>>718698752
>>heavier emphasis on story and cutscenes every game
>>MC is still a silent blank-eyed unemotional plank of wood
This isn't anything unique to Pokemon. Japs intentionally make protagonists bland, boring and if possible silent because they're afraid of otaku backlash if the protagonist acts like their own character in any way, because it might conflict with the vapid self-insert fantasy. This need to pander to otaku is also why 99% of anime and anything derived from it is absolute dreck now.