Yes, the first island takes forever to get through - I went on multiple month-long breaks during the start of this game, mostly because of forgetting to play the game and putting it on the backburner, but also because the tutorial was so long, with so many cutscenes and hand-holding.
Besides that though, wonderful setting and truly a fun game, shaking up the traditional gym model for unique trials. I do miss doing some gym puzzles though. Team Skull is whatever fine, though cool to see them and Lusamine gang up at the end. This storyline and the characters felt the most anime (why did they make Olivia always say she was single?), but they were for the most part still likeable. The post-game catching all the Ultra Beasts with Looker was also pretty fun, running through the islands again with him. And cool to see cameos from previous games, like Dexio, Colress, even Anabel (though I did have to look up Anabel's name).
Filling out as much of the dex as I could was a bit annoying though, especially with the SOS battles and how long it took to fish. Did manage to luck out a 1% Politoed spawn in Malie Garden though which was cool.
Besides that though, wonderful setting and truly a fun game, shaking up the traditional gym model for unique trials. I do miss doing some gym puzzles though. Team Skull is whatever fine, though cool to see them and Lusamine gang up at the end. This storyline and the characters felt the most anime (why did they make Olivia always say she was single?), but they were for the most part still likeable. The post-game catching all the Ultra Beasts with Looker was also pretty fun, running through the islands again with him. And cool to see cameos from previous games, like Dexio, Colress, even Anabel (though I did have to look up Anabel's name).
Filling out as much of the dex as I could was a bit annoying though, especially with the SOS battles and how long it took to fish. Did manage to luck out a 1% Politoed spawn in Malie Garden though which was cool.