This is the game that makes it extremely evident this series' monstrous and crunchy pace is catching up with it, as ambitions are getting lofty but there isn't enough development time to meet said ambitions. The one really good thing this game has going for it is an absolutely gargantuan amount of Pokemon to choose from, and yes, I think the dex cut is a good thing because I would by far much rather Pokemon games be self-contained experiences than drag Pokemon from previous games over to the newest entry. Especially since you gotta pay to do that now. I quit transferring Pokemon back in Gen 6 but still.

This game is just so boring to get through because it's a pretty straight shot from start to finish, with it paying lip service to the open world idea with the wild area, a zone no bigger than the Great Platue. But I think what really does it is how NOTHING happens in the plot. Like I swear they heard the criticisms of there being "too much plot" in Sun and Moon and decided their solution was nothing happens until literally the last minute.

I'd still say this game is. Fine. But it's definitely the fatigue setting in.

I feel like this game is a good example of how story can really matter in a game. Sure this game is "objectively" better than Sun and Moon simply by way of having even more content, more new forms to play with, and even a whole new island trial. Plus your last chance to get every Legendary into a single game.

Just man, the vibes have been completely thrown off. The original story was so nice and cozy and each character's motivation made sense, and Lusamine was probably the most unhinged villain in the series to date. But in this game they try to make her out as a misunderstood hero that's trying to selflessly defeat the world-ending threat, but then they still hold onto the abusively controlling angle of her and it still has the dramatic reveal that she keeps Pokemon cryogenically frozen beneath her bedroom and it's just so fucking weird.

Props to Ultra Necrozma for being the single hardest fight in the series, probably.

Every Pokemon game Gen 6 and onwards has SOMETHING wrong with it that keeps them from being as good as they could be, but I think Sun and Moon is the closest the 3D era of Pokemon gets to the feel of "good ol" Pokemon. It's nice that it does something new by having Totem battles instead of gym leaders, this is easily one of the best generations in terms of new designs, and the characters are so SO much better written than Gen 6.

Yeah, it's extremely linear, but I feel like a tourist tour of Alola is kind of the point. And I think that it helps that this game is so much better-looking than the previous 3DS games, to a point where I'd say it's just as good-looking as Pre-3D Pokemon. Just minding this thing is pushing the poor 3DS to its limit.

I feel like this is the real model of what Pokemon remakes should be like. I prefer it when remakes add their own flavor to a game and change it up a little, rather than have it try to act as a complete replacement of the original. It brings in Megas, most of which are at least better designed than XY's, but still have that problem where I don't like any of them more than their base form. And it gives so many of the characters new life by more heavily redesigning them. Archie and Maxie went from one of the more boring villains to a couple of the coolest designed villains in the series imo.

It's mostly held back by being a Gen 6 game, which entails the rather lackluster visual style, and calling back to Gen 3 in some ways that feel not necessary, like having Pokemarts be separate from Pokecenters again. And as much as I don't care for the Battle Frontier, it IS objectively shitty that this game just doesn't have it at all when Emerald did.