>>54741684It's a massive departure from what we know and expect from Pokemon games, expanding on themes and gameplay styles they have long wanted or tried to experiment with:
-Gyms are gone, but rather than being replaced with Trials like in Alola they're just gone. This reduced focus on battles, alongside the more visible nature of storage in the pastures, allows the game to give greater focus to the relations pokemon have with humans, which is a long unexplored cornerstone of the franchise.
-New status conditions Drowsy and Frostbite alter the flow of battle without bringing it to a screeching halt. The change to stat-boosting moves also allows pokemon to set up easier, which in turn allows for a greater variety in team building as most mons are now able to find a niche
provided they arent woefully average to begin with like Carnivine-The change in battle AI forces the player to think on their feet and make smarter choices over steamrolling through the game with an overlevelled mon.
-Styles and Alpha Forms are the first battle gimmicks that are distributed equally to all pokemon without any favoritism like Mega Stones, Z-Crystals, or Terastal Forms. This allows weaker pokemon to have a better chance of dictating the flow of battle without needing to rely on gimmicks like FEAR.
-The main and side-stories are some of the most grounded and fully-realized that Pokemon has done to date
-More lively battle animations and full free-cam make battles feel more alive
-You're able to explore every area however you like, rather than being railroaded onto routes
