SM vs. USUM

[Hidden Mew]

Story-wise, I greatly prefer Sun/Moon. The storyline was more engaging, I preferred Lusamine's characterization here than in US/UM, battling Lusamine after fusing with Nhilego was a more unique climax and seeing Lillie stand up to her mother was so satisfying. Lillie leaving at the end was also pretty emotional. Sun/Moon always felt a bit underrated when it had some really good moments throughout its storyline.

US/UM did make some improvements to the storyline, mainly with Hau and Guzma's character arcs, but I also think that they made some poor decisions with it. Removing the Exeggutor Island scene was rough since that was a nice interaction with Lillie. Reducing Lillie's role in general was a bad idea since she is basically the heart of the storyline. Having her confront Lusamine off-screen was just criminal. As nice as it was for Lillie to stay and battle alongside you, I also feel like that took away from the emotional ending. I like Gladion, but spending a lot of time with Lillie only to say goodbye to her at the end gave the ending more weight. I really enjoyed the Necrozma battle though. I think Lusamine was a more unique climax by comparison, but it was a cool tough battle that I enjoyed.

US/UM had more variety of Pokemon, more areas to explore and a better post-storyline. Team Rainbow Rocket was at least a fun way to level up my Pokemon more and battle against different evil team leaders. US/UM has more content, so that might make it more fun to play through, but I think that Sun/Moon having a stronger and more engaging story gives it the edge for me. I still think if they combined the Sun/Moon storyline with the improvements from US/UM, its new features and new areas, that would be a fantastic Pokemon game. I think that these are two sets of pretty solid games as they are, but I also think that they would have worked even better as a combination.

 

[Gengarzilla]

Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon by a total bloody landslide. It's not even close. I disliked Sun and Moon's story enough to skip on the entire game, and outside of the vomit-worthy Rainbow Rocket sequence I greatly preferred USUM's alterations and QOL additions. Non-psychopathic Lusamine, move tutors, Ultra Space legends, and infinitely available Ultra Beasts, to name a few.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

the vomit-worthy Rainbow Rocket sequence

I personally thought that was an awesome addition. Why do you hate it?

I disliked Sun and Moon's story enough to skip on the entire game

What things in Sun and Moon's story do you find dislikable?

 

[PaperSplash]

SM, by far. I personally find it hard to accept USUM's story even as an alternative scenario because of how – to be blunt – half-assed the changes feel at times. There's some seemingly throwaway scenes that were meant to specifically foreshadow later plot events of SM but were left in for some reason despite said later events being replaced, like Lillie asking the player if their mom picks out clothes for them (when Lusamine isn't obsessed with Nihilego in particular anymore, it doesn't make nearly as much sense why she dressed her daughter so similarly).

 

[Esserise]

SM, by far. I personally find it hard to accept USUM's story even as an alternative scenario because of how – to be blunt – half-assed the changes feel at times. There's some seemingly throwaway scenes that were meant to specifically foreshadow later plot events of SM but were left in for some reason despite said later events being replaced, like Lillie asking the player if their mom picks out clothes for them (when Lusamine isn't obsessed with Nihilego in particular anymore, it doesn't make nearly as much sense why she dressed her daughter so similarly).

Lusamine still was fixated on Nihilego/Ultra Space in USUM, it’s just that the Ultra Recon Squad getting involved redirected her focus.

Mohn disappeared years before the beginning of the story. Lusamine had a long time to become lost in grief and to start obsessing over Mohn’s research papers, which is what precipitated her suffocating, meticulous treatment of Lillie. That all still happened in both versions of the story.

The Ultra Recon Squad only arrive ~3 months before the player comes to Alola. Once they do, they get in contact with Lusamine and tell her about Necrozma, which takes her attention away from her vacuous agonizing and lashing out due to Lillie running away, and gives her something productive (and self-aggrandizing) to do.

 

[Bolt Strike]

Neither, they're both equally bad and have many of the same flaws. Alola is too linear and not very explorable and most of the extra content isn't very engaging or fun. USUM was one step forwards and one step backwards by adding a few new features like Ultra Warp Ride and the Rainbow Rocket arc, but it made the storyline, Elite 4, and Rotom Dex worse, and neither game painted Alola in a particularly good light. They could probably make a game that does, but this ain't it chief.

 

[R1ke]

I like them both equally, cause they’re not trying to compete with each other. They’re just giving a different spin on the same narrative and each have their pros/cons.

SM had the better story and the climax was more personal/character driven. Although USUM had a blander one, it gave us one of the most iconic boss battles instead. SM focused more on Lillie and Lusamine, USUM focused more on Hau. I’m fine with them changing the character focus since SM already happened and tbh I’d prefer more changes to differentiate the two (especially the main journey, which is too similar).

Gameplay wise USUM are better since they improved trainer rosters (like guzma), better totem pokemon and had more postgame areas to explore (ultra space and RR in particular) in addition to the SM postgame. They also improved areas like Mount Lanakila and had more pokemon to capture.

 

[Jukain726]

Like the third versions in past generations, I feel USUM completes the story.

 

[Battista]

After a lot of purchasing and trading in at GameStop, I eventually ended up owning Ultra Sun and Vanilla Moon, and in this case I think having both versions but opposite makes a lot of sense. You get both sets of version exclusives but don’t necessarily feel like you’re stuck with the same game twice. (And if you really want to do some mental gymnastics, the Demo offers a third take).

The Ultra games are better games simply because they have more and better content. I could, and have, spent hours just riding Ultra wormholes and seeing what Pokémon I get. But I do think Sun and Moon’s story was more cohesive and thought provoking. I get what PaperSplash was saying about some of the changes affecting other plot points unintentionally.

There’s a scene in the Ultra games after Necrozma is defeated and you’re back in Alola, where Lusamine thanks the player and walks off, basically saying to Lillie, “come along, child”. And Lillie smiles and follows her mother dutifully. That felt particularly jarring having already played the original Sun and Moon, even though I knew the events were significantly different in the Ultra games. Lusamine herself had been humbled at this point (when she and Guzma were forced out of the wormhole), but it was as if she hadn’t learned anything…I hope I’m explaining it well enough but it was off to me.