Pokemon is about Pokemon. Plain and simple.
With different time periods, revisiting regions... the possibilities are endless and you can then justify retcons with little effort and some cool in-world tidbits, like climate change, evolution and so on.
The new designs are all awesome.
To sum up how much I like all of them:
Basculegion.
"Carrying on the will of the dead makes me stronger. I already looked as a badass Piranha first. Now I look like a badass Mega-Gyarados with an attitude. Hey, Wishiwashi, guess that schooling thing is cool, huh? Guess who does it better"
In all seriousness, I was waiting for such a mon to appear the moment Wishiwashi was a thing. It is darker, cooler, and probably easier to use. What I worry about is the evolution method, especially if it is as far-flung as some of Swsh's very own (Hello, G-Yamask. No, not you Farfetch'd. You go leek weep in a corner). I guess you could go very dark by having to knock out other Basculin while having your own in the party.
Wyrdeer.
Since I watched the Present on my phone with a shitty connection while on vacation, I honestly thought this mon was an Arceus proxy or something. It looks regal, at home, and, most importantly, once I saw it better, very consistent with what a Stantler evolution would be like.
Growlithe-H
Rock! Looks like statue-inspired! Awesome. Now, that's a typing I would like to explore with a balance/offensive Mon. Not knowing what the evolution will look like is one of the things that in making me consider going in completely blind bar for this Present. It will probably evolve in some Lore-based, stony looking creature, maybe bulkier than regular Arcanine (design wise, not stats).
Also, is it just me or all new mons fall into the "older=bigger"? If so, it is a cool evolutionary callback that I would profoundly enjoy.
The region map also looks far more interesting in its uncharted, or untamed if you will, version. I do wonder, however, if we run the risk of "plain old Wild Area" or if it will be challenging and also stimulating in terms of structure, layers, and weather impact. Moreover, civilizing it and seeing Hisui changing during the game is a possibility to look forward to. Come to think of it, we've experienced environmental calamities, space-time warping, literal WMD almost going off, and in main games little to nothing changes in all the places you visit, no matter the disaster.
The Galaxy-Galactic reverse plot hints at some kind of subversion, bad interpretation, or inspirational material used straight out out of context later done by Cyrus, which is my favorite villain in Pokemon as much as Sinnoh is my favorite region.
Final note, if the snowy route is even harsher terrain, the better. That's my top #1 route in all of the series