[Cat333Pokémon]

I have finally completed the main story. *reads GPFTW's spoilerific post above* I've got a few of my own thoughts to share, as well:

Spoiler Alert:    

The ending is definitely quite different than in past games, but here is my own commentary:
The story and dialog is quite well written, but the pacing is little bit of a mess. The school was fun, but the chthonic dungeons in the Voidlands felt a little contrived.
Leveling up doesn't seem to be of much use in this game. You barely gain any stats at each new level.
I much more prefer the Connection Orb with its guaranteed recruitments over the old system of getting lucky with someone's offer. That was particularly horrid with bosses. The bad thing is evolution serves practically no purpose, as you can only acquire one of each Pokémon and evolving would goof that up, and you can't form teams of purely Smeargle. 
The limit of three team members instead of four is a little saddening, but you can get around it with Hoopa.
This game made you REALLY break out the items. I had to carry a selection of wands and Tiny Reviver seeds everywhere. Orbs and non-reviving seeds seem to be decently rare, and Kecleon's shop seems to love selling looplets.
Speaking of looplets, that system is a lot of fun and helps makes each adventure unique. Some emera combinations are quite broken, but it can make the forced nightmarish story dungeons more bearable.