i've been playing through it just to see what modern gens are like, it's made me realize that most pokemon games are about the same in quality.
the start is painfully slow, even if it was my first pokemon game i would be annoyed with the game forcing me to keep track of mechanics i would most likely ignore and just use an overleveled starter.
the pokemon are pretty alright but i wish the more exciting alola mons were a tad more common because half my team was made of kanto mons that were strong early game, most other gens do a pretty good job of shoving good new pokemon in my face to catch.
the story was mid, it had some really cool concepts (i adored how team skull's base is just a messy, poorly maintained mansion because nobody there is near responsible) but the characters that constantly showed up like lillie and hau suffered from pokemon character syndrome making me slowly despise them over time, i do like some of the minor characters because they aren't there for long and have fun quirks.
gameplay was pretty damn good though, it's pretty well layed out and paced and the trials break the go to gym get badge next gym formula, but most totem mons can easily be taken down by lowering their speed.
it was about the same as any other gen i played, average but i was able to make my own fun out of it
