I appreciate the changes in Pokémon catching and in battles, but this new open world structure of the main series lacks polish. This is an ugly and empty open world, filled with nothing but repetitive Pokémon catching and battling, both of which get old real quick. While the boss encounters are a fresh addition to the series, it is nothing new if you've been playing action games for the past 15 years or so. It is still Pokémon though, so the battling and leveling up is still fun, even if they're not accompanied by a solid progression system such as the gyms, which Game Freak never surpassed in my opinion. Moreover, the absolute state of this series currently seems to be this tired celebration of minor additions, even if they aren't new in the industry or even the genre as a whole. This isn't what a series with the size of Pokémon should strive for or deliver to its users.
Volo's theme rocks tho.