First Gameplay Demo of Pokemon Sun and Moon

Nintendo’s E3 Treehouse Event is almost entirely dedicated to the new Legend of Zelda game, but they also had time to show off Pokemon Sun and Moon. One of the Treehouse hosts played through an early segment of the game.

According to the Game Freak developers, they chose the titles of Pokemon Sun and Moon because the Sun is the source of all life, and the Moon affects all of our lives as well. The developers chose it as an expression of the Pokemon world being filled with life and energy. The legendary Pokemon have a unique role never before seen in the games to date. Zygarde will have an important place in the upcoming Sun and Moon story too. The demo takes place after the trainer moved to the area and received their starting Pokemon, and they’re on their way to a festival in a neighboring town. The first Pokemon they encountered was a Ledyba, continuing the tradition of encountering Pokemon from older generations of the video games.

Next they encountered a new Pokemon called Yungoos. Pokemon battles are indicated more distinctly via an onscreen visual cue – your top screen gets a shadow at the top of the bottom, and the trainer themselves is seen throwing a poke ball up and down themselves. Then they encountered a new Pokemon titled Pikipek (Although not shown during gameplay, a third new Pokemon called Grubbin was also revealed). The trainer reaches the Pokemon festival, and battles a trainer named Hau in a ritual to kickoff their adventures traveling across the region. Pokemon moves are now indicated as “Super Effective” and so forth before you even use them. A new type of Battle Mode, known as Battle Royale, was announced. Instead of the standard 1 on 1 type of Pokemon battle, this new mode has a four way battle between Pokemon take place.

That was all they had time to show for the game. Pokemon Sun and Moon arrives November 18th of this year for the Nintendo 3DS.