5th Gen Is it just me, or has Gen V been getting a lot of hate lately?

Reading other video game message boards as well as watching some Poketubers Gen V seems to get a lot of flack or even hate with people saying it's uninspired, has dumb Pokemon, the story is crap, complaining about the decision to have it be all new Pokemon etc.

Not sure if this is a relatively recent thing but I don't get it. When it was unveiled and released I remember it getting lots of love and enjoyment by people, there were criticisms sure but maybe it's just me but there seems to be a "Gen V was actually pretty bad' thing going around. Most I feel is unfounded. To answer some of the most common complaints I have heard:

The story: It certainly wasn't shakespear but honestly I thought it was decent and at least something new. It's not as if before (or even after IMO) the story aspect was anything more than bare bones. At least Gen V had a new spin on it.

It has dumb Pokemon: Yeah, some aren't that great but I thought the legendaries and a great deal of the non-legendaries were fine. At the very least not anything worse than before.

Complaints about adding all new Pokemon: Now this is one complaint I disagree with most. Keep in mind I have been playing Pokemon since the beginning, and honestly when I first played Black & White this aspect made me feel like I was playing Gen I games all over again. Instead of seeing a 50/50 mix of old and new Pokemon I loved that throughout my journey just about everywhere I went there would be a new Pokemon.

Isn't this how it goes with every game in the franchise, though? When it comes out it's generally loved but once we get a little down the road eyebrows start to raise at those 9s and 10s.

Personally, I think it's biggest problem came in the way of design. Gen 5 is probably the only generation of Pokemon that I haven't beaten a single game in. Seems odd when you consider that it was a pretty bold entry in the series- the most interesting and experimental game in years, and it's really led the charge in the games moving up and out in terms of what they are.

But it was also boring. And I say "boring" specifically not because it's something I just feel, I'm saying it because that's generally why people drop the game. It's ironic that, when you look at this series that (at the time) was leveled with heavy accusations of stagnation, this game that was essentially the biggest dump for ideas that the series would have until Sun and Moon was given the Black Sheep Treatment.

Saying the game is uninspired shows a poor sense of judgment, I'd say, because there was certainly a lot of motivation and heart driving this game. The other complaints could be taken a few ways, but honestly I think the biggest problem with the game is that it's another trek in familiar hardware. Whereas Generation 2 enticed you with a new region as well as the fleshing out of many existing mechanics while introducing several new ones and Generation 7 flat out rewrote the book and make a game that was just leagues above and apart from its 3DS counterparts, Gen 5 feels like a coat of polish on Gen 4 rather than a step up. What's more, much like XY it expects you to get caught up in this American city setting that it has. If you don't, it's really going to put a damper on your experience because it's far more in your face about it than Sinnoh was, and when the story that you may or may not be interested in locks you into these text walls as often as they do, it's easy to lose interest.

I don't have a lot of bad to say about the game itself because I do like a lot of the ideas that they had here, but at the same time I can see pretty easily where this hate comes from.

Oh, and also, the music.

...And here we go again.

This definitely hasn't been new. In fact, it feels like more people have come to appreciate Gen V from what I've seen. Not everyone, but to say that this is recent puzzles me.

I'm definitely one of the people that have come to appreciate Gen V like Swagroar said. Originally, I wasn't a particularly big fan of this generation and the new Pokemon it introduced and to this day I still believe it's the worst gen, in terms of Pokemon design. Despite this, I think the story, region and features of Generation V are really impressive and I've come to appreciate them in recent years. So in short, I used to dislike this gen but have come to appreciate and like it.

it is my favorite Gen by quite a bit, and I really like the Pokemon designs as well. I am genuinely puzzled where the hate comes from, especially from the people who think the absolutely abysmal X&Y was somehow a step up.

Since Gen IV is my favourite, I can understand why some people didn't like Gen V. I had a lot of hype for the games following DPPt, which led me to ordering a Japanese White Version for the first and thus far only time in my life. And for the most part it delivered. I loved the new Pokémon, the music and graphics were amazing for the time, and the story was fine. I didn't even mind not having access to my old favourites.

The deal breaker in my case was the "improved" WiFi mechanics, which ultimately led to my abandoning competitive battling altogether. Though from reading what others have had to say over the years, I feel like I'm in the minority in this regard.

Didn't care for it at first and now I've come to really love and appreciate 5th Gen. Very underrated and I loved Unova especially since it was based off of NY (where I grew up).

I dont hear too much disdain for the gen outside of some weird pokemon designs tbh. But even then I personally thought there were some awesome pokemon that came out of Unova like Hydreigon, Haxorus, Samurott, Krookodile, etc

...it's just you. Really. I have no clue why fans of Gen V constantly seem to victimise the games they like so much, as though they need them to be hated or something, lest they be lost to obscurity.

The divisive nature of the last three generations in particular have given them an awful lot of criticism since their release, with perspectives being altered as more titles are released and people start to look at things from the perspective of the whole series, rather than as individual, standalone titles. I have no doubt the perspective of Gen V has changed over the years in response to the release of XY and SM, but that does not mean it has become more hated by the fandom at large.

In a fandom this big, you'll inevitably have people who flock together if they have like minds, and speaking out against them is often the quickest way to put yourself under a lot of pressure. But viewpoints like that in no way reflect the majority. Most of the common complaints you describe can be made of just about every other Pokemon game, in fact...and frequently are.

I can understand why 5th Gen is hated by a lot of people, but when you consider how 6th and 7th Gen turned out, people have now realised that 5th Gen isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be.

While this generation was full of rehashed Pokemon designs and felt like an attempt to be Red & Blue all over again, there is a reason why 5th Gen was special. It had some of the most memorable and well-loved characters in the series, with N standing out in particular as a fan favourite of the NPCs. We also got the largest amount of new Pokemon, even overtaking 1st Gen, and a lot of these new Pokemon had some very good stats and unique type combinations.

This was also the only generation to get a true sequel game, which expanded Unova so much that its postgame content almost puts HG/SS to shame. The addition of older Pokemon to expand the Unova Dex also allowed for more teambuilding options, which is why B2/W2 had a lot of replay value going for it, as well as being a more challenging game than people think, especially when you take the difficulty setting keys into account.

It's pretty much easy to say that now is a time where people have been viewing the positive side of this generation, and why both B/W and B2/W2 stand out from most games in the franchise.