Genuinely the first Pokemon game I mostly enjoyed since.. ORAS really. I have not played PLA so idk what exactly carried over from there, but this flexible direction and take on 3D Pokemon worked better for me than XY/SM/SWSH's guided tours did (and I imagine the same goes for many others).

If the performance issues, unpolished graphics and some other aspects of the presentation (e.g. no VA) weren't as comically underwhelming as they are, I'd probably rate this higher than I do. (i.e., from an 8 to an 8.5)