By changing the focus of the gameplay to one more focused around catching pokemons and "new" mechanics around these catches I felt they made an step on the right direction. Although it doesn't go as far as I may like it, and feeling that using the setting of the first generation only diminished the opportunities (repeating a bunch of game design decisions like the amount of pokemons or the game progression, or worse and more confusing trying to rework the plot in an awkward way) if Nintendo wishes to decrease the importance of the rpg elements and in turn focus on what made the series special (the collecting aspect) then they seem on the right track.