3 Things We Learned from the Pokemon Sun and Moon Demo

Team Skull Are… Odd

During the short Pokemon Sun and Moon demo that’s now available as a free download, we got to properly meet Team Skull. While we’d seen them in promotional images and been given a brief run down on them, we weren’t quite prepared for what we were greeted with.

Rather than the usual rude foes that we encounter in Pokemon games, these ones have an odd obsession with dancing movements and hand gestures. They also apparently consider themselves “well hard.” While it’s definitely refreshing to get something a little different from the standard evil crime gang of Pokemon games but with a different name, Team Skull are borderline cringeworthy. That’s the Grunts at least, Admin Plumeria seemed a little bit more serious. While they may not be quite so in your face throughout the entire game, that’s the impression we got during the time we spent facing off with them in the demo.

This Doesn’t Feel Like the Theorized Dark Story

There was a theory doing the rounds of the internet a while back about Sun and Moon actually containing a much darker story than what we’ve grown accustomed to in previous titles in the series. And while we hoped and prayed that Sun and Moon would come through with some sinister undertones, from what we played of the demo, the whole thing looks to have gone in the opposite direction.

You’ll take photos of Pokemon in these new island trials (at least we did during the one in the demo), Team Skull feel more like comic relief, and you rival once again adopts more of a friend role. Though we may be speaking too soon, there was little to no evidence of Pokemon adopting a more mature theme for Sun and Moon.

Improved Sound Design

One thing that really struck me when playing through the brief Sun and Moon demo was the considerable improvement in the sound design. At one point I was required to take a photo of Jangmo-o and I could occasionally hear it crying in the distance. While this doesn’t seem like a huge deal, stereo sound was utilized in such a way that I genuinely felt as if it were coming from a pinpointed position on numerous occasions.

What’s more, like it wouldn’t be included in a Pokemon demo, Pikachu made an appearance and briefly joined my team. Upon its joining, I was greeted with the classic ‘Pika Pikaaa’ and its adorable smile. Sounding as if it was taken straight out of the TV series, there are moments where the game looks and sounds so good you’d be mistaken for thinking you were watching a quick clip from the show. If the level of sound design and polish continues throughout, this could be a really special Pokemon experience.