>>50626379NTA but a lot of people are just into the idea of just being some random guy. Pokemon games work so hard to make you feel like the second coming of christ right down to making you the destined hero to bond with the god tier legendary Pokemon. It's overbearing.
I think the stark difference between GSC and HGSS illustrates my point, in GSC, the box legend was totally optional and was just hanging out. In HGSS they have this whole mini arc about how you have the heart of the chosen one and how the box legend chose you and you're required to go and catch it to challenge the E4. Like, dude, I'm just a trainer like anyone else.
The game being about someone else's adventure isn't preferable either, I do like the idea of having characters who bounce off you and your deeds but I'd rather have their arcs and stories be optional things the player has to go out and find for themselves rather than having the game feel like you're literally escorting the character through the region. Funnily enough, SM did have a little bit of this, I remember the scene of Kiawe losing his job and him challenging you out of frustration, something like that, a story totally disconnected from the main game about a character having a hard time, felt more engaging than 6000 textboxes of DUDE MALASADA every 5 steps.
If we're going to have a ton of cutscenes, make the player character have SOME personality, one way or another, or let the player just skip cutscenes outright.
