>>55496880>making effeminate male characters and masculine female characters to subvert gender rolesWho are the "masculine female characters" in SV, Nemona? The gym teacher? Is Geeta supposed to be "masculine" because she wears a suit?
Is Arven supposed to be "effeminate" because he knows how to cook?
>removing strong, aggressive rivals in favor of gay kum-ba-ya friendship circlesWhat is wrong with kids having friends exactly?
Gen 9 has the strongest rivals in the series, both in terms of characterization and how much they can actually put up a fight. Two of them are Champions.
Kieran makes up with you in the end but he probably has the most personal and deep-seated grudge against you of any rival character. And I know it's been twenty fucking years since "asshole" rivals were standard, but did everyone forget Blue and Silver were also your friends too? Blue was just the dickhead neighbor kid and Silver's whole character arc is about him mellowing the fuck out and learning respect for his Pokémon and for you.
>you can't even have an evil team with a real evil goalEvil team plots have always been fucking retarded, especially in the 3D era. They're just a fucking nuisance throughout the whole game until the end where they fuck with the Legendary and you have to save the day, they did that half a dozen times. Sometimes there was some spectacle but nobody has ever thought these plots were memorable or interesting.
It's not a coincidence that PLA and SV both cut out the evil team shit to focus on developing one good antagonist and they both delivered the best stories the games have had in years.
>And they even got rid of pretty much all the waifubait in the latest genYou are gay!
