Pokemon is back (derogatory). If you played Pokemon Legends and hated any of the quality of life improvements, being able to catch Pokemon in the overworld, an intuitive UI, the game isn't split into two versions and probably every single other thing people praised that game for then this is the game for you. I only got to like, the first gym but I can't do this it's so slow.
To simply put my thoughts in a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3G4NyelU2Y
Wake me up when they make another Legends game.

i finished this like a week ago cause after beating the main story i rly wanted to let this sit with me. after doing most of the school stories now, most of the side cases, & doing my legend playthrough i feel comfortable saying this is my new favorite game & definitely the best rgg game

this game improved on literally everything from the original judgment that i had problems with. the combat in this is flawless, every style is good and fun to use. mortal wounds is completely gone and replaced with deadly attacks/mortal reversals which are super satsifying to pull off even if the timing is forgiving & the keihin are used way better in this one

i dont know if i'd say the story is better or worse than the first game, they're about even for me but i felt way more connected to this one and i think its due to it being on a smaller scale than the first. the final chapter was so insane & the final boss has become my new favorite boss fight ever which is saying something cause i've never been super attached to the boss fights in these games, everything worked so well together, the fight itself, the music, the buildup, the cinematics, the emotions, just all so good

i do think the characters from the original got slightly overshadowed by the new characters like kuwana, soma, akutsu & tesso which sucks but its a sacrifice im ok with cause the new characters made this game. i also feel like this game didn't really add much to yagami as a character but i almost think thats fine? ik hes the main character and these are technically his games but i feel like i got to know him well enough in the first game to care about him & i dont feel like this games plot required him to have a ton of character development like the first game did. kuwana absolutely makes that all worth it though, he is this game, hes one of the best characters they've ever made & i wish we got more of him in the earlier chapters but i completely get why we didn't. also all the side characters you meet in the school stories are just like really fun, especially amasawa who i hope they do more with if theres ever future games

i just love this game so much, im so bad at writing down my thoughts on & talking about things im passionate about without sounding insane but its just the best time ive had playing a game in so long. it's emotional, its fun, its genuinely interesting and has some of the best characters i've ever seen. it's everything i love about rgg games and more & i'm so happy i got to play it