Overview:
   Pokémon, has, and always be the one series I will personally love and adore, even now that adulthood has approached me, and I will say, that Pokémon Sun and Moon were likely some of the most unique Pokémon Games to date, with the wonderful games that were Pokémon Colosseum and XD: Gale of Darkness. The fact that games present new and unique ways to play a well beloved title, as Pokémon is, allowed Sun and Moon, in my eyes, to become a staple game in Nintendo's 20th Anniversary for the franchise.
   With this being said however, Pokémon Sun and Moon did have it's fair share of disadvantages and hard-goings making it a somewhat step back for GameFreak in certain aspects. Now, we can move onto the actual review, in which all these topics will be discussed thoroughly.

Graphics:
   Beginning with the graphics of this game, I will have to say, I am quite impressed, for the most part. The scenery is very lovely, as would be expected from a region based off of the gorgeous state of Hawaii, and in addition, Nintendo did something that had never been done in a Pokémon game before: they connected each area to each other. For those of you who do not know, a feature was added onto the game known as the Rotom Pokedex, a handy guide that not only tells you about what each Pokémon is, and does, but also provides a Town Map, with markers. As each area is entered or exited, the map just continues with where it left off at each region of the region, allowing for more connectivity. The Rotom Pokedex map also does one more thing however, in the fact that it shows you the land features that are within the region, allowing the player to truly get a picture of the island that he/she may currently be on.
   In addition to the Rotom Pokedex, GameFreak also implemented another new 'feature' being that the player can see other portions of the region from other areas. For instance, in one area of the game, the player is required to go to a pier in one of the cities. From this pier, one can see the other side of the island, and actually can proceed to said part of the island later within the game. So, in comparison to a game such as X/Y, where the region felt bland for the most part, and no inter-connectivity between portions of the game, this was a welcomed change. 
   Moving from the good, let us talk about one of the huge steps back for GameFreak with this game, being the animation loading time, and the lag from double battles or battle royals. One thing that truly irritated me as I played through Pokémon Sun and Moon were the loading times. Every instance of choosing an attack on another Pokémon took anywhere up to three seconds, which is absurd considering the ridiculously fast paced animations of not only X and Y but of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. This to me, was a major setback in animations. Next, is the extremely laggy gameplay when it comes to Double Battles and Battle Royals. For those who have an older version of the 3DS (as I do), the battle times for these welcomed battle types only seem to be torture as the animations take forever within them, with the max frames-per-second being likely thirty, at best, which is sad compared to previous games. It is because of these two negatives that Graphics receive and eight. 

Sound:
   Similar to how the innovations in Graphics were, innovations within the music within the battles, as well as the over-world were made that really gave the game an extra amp up from previous generations. For a moment, let us all think back to the days of Pokémon X and Y, with bland, and for the most part, tasteless music, except for a few areas such as Lumiose City. Now, let us transition to the days of now with Pokémon Sun and Moon, having what is likely some of the best music for Pokémon of it's time, with beats that really make the player tap their feet along, it's just all so invigorating to hear, and can get anyone with a jubilant mood, it's just all so happy and feel good.    
   Except for one music, of course, being Team Skull,  the evil 'organization' of the game, for the most part. However, even their music sparks an enjoyment from the listeners, especially vs. the boss. It is also through these themes however, that Sound lost what could have been a perfect ten. For a game that put so much improvement in from previous titles, the encounter theme for Team Skull, just sounds like it was quickly put together, and with little thought... it's just irritating after awhile. 
   Finally, the one other theme that seems to get aggravating after awhile is Lillie's, your companion throughout the game. At some point during the game, Lillie does indeed get a theme all her own, similar to how Wally did within Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, but instead of being interesting, or wildly engaging, like Wally's was, Lillie's sort of... falls flat... to say the least. Almost every encounter with Lillie from there on includes her theme, to the point where the player just asks it to stop. For these reasons, it is my belief that Sound deserves a nine out of ten. 

Addictiveness: 
   Pokémon has, and likely will continue to be, a very, very addicting franchise game, with so many advanced algorithms beneath the surface, and Pokémon Sun and Moon are no different in this respect. With several different ways to play the game, whether through Nuzlocke runs, or just using different Pokémon that one has never used before, the replayability is there, if one has the time to do so, not one run is ever the game, well, unless one intentionally tries for a specific repeat run. While this is a rather short section, I don't believe there's much more to say within the addictiveness category, so, with the major replayability that Pokémon has, this area is giving a ten. 

Story:
   Ah, the story of this game, the one category I had been dying to discuss. First of all, wow. This could not have been any more a step up from the previous games, if GameFreak had tried. From the very moment the game begins, story hits, even as the Professor speaks to you, it's not a true 'what's your name' and 'what's your gender' type of deal, it's more or less an interactive video call with the Professor of the region. As the player arrives at their new home, story does not stop, with the protagonist (you), meeting with several others throughout the beginning island. Each character within the story given also has a personality, which X/Y suffered dearly with, allowing the player to connect better not only with the main Rival character, but with the majority of the NPCs within the region.
   In addition, the story progresses quite nicely, and for the most part, doesn't throw in a major amount of story at one part in the game, meaning that for the first time in a Pokémon game, the story is evened throughout, with little pieces being thrown in here or there, with the story finishing around the same time of the game's climax. Which again, was a nice change from the usual. So, with such a unique and better story I am happy to say that the Story is given a ten. 

Depth:
   From a good thing, to something that's sort of sub-par. In theory, there is always something to do within a Pokémon Game, from catching Pokémon to competitive training, if you're into that sort of thing, but, not really in this game. Unlike previous titles, only around 300 Pokémon are available in the Alola region, which does seem like a lot, except that there are currently over 800 Pokémon in today's day and time. Meaning, that once the 300 Pokémon that are available are caught, that option is off the table, instead having to rely on WonderTrading or PokeBank Transfers to complete the Pokedex. 
   However, there is a redeeming quality in the fact that optional side quests are included for finding Pokémon for major reward in this game, a feature that had never been included before. This feature allows the player to search for Pokémon for a separate purpose other than just 'fill the Pokedex', allowing them to earn money for certain quests, items for others, and even in-game trades for a specific item that is otherwise hard to find a second one of. But, these for the most part, are meant to be completed during the main story, and not really after-game.
   Speaking of the after game, does it truly exist? No. Not really... well, not much of one. Similar to how X and Y were with the after game, the player  is given a ridiculous series of quests by an NPC that can be completed in no more than an hour, if the cards are played right, and that's really all the after-game offers post-story wise, the rest is mainly the two sources of grinding: The Battle Tree, and Battle Royal. So, while the game itself does offer a lot of things to do during the main story, and provides long term play, the after game sort of just makes the game fall flat after the fact, so this is why Depth receives an eight...

Difficulty:
   Yes, I will address the fact that difficulty is high in rating, because this truly was a step up from previous titles, which I am very, very proud of. Titles such as X and Y as well as Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were criticized for the difficulty, thereof, the lack of difficulty. They were much too easy, giving the player one really 'broken' item early on, being the exp share. This one item alone created Pokémon that were extremely over-leveled too early in the game, and made for easy progression, which arguably is not the case in Sun and Moon. While yes, you are given the exp share early within the game, it is not near as game-breaking as in previous installments, as levels seem to exponentially increase from trial to trial, jumping from level 11 to level 20 relatively quick in progression and difficulty due to Totem 'auras', this was the first game in a long time in which I had to personally grind for levels just to beat what was coming ahead.    
   Secondly, I would like to address the previously aforementioned Battle Tree and Battle Royal, Sun and Moon's Battle Maison. Again, this (being the Battle Maison) was criticized in previous games by being laughably easy to most players, but this is not the case in Sun and Moon. I will admit that I personally am a competitive player, and like many, struggled with the Battle Tree, even after doing competitive training, the AI adapts quickly to the team of Pokémon brought, as well as what moves you have upon your Pokémon, meaning only certain Pokémon have the capability to burst through teams one after another, which was a major improvement compared to previous titles. For such an improvement, Sun and Moon receives a nine. 

Overall:
   Overall, I believe that Sun and Moon was a major staple in the 20th Anniversary of the Pokémon Franchise, and was quite pleased when I played through the game for the first time. The story was engaging, the environment in which was traveled was extremely beautiful, especially on 3DS graphics, and the difficulty scaled immensely for me. That being said, there were some major downfalls of the game, being the laggy battles in double battle situations, the terrible, and I mean terrible, after game, as well as the few sub-par themes that existed within the game. So, all in all, Pokémon Sun and Moon receives a solid 9.1 for me, as it adhered to the expectations, and went above that. Good job GameFreak, you made people remember the name Pokémon once more.