How did you guys find the wild area from a gameplay perspective? I've watched some folks play it and I'm really turned off by it.

>Can't catch Pokémon there until you have the badge
>It's literally that opening level from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 but with more bullshit
>Your reward for exploring is just more grinding
>Monotonous-looking
>In order to progress you need to go back to railroaded cutscenes anyway

I could maybe make an argument for a power-levelling challenge, but I'm really not sold from what I've seen on the wild areas. Anyone legit enjoyed them so far?