Pokemon Sun cover art

Pokemon Sun

An Alolan island-trial reinvention of the Pokemon formula that swaps gyms for totem battles.

Here's the argument for where this game sits - disagree freely.
Match your experience?
EXECUTION0 /10READS2 /10VARIANCE3 /10OPTIMIZATION8 /10

the cheat-test profile

The four axes - the argument

Each axis is rated on its own - how far one cheat would trivialize the game here. They don't trade off; low on all four means the game is an experience, not a contest.

  1. Execution

    cheat: Aimbot - perfect inputs

    0/10

    Turn-based menus only

  2. Reads

    cheat: Out-predict an adaptive opponent

    2/10

    Totem battles are scripted, not adaptive

  3. Variance

    cheat: See what's hidden / map the RNG

    3/10

    SOS calls, encounters, and catch rolls add luck

  4. Optimization

    cheat: A perfect solver / coach

    8/10

    Trial puzzles and team matchups carry the game

How to read this

Each axis is named by the cheat that would break the game along it. Execution is the hands. Reads is out-thinking an adaptive opponent. Variance is hidden information & RNG. Optimization is the solvable systems layer. A game's region is the top one or two axes.

These four aren't one rating split four ways - they're independent 0-10 questions. A 9 on one axis takes nothing from the others, and a game low on all four isn't missing data: it's telling you there's no skill here to cheat.

The basis is how the majority actually plays this game - not a niche mode or a personal run. For a game with very different modes (a story campaign versus ranked multiplayer), that's the version most people mean.

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Game details

Released
2016
Developer
Game Freak
Franchise
Pokémon
Platforms
3DS
Modes
Single player, Multiplayer
IGDB critics
86/100
IGDB users
75/100
Role-playing (RPG)StrategyTurn-based strategy (TBS)AdventureScience fictionParty