Without a doubt one of the most refined Pokémon experiences out there. Its only weak points are some pacing and tone issues with the main quest. I didn't really feel engaged with the story or the characters, and some plot points were overly edgy for the Pokémon brand. The "side quests" are also unimaginative and boring, basically chores. But they are also completely optional so I can't complain too much. Other than that, I had a blast.

There are a ton of quality of life improvements, a varied and interesting region, a buttload of team building capabilities with the sheer number of available Pokémon, and a level curve that is just chef's kiss. With the level cap feature and the exp share, I never had to grind, and I could reshuffle my team with next to no setbacks in term of playtime.

Last but not least, the polish. This game feels like an honest-to-god successor of the gen3 games, what feels like Pokémon would have naturally evolved into if it never moved away from the GBA. It reaches game freak's heights, and surpasses pretty much any Pokémon game that came out in the last decade or so.