This direct was pretty freakin good. I totally wasn't expecting the open world mechanics, and FREE CAMERA MOVEMENT. The routes between cities look massive. Looks like Pokemon are also roaming around like in Let's Go, and the grass as well. They didn't show the player walking up to one, but maybe they gave the best of both worlds?
I'm feeling the new Pokemon revealed. Wooloo is precious, and Corviknight looks DOPE. Definitely going on my team. It seems like it's in cities as a taxi service as well, working like Fly. And now that the legendaries have been shown, I can finally say I'm getting Sword for sure. Though both of them look CLEAN af.
I'm a bit half and half on the new Dynamax mechanic. I'm glad it's not a broken insta-kill like Z-Moves and also limited, adding to the strategy in when to use it. If it's something like time-limited Megas, then I'm fine. I like the Max Raid Battles tho, looks pretty fun. Gyms seem more flashy than ever, focusing on using Dynamax. Since we've only seen the stadium and battle against the leader, wonder if there are other trainers as well. I'm guessing instead of puzzles, it might be like a series of battles before taking on the leader.
I totally called a female professor this gen, and her name being Magnolia. And Sonia's cute af. Kinda gives me BW2 Bianca/Lillie vibes. Hop seems like a decent rival at first glance, hopefully he'll have more personality than the last few. It's pretty cool that he's the Champion's brother, and he's working to catch up to him. And did they just say "one of your rivals" when referring to him? I guess we're getting more than one rival, like in BW? Maybe the other one will be the return of the jerk rival. Kinda awesome how they revealed the Champion early in the game like with Alder in BW. I've always liked that, as it gives you someone to work towards. Watch him actually be part of the evil team, maybe even the leader. Now that'd be a fun twist, and be cool story wise for Hop.
Overall, I'm actually pretty excited for these, probably even more so than SM. Can't wait for more info, like the evil team and stuff. I'm personally hoping they don't reveal absolutely everything like they did with SM/USUM, leaving a lot of mystery to find when playing.