myriad of subtle game design changes that might have at some point been considered taboo.
1. Goodbye Grid!
This is an idea that hasn't really been touched upon since the GameCube Pokemon games, like Pokemon Gale of Darkness, that boasted the feature. I remember being a young girl and wanting to play Gale of Darkness incredibly bad for this reason, so bad that I emailed Game Freak and begged them to release the game on PS2 (I never got a reply, and the game didn't make it off Nintendo consoles.)
My theory is that the limitation of the handheld systems is what kept developers from releasing this feature earlier. Pokemon Sun and Moon is a big game, and if you're playing on an older 3DS system, there are some pretty noticeable frame drops, though these occur mostly in battles and not as much on the over-world.
The oblong islands of Alola are best traveled without the grid system, that's for sure.
2. Egg Encouragement
This one is a little dumb, but bear with me.
See that spot where she's riding the Tauros?
If this little fenced in area was on purpose, it's definitely the most subtle addition to the Pokemon standard. This little addition allows players to hatch their eggs fresh out of the nursery, cutting out the hassle of running in the most efficient loops for steps, or taping down buttons and stepping away from the games. Excellent!
3. Transparent IV's
While nothing new in the Pokemon series, IV's play a large part in Pokemon's expansive meta-game. Now that you can train or view your Pokemon's hidden stat values at any time, any player can become a powerhouse without having to use predictive algorithms.
4. Death of the HM Slave
This is probably the most noticeable change for long-time players of the game. HMs, or 'Hidden Machines,' represent items that teach Pokemon moves on the field. In older games, one would have a Pokemon that was specifically for clearing paths and crossing oceans using HMs.
Now that all of these moves are accessible from rental Pokemon that you can call to your location, your entire team can be focused for combat. Pretty neat!
5. Time Kill Islands
Upon completing the game, players find themselves with much more of an agenda then before. Pokemon isn't necessarily known for its post-game, which is surprising considering that there's no feasible way to "Catch 'em all" without playing a little bit after defeating a game's respective final boss.
Instead of beating the game and systematically collected the Pokemon that you missed along the way, the game provides you with many small tasks that one can rotate through in addition to catching the remaining 'mons.
The 'Time Kill Islands' refers to the Poke Pelago, where PC Pokemon farm berries, look for treasures, and train IV's (a feature that is incredibly useful on its own).
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