i have no idea how game that absolutly changes the combat to a one-dimensional "strong/slow vs weak/fast" style, and changes the pokemon league jorney for a pokemon collet-a-ton is considered a mainline pokemon game.
the concept of playing a game that takes place in a time before the concept of pokemon training being a thing is cool and the scenarios presented in this game are cool, but that was about it, it is a game for the people that like the pokemon because of the creatures, and not for the classic style of gameplay.

probably one of my favourite pokemon games, when i first started playing on release and just tried to focus on the main story missions i didn’t find it so great but just going around the world, doing side quests and catching pokemon is so much fun, and while it definitely takes a lot of time and patience to fill out the entire pokedex, it definitely feels rewarding and you can kill so many hours just running around trying to catch everything. the story is pretty good too, my only problem with the story is the actual ending being post game content, which isn’t ideal, however it is worth doing to experience the true ending

in short
great worldbuilding
good enough story
rushed quality
spectacular gameplay

in long

a game freak classic💀 one more rushed switch game💀💀 it actually made me question if there was a quality control team at all because of how many stuff they turned a blind eye to its insanee and switch not being a strong console is not an excuse no ds and 3ds were also weak consoles hardware wise but those games were all fine aside from the bugs it looks dull often times especially character models and the village but the outer world never bothered me so its ok

the story is overall good enough despite having lots of problems it gives you a nice experience my biggest gripe is that the main story ending fucking sucks and everything else that shouldve been explained is behind post game which makes zero sense because post game content should be optional content that maybe gives you more story bits not the part of the game that explains the most crucial parts of the plot

the worldbuilding is quite nice actually i like hissui as a region and clans wardens everything it introduces

the gameplay is AMAZING genuinely the most fun i had with a pokemon game in years i never knew an open world game could elevate the formula this much its amazing!!!! they brought back the slogan its meaning. in this game you literally CATCH IT ALL not each pokemon that ever existed but all you can find in hissui and catching pokemon is really fun you can do it in battle or off battle newly introduced combat mechanics are fun warden boss fights are fun space rifts are fun using wardens while travelling is fun everything about the outer world is sooo fun the sense of progression is implemented amazingly with various things keeping track of you it rewards you well one of my biggest complaints with other games was how hard it was to raise pokemon you caught late game you had to grind very slowly but this game also fixes that with wild encounter battles being much faster and no matter which pokemon was active during the battle the exp gets distributed to the whole party except fainted ones. the gameplay is amazing!!!! actually so good!!! also the new forms are all so cool especially zoroark its my fav