This is exactly it. Dreadful games I’ve avoided since the late 00’s, a lack of innovation or even apparent care. The latest games are poorly optimised and leave SO much on the table.

It’s widely acknowledged Game Freak simply aren’t investing in the games in the way they should: Nintendo should be making Palworld, with their own IP. They’d take over the world.

The crux of it is that Pokemon games don’t need to be good to sell… so they’re crap instead.