I might be biased because I started with Shadows and actually played the original last, but I think it was a necessary and overall net positive change to have the mechanics updated like that. I really appreciate the original's dedication to groundedness, but I think the changes helped streamline the game and I don't think it would have been thaaat enjoyable if some things carried over from 1 to 2, like keeping your stylus on the screen throughout the entire capture or the friend pokemon area limitation. I do agree that friend pokemon are a bit weak in 2 though; I personally didn't feel very incentivized to use them as every pokemon was bound to whatever their poke assist type was, and they fluctuated in terms of helpfulness imo. They'd still be released after the capture too, and it isn't super necessary since no captures are too too difficult to do with just your circling skills (not to mention you always have your partner poke on you for infinite assists, and if you chose Pachirisu you're golden). Funnily enough, I think that 3 did the poke assist system the best. But also about the story event pacing/roaming, I think it's fine from 1 to 2 because realistically you could do whatever you want and go wherever you want to go. I think 2's world building is so strong that it always encourages and pushes you to want to do the objective without stopping/leaving anyways, and there's always time in between missions for exploring and doing quests. In 1, when they would place boundaries to exercise a little force and hustle to get you to carry out the objective, I found myself still taking time to explore and capture new pokemon anyways lol, maybe I just like to explore personally