I rarely buy a game so impulsively and who doesn't enjoy having a game early? I wish I had been my usual cautious self and looked in to it more because I expected a new story in the same location but it is just the original story with some minor tweaks.

Figured I'd answer questions for people on the fence.

Oh, it is just the original story? All of the promo material has made it seem like it was almost completely different, Team Rainbow Rocket, pumped up Lillie from the get go, and all that jazz. I heard that the structure and flow was changed to not be quite as linear as the original games. That's not the case then?

I didn't like Sun/Moon nearly as much as X/Y, so I didn't care for these games when they were announced. But, all the promo material got me interested and I'm considering getting one. I realize you're probably not too far in yet, but so far would you say it's worth it for someone that hasn't even done much in the Sun/Moon post game yet?

@falconer: that's what I thought too but it doesn't seem to be the case. This is much more akin to a Yellow, Crystal, Emerald or Platinum. The game literally opens with the same cutscene of the girl escaping the lab with nebby in her bag, except 2 of the background grunts are replaced by 2 new android characters. Most scenes so far have been the same. They changed up how quickly you get your Pokémon but most of it has been the same as it was before.

I take some of the blame but like you said, they have been marketing it like a new story. Instead they're just sprinkling in new stuff to the existing one. Probably isn't for you.

Sun and Moon are my favourite 3D games so I didn't feel the same way as you. I wouldn't have got it if I had known what this is though.

So you haven't found any wormholes yet? That's supposed to be one of the cooler new additions

@drachmalius: I only just got to the first Pokemon centre and am setting up my festival plaza so too early to see that. I don't doubt there are cool additions but I feel a bit burnt on having to replay the story to see those. I'll post when I've got to something new.

Can you catch a pikachu?

Maaaaan I wish I hadnt bought moon at launch now, still havent played it beyond an hour or something yet and I wouldve been better of waiting for this one it seems. I didn't understand it was a 'yellow situation' upfront either btw until this thread.

@madman356647: yes, and you can dress like Pikachu. They added a Pikachu cap with ears, and a Pikachu t-shirt with its face on the front.

@lestephan: I'm glad I wasn't being completely stupid expecting something different then. Don't be sad about Moon, I think it's a great game on its own.

For what it's worth, GameXplain put up a review that said that the new stuff picks up about halfway through the game. I just finished up my Alolan pokedex for the first game and the new stuff sounds substantial enough that I'm still excited to play again.

Can you transfer pokes between Switch and 3DS?

@quid_pro_bono: I just finished 60 hours in Gold and 100% Sun a few months ago, so if I knew this would be mostly the same I don't think I would have got it. It's good that there is new stuff but after that much Pokémon I was just ready to experience the new stuff. I'm not against it in principal. Is there a national Dex this time?

@ballsleon There is no Switch Pokémon game. This is for the 3DS, though it is the last one.

...d-does pikachu talk?

@alistercat: Dang, I thought they were porting to Switch. Gf will be bummed :(

Is it too easy like the other recent pokemon games?

@kblosnack: Yes.

@alistercat: Bummer, I miss the days of SoulSilver

Well I guess I'm glad I never got around to picking up the original version, if this is really just the same thing with an expansion pack in the tail end.

@teddie: yeah, may as well get one of these. Either would be OK though.

Is there any reason to play S/M or should I just skip to Ultra if this is just a supped-up version?

@ballsleon: They've already said they're making a Switch Pokemon game. This just isn't the one.

Huh. Count me in the boat of people who thought it was a new story. From the marketing it really seemed like more of a Black/White 2 situation than a Yellow.

@kblosnack: Soulsilver wasn't hard. The level curve was just awful.

@kblosnack: @mezza: having just finished Silver on virtual console, it is definitely true of the original. Don't know about the remake. It's rough, not exactly difficult. Though I would also like a hard mode for adults but that's not the target audience.

Also just to the topic in general, for anyone disappointed by lack of changes, most of the new stuff is backloaded. A lot of the new content doesn't show up until the story starts to pick up later on in the game. A large portion of the additions, and in my opinion the coolest add on is in the post game as well. It's definitely a "Yellow" situation, but it is the biggest enhanced version they have done. How much that means to you will likely depend on how much you want another Pokemon experience and on how much you liked Alola. Personally Alola has been my favorite region yet, so I welcome an enhanced redo of the games. But I suspect a lot of people might be okay only having played Sun/Moon if they weren't hot on it the first time around.

Just a couple helpful additions they added that aren't spoilers:

Some hard to evolve Pokemon are much easier this time. No more waiting til the end of the game to get Vikavolt.

Many Gen 7 Pokemon have new moves in their arsenal. This helps a lot that had horrible movesets or just didn't have good moves for the type they were.

The available Pokemon count was increased to around 400, so more of your favorites might be included.

@AlisterCat It's been a year or two since I played the remakes, and have played the VC release more recently, but my memory of it was that the remakes were actually worse with the levels. They decrease the levels of some of the gym leaders which only serves to create larger gaps. The post game is also more extensive (think lvl 60-70 gym leader rebattles and of course Red after you beat both leagues) but the general Kanto content isn't adjusted to compensate. So you're stuck grinding. And since its not Crystal you can't get many of the new Pokemon outside of the safari until Kanto all of which are around lvl 10-30. It felt like a hard game in terms of time commitment, but not for any fun reasons. (I'm someone who loves Gen 2, just as a disclaimer)

@mezza: other than the repetition the only thing I've not liking is the new music and interface. I think the remixes sound awful and the UI looks like the designers of the card game took a crack at it.

Reached my first new area, the beach near the motel.

@alistercat: UI sounds like a bit od a bummer. I havent seen it myself yet since I've mainly just been following leaks.

@mezza: it's fine, just a step backwards. It changes every game and in most of them it's bad. It took them like 15 years to let you freely move around pokemon in box and party so I'm used to it.

Have you run into any of the alolan forms for the gen one starters?

@socuteboss: I didn't know there were any. I'm still early on.

@socuteboss: There are no new Alola forms. And none for the gen 1 starters. You can catch the gen 1 starters with island scan however.

@mezza:

I thought I saw something about that, though I never tried to verify it so maybe it was just a fake rumor.

Pokémon Bank support won't be coming until the end of the month which is a shame. I may be done with the game by then.