8 Things We Learned From The New Pokémon Sun/Moon Trailer
It was mostly kids running through fields, to be fair.
It's understandable: Pokémon GO has given some long-absent impetus to a franchise long considered formulaic. In comparison, Sun and Moon look somewhat stuck in the past. It's a bit strange really; it's almost as if Nintendo are demonstrating to themselves how to reinvigorate the tired recipe.
There's been a sense that Sun and Moon are to X and Y what Black and White were to Diamond and Pearl: minor improvements on an existing engine, sold on a raft of new 'mon. It's a pretty sound marketing method, to be fair - it has worked literally every time.
Yesterday, Nintendo revealed a new Japanese trailer for the upcoming Polynesian-themed adventures. It was beautifully shot, and mostly depicted excited pre-teens enjoying the gift of nature - it was almost like a Pokémon GO ad (but fewer corpses).
However, between the romantic crepuscular outdoor shots, we did get a few fresh looks at the upcoming games - and we've been able to extract some subtle details from them. Read on to find out our (potentially tenuous) conclusion.
8. First Look At Kiteruguma & Mimikkyu
A day after their official reveal in CoroCoro, the trailer gave us our first glimpse of how new PocketyMons Mimikkyu and Kiteruguma would appear in game. And it really was the most brief of glimpses, with few new details emerging.
Mimikkyu, I'm an immediate fan of. A ghost/fairy type, the Pokémon cloaks itself in a piece of abandoned Pikachu merchandise - popular some two decades back - in a bid to become as loved as the iconic mascot. Isn't that just heartbreakingly adorable? And that name! 'Mimic you' - get it?
Kiteruguma on the other hand, is little more puzzling. A big bendy bear with a pink head, first thoughts were that it looks utterly dreadful, though it may actually turn out to be subtly brilliant. A little more research (five minutes on Google) suggests its name and appearance are based on the decidedly Japanese concept of 'kigurumi' - pyjamas which look like animals (from 'kiru' - to wear, and 'nuigurumi' - stuffed toy). Utterly inspired.
(Now to clear my browsing history.)