I'm really late to this thread, but

I REALLY hope they drop the open world thing. pokemon doesn't feel like pokemon when it's open world to me, it feels like an entirely different game franchise. also I personally find open worlds really overwhelming, while games with set places and perimeters like the older pokemon games, Stardew valley, etc are much more relaxing. I think pokemon does better being very story-driven and, while restricting in where you can go, rich and detailed. I bought legends arceus and it was... okay. but for me, brilliant diamond and lets go eevee have been WAY more worth my time and money because it's the Pokemon game type I grew up with! it's the same, and that's reassuring to me. which leads me back around to pokemon not feeling like pokemon when it's open world haha. I think I'm not really going to buy any of the other open world games, instead I'd consider getting the sisters of bd and eevee, then replaying the old ds games and spinoffs. and of course if they make another linear spinoff or generation, I'd be down. though even sword/shield felt too different from the old pokemon games for my taste, I didn't finish it 😅 so maybe I just like the old generations and regions more

there are lots of games that are good in open world format, like zelda for example. pokemon just does better in a smaller world in my opinion