Black and White have a lot of the same problems that other generations have, but I think it is the presentation of those problems that make it more difficult for some to appreciate them. It was easy to ignore the lack of any real plot in prior Pokemon titles, at least for me, because the focus was on your journey as a trainer. The evil team was just another obstacle in your path, a way for you to acquire the mascot Legendary. It didn't have a plot to speak of, really. These things were just distractions to break up the linearity of challenging Gyms; something else for you to do on your adventure. Key words, there: your adventure.
In Black/White, it's no longer just your adventure. You have faceless NPCs constantly in your face, and they're supposed to play pivotal roles in the plot. The story has expanded beyond you as a player and, whilst you could argue that this is a good thing, to me at least, the characterisation of these NPCs isn't there to support it. As I've said, Pokemon is just not a series designed with proper storytelling in mind; the format just doesn't allow for it.
You travel by yourself, and you have no voice. You are your character, you're not playing a role as such, or seeing things from the perspective of a fictional character designed by the developers, who interacts with and has relationships with other characters. You're just...there. You encounter characters very rarely and they have very little in the way to speak of in terms of visible personality or character growth. They're just recurring NPCs. Not characters in their own right as you would get in another RPG. In any other RPG franchise, at the very least, your rivals would travel with you, and you could expect to face the villains constantly. The focus is always going to be on you, the player character, especially in a game like Pokemon. That's the perspective you play as, and the one you're going to see. Generally speaking, things need to happen around you for you to be invested in them. You need to witness and be a part of these events; characters need to grow and develop with you, and not off on their own where you never get to see it. You need to be a part of the events, and feel like you're a part of the world.
I will give X/Y their due at this point and say that, initially, they attempted to do this by starting you off at the same time as part of a group of characters, and in Sun/Moon the bloody NPCs just wouldn't leave you alone for five minutes. Black/White never really did this, though. It's ironic that this actually makes them better than previous generations when it should make them worse, but the problem is in the approach, and Game Freak have been pushing it more and more with each game, even though it's a terrible approach to make if you want to tell a story with a recurring cast of characters.
Personally, I see Black/White as the start of a lot of problems - most of them narrative and characterisation-based - that have continued in the series from that point forward, and I dislike them as I dislike the other Pokemon titles that have taken that approach. They're not the worst titles, because this is a problem that has been getting steadily worse with each generation. But compared to previous titles I think they ARE lacking. If you're going to soft reboot a franchise like this, and do away with everything that came before it, the content needs to be just as good – if not better – to justify that approach. It wasn't there. If you're going to tell a story, you also need to SHOW that story unfolding, not just TELL and expect automatic acceptance from the audience. We have our own minds and opinions, and we should be allowed to use them. As I said, willing suspension of disbelief. It's something you do need to appreciate a story, but Gen V and onwards are practically built on it.
I don't play Pokemon for the plot, and I don't appreciate having it forced on me in this manner. If I'm going to play a game for the plot, I want to see evidence of development and growth. I want to CARE about the characters being put to me. I understand what the developers are trying to do; I know what I'm "supposed" to see. I just think it's lazy and poorly handled, and just not suitable for the format of the games. If you travelled with the characters and interacted with them constantly, it would be another matter. But you don't and, really, that wouldn't work in a title like this. Personally, I think it better not to have these things than to have them poorly handled this way. It worked for literally every game before this one.
You cannot have character development by proxy. You need to see and experience these things first hand. Having a character just appear from time-to-time to tell you things isn't proper character development, and nor is it good storytelling. I don't give a damn if N is out there somewhere fighting the good fight. I want to see what he's doing, and I want to know why he does it. I want to see him make choices, and I want to judge him myself for those choices. I don't want an information dump at the end, an "oh, this is my backstory, and what I've been doing that you haven't seen" sort of thing, because that in no way justifies never getting to see or experience what the character describes for myself. I don't want to be told what to think or feel and then left to decide how I'm going to do that. I want to be shown a situation and then allowed to interpret it for myself. I suppose that's personal preference, but it's not what Black/White does with its approach to storytelling.
It was the same with characters in X/Y and S/M - I know they're out there, on their own journeys, and I see the results of those journeys when I battle them with stronger teams...but that is all I see. They have no personality, no presence. They're just recurring NPCs...even appearing as much as they do, they're still just NPCs. It's not good characterisation, and it's not good storytelling. It's telling a story, yes, but telling it in the most direct and literal way possible: it's spoon feeding. You're being told what to think, and how to process it. You're not allowed to interpret for yourself what happened, because you never SEE what happened. You are clearly supposed to care, and you're told why, and the game enforces that with an iron clad demand and never shows you anything to let you form your own opinion...it never shows you anything. It just tells. Show, don't tell!
Game Freak have shifted their focus slightly away from the player and to these recurring NPCs as of Gen V and it's just not compatible with the format of the gameplay, because they're NPCs. The gameplay focus is always going to be on you, the player character, but it never feels like you're part of events. They're just happening around you now, to these recurring NPCs you rarely ever get to see, and are told what to think about when you DO see them. At least in my opinion. What you get out of it depends, I suppose, on how willing you are to read between the lines. I'd like to actually see some lines before I start trying to look between them. I don't appreciate being told what to think and then just left to my own devices to figure out why I should think it. The journey is just as important as the end result. That's just my perspective, as someone who plays story-based RPGs a lot and never played Pokemon for that, and does not appreciate the sudden shift Game Freak decided to take with Gen V.
Yes, the plot has always been minimalistic and unimaginative. Yes, the NPCs have always been faceless and under-developed. But the focus prior to Gen V was always on you, the player. It was a criticism you could make, but it wasn't a problem. That focus shifted in Gen V, and the content was not there to justify it, and it became a problem. Maybe my standards are too high because I play story-based RPGs and I'm used to complex, multi-faceted characters who I get to witness develop and judge for myself. I'm used to being a part of the story, not just watching it unfold around me. Not just playing in a world, but being a part of that world. With Gen V, the approach to storytelling and character development was tell, not show. I don't appreciate being told.
Creativity, I think, is a subjective matter. People are always going to whine about designs of Pokemon, and this is something every generation has had. Every generation. People hate that DPPt had so many pre-evolutions/evolutions of old Pokemon and Legendaries. People hate that X/Y had too few Pokemon and Mega Evolutions. People hate that S/M had too few Pokemon and a few redesigned old Pokemon. Gen V is hardly the only one to get criticised for lack of creativity.
Part of the problem, I think, is nostalgia, and the standalone nature of Gen V. Five generations in, a lot of fans are significantly older, video gaming as a hobby has changed COMPLETELY since Pokemon was first released in the Gameboy era, and it's more of the same. It's trying to be something new by doing away with everything that came before, but it is nothing new. That pretense is going to attract a lot of criticism...rightfully so, in my opinion. Maybe the content doesn't deserve criticism, but the presentation of that content certainly does. Objectively you could argue that this doesn't make it any better or worse than past generations, and I would personally agree with you from a pure gameplay perspective - keeping the same base gameplay formula and making small additions to it over time is how series work; it's the same for everything - but that's not going to be how a lot of people see it. You could argue it's their fault for having different expectations, but...well, presentation is everything, and there are arguments for and against blame being laid on Game Freak and on the player.
Pokemon also suffers from its reputation; it was a craze when it was first released in the West, and people expect a certain standard. They are going to do everything they can to pull it down and tear it to pieces. It's the same with every popular video game franchise...hell, with Pokemon not as popular as it once was, it gets off easy here. But that's the thing. Expectations change, and the games don't change enough to keep up with them. Gen V isn't unique to that, but the timing of their release likely has something to do with the criticisms. As new games are released, the flaws of the previous ones are highlighted, and people neglect the context of the times. You can see this isn't a problem unique to Gen V - look at Gen VI's reception now than Sun and Moon are out. Things can always be better and, when things ARE better, the old things just don't seem quite as good. That's generally how it goes.
Honestly, I don't think it matters, and I don't see why people get so uptight over differing opinions as if a majority viewpoint makes for an objective fact. It doesn't. I'm not even sure it IS a majority viewpoint in this instance and is instead just a very vocal minority. I will very cautiously agree with the point that perhaps some people don't form their own opinion entirely and judge based off popular opinion at the time, but if they do then isn't that their problem? And if they don't, aren't they entited to dislike something, the same way you're allowed to like it? Nobody is FORCING you to agree or disagree, and there is no objective right or wrong answer. The games are what they are, you either like them or you don't. If lots of people don't...well, too bad for them. They don't have to play them. It doesn't detract from your enjoyment of them. Maybe you're sick of hearing people complain. I'm sure they're just as sick of you singing its praises. It goes both ways.
It doesn't really matter if more people dislike than like the games. If you don't like them, you don't have to play them - and nor do you have to keep quiet about it. Just don't act like they're objectively bad games because they don't cater to your every whim and desire...and if anyone interpreted my viewpoint as saying that; I apologise, because that wasn't what I intended to convey...I shouldn't have to say constantly that my opinion is my opinion, though. If you do like them, then good for you! You had a good experience, and that's not a bad thing, and you don't have to keep quiet about it either. Just don't keep acting like a criticism of the games you like is a criticism of you as a person, because - unless someone is just being a prick - it really isn't, and don't act like people are wrong for not agreeing with you.
...and maybe I went off the point a little towards the end there. But eh. I didn't like the games, I know why and I have perfectly valid reasoning for that - as I hope I've explained - and I can understand why people wouldn't have liked them for other reasons, even if I don't agree with those reasons. I can also see why people enjoyed them even if I disagree with that. There is no objectivity to be found in opinions.
