This game is definitely more difficult than XY and ORAS. But I wouldn't say it was more difficult or equally difficult as Gen 4 and earlier. Heartgold and Soulsilver, RSE, and the originals had a much stronger level curve and no easy access to a decent exp. share.
The story does leave some things to the imagination but I don't mind. Overall it is much better structured and played out than any other main Pokemon game I have played to date. It is the first storyline that I've sort of been interested in (although Diamond and Pearl was close). As always the game does suffer from "coincidence syndrome". You know, when there is an empty part of the story and suddenly, by sheer coincidence, you randomly bump into the right NPC and/or area that progresses the game only minutes after. This happens several times. The makeshift captain and kahuna fights are guilty of this too. Remember that guy/girl you were talking to for a while? Well, surprise, he/she is now the kahuna and you have to fight them.
Other things that bother me include Hau mysteriously passing all the trials, when he clearly has a reasonably poor team and suffers from not too great battling AI. There was a fun lead up to each trial and they all felt like a personalized experience towards the player. Meanwhile it feels that Hau just turned up a few seconds after your trial and won the battle without any feeling. I guess this has to be done in order to keep the story "clear" of inaccuracies but it feels a bit fixed.
In the anime, especially the Orange League, it was similar. Ash would meet a character for a while and they'd reveal they were actually the gym leader. But in a meaningful and often charming way, whereas in SAMO it just feels forced and as if the developers decided at the last minute "Uh oh we don't have a kahuna quick use this guy."
This game also does something that other games haven't really done. It makes you feel more equal to everyone else. In previous games, most major or late game fights were with your rival, gym leaders, or enemy team leaders. But in this game many "normal" NPCs are quite a challenge. Anabel, Dexio/Sina, and Kukui are examples of trainers who haven't demonstrated a "trainer progression", yet have a team that is equal or superior to your team. This might sound a bit odd, but think of it like this. Imagine if there was suddenly a fight with Lillie before the end of the game, and she had a full team of level 80s. That doesn't sound right does it? Not only because of how long it takes to train a team to level 80, but because she hasn't demonstrated that she has been training/completing trials/gyms and so on. Several of these characters feel more like "casual fun NPCs" and not "die hard trainers".
The post game is decent, but the UB line is clearly not meant to last. That entire line consists of "meet here" followed by "catch UB". No mazes, puzzles, actual storyline involved. It feels a shame that all these UBs are thrown together like this. I'm not expecting a long storyline like Nihilego, but something that gives each UB some character.
As for gameplay, my only sour feelings are regarding SOS battle spam, only 1 of each apricorn ball (nice to have them at all though), and the absence of tutor moves. The berry system is a bit hashed together but Pelago makes up for it. A lot of nice touches in the game for instance the various pokemon shadows and encounters that don't require grass. These have existed since Gen 5, but this Gen added more ambushes and different spots where they can occur.
The battle system is great. The type effectiveness display is great for encouraging new users, and reminding me what absurd types X Alolan form has. The interface is much cleaner.
The Festival Plaza does not appeal to me. Random buildings, random star values, important buildings limited to either Sun or Moon, an unclear FC system, and less than intuitive trading/player interaction. The button that opens the internet connection is the worst thing here. How many of us didn't realize you had to use this button to trade with other real life people or battle with them?
Also Necrozma not having an overworld encounter felt off. They could have given him an overworld model and make him interactable. The "random search through grass" doesn't feel right for a legendary that is potentially so important.
TL;DR this game is a much needed improvement on the Pokemon main game formula, although it still suffers from some small setbacks. The story is great, but lacks some depth and meaning, although arguably this was necessary to produce such a great story to begin with. This is a great introduction to the series for anyone who was hesitant. Don't be hesitant. You can be a Pokemon nerd too. One of us. One of us.
