As a huge Pokémon fan since Generation One, I love this game, but I think it could’ve been a lot better.
The Best
Easy Access to a Variety of Pokémon
This game is really great for all the trainers out there who want to “Catch ‘em all”. The pokémon are easy to catch and the pokémon that appear in the wild areas change from day to day! This variety is really fun and can result in parties that are specially designed to take down gym leaders!
The Good
Easy to Level Up
There are many ways to easily level up in this game. You can fight Pokémon twice your level early on, and although you can’t catch them, you can earn plenty of EXP from them. Speaking of EXP, it goes to all members of your party automatically, so all of your party members level up about equally! Even the Pokémon sitting in your PC boxes can level up by sending them on daily poké jobs!
Easy to Evolve Pokémon
Combine the easy access to a variety of pokémon with the fact that pokémon are easy to level up and you are going to be evolving a lot of Pokémon. One day I caught an Oddish, leveled it up to a Gloom and used one of many Leaf Stones I had to level it up to a Vileplume. The next day I caught a Vulpix and used one of many Fire Stones I had to level it up to a Ninetales. You will fill up your pokédex in no time!
Dynamaxing
Dynamax battles were fun and interesting. Some of the max raid battles could be challenging as well, especially with AI team members. These battles also had the benefit of providing rare TRs and rare pokémon you wouldn’t normally find elsewhere which made them worthwhile.
The Music
The music is excellent for the most part, but I did have to mute the game from time to time because it gets repetitive fast. Especially the poké jobs music that goes on a constant loop while you’re trying to choose which pokémon to send on the many jobs available. Unfortunately, music is the only thing to listen to though, as they still haven't brought voice acting to these games!
The Bad and The Ugly
Difficulty Level is Too Easy
The game is ridiculously easy. Although levelling up and evolving a bunch of Pokémon is fun, it also makes the game much too easy. And how come clothes, which have no practical benefit to pokémon battles, are ten times more expensive than medicine? You can choose to spend money on hundreds of Hyper Potions and Revives instead of an outfit and guarantee victory without ever setting foot in a Pokémon Center the entire game!
The Artwork is Lackluster
The game looks good, with good environments and well animated pokemon. However, a pokémon that is enormous should not look the same size as a small pokémon, and the pokémon battle and moves need to look much better than this. It is a shame that all of the powerful-looking moves are reserved for dynamaxing. Why does Blizzard, the strongest ice type move, look like a puff of air? Why does Inteleon (who looks far too skinny) look like it's able to defeat all of the strongest pokémon by doing a little flick of the finger to shoot a tiny bit of water? It looks so uninspired, dull, and silly. Also, the people in this game look way too cartoonish with giant mickey mouse-like eyes. Between the pokémon, the moves, and the characters, I thought the artwork wasn't as good as it could be.
Very Weak Storyline and No Side Missions
Disappointed that the whole storyline was about collecting all the gym badges and becoming champion and nothing else! The only story that was mildly interesting was at the very end of the game when you had to stop the darkest day. Otherwise, this game had no additional storylines, even Team Yell added nothing new to the storyline. Moving away from the tired storyline of gym battles, even if only briefly, would've been refreshing, but there was nothing new! Also, I really disliked that the traditional Elite Four was replaced with a tournament format, there was no shock and awe that comes with facing the best of the best in the region. There was only one storyline, and that one storyline was not even good.
Total Lack of Exploration
I remember in Gen I and II, you could go down the rabbit hole in caves, seas, forests, etc. It was like a giant puzzle! There were so many rivers, lakes, caverns, ice floors, mountains, shipwrecks, ladders leading up and down, holes in the floor that would send you to a random new area. You could explore and find new pokémon in the depths of a cave or accidentally stumble across a secret chamber. In Gen III, you could literally dive down underwater and meet new pokémon on the ocean floor or go up a waterfall to find rare pokémon in a secluded area. There is none of that in this game! The wild area is the closest thing to exploration because the routes and caves are all far too linear. It does not have the same level of detail as the puzzles, mazes, and vertical exploration of previous pokémon games.
Overall, this game was really fun to play but felt more like a sandbox pokémon game than a main series game. This is an easy entry-point for newcomers, and long-time pokémon fans will enjoy, but this game does not live up to the heights of its predecessors.