>>42932681I like to think it's because they're rushed. Anime, merch, etc depends on a new game coming out at regular intervals. These intervals have gotten shorter and shorter because humans are teaching themselves to have shorter and shorter attention spans.
There's often tons of evidence that ideas were cut from the games. There's that whole scrapped XY plot thing, as well as features like Rhyhorn racing and the golf course that clearly got cut. And it does feel like there's an attempt at soul even in the newer games. It just doesn't pan out.
Honestly I think game freak fucking hates being bogged down by shit from previous generations. Look at how half-assed ORAS was, and the whole dex cut thing happening. They have a bunch of cool ideas, but then realize they need to consider backwards compatibility and a ton of things that are in previous generations and just don't have the time to flesh out what's new.
