>>51318564There's so much time between the first and second gyms, but then you beat the rock leader and suddenly the game shifts into overdrive.
The characters are almost all forgettable. Can you remember all of the Team Flare scientists' names? Be honest. And other than Korrina, the gym leaders literally just stand there and wait to get their asses kicked.
And the characters who aren't forgettable are insufferable. Every fucking time my friendly friends showed up, all I could think was how it's 2013 and Gamefreak still hasn't added a "skip cutscene" button.
And then there's mega evolutions. They have almost no presence in the games. Korrina, Lysandre, and Diantha are the only characters who use their megas, and Korrina doesn't even use hers in her gym battle. And most of the megas are postgame exclusive, so you don't even really get a chance to play around with them.
Then there's the "main plot". The 3,000 year old war and the lore surrounding it is just dumb, which would be fine if it didn't insist upon itself. Team Flare's plan is asinine by even Pokemon standards, and the fact that they try to treat Lysandre as a "twist villain" is even dumber. You might have even forgotten he was a twist villain because it was so obvious. Also, remember Malva? Remember how there was a fucking Team Flare member in the Elite 4? Apparently Gamefreak didn't.
And of course, the games are just piss-easy. And before you give me any of that "b-b-b-but EVERY Pokemon game is easy" shit, there's a difference between regular easy, and insultingly easy. This right here? This is insultingly easy. This is "I don't even have to look at the screen" easy. To argue that they aren't a step beyond the other games in terms of brainlessness is disingenuous.
