I would like to preface this with the addendum that I bought a 3DS solely to play this game. In fact, I bought the game before I owned the system. That is how much I missed Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and couldn't wait to play it. But I was let down to the point it does not feel like the same franchise anymore.

The most striking difference with this game compared to its predecessors is the lack of any post-game content. Explorers of Sky set the bar extremely high, and some may argue it could never be topped. However, many thought the same of Explorers of Sky when it was first announced after the Blue/Red game, since it was just as beloved at the time. EOS ended up surpassing its predecessor in so many ways that made many (me included) convinced that we were going to have an amazing story with a lot of new, crazy, and interesting content (and pokemon!). The EOS postgame is vast and interesting, and you can find new things to do and discover that you didn't find before, even if you go back and replay it today. I thought GTI would follow in EOS's tracks like EOS followed in BR's.

Instead, it disappointed me in so many ways I did not think possible, both gameplay-wise, and story-wise. While it has its charms, the charms can be counted on one hand while the flaws need a pair.

Strong start, boring middle, bad ending.

The gate feature with the camera was fun... the first three times. Afterwards, it feels like a useless gimmick. Has charming characters, but none are memorable or heartfelt save perhaps 3 pokemon. A lot of the characters feel gimmicky and forced.

Perhaps the most pivotal part to Pokemon Mystery Dungeon is the fact you are a human turned into a pokemon, and how the world around you reacts to you belonging in the human world. In BR, you suffered tremendously and only had one partner to turn to. In EOS, you are deeply afraid of what your friends (your partners in the guild, your family at this point) will think of you as you reveal the news, and it takes a lot of mental fortitude to endure confessing something so deep and vulnerable about yourself.

The idea that you, the player, confesses a secret to people you trust (or thought you could trust) only to have them turn on you or be sceptical before reaching acceptance, is a feeling everyone can relate to and feel connected to (especially if you only have one person on your side, or none). However, this event was bastardized in GTI.

Not only is you being a human not a big deal, but every last character has the same reaction to you being human (this was never the case in the two earlier installments) but none of them find it strange, doubt you, or question it. An unrealistic and forcefully glazed over issue that they simply did not want to address in the story (which there is very little of).

I have played this game to the fullest over 2 times to completion, and the second time I replayed it, it was because I genuinely could not remember the slightest thing about the story save the first two missions which had a decent character and buildup to them. Thinking about it now, I can at most remember 3 scenes, and I do not remember them for the right reasons.

The game is not unplayable- it is enjoyable (during the scenes with characters that actually are interesting), but if this is not your first experience with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, chances are you are not going to enjoy it. If this is your first entry into the franchise, I would advise you to look at the two games prior to this one for better content and story, as well as characters and gameplay.

I think this game can only be enjoyed by someone who has no experience with the franchise what-so-ever or how the two games before it tackled the themes and topics, but I will never, not ever, recommend someone start with this game over BR or EOS.

A little bit better than I expected and definitely not a bad game, but it has some issues that lower it for me.
TLDR This game suffers from poor mechanics, despite some neat ideas and good story.

Pros
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-The story is surprisingly very strong. I didn't anticipate enjoying it as much as I did, with some genuinely good twists and theming.
-Building a town is a neat concept.
-Shared experience removes the stress of having to carry a low level mon any time you want to change up the party.

Cons
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-The gameplay is stripped down considerably from other titles. The lack of a hunger system removes challenge. Lack of starters removes party variety for most of the game. You can only perform ONE MISSION at a time.
- The story is too easy. You get high level story additions early on, most of the bosses are fodder (the final boss is pathetically weak). You get a PP refill way too often in dungeons. No hunger mechanic, etc.
-Base building is a grind that isn't worth the rewards, mostly thanks to the poor mission system.
-PAID DLC. Locking content that is normal in future entries behind dlc is just scummy. Furthermore, this dlc is now unobtainable due to Eshop closure (although you can use certain alternative methods I am not at all suggesting...)
-(Worth Mentioning) Streetpass is dead in all but theory, so Streetpass related content is no longer accessible.
-(Uncertain, may be bias) The dungeon floor generations feels worse in this game compared to other entries. Like it is way more nonsensical and longer to traverse than usual.
-(Uncertain, may be bias) Text boxes and cutscenes feel way slower than other entries as well.

Personally I am just glad Super and DX fixed a lot of gameplay issues this game had (even if Super does it at the expense of the entire first 2/3s of the story)