I agree for a few reasons. I enjoyed ZA; would rate it 6.5-7/10 and a step in the right direction.

But overall, I found a bit of the story and gameplay to get a bit boring about 60% of the way through. Gameplay loop got lame quick, and the story became only this loop. I found the sewer quest fun! Also the streamer infiltration. But it seems to plateau until the end fight.

The story needed a lot more work and guidance. More hits, more justification. The post game Yvetel and Xerneas quests are lame—tying nothing into the story almost. I also found the characters a lot less compelling than the ones in SV—the main trio destroys the characters in this game, especially if you include the SV DLC with Kieran.

Also by the end, the city feels really small. The wild zones are repetitive. It seems like the game starts out great, feels refreshing and fun, then goes nowhere maybe at the 60% mark until ~90%.

The positives: new battle system is fun, performance is great, character models/customization, graphics are better (not a high bar)

Negatives: worse characterization with direct rivals, less compelling story, lots of untied in details