>>37018375Had more fun with this game than I expected.
Difficulty was perfect for me, though I skipped a lot of trainers and only caught shit when I was forced to. Game looks good, some of the battle animations were great (Waterfall for example). Love the ride feature (especially the post-game flying ones), though I wish I could still opt for a bike if I wanted to. Appreciated the lack of cutscenes compared to USUM, dialog had some great nostalgia-bait moments that I enjoyed and occasionally made me laugh, even.
I'm torn on the catching/wild pokemon mechanics and I'm not sure whether I prefer them, but they definitely didn't hamper my enjoyment of the game.
Biggest gripe are the gym requirements, I don't mind showing you a grass type before Brock if you insist but fuck off making me catch 50 Pokemon species before Koga, that's bullshit and busywork for no reason. Don't limit my choices, if I feel like catching a lot of Pokes along my playthrough I will and if I don't that should be fine too. Also don't appreciate the GO integration and removing an entire area for it, but at least I can understand the reasoning here. Obligatory mention that I miss abilities and held items.
Post-game is lackluster of course, I feel like the master trainer idea has potential but is poorly executed.
tldr: My playthrough was fun and challenging and I feel like I got my money's worth in terms of enjoyment. The game exceeded my expectations but it is not something I'll constantly come back too and it'll be a while before I do another playthrough. If Gen 8 is like this, I would be disappointed.
