>>30854853>The other games had side characters that matteredDid they really? All I can remember is either characters giving you important items (usually with no story about how they got such items) or characters with small arcs so far away in the background that they didn't really matter and didn't interact with the main story at all. You could switch most of them and hardly anything would change.
And don't you think that "every other entry" is precisely the reason to stop doing that at once? I've been playing the same fucking story ever since sapphire
at least the first two gens didn't involve legendaries as the central part of the villain's plan, enough is enough.
Playing bodyguard was a nice change of pace and it didn't make me feel unimportant at all, as without me Lillie couldn't have reacher her goals at all. I didn't feel any less agency than in previous games, as the "you're forbidden to do anything but this" feeling has been increasing in strength for a long time, but this time I felt that my presence mattered to someone and set things in motion, rather than blindly stumbling into important stuff by chance.
Also, the island trial thing was more player-focused than badge collecting ever was.
Don't worry, I'm pretty sure the next game will be back to the same story as always or at the very least will return the player as the centerpiece of the good guys side. Meanwhile, let us enjoy a story where we can be second to someone.
