The review of IGN didn't say anything about the Delta episode or if there's actually a battle frontier, or if friend safarii still exists.It wasn't a very good review.

They seriously said too much water? OMFG ITS HOENN! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD ITS HOENN! Too many HMs? Excuse me but we all damn well know there have been roughly 6-8 hms per game which are needed. Jesus christ these guys just love to remove points for no freaking reason!

It has a metascore of 90 right now, though a lot of reviews are still missing:
http://www.metacritic.com/game/3ds/pokemon-alpha-sapphire

Yes, to steal all of my god damn money. BD doesnt punish you for it, they also allow you to not gain XP when you dont want to. Pokemon should do this for not only XP but EVs.

IGN have been giving really retarded reviews today

So you want the already easy Pokemon games to become easier? I like my games in which the law of TANSTAAFL remains true. 

How would less random battles therefore less XP make it easier =P

Also turning off XP an EVs also wouldntt make it easier.

The effect isn't fewer random battles. It is no cost to have fewer random battles. Right now there is a way to have no weak random battles, it's called a repel. This works without taking out random battles entirely. The repel also costs money. Money can be used for other things. You choose to use this money to purchase repels. If they made fewer random battles then you'll have that money to buy other things, and you still will likely be able to obtain the same amount of experience because random mobs don't give much experience in the first place. In effect, it takes out a strategic element of the game. Can I get somewhere I need to be or obtain a rare pokemon more quickly? Yes. What must I do? Obtain repels by purchasing them. versus Can I get somewhere I need to be or obtain a rare pokemon more quickly? Yes. What must I do? Nothing. 

As for turning off XP and EV's. Part of the strategy of Pokemon games is dealing with luck/randomness and trying to reduce it as much as possible. When you give more control to avoid EV's you make training pokemon to become more powerful so much easier. This devalues the effort put into getting a pokemon to be just right. Plus it is pretty redundant. EV's can be reset with a reset bag now, and they can be trained in Super Training. XP isn't an issue. Why would you need XP to be turned off? Everstones prevent pokemon from evolving, so it can't be that. If you wanted to train a pokemon to a certain level so that you can trade it, you probably won't use the pokemon anymore after you reached that level anyway because it will be on GTS or you traded it with your friend. Maybe you want to keep a pokemon  at a certain level for battles, but again, that can be manipulated already. 

Basically point of my post: money is more limiting in pokemon games than experience is, and that is why it makes more sense to make random battles dependent on money more than experience. 

Open question: So most people who play Pokemon buy/play both games that come out together (Ruby Saphire)?
What is the base difference and reason for the games coming out in pairs?
Why would someone pick Ruby over Saphire or Saphire over Ruby?

Thank you - my 8 year old son is starting to get I to the proper Pokemon games now and they seem to be far more involved/interesting than I once thought

The difference is mainly just a few exclusive pokemon to each game. Ive never bought both because its a waste of money imo, if I want the exclusive pokemon to the other games I would just trade for them.