So I beat Leon and my playtime was 30:14. I spent at least 8-10 hours in the wild area overall, and I would say I didn't rush through the game since I made sure to explore almost every nook and corner. I wanted to give my overall impressions:
Pros:
1. Mix of overworld and random encounters: This is one of the things LGPE did right, and I'm glad it returned in SwSh along with the possibility of random encounters as well.
2. Galar Pokémon: I really like a vast majority of the new Pokémon introduced in these games.
3. Gyms and Challenger's Cup: I enjoyed the atmosphere and the overall implementation of the gym challenge and challenger's cup. It really made it feel rewarding to try and reach the top with the whole stadium broadcast. I did feel the challenger's cup dragged on though.
4. The Wild Area: The true star of the game. I really liked exploring this place, and seeing crazy strong Pokémon pop out and chase you was terrifying and exciting at the same time.
Cons:
1. Empty region: The Wild Area basically felt like it was supposed to be the substitute for the traditional traveling because majority of the routes and cities are really empty. At first glance, some cities looked impressive based on their scale and size, but you later realize there's hardly and people and they generally felt lifeless.
2. Characters: A lot of the characters had potential, but unfortunately many of them fell flat. Hop was seriously Hau 2.0 with the same annoying factor. Basically his whole thing was 'my older bro is sugoi'. There is a brief moment where he feels a bit down after a defeat to Bede, but overall there's nothing much to him. And even then, I'd say he's one of the better characters in terms of his views and aim overall. Sonia was nice, but ultimately her only thing was talking about the ‘darkest day’ everytime. Marnie and Bede felt underused, though the former at least brought us to Piers who’s my favourite leader. Rose and Oleana were terrible characters, and Leon was super meh.
3. Story: What makes the plot so awful is how out of the blue it is. In other games, you get gradual buildup between your gym journey before having to take down the team and leader all together. Over here, there's almost nothing happening during your actual gym challenge, and plot is dumped on you in during the league. Rose and Oleana have absolutely no credible motivations (Rose's plan was the dumbest plan in all of Pokémon. Makes Lysandre's plan look grade A). And the whole premise of the plot was so stupid as well. Leon was having a lengthy chat with Rose, and apparently Hop thinks he's been 'kidnapped' and you suddenly have to infiltrate Rose's whole tower. Eternatus could've been interesting, but it didn't have the same menacing feel like Ultra Necrozma because it was awakened out of the blue. As for Leon himself, beating him felt rewarding because of how much the game made it evident how unbeatable he was. But as a character, he was super meh. His character was basically 'I love Charizard' and 'I'm terrible with directions.'
4. Music: Most of the overworld themes were fine (but none would get close to being as remembered as the classics from Hoenn - Unova). What was really disappointing was the battle themes. Barring Piers, Marnie, a bit of the gym leader theme, the soundtrack felt jarring and all over the place. Don't get me started on the terrible champion's theme. Congratulations Alder, you no longer have the worst champion theme in the series.
So overall, I'd rate these games a 6/10. They are ahead of SM (even if SM has a far better plot), but are still my second least favorite generation of games. They made some neat QoL changes (though the EXP Share being constantly on is definitely not one of them) and the Wild Area is a very good idea that I hope can be further implemented and improved upon in future games. Everything else though was disappointing. These really should have been so much more, being the first generation on a home console but what we got was a watered down, incremental upgrade from the 3ds era.
