One the one hand, no, DP is absolutely slower. It's universally infamous for a reason.
On the other, for Alola as a whole, they just keep throwing on either story beats that amount to nothing long-term or even short-term (not even fun character moments out of nowhere besides maybe Hau at Maile Garden; 'Did you know?'), or tutorials that weigh you down like an anchor that you also can't skip whatsoever when the majority of people even playing SuMo back then knew how it worked, and it taking until SwSh for a decent skip in the one game it doesn't even matter.
Replay value is the main weakness of the Alola games by far, as once you experience the decent yet forgettable story, you're just mashing A, tired as you slowly accept Melemele Island is a modern torture device.
The Ultra Recon Squad doesn't really help USUM either since their biggest accomplishments are handing you a Poipole and the one random Furfrou you fight in the hidden optional cave from the first game. Given how fun the rest can be it's a damn shame so many problems bog it down for no reason.
