>>49743711>betterFunny. For me it was specifically the UI design that made it hard to get into. XYORAS were designed with some modicum of player choice in mind. It was basically the UI from HGSS + C-Gear from Gen 5, where every utility that you need was built into the main menu screen. Easy access to everything. PSS, DexNav, Amie, Super Training. If you didn't want to play something you could turn it off, switch to something else. SM only has Rotom Dex which is functionally worthless. It tells you where to go, but this is a game where you can't even veer off course without characters interrupting you. Multiplayer is now sectioned off into a boring hub world (Plaza). DexNav has no equivalent, and catching new Pokemon just isn't as engaging.
Like people always screech about 6 feeling like a downgrade from 5, and I basically feel the same way about going from 6 to 7. For some reason that's a controversial take? SM has a pretty well written story if you're into that, but was a poorly designed game otherwise.