Oh wow, it's been that long already!
I was pretty interested in hearing any pre-release news about SW/SH as it was coming out and it got me pretty hyped for release. It was one of those games that came out right when I needed it most because it came out at a really tough time for me. It was great not only because I got to sink a lot of time into something that made me happy by myself, but so many of my friends were talking about it when it came out and I even knew people at school who were playing it, and I got to play it in the middle of class pretty often. I remember telling my teacher I was having a rough day and he asked if I was enjoying playing Sword, and said I should just continue that if it's making me happy. I think the fact that it came out at a bad time for me helped push me to enjoy it even more, as I challenged myself to fill out the Galar Dex pretty quickly and recorded my progress each night on social media, which also helped make me smile.
I got to spend a lot of time talking about it with my dad, and he'd watch me play occasionally. It was awesome seeing him point out any new Pokémon he liked or was interested in, and I learned he's a really big fan of Falinks and Snom.
Really if I had to say anything positive about SW/SH, it's that it's been another Pokémon game that's helped me connect with people and has really helped me when I needed it. Nothing will ever be quite like Pokémon for me, and it makes me really happy I'm a fan of the series.