When I first played it, I was surprisingly impressed by it. All Pokemon games play on nostalgia to a degree, but this one was different in that instead of invoking the series traditions to do so, I was strangely reminded of my childhood itself, or at least the rose-tinted version of it. The whole concept of island trials and having all the adult residents of the islands working to have kids experience the best time reminded me back in the day where Pokemon was sort of a rite of passage too. Back in Pokemon Red and Blue, you didn't go onto adventuring because some professor next door picked you as an unpaid research assistant, nor because some blip on the HUD says you must go somewhere; you went because you were a kid and it's just natural for kids to go on an adventure. Pokemon Sun and Moon's Island Trials replicate that sensation, something that was lost in my numerous subsequent playthroughs of the series since the very first time.

Gameplay-wise, they shake up the formula with trials actually feeling like a boss challenge that makes you think, not just bulldoze through high-level pokemon. However--and there is just no other way to say this--the game is flat-out incomplete and the late-game contents (not post-game contents, but pre-Champion) are severely lacking and half-baked. And the fact it was only "completed" with the Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon makes you wonder if Game Freak even cares. And answer to that, unfortunately, you will clearly see in Sword and Shield.