Holy fuck. I thought /vp/ were just meming about how bad SWSH are - but I played it a fair amount after buying used, and it sucks ass.
The characters besides gym leaders are bland and annoying, the music is grating, and the world looks bigger but feels shallow as a pond. That's not to mention the linear progression and being stopped constantly within that.
I unironically feel that the game is soulless outside of the previously mentioned gyms. Sun and Moon had more charm and ambition than this sterile experience. Don't know how anyone could sit through 20+ hours of it.