Just a few hours short of “Pokemon Day” Pokemon’s Official Media has surely upped the hype on a major level by confirming Pokemon Sun and Moon!
Pokemon Sun and Moon have been officially confirmed, and accompanied by this trailer. Based on whats seen in this trailer, we see specific generations over the years, and then the “2016” confirmation of Sun and Moon, when extrapolated, only makes sense to be a whole new generation.
Now, there are a TON of things to think about this reveal.
First of all, Saturday Febuary 27th, and the celebrations kick off quite early in the day, with a “Nintendo Direct” airing at 10pm EST (7 pst, 3 GMT). It seems all too likely that we will be revealing even more about this game. Its important to realize that they last “Nintendo Direct” (A monthly address to the media by Nintendo representatives) that was EXCLUSIVELY about Pokemon, specifically the reveal of X and Y for 2013.
There are many who still think the Generation six titles aren’t over, but based on this, in my opinion, they are. I personally LOVED Kalos and was indeed hoping for a Pokemon Z type game, and for the sake of the article, let’s discuss what they may still have up their sleeves.
The way I see it going down is something like this:
They talk heavily about Pokemon 7th Generation Sun and Moon, build Hype, reveal starters, talk about a release date around the Holidays (as usual.)
Then they say “And for those of you not finished with Kalos, Pokemon Z will be out this spring!
A boy can dream right? Best of both worlds really. Anyway, for now let’s just focus on this reveal.
Many people are focusing on the NAMES themselves, and I believe this is significant as well. Up until this generation 6, all games have denoted a Color theme that had little to do with the games themselves. Then X and Y seemed to break that mold, but with no real repercussions on the region. Instead, X and Y referred to the main Legendaries of the game. Now, this is probably the most likely outcome, but what I wish instead is that this solar theme some-how play into the gameplay or the region design itself. We have already had sun and moon pokemon in Lunatone and Solrock, so simply creating a Sun and Moon Legendary team doesn’t seem that inspired.
Instead, how about a full rework of Night and Day cycles in the game? With Pokemon GO encouraging more outside travel, how about Pokemon Sun and Moon encouraging more play at different hours, instead of just blazing through the game as fast as possible. I for one really admire the beauty that is nighttime, and love when a game can capture it well, so any sort of step towards this is a huge plus for me!
Speaking of Pokemon GO! Its highly suspected that THIS will be the big reveal on Pokemon Day tomorrow. Before Pokemon Sun and Moon were announced, this was really all we had to hope for, and I believe we will see a spring release for sure. The timing is just impeccable, because giving people enough time to prepare for Pokemon Sun and Moon is imperative, but also giving them something to be excited for in the much nearer future seems like a more genuine approach to this 20th anniversary.
Either way, we will know tomorrow! I personally can’t wait, and hope that this global celebration which even has celebrities excited will bring even more public credibility to a game that used to be referred to as purely for children.