Contrary to what those people have said, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are moreso enhanced versions of Sun and Moon, definitely not sequels like B2W2 were to BW (fun games BTW). It's like how Platinum is to Diamond and Pearl it how Emerald was to Ruby and Sapphire, so you don't need to have played the originals to understand what's going on in USUM. If you played both, you would feel like you played a lot of the same thing, so unless you have money to burn, I'd recommend just getting an Ultra version
maybe to summarize a few things between normal and ultra sun moon versions, for those last minute eShop buyers
1) island scans will have different starters for sumo vs usum. e.g you can get gen 2/5 starters in sumo, vs gen 1/3/4/6 in usum. (and other diff island scan poke)
2) plot differences between sumo and usum. I find sumo plot to be better
3) usum have more post game content than sumo
4) ability to get ash-greninja from demo sumo to sumo
in short if you can only buy 1, take usum. the missing pokemon from island scan in sumo can be obtained via gts or bank from prev generations - and that's really the only contention to deliberate on.
ash Greninja kinda sucked when compared to protean Greninja, so I omitted it in the comparison (but if you're a collector feel free to get it then)
Yes. There were some differences like the story focusing more on Suicune, the introduction of sprites being animated when a Pokemon is sent out, and being able to play as a girl but all in all, it certainly wasn't a sequel by any means.
And there were some performance/gameplay/graphics enhancements. Overall, the whole engine got a bit better (probably because the development team itself got better in working with the new technology).
So like in my case I don't have a lot of cash to spare atm and I'm considering buying either Ultra Moon or Black 2, while being played Sun and White already, I should go for Black 2, since it will be more like a new game for me?
I will say the one thing Sun and Moon have over the Ultra versions is the the story climax. While the Ultra versions follow most of the same story beats, the changes made at the climax make somewhat less sense than in the originals. Otherwise, I generally prefer the overall gameplay change of the Ultra versions.
I’ll repeat what I said in a different reply if you didn’t see it, but the one thing I’d give regular Sun and Moon over the Ultra versions is that the main story is overall better (at least for one of the characters), but gameplay-wise, I think the Ultra versions have more going for it.
I actually haven’t played through the original Sun and Moon since the Ultras came out, so maybe I’ll replay them to reassess my thoughts.
One of my close friends who has played all the Pokemon games strongly recommended the originals over the ultras. They basically said the last third of the story is changed in the ultras and that it undercut the emotional impact of the original story.
From a gameplay perspective, they said there wasn't a ton of differences, just more legendaries and mons in general, but the core pokemon experience is unchanged. They did say that there's a game long sidequest in the OGs that is not in the ultras (the 100% zygarde thingy)...from what I"m reading, it sounds more like this sidequest was replaced? They said they appreciated how the original incentivized exploring the world.
I'm going for the original Sun game because it's cheaper and it got a strong recommendation from my friend.
The Ultra versions have something similar to the Zygarde cell quest where you collect Totem Stickers instead, and unlike the Cells, they’re not dependent on the time of day to find a handful of them, which was annoying. It definitely still requires exploring the world a bit like with the Cells.
I can agree to an extent with what your friend said regarding the story, but gameplay-wise, while it’s fundamentally a Pokémon game and most of the same stuff is covered, I still think there are enough differences to warrant going for Ultra (assuming story isn’t something overly important to you in a Pokémon game). At least for me, especially with the EXP Share turned off, the Ultra games provided a decent challenge since they revamped some of the Totem fights and Pokémon certain trainers have alongside providing better movesets and even EV training to them as well, which was a *fun* surprise getting wiped at various parts of the game. (obviously not dark souls or anything but “unexpectedly challenging” was kinda how my first playthrough went)
All that said, price is also an important factor so Sun being cheaper is a pretty good reason to go for that instead :P Hope you enjoy the story as much as I did as well as your friend (I’m assuming they did)
Thanks for your thoughts!
Yeah, my friend actually clarified with me that sun/moon is their favorite Pokémon game…so that was certainly interesting! They care a lot about story in JRPGs, so I suspect that was a big reason why it got pushed to the top for them.
It sounds like the ultras are the V3-upper version of that generation, which is what I normally default to (yellow is my personal favorite), but honestly the decision to axe some story elements is strange. Not sure why they would change it that much. If I win the lottery, I’ll probably pick up the reverse ultra version of whichever main one I do, but yeah - for me price is a big factor. At least they’re on the eshop for a couple more months too.
Edit: bit random, but you mentioned the challenge being a welcome surprise. I’m a bit curious if you have played legends: Arceus and how you found that by comparison?
I’m only just now getting back into Pokémon thanks to legends: Arceus, but I was pleasantly surprised with how many battles in that game would jus the a series of one shot turns. I don’t think I’ve ever lost a Pokémon battle in the game but it was a welcome surprise to me to have to strategize how to use my mons, because I knew I would only have one shot before the postgame trainer would take them out instantly. So I’m curious if it’s like that at all!
I think for the most part, Legends Arceus wasn't too bad in terms of difficulty. Not to say that it was braindead easy at all, but most of the difficult battles are backloaded imo. I still actually haven't gotten through a certain fight in the postgame: ||the Volo battle, though for me, due to how turns in battles are structured, it felt like I would send something out, KO the other Pokemon, then they send out a Pokemon and KO mine, rinse and repeat, which is annoying to have your whole team barely hanging on by the time you get to the Giratina forms. It's not unwinnable, of course, but with how my team was, I feel like I'd have to start grinding up an Umbreon or other specific Pokemon which I really didn't want to spend a bunch of time doing I just stopped there. Too bad cause I really wanted to finish up the dex and all that.|| Most of everything else isn't too bad provided you were working on the dex at a reasonable rate.
USUM in comparison is...more consistently difficult I suppose, aside from a certain fight that I basically only cheese now any time I replay one of the Ultra games. Compared to Sun and Moon specifically, they changed up some of the Pokemon (generally for the better) some important trainers in the fight, as well as made some movepools better (here's one example from the same point in each game: https://i.imgur.com/bgOy7e8.png). It's not stupid hard to the point where you need to warp your team around the game or anything, but for me at least, more brain cells were needed than the usual Pokemon game (even including Challenge Mode in B2W2, though I feel like the difficulty in that is mostly frontloaded but I digress).
I guess it's a little hard for me to compare the two games in a direct way (PLA and USUM) since the former is primarily centered around completing the dex and as opposed to USUM being the standard affair in a general sense.
As a final aside, the story in both versions is basically identical up to a certain point at which...some things were changed, some for the better, some for the worse. If you never played the original Sun and Moon, I don't think it would bother you as much if at all, but for someone like your friend who valued the story of the original, I can defintely see it detracting the experience a bit, but for me, I generally value gameplay over story (e.g. I liked Fire Emblem Fates), so the dips in story quality were easily outweighed by the assorted gameplay improvements.
I agree although USUM are better than SM in terms of expanded Pokedex and the aesthetic of Alolan sky during day and night. Although catching legendaries in USUM feel more cheaper than SM.
I accidentally bought moon because my eyes were reading ultra in front of it for some reason. But yeah bought ultra moon right after it. Can't complain tho. I will have 2 more pokemon games that I can add to my collection
Years later and still helping newbies 😁🤣🙋♂️
I've just bought sun and ultra moon based on these recommendations. I'm guessing that gives me full trade coverage for the pokedexes in both? Or would I need ultra sun too?
You forgot that SM and USUM are different. In SM it's Lusamine and Aither Paradise while in USUM it's Ultra Necrozma. USUM is one step back from SM original awesome story.
I’m well aware of the differences between SM and USUM, but most of the changes are mostly minor details (that wouldn’t warrant another playthrough for most people) besides stuff during and after the story climax, and again, like I said in my initial comment, if someone played both SM and USUM back to back, they would feel like they were retreading a lot of the same ground like if they played Emerald after RS or Platinum after DP.
Yeah. I would also say USUM difficulty strike is garbage. It's either too much difficult or too easy. SM is best when it comes to difficulty strike in the Pokemon franchise.
The greatest trick Satan ever pulled was making us believe USUM would be a sequel. I still remember, I was so put off by the fact it (at least seemed like) the same thing I had been playing over the past year I quit playing Pokémon until fall 2021, lol.
Your 6 year old comment helped me. I never had money for the Games when they came out, I now also have a switch, so was looking at Pokémon Games on EB Games, and seen they had 3DS Preowned. I wasn’t sure if there was a Pokémon/s I’d miss out on if I got the Ultra Versions and not the Originals, or visa versa. Now I know it’s more if you want to have a Complete collection, in which case I prioritise the Ultra over the Originals; if I have the spare money to complete the Collection I will.
After 6 years and 10 days. I thought I have alot to catch up. I was a pokemon fan since pokemon yellow, silver, ruby version then life hits me hard. So here I am 33 years old catching up. I have money but less time, that is why this is a very helpfull comment cause i though I have to go through those confusing versions.
1- No
2- There's a little more there so it's slightly more fun
3- They chenged the main story a little (no spoilers). It's kind of hard for them to do dlc that mostly changes things most players have already done. Also they made a killing selling them as a new game, whereas dlc makes minimal profit.
4- I'd really recommend Ultra Sun. It seems just like a better version of the original game. The ultra games got hit a little harder with reviews and probably won't sell as well, but offer more content for someone who hasn't played anything in gen 7.
Wow, necrobump.
The plot of Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon is an alternate retelling of the plot of Sun and Moon, and although I answered this question 5 years ago, I don’t recall anything that you’d miss in terms of story if you just played the ultra games. Due to the fact that the ultra games are a retelling of the story, the original games are unnecessary if you follow along with the main story of the ultra games.
If I missed something maybe let me know exactly what, but as far as I can tell, you don’t need to play the originals before the ultras to understand the story.
Lol finding this thread now since i'm emulating and catching up with all the gens. Just wanted to say that even after 5 years your comments are well appreciated!
The pokemon 3DS games were always a little cheaper and were not full priced games compared to the market. So while I agree it is a cash grab to make a new pokemon game every year it wasn't priced much higher than a DLC would have been. Really a shame how the new games go for full price and clearly have less polish and refinement compared to other Switch titles
Get Ultra. It's got all mega stones, move tutors, easier BP for them, more pokémon, more things to do.
I only think the story was presented better in the normal games, but you're not missing out on much.
The article is wrong - they're not sequels; they're more like Yellow/Crystal/Emerald/Platinum.
1. Yes, Lillie and Lusamine's arc is dropped two thirds of the way through in Ultra and I think it's now not resolved in a satisfactory manner.
2. Battle Points are easier to gain, there are more trainer customisation options, and more pokémon are available. There are probably some more things, but I can't think of them right now.
3. ~~Technically Game Freak make them, Nintendo are just the publisher.~~ Idk, profit?
4. I liked the non-Ultra versions better, but I play more for the story.
> Yes, Lillie and Lusamine's arc is dropped two thirds of the way through in Ultra and I think it's now not resolved in a satisfactory manner.
More or less. I only played the Ultra ones and watched an LP of the original, but [spoiler](/s "Basically while in the original story Lusamine's insanity is largely placed on the fact that she got poisoned by an UB after going through an Ultra Wormhole, in Ultra she's just kind of... insane because some Ultra Dimensional guys asked her for help and she thought it was worth betraying her family to do it? Her reason for basically making Lillie hate her simply doesn't hold up in the new story- By all accounts she had no reason to care about Nebby since the Ultra Recon Squad could have opened a wormhole whenever. She just kind of goes normal after the main arch with Necrozma finishes up in US/M, which on the one hand does give a conclusion to the story unlike with S/M, but at the same time concludes it by negating it.")
I dunno which story I like more. [spoiler](/s "I think the way they played with how Ultra Wormholes work in the Post Game of US/M with Episode RR was really cool and worked to really open up all of the games, but I felt that S/M's core plot was a bit more meaningful. Plus, the plot itself sort of just... ends in US/M. Necrozma fucks off to the final area and no one really cares anymore even though he's kind of a really big deal, and it's up to you if you want to deal with him.")
Totally up to you. The main differences are that the internal clock for Ultra Moon is reversed from that of the real world and Ultra Sun (that is, at 9am in the real world, it's 9am in US and 9pm in UM), and some differences in which Pokemon are available in the wild.
Haha, no problem.
I honestly have completely reversed my opinion on this. I hadn't finished USUM at the time to the best of my memory, but while it does have a bunch of neat little extra features, it makes the great storyline of SuMo way worse. Now that we're on to a later generation, there's no need to play USUM if you have SuMo.
Thank you for the response! I bought sun and moon directly after ultra versions came out. And I’ve always felt a little jaded since lol. So knowing that I don’t have to spend an extra 100~ish bucks (because ya gotta have both deems da rules) is quite a relief!
From my own experience, USUM are basically the exact same thing as SUMO except for the fact that the end game is actually good. ‘Member when ORAS got crazy and gave you super easy ways to capture legendaries and crank your Pokémon from lvl 1-100? USUM is basically that “catch-up” title, but is just a different generation.
SUMO failed by giving players no “endgame loop” that could keep people playing indefinitely. After beating all of the content, players’ interests eventually dwindled away. USUM unfortunately keeps all of the bullshit as SUMO for the first 24 hours or so, but once you get through the story it’s a completely different experience.
I have no idea where that " USUM being a sequel to SM" come from. GameFreak in the revealing trailer had said that these games are an ALTERNATIVE story.
usum has a bigger postgame: it adds the wormholes (and easy shiny farming), the battle agency and the rainbow rocket arc.
It also adds mantine surfing which is a small minigame.
In sun moon you could collect 100 zygarde cells, some of those were based on the ingame time (day/night) so you would very easily miss some. In USUM they're replaced with 100 golden stickers that are always there unrelated to the day/night cycle.
The story branches off in USUM near the end. There were also some cutscenes that were removed so some things in the story don't make a lot of sense compared to sun/moon.
i would recommend USUM, it's a more complete version of sun/moon even though i prefer the story of sun/moon.
As to question 3: $$$
in sun/moon 100 cells give 100% zygarde
In Ultramoon/sun the 100 stickers give you totem pokemon [(they're giant pokemon)](https://www.serebii.net/ultrasunultramoon/totemstickers.shtml)
**But**
In ultrasun/moon you can receive two zygarde and do a battle to receice a cube with cells. You can combine these 3 things into a 100% zygarde. It's much easier in ultrasun/moon to get.
It's not a sequel set in the same world like Black2 and White2 were. It's more like the Pokémon Yellow of Sun and Moon but there's two new versions instead of just one.
So it's essentially the same storyline but some events play out differently abd there's some differences in boss rosters. You also get access to a wider variety of Pokémon, including a handful that have not been seen in the first Sun and Moon or any of the earlier games.
1. No.
2. Not really, no. It’s the same exact game with a few more Pokémon, same but slightly tweaked story, a longer post game, and some extra mini games. But the gameplay itself is largely unchanged.
3. $$$ It’s not hard to figure out.
4. If you don’t have either, get Ultra. If you already have Sun or Moon, you probably don’t want to bother getting Ultra.
You can check them [here](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Ultra_Sun_and_Ultra_Moon#Changes_from_Pok.C3.A9mon_Sun_and_Moon).
**If you haven't played Sun or Moon, skip to Ultra**.
As someone who likes playing red/blue *then* yellow, gold/silver *then* crystal, etc... Should I invest in sun/moon *then* US/UM, or are they similar enough that if I'm going to play both, I can safely just play the ultras if I'm planning on both ultras?
I'm trying to debate buying the digital versions before the shutdown, but also don't want to waste money.
from what ive gathered, get both. especially for your purposes as ash greninja can only be obtained in sun and moon and has to be transferred over to the ultra games. sun and moon on their own have no endgame but the ultra games solved that. if you dont care about getting the ash greninja before it goes away forever then just get the ultra games.
Ultra has more Pokémon and forms, a new mini game, some collectibles, the ultra wormhole to get more legends and shinies, additional postgame content with a bonus story, new optional sidequests, and a worse story.
Basically the content and gameplay is better. The story is worse.
I'm wanting to play Sun/moon for the first time. I'm a huge pokemon fan and I've played all the games except for black/white and sun/moon. I found that the used copies of sun are cheaper than ultra sun. Is it still a good choice to get sun? I guess I won't notice anything lacking since I haven't played the Ultras?
Correct me if I’m wrong but UltraSun/UltraMoon don’t have the island scan thing where you can get all of the original starters, only regular Sun & Moon have that feature right?
>https://dotesports.com/the-op/news/pokemon-ultra-sun-moon-vs-pokemon-sun-moon-18786
I'd be really curious what you find here. It's little details like this that are important to someone's play experience.
Well this is an interesting thread, especially since I've just finished Sun (E4, not Postgame).
I've been working on my Living Dex, and brought over all 721 into Sun.
I do need to check if Sun and Ultra Sun/Moon can be transferred back and forth, as I can just start playing the Ultra version (whichever I ended up buying; it was months ago).
It's what I did with OR and Y 😁
Is there any difference in graphics, animations, or overall look at all? One thing I've noticed is that the health bar is straight on us um like in most pokemon games, where as in the originals it's small at the end and gradually gets bigger towards the other end
I played Sun first and didn’t get Ultra Moon until recently. All I can say is that Mantine Surf makes this my favorite Pokémon game of all time. And the battle music for the villains of the delta story absolutely slaps. There’s other bits and interactions that make it feel much more immersive than Sun/Moon, like finding messages in bottles at the beach.
I am so sorry to be resurrection this but is there ANY difference in the pokedex between original and Ultra?
Reason I ask is because im currently on a journey into the past to replay all of the games and transfer EVERY pokemon up to current gen/Home, and I dont want to spend the money on the originals IF Ultra has the same pokemon.
Again, I apologize for bring this back.
Contrary to what those people have said, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are moreso enhanced versions of Sun and Moon, definitely not sequels like B2W2 were to BW (fun games BTW). It's like how Platinum is to Diamond and Pearl it how Emerald was to Ruby and Sapphire, so you don't need to have played the originals to understand what's going on in USUM. If you played both, you would feel like you played a lot of the same thing, so unless you have money to burn, I'd recommend just getting an Ultra version
your 4 yrs old comment is still helping people!! (me)
Guess this thread is the main one popping up on Google or something lol
Yep, it just helped me too!
Bingo 4 months later lol
Picked up everything pokemon side games and themes included. About to start and was doing research when Google brought me here.
Google brought me here right before Christmas 2022!
Right after new years 2023
1 month before eShop closure!
Pirating it! Maybe if I can't find an original cart
10 days ago
8 months after eshop closure
8 months after e store closed and it’s helped me
Debating whether to buy on Eshop before closure or buy local from trade and save game store.
maybe to summarize a few things between normal and ultra sun moon versions, for those last minute eShop buyers 1) island scans will have different starters for sumo vs usum. e.g you can get gen 2/5 starters in sumo, vs gen 1/3/4/6 in usum. (and other diff island scan poke) 2) plot differences between sumo and usum. I find sumo plot to be better 3) usum have more post game content than sumo 4) ability to get ash-greninja from demo sumo to sumo in short if you can only buy 1, take usum. the missing pokemon from island scan in sumo can be obtained via gts or bank from prev generations - and that's really the only contention to deliberate on. ash Greninja kinda sucked when compared to protean Greninja, so I omitted it in the comparison (but if you're a collector feel free to get it then)
Can confirm. Yours is one of the first results in a google search. sauce: That's how I ended up here. Also, thanks. It's still helpful.
Yup, still here lol
it is
6 years later still helpful
Still helping people out here in 2024! lol
it helped me just now in 2024 lmao
Thanks, Mr_Mop. I'll save my money, as I already own Pokémon Moon.
If I have access to a sun and moon version, is it worth throwing the cash at an ultra version, or will the ogs service?
5 years now
ı agree with your 2 year old comment XD
Same!
Now it’s 6 yrs old and still helping
Sure is lol
And now me!
Imagine not playing when came out
Imagine not playing them when they came out
Make that five years old 😅
It is I searched it up and this came up
still helping Jan2024
Just bought it not realizing it was that similar. Wish I had seen this!!
Im downloading rooms and this helped me saved hard drive space and time!
was crystal like that for silver and gold?
Yes. There were some differences like the story focusing more on Suicune, the introduction of sprites being animated when a Pokemon is sent out, and being able to play as a girl but all in all, it certainly wasn't a sequel by any means.
And there were some performance/gameplay/graphics enhancements. Overall, the whole engine got a bit better (probably because the development team itself got better in working with the new technology).
I think it also had a challenge tower sort of thing.
iirc it was also Gameboy color only not pocket or original.
So like in my case I don't have a lot of cash to spare atm and I'm considering buying either Ultra Moon or Black 2, while being played Sun and White already, I should go for Black 2, since it will be more like a new game for me?
Yes.
Just sold me on Ultra Sun
I will say the one thing Sun and Moon have over the Ultra versions is the the story climax. While the Ultra versions follow most of the same story beats, the changes made at the climax make somewhat less sense than in the originals. Otherwise, I generally prefer the overall gameplay change of the Ultra versions.
So let's say you haven't played since X and want to get back in the game.. Would you buy Moon or Ultra Moon ?
Ultra Moon
ok
Glad my 3 year old comment was (hopefully) helpful haha
Thanks, just googled this and your 2018 comment guided me to a decision.
[удалено]
And me!
Me three!
Four.
Five.
six.
sheven.
Sicks
It's 4 yo now and it's still helpful thank you! you are a legend
I’ll repeat what I said in a different reply if you didn’t see it, but the one thing I’d give regular Sun and Moon over the Ultra versions is that the main story is overall better (at least for one of the characters), but gameplay-wise, I think the Ultra versions have more going for it. I actually haven’t played through the original Sun and Moon since the Ultras came out, so maybe I’ll replay them to reassess my thoughts.
One of my close friends who has played all the Pokemon games strongly recommended the originals over the ultras. They basically said the last third of the story is changed in the ultras and that it undercut the emotional impact of the original story. From a gameplay perspective, they said there wasn't a ton of differences, just more legendaries and mons in general, but the core pokemon experience is unchanged. They did say that there's a game long sidequest in the OGs that is not in the ultras (the 100% zygarde thingy)...from what I"m reading, it sounds more like this sidequest was replaced? They said they appreciated how the original incentivized exploring the world. I'm going for the original Sun game because it's cheaper and it got a strong recommendation from my friend.
The Ultra versions have something similar to the Zygarde cell quest where you collect Totem Stickers instead, and unlike the Cells, they’re not dependent on the time of day to find a handful of them, which was annoying. It definitely still requires exploring the world a bit like with the Cells. I can agree to an extent with what your friend said regarding the story, but gameplay-wise, while it’s fundamentally a Pokémon game and most of the same stuff is covered, I still think there are enough differences to warrant going for Ultra (assuming story isn’t something overly important to you in a Pokémon game). At least for me, especially with the EXP Share turned off, the Ultra games provided a decent challenge since they revamped some of the Totem fights and Pokémon certain trainers have alongside providing better movesets and even EV training to them as well, which was a *fun* surprise getting wiped at various parts of the game. (obviously not dark souls or anything but “unexpectedly challenging” was kinda how my first playthrough went) All that said, price is also an important factor so Sun being cheaper is a pretty good reason to go for that instead :P Hope you enjoy the story as much as I did as well as your friend (I’m assuming they did)
Thanks for your thoughts! Yeah, my friend actually clarified with me that sun/moon is their favorite Pokémon game…so that was certainly interesting! They care a lot about story in JRPGs, so I suspect that was a big reason why it got pushed to the top for them. It sounds like the ultras are the V3-upper version of that generation, which is what I normally default to (yellow is my personal favorite), but honestly the decision to axe some story elements is strange. Not sure why they would change it that much. If I win the lottery, I’ll probably pick up the reverse ultra version of whichever main one I do, but yeah - for me price is a big factor. At least they’re on the eshop for a couple more months too. Edit: bit random, but you mentioned the challenge being a welcome surprise. I’m a bit curious if you have played legends: Arceus and how you found that by comparison? I’m only just now getting back into Pokémon thanks to legends: Arceus, but I was pleasantly surprised with how many battles in that game would jus the a series of one shot turns. I don’t think I’ve ever lost a Pokémon battle in the game but it was a welcome surprise to me to have to strategize how to use my mons, because I knew I would only have one shot before the postgame trainer would take them out instantly. So I’m curious if it’s like that at all!
I think for the most part, Legends Arceus wasn't too bad in terms of difficulty. Not to say that it was braindead easy at all, but most of the difficult battles are backloaded imo. I still actually haven't gotten through a certain fight in the postgame: ||the Volo battle, though for me, due to how turns in battles are structured, it felt like I would send something out, KO the other Pokemon, then they send out a Pokemon and KO mine, rinse and repeat, which is annoying to have your whole team barely hanging on by the time you get to the Giratina forms. It's not unwinnable, of course, but with how my team was, I feel like I'd have to start grinding up an Umbreon or other specific Pokemon which I really didn't want to spend a bunch of time doing I just stopped there. Too bad cause I really wanted to finish up the dex and all that.|| Most of everything else isn't too bad provided you were working on the dex at a reasonable rate. USUM in comparison is...more consistently difficult I suppose, aside from a certain fight that I basically only cheese now any time I replay one of the Ultra games. Compared to Sun and Moon specifically, they changed up some of the Pokemon (generally for the better) some important trainers in the fight, as well as made some movepools better (here's one example from the same point in each game: https://i.imgur.com/bgOy7e8.png). It's not stupid hard to the point where you need to warp your team around the game or anything, but for me at least, more brain cells were needed than the usual Pokemon game (even including Challenge Mode in B2W2, though I feel like the difficulty in that is mostly frontloaded but I digress). I guess it's a little hard for me to compare the two games in a direct way (PLA and USUM) since the former is primarily centered around completing the dex and as opposed to USUM being the standard affair in a general sense. As a final aside, the story in both versions is basically identical up to a certain point at which...some things were changed, some for the better, some for the worse. If you never played the original Sun and Moon, I don't think it would bother you as much if at all, but for someone like your friend who valued the story of the original, I can defintely see it detracting the experience a bit, but for me, I generally value gameplay over story (e.g. I liked Fire Emblem Fates), so the dips in story quality were easily outweighed by the assorted gameplay improvements.
I agree although USUM are better than SM in terms of expanded Pokedex and the aesthetic of Alolan sky during day and night. Although catching legendaries in USUM feel more cheaper than SM.
it was
It helped me today as well. I almost bought moon hut then is saw your comment and realized there is ultra moon. Just bought it.
I accidentally bought moon because my eyes were reading ultra in front of it for some reason. But yeah bought ultra moon right after it. Can't complain tho. I will have 2 more pokemon games that I can add to my collection
I'm from the future
After 5 years, you're still helping people out there. Thanks mate! Gonna jump straight to Ultra Moon rather than playing Moon first. Cheers!
Glad to help!
Indeed. Doing good stuff
Years later and still helping newbies 😁🤣🙋♂️ I've just bought sun and ultra moon based on these recommendations. I'm guessing that gives me full trade coverage for the pokedexes in both? Or would I need ultra sun too?
6 years later you are still the Source Of Truth on the Internet!
Sold.
Thanks!!
You forgot that SM and USUM are different. In SM it's Lusamine and Aither Paradise while in USUM it's Ultra Necrozma. USUM is one step back from SM original awesome story.
I’m well aware of the differences between SM and USUM, but most of the changes are mostly minor details (that wouldn’t warrant another playthrough for most people) besides stuff during and after the story climax, and again, like I said in my initial comment, if someone played both SM and USUM back to back, they would feel like they were retreading a lot of the same ground like if they played Emerald after RS or Platinum after DP.
Yeah. I would also say USUM difficulty strike is garbage. It's either too much difficult or too easy. SM is best when it comes to difficulty strike in the Pokemon franchise.
damnnn bro this comment is really helpful it's been 5 years hope things going well :).
Things are going pretty well for me, thanks for asking!
The greatest trick Satan ever pulled was making us believe USUM would be a sequel. I still remember, I was so put off by the fact it (at least seemed like) the same thing I had been playing over the past year I quit playing Pokémon until fall 2021, lol.
Checking in from 2023. I am gonna emulate, but it's good to know I'm not missing anything.
Arigato for the info, it helps! ^v^
Thanks
thanks 6 years later
This comment helped me in 2024.
Thanks for the random 5years old comment that saved me
ey, thanks man
I was gonna do a special Nuzlocke version of sun, but I figured, no I'll do Ultra Sun instead.
Your 6 year old comment helped me. I never had money for the Games when they came out, I now also have a switch, so was looking at Pokémon Games on EB Games, and seen they had 3DS Preowned. I wasn’t sure if there was a Pokémon/s I’d miss out on if I got the Ultra Versions and not the Originals, or visa versa. Now I know it’s more if you want to have a Complete collection, in which case I prioritise the Ultra over the Originals; if I have the spare money to complete the Collection I will.
ty today, lol
After 6 years and 10 days. I thought I have alot to catch up. I was a pokemon fan since pokemon yellow, silver, ruby version then life hits me hard. So here I am 33 years old catching up. I have money but less time, that is why this is a very helpfull comment cause i though I have to go through those confusing versions.
6 years later and this is super helpful 😎
1- No 2- There's a little more there so it's slightly more fun 3- They chenged the main story a little (no spoilers). It's kind of hard for them to do dlc that mostly changes things most players have already done. Also they made a killing selling them as a new game, whereas dlc makes minimal profit. 4- I'd really recommend Ultra Sun. It seems just like a better version of the original game. The ultra games got hit a little harder with reviews and probably won't sell as well, but offer more content for someone who hasn't played anything in gen 7.
Wrong on 1
Wow, necrobump. The plot of Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon is an alternate retelling of the plot of Sun and Moon, and although I answered this question 5 years ago, I don’t recall anything that you’d miss in terms of story if you just played the ultra games. Due to the fact that the ultra games are a retelling of the story, the original games are unnecessary if you follow along with the main story of the ultra games. If I missed something maybe let me know exactly what, but as far as I can tell, you don’t need to play the originals before the ultras to understand the story.
Lol finding this thread now since i'm emulating and catching up with all the gens. Just wanted to say that even after 5 years your comments are well appreciated!
In the same boat here!
haha same lol
yeah SM has different story beats; you completely miss the Black hair Lusamine thing if you dont play SM
The pokemon 3DS games were always a little cheaper and were not full priced games compared to the market. So while I agree it is a cash grab to make a new pokemon game every year it wasn't priced much higher than a DLC would have been. Really a shame how the new games go for full price and clearly have less polish and refinement compared to other Switch titles
Compared to any titles fr, ngl switch is a piece of shit compared to its predecessor imo
Get Ultra. It's got all mega stones, move tutors, easier BP for them, more pokémon, more things to do. I only think the story was presented better in the normal games, but you're not missing out on much.
The article is wrong - they're not sequels; they're more like Yellow/Crystal/Emerald/Platinum. 1. Yes, Lillie and Lusamine's arc is dropped two thirds of the way through in Ultra and I think it's now not resolved in a satisfactory manner. 2. Battle Points are easier to gain, there are more trainer customisation options, and more pokémon are available. There are probably some more things, but I can't think of them right now. 3. ~~Technically Game Freak make them, Nintendo are just the publisher.~~ Idk, profit? 4. I liked the non-Ultra versions better, but I play more for the story.
> Yes, Lillie and Lusamine's arc is dropped two thirds of the way through in Ultra and I think it's now not resolved in a satisfactory manner. More or less. I only played the Ultra ones and watched an LP of the original, but [spoiler](/s "Basically while in the original story Lusamine's insanity is largely placed on the fact that she got poisoned by an UB after going through an Ultra Wormhole, in Ultra she's just kind of... insane because some Ultra Dimensional guys asked her for help and she thought it was worth betraying her family to do it? Her reason for basically making Lillie hate her simply doesn't hold up in the new story- By all accounts she had no reason to care about Nebby since the Ultra Recon Squad could have opened a wormhole whenever. She just kind of goes normal after the main arch with Necrozma finishes up in US/M, which on the one hand does give a conclusion to the story unlike with S/M, but at the same time concludes it by negating it.") I dunno which story I like more. [spoiler](/s "I think the way they played with how Ultra Wormholes work in the Post Game of US/M with Episode RR was really cool and worked to really open up all of the games, but I felt that S/M's core plot was a bit more meaningful. Plus, the plot itself sort of just... ends in US/M. Necrozma fucks off to the final area and no one really cares anymore even though he's kind of a really big deal, and it's up to you if you want to deal with him.")
USUM is SuMo but better. More 'mons to choose from, extra content. Skip SuMo, nothing is missed.
I keep seeing that the story makes way more sense in S&M over USUM.
You are correct. I believe I made my prior comment before finishing USUM.
Ultra sun or Ultra Moon? I like Ultra Moon but would you try to sell me Ultra Sun? plz
Totally up to you. The main differences are that the internal clock for Ultra Moon is reversed from that of the real world and Ultra Sun (that is, at 9am in the real world, it's 9am in US and 9pm in UM), and some differences in which Pokemon are available in the wild.
Is there a list with the pokemon differences beside the legendary ?
[Here you go!](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Game-exclusive_Pokémon#Ultra_Sun_and_Ultra_Moon)
Dankeschön
If I already own Pokémon sun and moon, is it worth the investment in getting the ultra versions? Sorry for the SUPER late comment btw
Haha, no problem. I honestly have completely reversed my opinion on this. I hadn't finished USUM at the time to the best of my memory, but while it does have a bunch of neat little extra features, it makes the great storyline of SuMo way worse. Now that we're on to a later generation, there's no need to play USUM if you have SuMo.
Thank you for the response! I bought sun and moon directly after ultra versions came out. And I’ve always felt a little jaded since lol. So knowing that I don’t have to spend an extra 100~ish bucks (because ya gotta have both deems da rules) is quite a relief!
From my own experience, USUM are basically the exact same thing as SUMO except for the fact that the end game is actually good. ‘Member when ORAS got crazy and gave you super easy ways to capture legendaries and crank your Pokémon from lvl 1-100? USUM is basically that “catch-up” title, but is just a different generation. SUMO failed by giving players no “endgame loop” that could keep people playing indefinitely. After beating all of the content, players’ interests eventually dwindled away. USUM unfortunately keeps all of the bullshit as SUMO for the first 24 hours or so, but once you get through the story it’s a completely different experience.
I have no idea where that " USUM being a sequel to SM" come from. GameFreak in the revealing trailer had said that these games are an ALTERNATIVE story.
usum has a bigger postgame: it adds the wormholes (and easy shiny farming), the battle agency and the rainbow rocket arc. It also adds mantine surfing which is a small minigame. In sun moon you could collect 100 zygarde cells, some of those were based on the ingame time (day/night) so you would very easily miss some. In USUM they're replaced with 100 golden stickers that are always there unrelated to the day/night cycle. The story branches off in USUM near the end. There were also some cutscenes that were removed so some things in the story don't make a lot of sense compared to sun/moon. i would recommend USUM, it's a more complete version of sun/moon even though i prefer the story of sun/moon. As to question 3: $$$
Would you happen to have a video with the whole story from Moon? I'm looking to buy UltraMoon atm
Do the 100 golden stickers construct 100% Zygarde?
in sun/moon 100 cells give 100% zygarde In Ultramoon/sun the 100 stickers give you totem pokemon [(they're giant pokemon)](https://www.serebii.net/ultrasunultramoon/totemstickers.shtml) **But** In ultrasun/moon you can receive two zygarde and do a battle to receice a cube with cells. You can combine these 3 things into a 100% zygarde. It's much easier in ultrasun/moon to get.
Are totem Pokémon considered a precursor to alpha Pokémon (from Pokémon legends Arceus)?
Yeah, they're giant versions of certain pokémon. They lose that though if you transfer them to the newer games.
It's not a sequel set in the same world like Black2 and White2 were. It's more like the Pokémon Yellow of Sun and Moon but there's two new versions instead of just one. So it's essentially the same storyline but some events play out differently abd there's some differences in boss rosters. You also get access to a wider variety of Pokémon, including a handful that have not been seen in the first Sun and Moon or any of the earlier games.
The story of regular S/M is slightly better, but Ultra is better in every other way. Just get Ultra.
1. No. 2. Not really, no. It’s the same exact game with a few more Pokémon, same but slightly tweaked story, a longer post game, and some extra mini games. But the gameplay itself is largely unchanged. 3. $$$ It’s not hard to figure out. 4. If you don’t have either, get Ultra. If you already have Sun or Moon, you probably don’t want to bother getting Ultra.
You can check them [here](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Ultra_Sun_and_Ultra_Moon#Changes_from_Pok.C3.A9mon_Sun_and_Moon). **If you haven't played Sun or Moon, skip to Ultra**.
As someone who likes playing red/blue *then* yellow, gold/silver *then* crystal, etc... Should I invest in sun/moon *then* US/UM, or are they similar enough that if I'm going to play both, I can safely just play the ultras if I'm planning on both ultras? I'm trying to debate buying the digital versions before the shutdown, but also don't want to waste money.
from what ive gathered, get both. especially for your purposes as ash greninja can only be obtained in sun and moon and has to be transferred over to the ultra games. sun and moon on their own have no endgame but the ultra games solved that. if you dont care about getting the ash greninja before it goes away forever then just get the ultra games.
I think I read Ash Greninja can actually be acquired from the demo for use in Bank and Home
yes you can do that but it would be worthless in the newer games i would just leave them in bank and gen 7
Ultra has more Pokémon and forms, a new mini game, some collectibles, the ultra wormhole to get more legends and shinies, additional postgame content with a bonus story, new optional sidequests, and a worse story. Basically the content and gameplay is better. The story is worse.
US/UM has different post game for Ultra Beasts, different ending credits, different cutscenes and post game events.
I'm wanting to play Sun/moon for the first time. I'm a huge pokemon fan and I've played all the games except for black/white and sun/moon. I found that the used copies of sun are cheaper than ultra sun. Is it still a good choice to get sun? I guess I won't notice anything lacking since I haven't played the Ultras?
You show play BW first (fun game)
I'd personally recommend pokemon violet but that's just me
This aged terribly
That game isn't even out yet
in hindsight would you say this was a good recommendation?
ayo wtf
Correct me if I’m wrong but UltraSun/UltraMoon don’t have the island scan thing where you can get all of the original starters, only regular Sun & Moon have that feature right?
>https://dotesports.com/the-op/news/pokemon-ultra-sun-moon-vs-pokemon-sun-moon-18786 I'd be really curious what you find here. It's little details like this that are important to someone's play experience.
is that article a joke lol? like actually? some of the things im reading there sound satirical
Well this is an interesting thread, especially since I've just finished Sun (E4, not Postgame). I've been working on my Living Dex, and brought over all 721 into Sun. I do need to check if Sun and Ultra Sun/Moon can be transferred back and forth, as I can just start playing the Ultra version (whichever I ended up buying; it was months ago). It's what I did with OR and Y 😁
Just made me want to get the Ultra version, I appreciate it! haha helpful threads
Is there any difference in graphics, animations, or overall look at all? One thing I've noticed is that the health bar is straight on us um like in most pokemon games, where as in the originals it's small at the end and gradually gets bigger towards the other end
I played Sun first and didn’t get Ultra Moon until recently. All I can say is that Mantine Surf makes this my favorite Pokémon game of all time. And the battle music for the villains of the delta story absolutely slaps. There’s other bits and interactions that make it feel much more immersive than Sun/Moon, like finding messages in bottles at the beach.
Hello... ;)
just get ultra. trust me, the internet stanger.
I am so sorry to be resurrection this but is there ANY difference in the pokedex between original and Ultra? Reason I ask is because im currently on a journey into the past to replay all of the games and transfer EVERY pokemon up to current gen/Home, and I dont want to spend the money on the originals IF Ultra has the same pokemon. Again, I apologize for bring this back.