BY JESSE CABRAL
A demo for the latest game in the Pokemon series was released worldwide yesterday. The Pokemon series is twenty years old this year and the next games mark the seventh generation in the franchise. Featuring a brand new region, new pokemon, and new mechanics, this generation has players excited and this demo lets players experience it all before the games’ release in November.
The demo puts players in control of Sun, a young boy who just moved to the Alola region that the game takes place in. Controlling Sun, players get to experience what the next games will be like. While Sun is one of the default appearances for the player character, Sun and Moon feature a more robust character customization then the previous games in the franchise. In the full game, players can customize anything about Sun, including his name, skin tone, gender, and clothes.
“Everything feels so fun and vibrant.”
The Alola region takes inspiration from Hawaii and it shows in the games’ visuals. During the day the region is bright and colorful, evoking feelings of a tropical paradise. This paradise features everything that someone would expect from a tropical setting: palm trees, golden beaches, deep blue water, and shining sun.
The tropical paradise image is helped further by the game’s soundtrack. Familiar songs are remixed with hand drums and ukuleles to provide an island feel. The music helps to send players into the tropical world that Nintendo has built.
Angel Castro, a second year art student, feels like the new region helps keep the game fresh. “It’s a fun region to run around in. Everything feels so fun and vibrant. I can’t wait to play the games.”
One of the main draws of any new Pokemon game are of course the new pokemon and Sun and Moon bring forward plenty in that department. While dataminers claim to have discovered all the new pokemon in the game, Nintendo has officially announced around sixty new pokemon. These pokemon range in design from the familiar to unique, such as a sand castle or owl to a giant fish made from a school of smaller fish.
These pokemon have had the effect of convincing at least one person to return to the series. Luigi Giordano, someone who has not played a pokemon game for six years, has decided to return to the series after seeing some of the new designs. He tells the Sun,
“A lot of these new designs look really fun. They remind me of why I liked the game in the first place. I’m going to catch the new pokemon that looks like an anchor, mark my words!”
Luigi says a lack of interest is why he stopped playing the games originally.
“They just became boring, it was the same thing over and over again. I’m hearing that they removed gyms and stuff. This should be fun.”
The new games are set to release on Nov. 18. Until then, the demo promises to provide players with events to complete.