>>50691657Pretty much this. BW had novelty for its increased focus on narrative and being comparatively more dramatic with its execution to previous entries. But that doesn't mean the writing is particularly good or interesting, just novel IN COMPARISON.
To put it in perspective, you meet and "battle" Zacian/Zamazenta at the beginning of SwSh. This is really novel because it's never happened in a Pokémon game before. The version Legendary is always towards the last quarter of the game, but here it is 5 minutes in. But is it objectively great? No. In any other JRPG, or any other game, you could have some god appear to you in the first five minutes and it would simply be the premise. It wouldn't be enough to make you go "Whooooa!" because it's simply just setting up the story. Pokémon is being compared solely to its prior entries, and on the basis of whether or not it's different rather than good. You'll have people praise trials in Alola "because they're different to Gyms" as if that's supposed to be a compliment. You'll have people praise the gameplay for changing rather than for being good.
