>>32718475Sun and Moon go even further, introducing much-needed adjustments to item management, traveling and battling
Trials are the exact same as gyms in all but names. You complete a trivial puzzle and there's a boss battle at the end. If anything, the trial puzzles are even more braindead than the usual gym puzzles.
The type effectiveness indicator is a quality of life change but every new Pokemon game has those. It's like claiming Black and White are amazing solely because they introduced auto-repel or Ruby and Sapphire was amazing solely because they introduced the running shoes.
The ecosystem was not diverse at all. The majority of Pokemon you'd encounter were the same on every route (Yungoos, Rattata, etc.) and a significant number of Alola Pokemon were locked behind a <10% encounter rate. You'd have to go out of your way if you wanted to use the new Pokemon.
I thought Z-moves were a decent addition but they hardly revolutionise the gameplay (especially since every battle in the game can be easily beaten without them).
And I don't have an issue with the games having story. I do have an issue with the way the game handles it's story. You have several minutes of unskippable cutscenes and dialogue that take centre-stage in the game. The game isn't about going on an adventure, it's about reaching the next area so you can trigger the next cutscene/dialogue. It may not seem bad on the first playthrough but it will almost certainly become a chore to sit through on subsequent playthroughs. And the region lacks areas to explore. There aren't optional areas to explore like Mt. Mortar or the Abandoned Ship. And Victory Road in Alola is pretty much just a straight path, as opposed to the sprawling caves that act as a final test like it was in the older games.
