Pokémon Sun and Moon, the seventh generation in the massive Nintendo franchise will be released on Nov. 18, and the hype towards the game could not be any greater.

When a new Pokémon game is announced and “leaked” official information emerges that showcases elements of the new titles as well as some of the new Pokémon that players can capture, it is like an early Christmas. Sun and Moon is no exception, but unlike the previous six generations in the franchise, Pokemon Sun and Moon are shaping up to be a very special treat.

For those familiar with the games and those who are only familiar with the show or Pokemon GO, the video game features core elements that were always unchanging in the series until now. Gyms have long been a staple to the Pokemon world. Gyms are places where players and trainers would battle Gym Leaders to further progress through the game and to prove their growing connection with their Pokemon by overcoming these challenges.

But with generation seven, gyms are no more and are instead replaced with what are called Trials where players must do a variety of challenges to complete them and eventually battle what is called a Trial Captain, the equivalent of a gym leader. The concept that proves to be the most odd is that the game will feature seven Trials whereas when gyms were present in the games, there were always eight of them.

“It’s going to be interesting,” CSU student Derek Wardin said about the massive change.

Despite his skepticism, he is still excited for the new games to launch.

“I will be getting Pokemon Moon, and my starter would be the fire type, Litten because its final evolution is the best,” Wardin said.

Upon starting each Pokemon game, the player is given an option to select one of three starter Pokemon that are always grass type, water type or fire type. Even with this unchanging element, Sun and Moon again alters what was always a core element with starter Pokemon by allowing the grass starter to now have two types with its second being flying.

Generation seven also introduces new battle mechanics and styles for players who wish to compete against others and have more options. There is a now a free-for-all battle mode called the “Battle Royale” that has four players who all battle one another.

“The Battle Royale would be the most interesting thing to me in the game,” Wardin said.

With the “leaks” of new Pokemon coming to an end at the beginning of the month everyone is more excited than ever to put together their new teams as well as the new alternate forms of classic Pokemon such as Meowth, Vulpix and Raichu, who not only look drastically different than they did in the first Pokemon generation but are also given new types. Whereas Vulpix was a fire type originally, he is now an ice type.

“The Alolan forms look really cool, especially Vulpix,” Peter Brunner said.

The drastic changes coming to the series have been met with overwhelming optimism with players eager to see how the games will hold up with its extreme differences from the original titles.

The mechanic of HMs, Hidden Machines, needing to be taught to a Pokemon to surpass a physical in-game obstacle will no longer be a factor and players could not be happier.

Sun and Moon, like previous Pokemon games, are both the same game but feature a different Legendary Pokemon as well as different aesthetics. When playing during the daytime in Sun version, the game will show daytime. When playing during the daytime in Moon version, the game will show nighttime.

Both games are fairly divided with equal amount of players wanting Sun over Moon and vice versa.

Generation seven also happens to have a rare feature that each player can have a different starter, unlike some previous titles when one starter was most commonly rejected.

“My starter would most likely be Rowlet, the grass/flying type,” Brunner said.

“Popplio would definitely be my starter because its final evolution, being a water/fairy type would be good for competitive gameplay,” Lee Camacho said.

Camacho also elaborated on how he was a competitive player that participated in tournaments and was excited for the new games because of the new strategies that will come with the new Pokémon.

“Sun version would be my go to because the psychic/steel type legendary would be beneficial for competitive play,” Camacho said.