This game has issues, everyone and their grandmother knows it does at this point. So all I’ll say is that they didn’t negatively impact my experience. And if you don’t feel the same way as me, that’s totally fine.

Anyways, my verdict: This is one of the best games in the entire series and some of the most fun I’ve ever had playing Pokémon.

Everything that this game is is a giant amalgamation of everything I’ve always loved about Pokémon. Friendship has always been a major theme of but never in the way that this game does it and I super love that about it. The dex is fantastic, I love a lot of the new additions.

The difficulty curve, especially considering the open-world nature of this game is really really good, and the new additions to the gameplay are things that I pray they’ll keep going forward.

Pokémon has been on a mean streak with its character writing and I think this game could be the best the series has ever had. Team Star blew my expectations out of the water, Nemona is such a fun rival, and I was super invested in Arven’s story as well.

So if you’re even slightly interested, give the game a shot. I was skeptical going in because of what I’d heard, but I can’t recommend the experience enough, especially if you like everything that I do about these games.