>>45793486>SM are much closer to the "classic" Pokémon experience than SwSh>Checkpoint progression>Zero freedom during the story, bare minimum side areas explorable post-game>First game to remove series staples like the national dex, battle modes, and the bike>Had a major development shift last minute that led to the cancellation of Z, the Yokai-ification of Alola, and the decision to stop supporting BankSure kiddo, keep telling yourself that. Gen 7 was also the first gen to start enacting the "tell, don't show" policy for content. This is when they started blowing all their load on showcasing shit in the trailers, with the explicit intention of making consumers think that there's anything more to the games than what's shown. They did it with USUM. They did it with SWSH, and they even did it with the expansion pass by making G-Slowpoke the posterchild as if there was going to be any more regular Galarian forms.
The hype season for Gen 7 ended up being more enjoyable than the game itself. Not even Gen 6 has the honor of saying that.
