Sorry, would have responded sooner, but CPU got fried, so this is the first chance I got. Anyways, at its core, SPMD is an amalgamation of the previous three games, mixing together the good and the bad. If you had absolutely no gripes with any of the games prior, it's great, as there likely won't be many issues in PMD. (other than an extremely apparent lack of playtesting) However, if you've come to find that GTI had quite a few flaws compared to Rescue Team and Explorers... well, combining the three really accentuates those flaws. And from a writer's perspective... it's really not all that engaging, and even throws out the canon of the Pokemon universe (much like GTI did) to try and add more suspense. Throw in multiple cases of poorly constructed plot twists, some rather lackluster copy/pasted archetypes from the prior games, as well as cheap references to them (as little sense as many of them may make) and you have... an extremely well received game by fans. Yeah, it's very evident I'm in the minority here, and I'm aware of that fact. It genuinely feel like there's something I'm missing, but every time I try to ask someone what they liked from the game, it generally translates to the exact opposite feeling for me. (ie. the partner feels like a immature child for the majority of the game that turns only becomes tolerable by the last stretch of the game, while others think they're the most enjoyable partner to date) So take my critique with a grain of salt, chances are you may like it. Just... I'd recommend trying to find it at a discounted price. Or, you know, just play another one of the Original games.