SPOILERS! Pokemon Sun and Moon Demo Discussion

I don't know if this has been brought up yet, but a few people have found one extra secret in the demo. It's really minor, so no spoilers here but:
If you spin your character around enough, they do a pirouette!

Edit*:Yep, brought up two pages ago. Figures.
 
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Well, that's it.

I've talked to the Mysterious Old Man more times than I can count.
I've caught dozens of Pikipek, Rockruff, and Yungoos, and even a few Pikachu.
I've spammed Water Shuriken, Night Slash, and Aerial Ace.
I've smashed countless rocks and even just ridden Tauros for the heck of it.
I've done a pirouette and stumbled while running.
I've talked to Dexio and Sina.
I've eaten Malasadas with Hau.
I've caught my mom going shopping for the same objects four times.
I've seen the wondrous Dugtrio.
I've asked Lillie who she is and what's in her bag. Still no response.
I've received useless Pretty Wings, met a helpful Machamp, celebrated a Pikachu's birthday, observed a "shady deal" taking place, and watched as a ghost girl left this world before my very eyes.

There's nothing left to do, now. Let's say our goodbyes to the Demo, thank it for the taste of Alola that it gave us and the information that it leaked to us, and prepare to make our journeys into the full game.
 
wtf. I went to talk to the lady at the dock, and she says that the ship is in 5 days.

I played the demo since day 1 how is is possible?
 
oh. I see. That exactly explains it.

I wish nintendo added an option for doing the daylight savings, like, having to do online around the date it's supposed to be, without screwing 97% of the games.
 
oh. I see. That exactly explains it.

I wish nintendo added an option for doing the daylight savings, like, having to do online around the date it's supposed to be, without screwing 97% of the games.
I completely agree. Even better would be if all the countries that have Daylight Savings just stopped doing it, but that won't happen.
 

Pikachu315111

Ranting & Raving!
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And so with the last event done, for me the demo is essentially over. I'll like to share my experience and thoughts of the demo, going over what I thought of it as representation of the whole game and how later demos can be improved.

New Feel: First I want to talk about how the game just felt playing it and walking (or rather charging through on a Tauros) the city and other areas. First off the controls feel responsive and tight, the character moved where I wanted to go with no delay. Even on Tauros I never felt I was directing a tank, I was actually surprised how fast it turned. The walking animations also looked smooth, at least from what I payed attention to them. While XY played around being off the grid with the skates, Pokemon has now completely moved off the grid and I felt did a great job not making it feel slow or cumbersome. And you could even see the game designers were also excited for they added the easter eggs of the trainer almost tripping if you stopped and go in rapid succession and doing a pirouette if you walked in a tight circle for a bit.
With free movement and a more developed 3D world that means the camera no longer can just be hovering over the trainer most of the time. Once again, they played with the camera in XY and I feel the problems there still sorta persist. Most of the time the camera is fine, its pulled back enough so I can see what's happening with my trainer but also around me to know where I'm going. However there were parts of the city I felt the camera angle bothered me, like when running towards the east part of city the trainer was going towards the camera thus I couldn't see where I was going. There was also instances where the camera was slanted which, while not bad, still felt awkward. I still feel GF has work to do with the camera, maybe work on letting us move the camera like in Mario, Legend of Zelda, Kingdom Hearts, and many other 3D games that let you explore/adventure.

Developed World: From what I saw Alola I do feel its the most developed region yet. Hau'oli City, had it been made in previous games, wouldn't have felt that big but in the new graphics it does feel big enough for me to call it a small city. When you go inside places you see little bits of detail here and there, especially in houses and the police office. It makes the world feel like its being lived in, places like homes and offices would be a bit messy as that's where people live and work. The outdoors environment also look good, having a sort of stylish realism to it so it acts as you'd think plants rustling in the wind or the tides coming in and out should but in the game's style. As for trainer models I feel they are getting better with giving them different expressions to reflect their mood and what they're saying. That said there are still instances where the face feels a bit too static and the trainer's face doesn't change at all (look, I get the trainer is suppose to be the player, but if characters around us are responding to something a certain way I feel our trainer avatar should also even if the player themselves aren't. Not only is our avatar the representation of us they're a representation of us if we were in the game and sometimes we do need to be told how we should be feeling (even if we don't)).
But it's not only visuals that got attention but also sound design. When you walk on something it'll change to sound like you're walking on it. Going from dirt to sand to water, going from wooden floor to glass/tiled floor, it will switch the walking sound where I feel previous games might skip say the wooden to glass floor switch.
Alola already has some interesting features. The gates in the city are a welcomed addition, providing patches of wild grass to catch Pokemon in town while also giving us shortcuts to travel around the city quicker. It also helps to make the region feel like its more close to nature even when in areas populated by people.

Mechanics: We got to try out four new mechanics in the demo: Poke Finder, Poke Rides, Z-Moves, and a Trial. Poke Finder, from what we used of it, I feel might be a niche thing. It takes some precision to use and while the demo didn't make it that hard I imagine in the game there will be some shots that'll take some time to get mostly because you made a small mistake setting up to take the shot and only have a limited time to take the picture. However it being able to initiate wild battles is a nice touch so it has some usability outside of taking pictures. With it only be usable during the story & a random easter egg, and we didn't have the social media part of it where we're judged on the picture we took, there's still yet more to Poke Finder to see before I can make a decision on it.
Poke Rides, however, I like even though we only got to use one of them. My main worry with PokeRides was that it was going to feel like tank controls but my worries subsided as I was able to on the dime turns with Tauros. Its fun either smashing through rocks or just dashing around the city (with the bonus of getting around faster). One reason I keep visiting the Mysterious Old Man is so I can just use Tauros to bash through a twisting path full of rocks. I'm really looking forward to using the other Poke Rides and having fun with them too.
Z-Moves I felt delivered little for the big fanfare that surrounded them, though I expected that. Now it could be that the demo just didn't give us a hard enough challenge to see the difference between a Z-Move and a normally strong move, however I feel how the demo used Z-Moves will probably differ to how we'll probably end up using Z-Moves (aka probably won't be using same type Z-Moves unless its a Signature Z-Move). Though its nice to finally see how they work and maybe as we get access to more Z-Moves they'll become a much more valuable tool.
The Demo Trial let us see what Trials was going to be like: accomplishing tasks which, during so, will result in some battles ending in a Totem Pokemon SOS Battle. Since the first part of the Demo Trial was about using the Poke Finder I'll skip to the Totem Pokemon & SOS Battle. I was surprised how tensed I got during the SOS Battle. I did feel my Pokemon, a powerful Greninja, was at risk of fainting having to deal with two Pokemon, one whom has increased defense. Of course said Greninja benefited from knocking out the summoned Pokemon as it can then transform, but still it was a one verse two battle and both were giving out big hits. I can see in later Totem/SOS Battles needing to decide whether to just focus on the powered-up Totem Pokemon or to get rid of the summoned Pokemon whittling away at you. There's potential there, especially if you're using a Pokemon who doesn't get any benefits from knocking out another Pokemon, we'll just have to see where the main games take it.

Story & Events: The "story" of the demo introduced us to our rival, Professor Kukui, though most importantly Team Skull. If any aspect of the "story" was going to attract people to play the main game it'll be Team Skull, the grunts are just delightfully goofy from their dialogue to their constant gang signing when standing still, walking, or during battle. The story is also where you got to do the Trial and use the Poke Finder the most. There's only one problem with this: once your done with the story you can't do it again. No more battles with Team Skull, can't use the Poke Finder unless you get the Alolan Dugtrio easter egg, and you can't do the trial again (you can't even access the area the Trail too place in). In addition, once you do all the trainer battles they're gone too. All that is left is wild battles. I feel they should at least refresh the trainers and let us redo the trail, maybe even give us the option to replay the story. While we probably wouldn't be able to do that in the main games, I feel for a demo they could make the exception just to let players play around and test.
As for the events, overall I feel disappointed and think they could have done better. First off I don't like they're time and if you missed that day you can't see the event and the item they may give. While the demo already is generous and gives you a Nugget, Stardust, and Star Piece in addition to Ash-Greninja without waiting, I feel locking the player out of some other items just cause they forgot/couldn't play on that day is a bit harsh. As for my thoughts on the events themselves:

Meet Me Tomorrow: This is alright, it's more meant to teach you that in the demo there are people who will ask you to return in a certain amount of days to see their event. Getting 10 Pretty Wings is a nice bonus and encourages you to do the other events.
Superpower Help: The next event is a girl who says a guy helped her once when her leg was hurt and she'll be seeing him. As it turns out, the guy was a Machamp and soon after they take a walk on the beach. A funny little event but I don't see the point of it, and not just because it didn't give an item.
Birthday Pikachu: A guy is celebrating his Pikachu's birthday... and that's it. You see him on the day he asked, screen fades to black, and he thanks you by giving you a Balm Mushroom. While it could be a reference to this year being Pokemon's anniversary (whom Pikachu is the mascot of) I don't recall the guy ever saying something like it was Pikachu's 20th Birthday which I felt was a missed opportunity.
Harbor Sting: A police officer says he heard something suspicious will be happening on the harbor. This sounds exciting, maybe it'll be something relating to Team Skull and hint something to the main game. As it turns out, its just two guys secretly comparing their Slowpokes for some reason. Like with Superpower Help, I don't get why its here. Likewise it doesn't give an item.
Sailing Beyond: The last event, a girl in the ferry terminal, says she'll be sailing off but is scared, asking the player to see her off. The day comes and says she's glad the player came to see her off, giving you a Comet Shard, and says she'll be able to see her parents again. So she heads toward the boat, a Machamp passes by, and she's suddenly gone. In addition the ferry attendant will still say they're making the boat. Spooky.
I'll give this event a slide as its a neat little ghost story (though probably should have been planned for around Halloween). What happened to this ghost girl? Did she and her parents die in a boat crash? How come she didn't move on yet her parents did? Why was someone seeing her off the thing that allowed her to pass on? Well who knows if we'll get an answer, I think its a neat little event.

Looking through the events I feel a few lack importance, specifically the middle three. I feel these events could have been used to help build the Alola region someway, either giving us some insight of its culture. But instead the two that give no items are used for gags that could be done in any game while Pikachu Birthday could have been a reference to the 20th Anniversary though they never seem to make it be. Also it would have been a challenge attached to the events like needing to find a certain item or more trainer battles, but all you needed to do was just go to the person and that's it.
Speaking of the rewards, I have a problem with them too. They're all items you sell for money, that's it. While I'm not saying we shouldn't get some of these items, all of them seems a bit much. Like why not give us Poke Balls, Potions, trainer tools, held items, and etc.. While more money is nice, unless your constantly spending money you'll eventually have so much some more isn't anything. At least if you got different items you can send them over when you'll think you need them right away, but with the money items you'll send the most valuable over first and from there trickle down.

Summary: To showoff certain mechanics and gameplay I feel the demo does it job very well. However I feel it lacks in keeping your interest until the days of the events. I should be looking forward to playing the demo a little bit each day until the main game comes out. Even the "story" doesn't really grab you, like at most you may wonder where the whole Team Skull thing is going (and maybe Lillie being aloof) but no hints to other stories the main game may have.
Well here's to looking forward to Sun & Moon and here's hoping future demo to keep on improving and enticing. As the Mysterious Old Man tells us, there's nothing more the demo can give.
 
Where did you find Dexio and Sina and your mother shopping?
Dexio and Sina showed up in the Pokemon Center one day and they've either stayed there or they always happen to be there on the days that I check. Your mother will be emerging from one of the buildings on the road with the Pokemon Center every Tuesday.
 
I completely forgot about the last event and now the girl is gone. Will changing the date bring her back and not affect the rewards that I have already received?
 
No, it doesn't. It creates a new Greninja that doesn't have the same Nature, and possibly not the same IVs either.
I meant in the sense that you get another one instead of it being gone from the demo.

There was speculation earlier in the thread where some thought it might simply transfer the Greninja over and you'd be Greninja-less in the demo.
 
I meant in the sense that you get another one instead of it being gone from the demo.

There was speculation earlier in the thread where some thought it might simply just transfer the Greninja over and you'd be Greninja-less in the demo.
But then you wouldn't be able to play the Demo... cause you wouldn't have any Pokemon left...
 
But then you wouldn't be able to play the Demo... cause you wouldn't have any Pokemon left...
That was my stance.
That's why I was posting here to inform the people who might not know.

(Well, I guess technically my stance was the fact that Electrium got cloned. But I figured that they wouldn't just let you lose Greninja because of the same reason they won't let you lose Electrium: it's vital to the demo)
 
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