this is such a weirdly conflicting game because i really hate the rushed business model the mainline games take and it shows no more than with SV, between their bizarre glitches, framedrops, and graphical issues. that said though, i really fucking enjoy this game a lot and it's the most compelling a pokemon game's really been storywise since SM, if they stick with the open world formula and are actually allowed time to refine their next game and work out all the kinks (IMMENSELY optimistic) then pokemon could be heading in a really good direction

i've seen this game described as "a spin-off disguised as a main series entry", and...honestly, yeah. it's INCREDIBLY fun and certainly hits a high 9 (better than GV1 i think), and the character interactions are great...but it does nothing with 2's dangling plot threads. at all.

if you don't care about the story though? this or iX1 is probably gonna be your favorite because the gameplay is top-notch. there's also plenty of postgame content to go through, and lots of replayability thanks to the wide variety of image pulses you can obtain

overall i'm hard-pressed to call myself fully disappointed with this game. it's a misstep sure, but not one as severe as iX2 (which, granted, i still gave a solid 8/10). my only hope is that DLC or gunvolt 4 will wrap all of 2's plot threads together in a tidy bow, but i'm still willing to trust what inti's cooking for now.

this is like a weird midpoint between ninja storm and dino thunder gameplaywise. it has the platforming and mission-based gameplay of dino thunder, including being able to run past most enemies easily, but also has short screen-locked segments where you have to fight enemies like in ninja storm. honestly i would've preferred it just being another ninja storm, but at least this one didn't have me bored out of my mind a few missions in like in dino thunder.

unlike in dino thunder every ranger actually has unique traits. they all have distinct special moves (of varying utility), and while two pairs of them share movesets that's still better than all of them being virtually identical like in dino thunder. as for the combat itself, it's...alright. nothing super special, though it can be a little tedious at times. the platforming stages are also broken up by a few (and by "a few", i mean two) minigames: space invaders-esque segments where you have to stop missiles from hitting a city and racing sections where you have to reach an objective before time runs out.

as for the bosses, that's where this game really flops. most of them are pretty inoffensive to fight, but the final boss is absolutely awful and i don't think you're even able to beat him without getting hit. the only plus to his fight is that you get to play as the cool-as-fuck shadow ranger for his stage and fight, which is the best stage in the game if you ignore how bad the boss is. the megazord fights are unfortunately a notable downgrade from dino thunder, as the variety in zords is gone (though to be fair, that's not any fault of the devs considering the show itself didn't have interchangeable arms on the delta squad megazord) and the combat is somehow way more clunky. you have a super gauge you can fill which gives you the delta sword for a brief period to deal more damage to your foe, who also has a special gauge and gains enhanced attacks when it fills. however, the bosses somehow are almost always able to easily block attacks and give you little room to stop blocking and attack them, making the fights rather boring and tedious. do note this part is likely different on easy and normal mode though, as i played on hard.

overall it's really nothing special, unlike dino thunder it doesn't have a particular part of it stand out (aside from the final stage where you play as the shadow ranger), and unlike ninja storm it isn't decently enjoyable overall. i say give this one a pass.