>>51741522>However it's not nearly as replayable as XY thanks to just how intrusive the storytelling in SM is, XY's quality of life features were more stripped down, and the areas were even more unfinished. This is more or less how I felt. XY's level design follows the same basic logic as old Pokemon games, because it's still a top-down RPG where Game Freak is comfortable. Ever since they moved to "organic" fully 3D maps, it's like they don't know how to design distinct levels or puzzles just yet. And that's made worse by the game constantly telling you where to go through Lillie, Rotom, Kukui and the other trial captains.
I think Ohmori even went on record saying that he had to cobble the Trials together by himself at one point because of time.