i could never afford the new pokemon games when i first got into the franchise in 2013 so sadly i couldn't pick this up until 2019, and it was the first pokemon game i completed (i rage quit pearl when i was a kid lol) and i loved it at first, but after playing older entries it's just...so bland? i truly love the ideas the game has and the aesthetic but the gameplay is so lackluster and painfully easy. even with no exp share everything is handed to you regardless. one annoying thing too is that if you don't pick froakie and charmander as your starters, you're left with using other pokemon in the region as your swimmers/flyers to which none of them are really good. i tried to replay it but after the 3rd gym i got bored and went back to platinum. the start of gamefreaks decline imo, had so much potential :( only thing holding it back from being a 2.5/5 for me is the charm held in the region and clothing customization