After thirty long hours of gameplay, I finally completed the main story of the game. I would summarize the entire experience as the following – it progressively got better.
And now, why would I ever say that?
Read on to find out more!
Continuing on where I left in the previous post, upon completion of Melemele Island’s Grand Trial and after catching every Pokémon available at that point of time (other than Bagon), it was time to proceed to Akala Island.
This is where the game starts to feel like an encore of Pokémon Moon.
Upon arrival at Akala Island, you go through the same process of completing the trials again, Brooklet Hill for the Water type trial, Wela Volcano Park for the Fire type trial and finally, Lush Jungle for the Grass type trial.
You can argue that there are new Pokémon to be caught (like Larvitar) and the trials are slightly different from the original ones in SM, however, it does not change the fact that the areas are still the same and the whole sequencing is as well.
If Akala Island was any indication that the game was an encore, oh boy, Ula’ula Island was the exact same as well.
Same trials – check.
Beat Team Skull – check.
Complete the grand trial – check.
Aether Foundation are the true antagonist? – check.
Wait, hold on, the game can’t be that bad right?
Yes you’re right. Things start to pick up after the Aether Foundation fiasco, and the game does a full 180.
Onward, to Poni Island and a climax that is befitting of the Pokémon series on the 3DS system.
With Alola in disarray thanks to the Aether Foundation, you are tasked to head on to Poni Island to figure out a way to save Lusamine.
You go through Exeggutor Island to collect the Moon flute or the Sun flute, depending on the version that you are playing. Here, you can catch a Pinsir at a 100% encounter rate.
Upon getting the flute, you’ll head on down to the Vast Poni Canyon to summon the Legendary Pokémon, Lunala or Solgaleo.
And now, the only cutscene that players who bought this game only wanted to see.
The whole sequence was so quick that I had to restart my 3DS several times to watch it over, and over again.
Guzma falls from Ultra Space, Necrozma appears and fights with the title Legendary and then fuses with it to steal it’s light.
The last time that a cutscene in Pokémon was this good was in Pokémon ORAS where Team Magma and Team Aqua revived the Primal versions of Groudon and Kyogre respectively.
You can watch the above cutscene here.
After defeating the fused Necrozma, it then retreats into Ultra Space and you are then tasked to follow it into Ultra Space via the Ultra Wormhole to stop it.
Not to mention, navigating through Ultra Space initially without the circle pad controls was extremely frustrating. Really, really frustrating.
Other than the initial frustrations I had, the Ultra Wormhole minigame was actually quite good. I would say that it is one of the best mechanics created in Pokémon where it doesn’t involve running through grass to encounter Pokémon.
I had huge expectations of Ultra Megalopolis when I first saw the pre released pictures, however in the game, it was just a huge tower in the middle of a linear path..
Talk about underwhelming.
Spoiler alert, you can skip the next slideshow if you do not want to spoil yourself any further.
With Necrozma retreating somewhere far away and everything is back to normal, it was time to continue your Island Trials with… Mina’s Trial!
The new and best trial in the game involves you battling most of the past Trial Captains to collect petals for Mina. Upon collecting all the petals, Mina will then assemble a flower which will then summon the final Totem Pokémon – a HUGE Ribombee!
To be honest, if you can beat Ultra Necromza, then the rest of the main story should be a piece of cake to you.
Mount Lanakila goes through a HUGE makeover with trainers around, which makes it feel like an actual Victory Road.
The biggest highlight of the game comes after completion of the Elite Four and becoming Alola’s first Champion.
The end game credits showing teasers to Team Rainbow Rocket, Zygarde slithering around in Resolution Cave and Gladion waving goodbye to Lusamine as he departs to Kanto was amazing.
It felt like a culmination of the 2D/3D Pokémon era – 20 years in the making and this game symbolizes all of that.
The next step for Pokémon will come in Nintendo Switch and I can barely wait for the day they release the news of it.
Other than Akala Island and Ula’Ula Island, the main story for USUM was great, however, the true highlight of the game does not lie on that, it is all about the amazing post game content it offers.
And for the third and final part of my review of USUM, I will be covering in detail everything about the post game. Till then.
Sitdown with Gamers 
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