>>46375010regarding your pic
while i can't speak against the usefulness of breadcrumb-type storytelling, i still think the usage of complex plot points does a lot in sun and moon in order to make the campaign interesting, despite the overbearing linearity
but if the two were to be somehow merged, i'd want to set up a plot where the player forms their own drive to proceed through the story (i.e. new useful items, stronger mons, extra tools like poketch apps, etc) while also providing a deep story at each point for the player to also be invested in, and to see what the next destination would contain to build on it.
i think the plate sidequest in sinnoh does something similar to this, in that its a scavenger hunt for items that have to do with the games' lore set up in locations like pic related, the celestic town cave, or hearthome's church
there was a bigger story at work than what was officially released, and finding out more about it - as well as the entire region's history as a result - would have been a great way to stimulate progress if they did it that way
