How the heck can ANYONE hate gen 7? They weren't perfect perhaps, but putting them amongst the worst in the franchise is complete and utter horseshit. In fact, I firmly believe the opposite: Sun and Moon are tied with Black and White 2 for my favorite mainline Pokemon games, with the mediocre postgame being the only thing holding them back from being better, because aside from that, they did every other conceivable thing right:
Region: Holy crap Alola is an amazing region. It's a radically different direction the point where I've seen people compare it to spin-off regions like Orre, and in my opinion it completely paid off. Unlike XY, GF fully took advantage of the leap to 3D this time around to deliver to us one of the most fleshed-out, visually varied regions yet, teeming with beautiful, interesting locales and bits and pieces of world-building.
Main Story Gameplay: Not super difficult, but far from the breeze that was XY. Some battles were actually really freaking tough: I picked Litten, and I still ultimately had to bank on potion spam to take out Totem Lurantis! Oh yeah, the totem battles are awesome. That's one of the things I love about SM: It shakes up the formula in various semi-subtle ways while staying true to the core structure of a Pokemon game. Trials over Gyms, multiple evil teams, multiple potential Champion fights, the E4 being composed of previously introduced characters to make the fights with them more impactful, probably other things I'm forgetting about.
The Story Itself: Considering how much of an Alola fanboy I am, it may come as a surprise that the story didn't capture me the same way it did others. That said, I can understand why some people love it so much, and I enjoyed some parts as well, more specifically Gladion, who fulfills the need for an asshole-ish rival people have been asking for while also having some great character development. Also his theme is likely a partial remix of a Pokemon Mystery Dungeon track, and any references to PMD make me a happi boye
Quality of Life Changes: Regardless of how you feel about recent games, you should at least be able to give SM credit for being the games that finally put HMs out of their misery in favor of the infinitely more convenient Pokeride system and derivatives in later games. Also Poke Pelago is great for making EV training less of a time waster, and I hope it returns in some form in SWSH.
New Pokemon: Look, you can think whatever you want about Sun and Moon. You can think I'm looking back on it too fondly, that none of the pros I listed make up for the cons assuming they are even valid at all, and that's fine. But I will forever stand by the belief that Alola is home to the best new Pokemon in any game period. I could make an entire post gushing about how much I love the Alola dex and everything it gave us, but the basic gist is this. XY saw the roots of a new trend for modern Pokemon games: A dramatically smaller list of new Pokemon compared to previous titles, opting for quality over quantity. While XY gave birth to this interesting idea, Sun and Moon took this concept to new heights. Every Pokemon in Alola does something brand new, something fresh and totally different from what came before, no matter how small. We've had Water/Psychic types in the past, but not a physical attacking one like Bruxish. We've had Regenerator Water types before, but not one with Poison immunity and hazard setting potential like Toxapex. Decidueye and Dhelmise are both physical attacking Grass/Ghost types, but they take that basic skeleton of a role and approach it from different angles, with neither truly outclassing the other in that function. Some do this better than others, but even the worst Alola mons have something to their name to where they can firmly say "nobody else can do what I do". Of course, the designs themselves are absolutely stellar, whether it be the noble, regal warrior Kommo-o, the unique blend of animal and profession the Starters take on, the totally alien and experimental Ultra Beasts and of course my beautiful baby boy Drampa, the perfect blend of cute and cool that the rest of the dex aspires to be. Oh, and by the way, Regional Variants are the best idea Game Freak has ever had, basically accomplishing what Mega Evolution tried to do on a smaller scale while feeling 100% natural and continuing to provide some sorely-needed revitalizations to old favorites, whether it be making Exeggutor an entertainingly silly meme icon or transforming Muk into a UU-level competitive threat. If these things don't return with new additions in Sword and Shield, I will honestly be pissed. I wouldn't even care much if it was Gen 1 only again, just please don't abandon this gold mine of potential Game Freak!
Wew, that was a long diatribe. Be warned though: you might see an even more nuclear take from me very soon on this thread, but right now it's late.