I still don't think I'm over the damage these games did to my interest in Pokemon, honestly. I didn't follow along with the news up to their release so I went in blind...and god, I really struggled with that first stretch of the game. As I've said elsewhere, Black's early game seemed to be conspiring to put me off it, and it succeeded admirably in that. Coming off Gen IV, which I loved...it was a pretty bitter pill to swallow. I practically swore off Pokemon there and then.
I remember 2011 being a terrible year for gaming when compared to 2010 on the whole, too. Amongst other things, the 3DS was also released that year, with a miserably sparse launch lineup. Nintendo also released Skyward Sword that year - a.k.a. the worst Zelda ever - so I'll admit that my dislike of Gen V might be partially due to my disappointment in Nintendo that year. They literally did NOTHING right. Although I think the only game I actually enjoyed in 2011 was Disgaea 4, actually...
The games definitely came at a bad time for me, as I was in my final year of my undergraduate degree. I vaguely remember juggling a dissertation with half a dozen essays - some of them disorganised group work, in which I seemed to be the only person who actually wanted to pass - and, naturally, I went to pieces during my exams. I had no idea what I was going to do in the future. There were some other, more personal issues that year which I'd prefer not to go into, too. Suffice it to say that Gen V made things worse; bad enough that my life was a chaotic mess, but to have a series I'd love since childhood let me down like that? God, I hated 2011. Probably the worst year of my life before 2014 and 2016 happened.
I've not replayed Gen V at all - it's the only Gen I've not touched since finishing the games the first time - and I've actually been considering it recently. I have sometimes found that something is not quite as bad as I remember it being the first time around upon replaying a few years later and, as I know what to expect from the beginning of the game now, I may be able to push through it with far less difficulty. I woudn't say I've become more patient or forgiving of what I see as poor quality video games over the last few years - if anything I am even less forgiving - but I AM more willing to try new things, and give things a fairer chance before I dismiss them...this applies to old games as well as new ones.
Who knows what I'd make of them the second time around? At the very least the disaster that was Gen VII would almost certainly put these games in a more favourable light with me. At the time, I didn't think Pokemon could get any worse...oh, did Sun prove me wrong.