Demo discussion (not for spoilers/datamine info)

[Arceus the Dragon]

Hey, it's no big deal. Just get the demo to tide you over and try to enjoy it. And if you don't want your bonus ninja frog, I could take it off your hands, if you want. Either way, give the demo a go. It'll at least give you a much-needed taste of what the real game has to offer.

I don't want the demo. I only care about the full games. If by some chance Greninja is in the full games, then I might use it and won't be upset but I won't be sad if it remains only in the demo.

 

[Syrinaris]

I haven't downloaded the demo yet and I was just wondering if by chance there is an expiration on it of some kind? I know the ORAS demo was open ended. It didn't expire in 30 days or say that you only have 20 playthroughs available or something. Is the SuMo demo the same or does it have a time/play limit attached?

 

[Mitchman]

I forgot to mention, I love how the city feels like an actual city. It has a tourism agency cause its a tropicla vaycay region, a local diner, and even a poloce station to take care of those pesky skull grunts. My only real gripe are those gates for the grass patches in the city, I can only asdumr because its in the city, the game has to load up the wild Pokemon encounter tables separately, but that is still such a bull reason. I hope to god its gone in the main games.

 

[Arylett Charnoa]

I haven't downloaded the demo yet and I was just wondering if by chance there is an expiration on it of some kind? I know the ORAS demo was open ended. It didn't expire in 30 days or say that you only have 20 playthroughs available or something. Is the SuMo demo the same or does it have a time/play limit attached?

Looking at my menu, I don't see anything about it expiring. Could be wrong though.

_____________

So! I played through the demo. Or at least, I've played enough. Not really interested in doing everything it has to offer due to the fact that I'm forced into using Greninja most of the time and I want to be able to pick my own team. I just wanted a small taste. Here's my thoughts:

• Whilst I still believe that the Pokemon of Sun/Moon are some of my least favorite designs in the entire series, I feel that from what I've played of the demo, they've really hit it out of the park with the human designs and environments. Which are both things I usually do not praise Pokemon for. The humans are of a more realistic anime style, with better proportions and less outrageous clothing. Their animations are also much improved, particularly those of Team Skull. They are full of personality and actually make me laugh. Which is something that Pokemon usually doesn't because I don't share its gaglike sense of humor. Plumeria seems to have a very interesting personality too. She feels endearing thus far. It's all so much more dynamic and feels more like an actual RPG. Basically: The game has a lot of personality right off the bat.
  
  
• Man, the town feels so real. The police look real, the clothing styles look real, and the buildings look real. It's much more down to earth in spite of the more cartoony style of the new Pokemon, which I find to be weird. Nonetheless, very striking to me. Usually, I don't pay attention to places in video games because they're boring and bland. But I can tell they did a lot of research to create it. Aesthetics really do help make something feel completely fresh and different.
  
  
• Creepy smiling protagonist whilst everyone else makes expressions though is... off-putting. Kinda hope that they make a few more faces in the main game.
  
  
• Riding Tauros feels disappointingly clunky. Its animation is just slow and it is difficult to maneuver. However, for smashing rocks, it's absolutely perfect. The impact feels SO satisfying and visceral. Wish I wasn't forced to wear that stupid riding outfit though. I never really liked it before, but it just ruins the badassery of the scene for me.
  
  
• More anime/Kanto-shilling. Like most people, this displeases me. For some reason, Alolans REALLY like Machamps. And Slowpoke is everywhere too. I did not like having the Pikachu with the anime cry foisted on me, and ignored it in favor of Greninja. Really disappointed with the lack of focus on the actual native Pokemon to this region. Isn't the point of the demo to show off NEW things? New Pokemon are a huge part of a new Generation. Yeah, I know it's Ash-Greninja and the Pikachu gets a Z-move, but I feel it's still missing the point.
  
  
• The Totem Hakamo-o scene was... very surprising for a Pokemon game. I liked seeing how big it was compared to the protagonist, and it added a sense of danger and excitement before a Pokemon battle I have never felt before.
  
  
• Music is nice, and feels very distinct from other Pokemon games. It stands out more and the instruments have a more realistic, less midi sound to them. More variety. I quite like the town music, but my favorites are probably all of Team Skull's tracks. The battle with Plumeria was especially epic due to the music. Don't like the trainer or wild Pokemon battle music though, but I never liked them in the trailers either.
  
  
• I like how you can check information on everything during the battle. So convenient, much less annoying than having to do an internet search. We can't all memorize what every single ability does.

 

[badwolf1234]

Is kahili a kahuna or a trial captain and it seems she is a golfing expert

 

[dig]

words

Might just agree with everything you said haha.

I think the SuMo demo should've been a choice of starters instead of Greninja.

 

[Syrinaris]

Looking at my menu, I don't see anything about it expiring. Could be wrong though.

Thank you!
I haven't decided yet whether I want to wait and ask for the game for Christmas. I was concerned that it might expire and then I couldn't transfer anything into the game. This helps allay my fears.

 

[Kirby4ever]

How are you able to encounter the Alolain Dugtrio? I looked around the town and I couldn't find the way to do it.

 

[Peridorito]

The demo is amazing! I like how there's so much stuff to do. Shame you can't keep the Pokémon you catch in the catching challenge, but I love Greninja, so it's not a big deal. The best part was definitely Team Skull. Everything about them, from their facial expressions to how they walk, is just hilarious. And it seems there will be some more things do to after certain amounts of days pass, so the demo will surely help satisfy my hunger for this last month of waiting.

 

[Karamazov]

The locations are so beautiful. This is a very immersive game. And the Totem battle was a little cooler than I expected it to be.

Though I do have a few complaints:

• The capture challenge. I caught 8 Pokemon before giving up. It's so tedious, catching the same three Pokemon over and over again. Plus Pikipek's Supersonic and seemingly perfect luck with crits and Fury Attack are making me hate the little bugger.
• The constant Pokemon cries in the background. Not only does it continue through Team Skull's awesome music interludes, but they also ruined Plumeria's cool entrance and dialogue.
• Everyone talks so much.
• Everything is so slow. The battles sometimes lag. The HP bar's speed is ungodly. I just hope this is just a demo thing, or we have an option to speed things up by the time we get the game.

Overall, it's a neat timewaster.

 

[RogueSoul]

How are you able to encounter the Alolain Dugtrio? I looked around the town and I couldn't find the way to do it.

You have to find a girl standing on the beach of Ten Carat Beach that randomly appears... been resetting for about 20 minutes now and she hasn't appeared yet, so not sure of the chances.

 

[winstein]

The demo is the first time I encountered Jangmo-o and Hakamo-o, and I like the feeling of discovering a new Pokemon I never actually get to know. Too bad the final evolution is kind of spoiled for me since it was revealed alongside Hakamo-o (I was looking for both Pokemon on Bulbapedia). Since I didn't know that Hakamo-o is a Fighting-type (in addition to Dragon), the discovery felt productive when Greninja's Night Slash was not very effective but Aerial Ace was super-effective. Based on my impression with this Dragon-type family, I thought they sounded Korean. Wonder if they're designed by Koreans.

Only complaint I have here is that I don't get to pick a starter in the demo, but I guess Greninja's power makes up for this.

As for the new Pokemon, I was surprised by how powerful Pikipek was when it used Fury Swipes, but then again, I found out that it has Skill Link, which wasn't surprising. Only got to briefly used Yungoos at the capture challenge, and I have to say that Strong Jaw Bite is pretty strong. If I didn't know that Rockruff is a Rock-type (something I found out when Bulbagarden's tweet mentioned Lycanroc getting a Special Defence boost in Sandstorm), I would be surprised at its type.

Some might have mentioned that the TM/HM part of the bag is now TM only, so I guess environmental obstacles used rideable Pokemon now? From Generation 5's unlimited TM usage and Generation 6's rideable Pokemon, it seems like HMs are a thing in the past. If the other rideable Pokemon are fast, I would welcome this change (I found Tauros to be decently fast compared to running).

Thanks for reading.

 

[Peppermint Phoenix]

Does anyone know if there is a special message for getting 20 for 20 on the catching game cause it's really hard. I got 17 and all I got was the game guy saying I surpassed him. It would be nice for one pokemon demo to be able to make your own team and level them up. Leveling a level 34 Pikapek up once in the catching game felt like a major undertaking.

Also possible minor dex spoiler

Spoiler

Also Why didn't Pikapek evolve when I leveled him up? Did they turn off evolution off evolution for the demo{/SPOILER]

 

[Soki]

Also possible minor dex spoiler

Spoiler

Also Why didn't Pikapek evolve when I leveled him up? Did they turn off evolution off evolution for the demo

Spoiler

Evolution indeed seems to be turned off for the demo, no one was able to evolve it.

 

[Esserise]

Finally was able to play the demo! And from it, I can already tell that these games are going to blow me away. I think they have the potential to even become my new favorites which, given the intensity of my Gen V worship, would be a truly impressive feat.

There's really so much I could gush about that I don't know where to start. I suppose the biggest thing is how much I enjoyed the Trial. Already, a Demo Trial has completely outclassed Gyms. I don't think I've ever had that much fun with a Gym. More of this please, GF.

I do have a couple of very minor gripes, however. The overworld cries do get slightly annoying/distracting. They're a great idea for immersion, but they could stand to be less frequent. I also wish that I could use the D-Pad to walk. I actually tend to prefer it to the Circle Pad. And lastly, while I like the layout of the in-battle menu, it's going to take a bit of getting-used-to since the "Fight" option is now to the left of the screen rather than the center. I keep accidentally pulling up the stat display screens. Which are a lovely addition, of course, but I've definitely got some muscle memory to overwrite before I can fully appreciate them.

Also, Ash-Greninja is so cool. Which, I assume they're using him instead of the Starters because they don't want to step on the full games' toes. I think they probably want us to get to know Rowlet, Litten, and Popplio on release day, and don't want to interfere with the purity of that by letting us test-drive them in a sample game.

 

[badwolf1234]

What i notice is it seems like we cant sit on the benches again looks like its eternal standing up for the players again lol

 

[Keshav]

Is it just me or the demo really felt short?
It was really cool, characters look much more real than they were in gen 6. For those who think Taurus is slow, just hold button b and then run. The charge really gives some boost to the speed.

 

[Soki]

Added the possible future events some NPC's are talkin' about to the OP, for those who want to keep track of it

 

[Keshav]

Added the possible future events some NPC's are talkin' about to the OP, for those who want to keep track of it

Hmm so that means the demo is not over yet?

 

[SirOni]

RIP sitting. Why you always gotta take away the best features Gamfreak?!