A friend who works at Game Freak just told me that Masuda has been acting strangely ever since production on the Let's Goes began. He said they actually started out as full-featured games, but Masuda abused his overriding power to gradually whittle them down to husks of what the franchise has become, going against the team's vision and leaving everyone on the development staff in confusion. Any new additions to the formula suggested by the team were quickly denied. They're 100% Masuda's vision. My source said the workplace aura was like a pharaoh forcing slaves to build a monument for him. He said that, at night, Masuda would be the last to leave work, and a colleague told him that they were walking to their car one night and saw Masuda pacing through the window, holding a Pikachu and Eevee plush in each hand, and appeared to be laughing to himself, before violently throwing them to the floor.

I don't know what to make of it but I'm very concerned for my friend.