‘Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon’ Receive Negative Reviews From Japanese Players

Game Freak’s “Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon” officially arrived last Friday after much anticipation from fans worldwide. However, it appears consumers in Japan are not really pleased with the new Pokémon installments as shown by the numerous 1-star ratings the games received online following their release.

The negative feedback toward “Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon” was first noticed by NintendoSoup. Per the publication, it is evident that Japanese players were disappointed with the new games for they received very low ratings on Amazon Japan just the day after their launch in the country.

So just how bad are the negative ratings? Well, out of the 124 customers who pre-ordered the games on Amazon Japan, 65 gave the new installments 1 out of 5 stars, 18 gave 2 stars and 7 rated the games 3 stars. Eleven customers rated “Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon” 4 stars, while 23 users gave the games 5 stars. The average star rating for the game is 2.5, and this is considered to be the lowest ever rating given to any Pokémon game on Amazon Japan.

NintendoSoup tried to justify the disappointing feedback to the newly released RPGs by noting that Japanese gamers tend to be harsher than gamers in the west. Another thing worth noting is the fact that third versions always tend to underperform when compared to their prequels or the mainline games.

The disappointing ratings came a day after Nintendo proudly shared on its website the new features in “Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon” that players should watch out for. The company stated at the time that the new games will feature a brand-new story that focuses on the secrets of Necrozma and the Alola region, new areas to explore, different Pokémon, new Z-Moves and new gameplay features.

Unfortunately, it seems the new features did not meet fans’ expectations. Some of the translated comments on the product page for “Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon” complain about the two new games being nothing more than minor updates, for the main story wasn’t changed that much. One customer even opined that instead of releasing the two as separate games, they should have been rolled out as DLC to “Pokémon Sun and Moon.” Another called out Nintendo and Game Freak for tricking and exploiting players, especially kids, by releasing new titles that are simply copies of their prequel.

Polygon also echoed similar sentiments in its review. The gaming website indicated some “Sun and Moon” fans may not need to go back to Alola, and that’s fine because “Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon” could pass as the same games as their predecessors. “The games are neither terribly exciting, nor essential for anyone who played their predecessors all the way through,” the publication stated, before noting that players shouldn’t really expect to see the changes promised by Nintendo right away. The deviations are only present at the very end or the last few hours of the games. For the most part, players will still play in the same islands, interact with the same people and stumble upon the same Pokémon they encountered in “Sun and Moon.”

“Pokémon Ultra Sun” and “Pokémon Ultra Moon” are now available for the Nintendo 3DS.