pretty solid! the upgraded visuals is a cool sight to see, especially when it comes to the diverse areas.the added weather effacts, like the rain or the floating ashes really added to the overall atmosphere.

when it comes to the plot, the champion stuff is rather run of the mill. thats why i did find myself more invested in the aqua/magma stuff rather than the champion route. brendan (or also may i assume) whille an ok rival, feelt a tad lacking? esp compared to like silver. wally was rather more intresting to me.

pokemon contests was a really cool new feature even if i sucked at it lol. when it comes to the sevret bases, i found them to be more of a chore than anything else. there doesnt seem to be a way to keep track of it either, unless you keep it close to town. some of the decoration options felt pretty restrictive to me as well (no desk on the mats??)

when it came to the battles, pokemon abilities made things intresting in a strategic sense. same with double battles. this game would not make u forget they existed lmao (also thank god you dont have to manually change boxes anymore)

leveling up is still a pain in the ass, as it is with the older games. i dont mind the occasional grind, but it really is a chore sometimes to make your low level mon stand a chance later on, even with exp share.

i also have to give shout out to the most complicated dex gathering in any pokemon game i've seen. shout out to those that managed to complete it bc i sure as hell didnt bother.

so yeah. pretty solid overall, even if this one didnt reach my personal favorite level, but i didnt really expect it'd be.