I can't say this game doesn't have merit and I honestly don't feel malice to it, it would have been incredibly easy to outfit this game with horrible microtransactions and make a boatload. The simple lack of that is extremely worthy of praise. That being said, I kind of hate this game and the genre it sits in because it's everything I don't want games to be when talking outside of a corporate level. Outside of a few levels that change the direction you progress, and some differing characters runs often feel the same by the end with everything being caught in a storm of bullets and damage numbers. It's doubtlessly satisfying to do but it never really seems to spark any thoughts outside of that. It's just walk around until you can choose the next upgrade you want until the time ends or you die. With that being said, I understand this is absolutely bringing out the pretentious games-as-art jackass part of my brain but it's simply the way I feel and I won't lie and try to say I want this review to be somewhat objective because it isn't.

The inventory sorting of Resident Evil 4 but as its own puzzle game seems like a slam dunk idea but in practice even if it is fun to get everything into its rightful place, the thing that ultimately made Re4's inventory so intimately fun was that it was a single inventory that constantly evolved over your adventure and there was never a grantee that you wouldn't have to leave anything behind which made getting it right a thrill comperable to fitting one last shirt you were sure you couldn't fit in your suitcase. Without the interconnected system the inventory in Re4 thrived in, you are left with a simple game of put everything where it's already decided it belongs, occasionally innovated with with new mechanics like consuming health items or crafting items together that after the first few times just becomes a checklist you have to fill out before going back to the central gameplay loop.

I'm a little bit tired of the gimmick of "ooh, we know we're a video game isn't that creeeeepyyyy" but as an earlier example of the subgenre, this game does decently well. There are plenty of fun or interesting puzzles to work with especially the late game battle against Asmodeus, but the actual pony island game part of the game is pretty much complete filler that the game seems convinced we are mainly there for especially considering the big finale is an extended portion of it. It doubles the length of a game that could easily be an hour and uncomplicatedly good. There is also the consistent issue of Daniel Mullins games using so many words and so many layers of secret arg stuff to simply say "it is a game that is scary and would like to take your soul". Ultimately though, if you catch it on sale and would like another hit of inscryption, it works a bit in the same way that the worst part of a watermelon tastes like the best part of a cucumber but both are satisfying to consume.

I can't lie and say I'm not super super biased for gen 5 and before, but I don't hate this game or gen 7 like I do the switch games. I still believe the jump to 3d graphics was a negative but for being released on the 3ds two years into it's life, I can't say the graphics aren't impressive. Battle animations are unfortunately a lot uglier than the previous sprites but environments, especially the central lumiose city are very very pretty. In terms of gameplay changes, I like mega evolution more than a lot of the later gimmicks and honestly if I had to choose one gimmick to be carried over to future games it would be it, but outside of that not much has changed.
As for story, it's boring, your rivals suck, the backstory is unnecessary and convoluted, and team flare is the worst villain team in any pokemon game, and there is some heavy competition.
but professor sycamore is pretty hot.