>>55115559I think it is, but it's also different enough it's hard to tell whether or not you'll like it without trying it yourself. Gameplay loop is much more geared towards catching Pokémon and using them for specific tasks to fill out their Pokédex entries, you're not really expected to build one team for the entire games.
It doesn't have as many performance issues as SV and the textures go for a more stylized look but people will always argue which looks better (or less bad).
The battle system has a lot of changes with turn order not being set to one at a time but tied to speed, "weight" of the move used and whether you're using a style (Agile makes the move do less damage but your next turn comes faster, Strong does more damage than normal but delays your turn), meaning a Pokémon can get turns in succession. Abilities are gone except for ones that are needed for a Pokémon gimmick (like, Cherrim will still transform in sunlight, Regigias still has slow start). The damage calculation has also been tweaked so Pokémon with large level discrepancies can still do damage to each other. Buffs and debuffs have been simplified.
Trainer battles are rare as the game takes place during a time period where Pokéballs had just been invented and most people are fearful or respectfully wary of Pokémon, and even people who train tend to have few partners.
The final antagonist does have a full team plus a separate legendary battle though.I really enjoyed my time with the game but for people who are really into trainer battles or the structure of challenging gyms and an E4, or that dislike them messing around with the core battle mechicas to serve the more fast-paced and "dangerous" feel they were going for, PLA is probably not that interesting.
