KamikazePotato posted...
Sword/Shield is absolutely due to recency factor, though
I mean, it only came out like four months after Three Houses. I think the vocal minority on the internet makes Sword/Shield seem less loved than it is, but a lot of the big flaws are things your common player doesn't actually care about. A majority of people don't transfer Pokemon and just play with what's in each game, for instance, and Sword/Shield is full of things that make it easy to get into for casuals. Raids to play with friends, the easiest entry into competitive battling pretty much ever, etc. Hell, a loooot of people just love running around the wild areas catching Pokemon. It was kinda a nearly perfect game to catch the hearts of the casual masses.