Then I guess it's time:
Ultra Recon Squad:
What. A. Waste. Waste of time, waste of interesting characters, and overall a waste of potential. Let's take this one thing at a time:
1. Who Are They?: We encounter two members of the Ultra Recon Squad many times during the story, go to their home world where we meet two others, and then a couple more scenes in the post game. And despite all this, we know very little about them, I'd argue we knew as much about them when they were revealed. They have one note personalities and each of their encounter is essentially the same conversation/observation. Apparently their motives are suppose to be different in each verion, one wants to stop Necrozma and the other wants to control, but I watched all their cutscenes and you can BARELY tell this.
"Alright, we've had characters like this before like the Team Flare scientists. It's nothing new."
First, that's not an excuse. You gave these characters a unique design and role in the game that tells me they're suppose to be someone who I'm suppose to pay attention to more than your average cut & paste NPC trainer. Why bother if you're going to do nothing with them, like the Flare Scientists might as well have just been the generic Flare Admins and it would change nothing in the story. Same with the Ultra Recon Squad, they might as well have been another organization with generic grunts who we encounter all the time for all the difference that it makes.
Second, if this was the initial paired games they may have had some leeway, like they're more being set up to get further explained later (though even that is still a cheap thing to do). But this is the subsequent paired games, the games that are supposed to be more developed. There was no leeway, these characters had to come with all they're personality, back story, and development. And they didn't, we only got the bare minimum about these interesting characters who were advertised to be central to USUM's story... and they're just glorified side characters.
Questions pertaining to the Ultra Recon Squad members specifically: What are their relation to each other (Phyco and Soliera have the same hair color so are they related? Is Zossie one of their little sisters/daughter/niece? If not, why is she part of the Ultra Recon Squad and allowed in Ultra Sun to go on this dangerous mission when Phyco and Soliera were available)? Did they know about the other duo's goal that might have conflicted with each other? Why does Zossie act so energetic and enthusiastic while the others are very logical and robotic in their behavior and manner of speaking?
2. Culture: Actually that last question goes into this next topic. If the Ultra Recon Squad was the only thing of Ultra Megalopolis than it would be understandable there would be mystery about them. But no, we go to Ultra Megalopolis, and we STILL learn nothing else about them! We see no one else (even when we return post game, you know, when the danger is over so no reason for people to be hiding inside) and we're restricted to just one street and the Megalo Tower (which is just a roof platform). Do I even need to explain why this is a let down?
And it's not like we can say Ultra Megalopolis is just an alternate Pokemon world. They made it very clear the culture is very different there, they are people who live in a world of darkness (and it must been for generations as they physically changed to having pale blue skin), rely heavily on technology, and don't capture Pokemon. That last point is a MAJOR one, while they do have the Poipole and somehow acquired assistance from a Solgaleo/Lunala, they only just now discovered the Poke Ball (yet apparently Poipole are considered the Starter Pokemon there? Did the idea of Pokemon training spread that fast?). Their relation with Pokemon would have been different, at least in how they would work together (if they even did).
We want to learn about this new culture which is alien to Pokemon (and us as well). How have they adapted to a world without light? What technology do they have? What is their "norms" (social life, personal life, work life, education, behaviors, traditions, taboos, etc.)? Are the Ultra Recon Squad proper representation or are they a special group and the people of Ultra Megalopolis act, dress, and behave more casually? We also want to explore Ultra Megalopolis, to see all the interesting buildings and how they've structured their city (which would reflect on how they live).
Also, considering how they treat Necrozma like a deity, you'd think going back to Ultra Megalopolis with Necrozma would trigger something, but no, only reason to ever to return to Ultra Megalopolis if you said no to getting Poipole the first time there. Thinking off the top of my head, considering they're using the excess light from the time they captured Necrozma to light up the city, maybe give us a weekly event where the Megalo Tower runs out of light but if we bring Necrozma they can light it up again for a week (maybe even battle the Ultra Recon Squad members in Ultra Megalopolis). The reward for doing this many times would be having more and more of the city open up to you, learning more about them, and the people becoming more friendlier and giving you items.
3. Boss Battles: But hey, maybe they could provide us a few good boss battles, especially since they use an Ultra Beast, right? Well, even here they fall short in both providing a challenge and maybe tying in some storytelling.
First, what they gave us. The first battle is alright, though it's one Pokemon it can still be a tricky battle due to the Pokemon they use and also gives us a bit of story: after observing the Pokemon World's culture they develop their own Poke Ball and are trying it out. Second battle is where I feel problems start but we'll overlook my complaints for now to focus on it being the first time using their Ultra Beast, Poipole. Okay storytelling, they've moved onto using a Pokemon they feel comfortable using. But then after that it falls flat, the next two battles just being against a higher level Poipole. And since Poipole is a pre-evolution with stats matching, they're not difficult battles. Also, we never get to battle them using Poipole's evolution (do they even know it can evolve?), heck we don't battle them ever again after the main story!
So, how could they have done things? Well, more gradually than what they did. They were so eager to get to Poipole that they completely missed an opportunity for good storytelling. First, have them use a normal Poke Ball, showing their interest in Pokemon training. Next battle, have them use like four Pokemon all in different Poke Balls, showing them learning about different kind of Poke Balls (you could also give Dulse and Soliera different teams that reflect on their personality). Then when we battle them at Aether Paradise, not only have them use the five Pokemon they previously used but then introduce the Beast Ball and Poipole. By doing this, not only do you let Nihilego coming out of the Ultra Wormhole being the first (and more effective) encounter with an Ultra Beast, but also have Poipole be more of a threat now that it has a party backing it up and the player not knowing what to expect from it. When they challenge the player at the Alter to see if they're ready to face Necrozma, then have us battle Naganadel. Finally, post game, have the ones we battle appear in the Battle Tree, maybe even letting the one who didn't battle also now battle.
4. Taking Away Development: Going back to something I said, had this been the initial Sun & Moon than the Ultra Recon Squad would have some leeway to their mystery with expectation it'll be expanded upon in the subsequent game. While this isn't a factor for the Ultra Recon Squad, it was a factor for some other characters:
- Plumeria (& History of Team Skull): You can just tell Plumeria has an interesting backstory for not only herself but also the formation of Team Skull. She's a skilled trainer, can use Z-Moves, highly respected by all Skull grunts who she considers her little brothers and sisters, and dangerously competent and strategic. Yet, we only get a few glimpses of her; she doesn't even have any interaction with Gladion or Guzma (it's only during USUM's credits do we see her and Guzma on screen together, and it's a silent scene of Guzma addressing the grunts that he's disbanding Team Skull). With what little we know about Team Skull's formation, did she have a part in it? Did she know the former Kahuna whose followers would become Team Skull? Was she a Trail Captain or something chosen by them? Speaking of whom, what did that Kahuna do to get Tapu Bulu to get rid of him and attack his followers?
- Kahili (& Golf Course): Kahili needed a post game thing with the golf course, or maybe even something during the main game with the golf course. I get not having her involved until you battle her as an Elite Four member (unless you get the Flyinium Z where she shows you the pose before vanishing), but post game they still have her doing nothing. And it's annoying because the game has a golf course location except we never can go there, making it feel like wasted space. Instead of just finding the Flyinium Z in a random canyon wouldn't it have been more interesting if Kahili hired us as her caddy, going through the golf course, maybe doing some battles along the way to get her ball back, and after all that she gives us the Flyinium Z. And during the whole ordeal we learn a bit about her too?
And these are just the main two major examples, all the other characters could have been expanded upon a little more too. I'd would have liked to learn more about Acerola and her family. What's gonna happen to Po Town now that Team Skull is no longer around? All things left open and without answer all due to them cramming in these new characters and adding in little side quests which many I feel were pointless and unneeded if the result was taking away development from the characters we cared about.
... That all said their battle theme is awesome.
What's So Ultra About USUM?
But can't blame every problem with USUM on the Ultra Recon Squad. Thinking about it, I realized that USUM did something that no previous subsequent version ever did: removed things. Or, at least, changed things so that it felt less than what the initial games gave us:
- Story Changes: The changes to the story did not mesh well and at times felt like it expected you to know what happened in SM. Major point of contention is Lusamine's development. This is still the same crazy Lusamine from SM, but the Ultra Recon Squad's problem with Necrozma shifted her focus to a "nobler" cause than her original selfish desires. This is a problem as it hurts Lillie's and Gladion's backstory as, when you finally hear about Lusamine's plans, you could agree with her that if the only thing that needs to be done to stop a major threat is sacrificing Nebby than maybe it should be considered. Lusamine also shows a bit of remorse for having to do it and still says she'll protect Lillie and Gladion along with the rest of Alola even if they reject her love. This makes Lillie and Gladion look like the selfish and ungrateful ones, which isn't the intent as they then had to have the Ultra Recon Squad to come in and tell you how selfish Lusamine is being. And then there's them also taking out Lillie's "You're terrible" speech to Lusamine.
- Ultra Beast Hunt: One of the more notable removals. No longer are we helping Looker and Anabel hunting for Ultra Beasts. Apparently that was replaced by Team Rainbow Rocket because... GF thinks we don't deserve to have two post game side stories? And, okay, sure, we have the Ultra Space Ride now so can visit the Ultra Beasts home worlds to capture them, but that's not quite the same as a post game side story. We get to see scenes of the Kahuna and other characters battling the escaped Ultra Beasts, but apparently that's all taken care of off screen. And yet, Looker and Anabel still appear near the Battle Tree for no reason other than because they didn't want to remove them from the Battle Tree. They could have linked the Ultra Beast Hunt to the Ultra Space Ride, like now that we could catch the Ultra Beasts in their home world they could have made the Ultra Beast Hunts just be a boss battle and upon defeating them they fade back to their home world which we could then visit via the Ultra Space Ride.
Not only that, but it also felt lacking in some additional stuff previous generations did:
- No Additional Rematches: The way to challenge/re-challenge the Captains, Kahuna, and some other notable NPCs can not only be roundabout but also done only once. Hala went from being an Elite Four member to a once only pose game battle. Faba isn't a Title Defense match anymore, replaced by Lusamine and Guzma (who no longer has his post game battle where we learn he was a student of Hala; and he's still a version exclusive Battle Tree character for Moon and Ultra Moon). During Mina's Trial we get to battle some of the Captains and Nanu again but unless they appear in the Battle Tree that's it for them (and some battles are still version exclusive, WHY IS THAT STILL A THING?!). Why can't they just have the Captain, Kahuna, or other NPC just be standing in a location where we can walk up to them and have a battle with them on a certain day? Is that too much to ask?
- Lacking New Opponents: So the only new Battle Tree opponents are Lillie and Giovanni. You could have brought in other past Champions, Rivals, Elite Four, Gym Leader, Frontier Brains, Villain Bosses/Admins, etc..
But then again, this is just me assuming that the "Ultra" in Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon meant I was going to get the experience of Sun & Moon but more added to it. Silly me.
Necrozma's Formes:
Alright, I'm now in a nitpicky mood. So here's a little one: what's the point of the names of Necrozma's forms?
When we were first told about Dusk Mane and Dawn Wings we were curious what it could mean that they were named after the passage of time which ended their period of the day (Lunala representing the moon & night and Solgaleo the sun & day). But in the games it means nothing, they could have been named Dawn/Solar Mane and Dusk/Lunar Wings and it would have just as much meaning.
Trainer Classes Individualism:
A random thought separate from USUM. Now that we've moved onto using models instead of sprites, why not make it so that not all trainers within the same Trainer Class look the same? While obviously limits they can do, still I don't see why they can't at least change skin color, eye color, hair color and style between trainers. Maybe even create several outfit assembles a trainer class can wear and poses they could be in (maybe even give the player a way to acquire those clothing and poses too).