>>55818692S&M had an acceptable number of cutscenes, and the Rotom was entirely ignorable. US&UM was a bit too cutscene heavy and the rotom went berserk with the shitty advice and annoying garbage as I approached the endgame. S&M also had a better story overall, but I did appreciate some of the Ultra features and extra events. Both were, IMO, better than average for a Pokemon game, probably my favorite games overall in the 3D era.
The departure from the gym progression format was probably the bravest thing mainline Pokemon has done since Red, and it worked for me. I wish there was more progression variation in Pokemon in general.
