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The core gameplay is good. In fact, I would say that it's never been better. Battling, exploration, catching mons (I'd say PLA did this in a more satisfying matter, but SV wins out if we're only discussing dual-release titles.), all very fun.
My problem lies with the lack of anything else. While exploration out in the field is fun due to Koraidon/Miraidon, you're never really gaining anything from it OTHER than a battle or a new Pokemon. Towns are empty, there's nothing to be gained from exploring them. You can't enter any houses, stores are menus, and the only interior I've seen other than the headmaster's house and the school is a random sandwich shop.
My favorite Pokemon games are ones where you're constantly able to slow down, not by the game forcing you to, but by choice. Ones where when you arrive at a new location, options open up for you as to what you can do. A good example is Castelia. The first time you arrive there, you've got plenty of places that you can check out. Office buildings with trainers to battle, a back alley with a TM and a cafe, you can fight the three breakdancers and get an evo stone, check out the Royal Unova, check out the GF HQ, etc etc.
But in SV when you get to a town, you go to the gym, you get your badge, and you leave. This isn't a problem native to SV, but it is one that feels especially egregious now that we have a 3D game with proper scaling and legitimately intriguing city layouts. I want to have some random dude hand me over his Pokemon to take care of for a bit, I wanna be able to find a somewhat hidden cafe and get a TM, and I want to find a store that lets me take silly videos/pictures with my Pokemon, I wanna find a contest hall where I can play a silly minigame with my Pokemon up on a stage, stuff like that. I want things to do other than just battle and catch Pokemon.
That's my biggest gripe beyond just the obvious one of performance and visuals, while SV's core gameplay is good, there's not much else to it.
