But after playing through Sun and Moon, I see that it was not just an idle response. Sun and Moon pull off a delicate juggling act.

For 20 years now, Pokemon games have presented fantasies where people live, battle and grow alongside powerful monsters. In Pokemon Sun and Moon, that wistful reverie invites you take a holiday, leave your worries behind and grab yourself a lei. As it happens with all good holidays, Pokemon found itself again.

— Kotaku

Pokémon's 20th anniversary year has been all about celebrating what's great about the series, but the newest pair of games prove that the series is ready and able to make big changes without sacrificing that original spirit. Without the heaps of content of series-defining entries like Red, Silver and X, Sun and Moon don't quite stand as endlessly replayable classics, but they're a wonderful testament to why Pokémon is still so special all these years later.

— Polygon

After 20 years of slow but steady evolution, Pokemon gets a bit of a reinvention in Sun and Moon. An engrossing and rich new region makes the Alola journey — along with all the changes Sun and Moon make to the existing formula — enjoyable throughout the main adventure, and small interface and variety of upgrades along the way make a few of the things that stayed the same feel better than before.

— IGN

Pokémon Sun and Moon make terrific changes the twenty-year-old formula, allowing new fans and returning ones back into the series with a wonderful lively and colourful world. It's just a little too easy for us who have been here from the start - but it's easy to forgot that when you're having such a blast.

— Metacritic

All-in-all, fans of battling, wonder-trading, and scratching their Pokémon behind the ear will still find things to love in the game, and for many, the changes in Sun and Moon are a refreshing reinvention of a classic formula.

Pokémon games are their own beasts, and hopefully Sun and Moon is a show of further changes and things to come for the franchise.

— The Guardian