>>46804649>The characters are the most well realized Every Gym Leader can be described as a single personality trait or occupation. The rivals aside from Hop are flat, with no real personality or growth, especially Marnie. The DLC characters are slightly more interesting but compared to past protagonists and supporting characters, it is nothing. Gen 5 was probably the game that had the best characters; we see every gym leader get out of the gym and contribute to the story, we have characters growing as people and changing their perspectives in the story, we have insightful and philosophical dialogue. Ghetsis alone shits every Gen 8 character out of the water. Hugh alone is more developed than Bede and Marnie. Alder and Iris are far more interesting than Leon.
Joe clearly never played a real JRPG before.
>The region is fantastic You can make a case for the early part of the region, but after you get to Hammerlocke you get mishmoshed environments awkwardly placed together without any logical progression. Gilmwood Tangle is beautiful but it should not exist in a desert/canyon area. Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra are beautiful as well, but compared to Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Kalos they fall flat. The region was uninspired and lazy by the time we got to Hammerlocke. You can tell at this point that once you get there, the entire story, setting, and characters take a significant quality dip.
>New Pokémon designs are top tier There are some controversial designs this time around, with gimmick and career mons taking up the entire dex. James Turner is no Sugimori. Several Pokémon that would not have passed Sugimori’s high standards passed under Turner’s. Duraludon, Stonjourner, Coalossal, Chewtle, Drednaw, Eiscue, Drizzile, etc.
>Soul and joy We have seen the beta, Joe. This game was far more ambitious. Shitting out a half finished product with less than half of the dex, no postgame, no sidequests, uninspired characters, and the most boring plot is soulless.