Nowhere near as gut-wrenchingly bad as others are claiming, but that ISN'T to say it's some sort of hidden masterpiece. Very much a case of 'perfectly fine, but not much else;' whether or not you're looking for a short, sweet weekend romp or consider this a case of damnation via faint praise, depends on a person-to-person basis.
For me personally, while it was as simple as you'd expect an introductory adventure game to be (younger players are definitely going to get a kick out of the intrigue and action, whereas I guessed 95% of the main plot in the first case), the upbeat and charming writing was entertaining enough to make me want to keep playing. The music was bizarrely good, too. Luxray's theme especially is an absolute banger.
You can tell this was a project that started life on the 3DS, most likely got battered by covid (and not being as high-priority as other Pokémon games) and was parped out in its twilight years as 'lip filler' to make the Switch's lineup feel more well-stocked.
Overall, I feel bad for this game. It's going to get absolutely torn apart through no real fault of its own, given the circumstances it released in. If anything, it's a pleasant curio, and definitive proof that the Switch has been fantastic for letting Pokémon spinoffs experiment and do their own thing with the series. The story of the 3DS game wraps up with this sequel, but I would love to see a third instalment - I want this sort of unique spin on Pokémon to REALLY shine.
For me personally, while it was as simple as you'd expect an introductory adventure game to be (younger players are definitely going to get a kick out of the intrigue and action, whereas I guessed 95% of the main plot in the first case), the upbeat and charming writing was entertaining enough to make me want to keep playing. The music was bizarrely good, too. Luxray's theme especially is an absolute banger.
You can tell this was a project that started life on the 3DS, most likely got battered by covid (and not being as high-priority as other Pokémon games) and was parped out in its twilight years as 'lip filler' to make the Switch's lineup feel more well-stocked.
Overall, I feel bad for this game. It's going to get absolutely torn apart through no real fault of its own, given the circumstances it released in. If anything, it's a pleasant curio, and definitive proof that the Switch has been fantastic for letting Pokémon spinoffs experiment and do their own thing with the series. The story of the 3DS game wraps up with this sequel, but I would love to see a third instalment - I want this sort of unique spin on Pokémon to REALLY shine.