10 Video Game Sequels That Fixed Specific Fan Complaints
6. Pokémon Sun And Moon: HMs Are Finally A Thing Of The Past
Since the days of Pokémon Red and Blue, the series has always tantalized players with views of places that they just can’t get to yet. Items behind trees that can’t be cut down at the moment, a long ocean route that can’t be traversed until Surf is acquired… it’s that Metroidvania-esque approach that just keeps us moving forward.
How do trainers progress and/or reach these bonus goodies? Through a good deal of backtracking and liberal use of HMs (Hidden Machines). These moves, such as Cut, Strength and Fly, tend to be rather atrocious in battle (though Surf, Waterfall and such have been exceptions), but must be in a party Pokemon’s moveset in order to be used.
As a result, players would often designate a handy Pokemon like Bibarel (which could learn several of them) to ‘carry’ the more convenient HMs around. This wasted valuable team real estate, as it were, and was a bone of contention for six generations of Pokemon games.
It wasn’t until Pokémon Sun and Moon that HMs were finally done away with, in favor of the Ride Pager: a key item that allowed the trainer to call upon and ride different Pokémon only when needed. These included a Lapras to haul them across water and a Machamp that could move boulders while carrying them in its arms. This method of progression was an enormous quality of life improvement.