This truly is a mixed bag. While the open world format is something that this franchise desperately needed and playing with friends was a blast, the look and performance of the game is not acceptable. It has the highest highs and the lowest lows.

It just shows that more development time was needed, but Pokemon wants to have annual releases and this is the end result. This franchise has been a part of my life for so long and seeing be in a state of decline from a quality standpoint has truly disappointing. I still had a lot of fun with this game, and it has me truly conflicted. Perhaps I will skip out on the next game or next gen if this is what is considered acceptable at launch by the developers.

This is a part two review I didn't expect to do and I still stand by how I feel with the first review I did last month. With all the problems the game has, it's the most fun I've had with a modern Pokemon game in years. The quality of life features make creating a competitively viable team easier than ever and shiny hunting is no longer a tedious chore. Raids have been a great way of farming EXP candies so that making teams can be fast tracked. In the time since my last review, I was able to make a full team of shiny Pokemon and it was really satisfying to build. If there is some way to bring these features to the next game AND make a beautiful looking game that runs well, it will be a near perfect Pokemon game.

This is the second time I've tried getting into this game and it is just not working for me. GF animations, even with the speed up function, take way too long (And are a visual and audio mess due to the speed up) and are pretty much the best way to deal damage because the bosses have so much HP. I'm sure there's a better way to optimize the systems, which seem incredibly complex and I imagine provide a lot of customization for how to play. I honestly prefer the simplicity of the materia system from FFVII. At least I got this on sale.

I enjoyed To The Moon for what it was despite the clunkiness of it, but I never had any technical issues. The Switch version of this game is incredibly buggy. I had to reload a save and then had it freeze within the hour. I wish I could have actually experienced this, but unfortunately this port is what's holding it back. I've read a synopsis now and I think it would have been great to experience this rather than read it. If the sequel to this comes out for Switch, I will have to pass just due to the poor quality of this port.

This is very impressive for such a small team. The pixel art and soundtrack are nice. The gameplay feels nice for the most part and the combat is pretty unique for all the RPGs that I've played. The world is rich with lore and is well thought out. The character writing is also solid.

I think where it stumbles a little bit for me is in how it has a lot of systems, but I don't feel particularly invested in optimizing them aside from the main party. Changing crystals was such a tedious thing. Traversal in the world is a bit awkward and despite how it shows you where to go, it's not always clear how to get there. To specify, it would usually be climbing surfaces blending in with the background. I only sought out a couple of party members and despite their unique roles, they join way too late.

Despite my gripes, I'm glad I played this. I totally understand why many were saying this was an overlooked and underrated game last year, and I'd agree it's a solid RPG experience.