Topic: Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon discussion

@DarthNocturnal To be fair, the artwork is a map of the entire region.

We have a full region map from the trailer.

99% the same region, aside from a handful of minor changes it's exactly the same as SM.

@Bolt_Strike Not happening lol. The bulk of the pre-release news cycle has yet to come, and will be coming over the next couple months.

You didn't look at the region map close enough either. Platinum's region map artwork wasn't exactly all that much different from DP's, for what it's worth.

The map is pretty detailed though. They went through the trouble of adding those Photo Clubs. There's a white rectangle on the bottom right beach of the right-most island, at least that's new...

Oh I can see it happening. There's a lot of negativity towards this being a 3DS game, towards it being SM all over again with a few bells and whistles when we just played it a year ago, and towards Game Freak's bullpoo in general. There's so much going against this game.

And what do you expect they're going to show? Some new forms, a few token extra features, there's really not much groundbreaking new stuff they can show off if the region is the same and it's not a sequel.

If you need a microscope to see what's different about the region that's a good sign that it's not that different. BW2 changed a lot more in Unova and you could tell that the minute you saw the map. On the flipside, look at ORAS which didn't really change a lot about Hoenn (and yet still did more than we can see here) and shockingly, there wasn't much different about it.

The region maps tend to be pretty close to satellite images, they put a lot of detail into those maps to the point where you can see almost everything that's explorable in the region. If there was something new in the region we'd probably know it from this map, and BW2-esque levels of changes would be immediately evident.

_{watch the language, Bolt....-Joey}

There also seems to be a heat wave. The pools where the water trial is at appear to have dried up, and the green areas (trees, grass) look drier. No rain over Po Town either.

Gasp! What amazing and impactful changes! It sure is worth going through the same region in the same areas with the same design for slightly different looking backgrounds and aesthetics.

@Bolt_Strike Which game are we talking about here, Platinum or Ultra S/M?

The changes you described are no different between the two. The one exception being a half-***ed Battle Frontier.

The negativity over it being a 3DS game has subsided. That's a nonfactor. The negativity over it being Sun/Moon again will subside after more stuff is revealed, even if the stuff isn't really groundbreaking.

The game isn't gonna drop in sales by over 10 million copies like you're suggesting. That's delusional.

Look more closely. There's a lot of people that were expecting BW2 levels of changes and getting sick of third versions. That kind of negativity isn't going away. BW2 had a profound impact on this fanbase and really raised the bar for this series, this just seems like a step backwards and the fans aren't happy about it.

Delusional? Well let's see:

1st gen: 31.38 million (RGB) - 14.64 million (Yellow) = 16.74 million drop in sales
2nd gen: 23.1 million (GS) - 6.39 million (Crystal) = 16.71 million drop in sales
3rd gen: 16.22 million (RS) - 6.32 million (Emerald) = 9.9 million drop in sales
4th gen: 17.67 million (DP) - 7.6 million (Platinum) = 10.07 million drop in sales
5th gen: 15.64 million (BW) - 8.52 million (BW2) = 7.12 million drop in sales

Source: http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon

New generations routinely sell around 15-18 million and third versions sell around 6 million. Under 5 million for an underwhelming third version no one wants is actually pretty realistic given this data.

@Bolt Strike why are even in this forum if you don't plan on getting these games? There is enough negativity in the world without having to hear it from you. No one is forcing you to buy the games so enough already!!!!! We get it, you hate Game Freak!!!
Yes you can state your opinions but I think you've said enough already!

Lake of the Sunne/Moone is dry too.

That's...an interesting detail.

ALso those clouds bottom left seem to be shaping an island. Who knows. The big draw is the darkness over Poni Island

I think it's too early to judge Ultra Sun/Moon until we know more details. The lack of news up until this point has been disconcerting, I admit, but hopefully the information well ramps up again (Possibly a drip-feed of information up until release, going from past experience).

The negativity about Ultra Sun/Moon (and, really, any upcoming game) still being on the 3DS is complete BS, IMO. It makes sense to release the third version on the same system as the other two, and I can't think of a third version (or sequel versions in the case of BW2) in the Pokemon series that hasn't followed the same pattern. You risk alienating some fans who don't have a Switch for whatever reason as well as parents who don't want to grab a Switch just for little Patrick or Patricia to play the newest version of Pokemon when they already have a "perfectly good Pokemon game" on their slightly cheaper 2/3DS family system. It makes more sense to focus on the established install base in this case. Besides, it's already been confirmed that the Switch is getting its own main series Pokemon game.

@Tyranexx Crystal was GBC only

@BLP_Software: Really? Interesting. I never knew the difference since I played everything on a GBC back in the day. I wonder why that was the case? The Pokemon animations? The Battle Tower? I can't think of a lot of graphical differences.

@IceClimbers @BLP_Software I don't think the lakes have dried up. That's just the lighting. It's looks orange/brown, but 90% of the water is coloured that way. Plus, you can still see the little waterfalls.

The only big difference is that suspicious cloud on the bottom left. It's not there on the old Alola map, so maybe there's a new island. I think that cloud could hide a small island in theory.

All the differences I could spot are the Photo Clubs in Hau'oli and Malie City. New rock formations near Poni Breaker Coast, and a new building/trailer on the Secluded Shore.

@Tsurii Monster Hunter shows new monsters every time it makes a trailer, five of which it first showed not 24 hours ago. I don't see what you're trying to say.

Anyway I don't care that USUM are on 3DS, and I wasn't one of the people screaming and crying even though I watched the typically slim announcement live. However, the game wasn't at E3 like they said it would be and E3 is long gone by now. The first real trailer they show for it shows the terrible looking timed exclusive orange version of a Pokemon that just looks like a wolf and boasts, of all things, that there are a few tawdry new character customization options. Come on. The only explanation I have for that is that they have nothing new to show except the story, because Pokemon games are normally lousy with trailers this close to release.

@Tsurii: I suppose I'd always assumed that all of the Gen 2 games were GBC-only, though looking at the cartridge designs now I can see that wasn't the case with Gold/Silver. Kid me didn't really care as long as I could play the games. XD Other than the Pokemon games, all the other games I had were GBC carts.

Like you, I've always considered the Game Boy Color to be more of the Game Boy's DSi/N3DS iteration.

I'm not bothered by the photo studio thing. I doubt I will use it much, but I'm sure plenty of people will.

@Octane The water level has definitely dropped at least. There's a couple new beaches visible.

The older fans have played too many of them to want another one and the younger fans are used to different regions or games with larger changes like BW2 or ORAS. Plus the concept of paying an extra $40 for what's basically the same game is becoming less and less appealing in an era where gaming is getting more and more expensive, there's many other games to spend your money on, and DLC can accomplish the same thing at a lower cost. Third versions should've stayed in the past where they belong, if they want to sell us the same region over again they should either do sequels or DLC.

Actually, the trailers around this time tend to show more interesting stuff that actually It's usually around this time that we see a lot of interesting new mechanics and gameplay features, changes to the regions that make it worth exploring again, and new Pokemon/forms. Here they're promoting a recolor of Midday Lycanroc with a mohawk, a glorified selfie system, and a copy/paste of SM Alola that looks like it's been out in the sun too long. So yeah, those are some pretty big warning signs of not much to show.

The second version is also pretty bs imo, let alone a third one.