6th Gen My Perspective on XY - Were They Really That Bad?

[KOZSTAR]

Let me take you back to my high school sophomore year. I had just moved to America, and I knew literally knew nobody (hell, I barely spoke English at that point). It was December when I moved, so a few weeks later it was Christmas and my dad got me a copy of Pokemon X. It reminded me of my home country, so I started playing it a lot more often. One day I brought my 3DS to school, and I was playing during lunch when one guy (who's now my best friend) asked to see my team. Note that Pokemon X was the hottest video game at this time. I became friends wih him and his friend group, so I have to give credit to this game for making my first American friends for me. That coupled with the fact it was my first Pokemon game, makes me extremely nostalgiac for it. As for the game itself, while it may be super fricking easy (well, I had trouble with it back then since I knew literally nothing about Pokemon and I was a dumb 9 year old), it's a great game for challenges since the regional Pokedex is so huge. Theres actually more postgame than it gets credit for; Looker quest, Battle Maison, and a lot of miscellaneous stuff that totals to a lot of time. While the story was lackluster, you have to admit XY are some of the most emotion-driven mainline games (literally Lysandre cried in the Secret HQ, half an hour before committing not alive). And lastly, it introduced a bunch of new things, like character customization, camera angles, Poke Amie, PSS, and arguably the best online play the franchise has seen. So while XY has its flaws (mainly difficulty), I'll still hold the title close to me for a very long time, if not forever.

So my question to everyone here is, why did you like XY? Why didn't you like it? Do you think it's as bad as it is cut out to be?

 

[ReKoil]

Personally I just like the region's atmosphere and setting. I do wish they did something with Geosenge though. Like, it pretty much get''s destroyed and then just... kinda stays that way.
Imo they could've/should've made it so that it turns into a construction site at least after beating the E4, just so that you can see people actually give a dang about the town rofl.

Story is trivial, but idc about story anyway. I like the region and I like a lot of the 'new' mons. Kalos is tied for my fav region with Hoenn because of that.
X/Y also introduced the Fairy type (AND a new eeveelution!) which is among my favorite types =3

It's not nearly as bad as people pretend it is 😉

 

[Megan]

I think one of the problems people have with XY is that it came after gen 5 which had a heavy focus on story. They backpedaled a lot in that regard. The games being easier added to that, especially since this was also the first generation with the changed EXP Share. Or the fact that it was the firs time they did 3D. Going from very expressive 2D sprites to somewhat lifeless 3D models wasn't that well received.

I generally like XY. I think Kalos is easily one of the prettiest regions GF has ever done. I like the Fairy Type a lot. I actually had a ton of fun. It even made me complete the Pokedex which is something I only dared like once or twice.

 

[Orion☆]

Well... I do agree that X/Y is among the worst games in the series, and it's not helped by the fact I generally don't like the French setting (yeah, I'm more of an England person, which is why I prefer Sw/Sh anyday despite both games having crappy plots), the Fairy-type, the weird chibi 3D sprites or the ugly UI. Nevertheless, I had as much fun as I could back then, with the few good things that were available. The character customization feature in this game is still unrivaled, as are the Berry Farm, Super Training, the connectivity features like the PSS and the post-game story episode with Looker and Emma. To this day, it's one of the games I put the most hours into in my very first save file.

To sum up: Yes, it was a bad game, but that doesn't mean it wasn't fun - and that's all that mattered to me back then. I don't know if I'd play it again, but I do look back on it rather fondly.

 

[Duck]

I don't think XY was bad. In fact I think a lot of people miss the point that bad for a Pokemon game is still pretty good in general.

Still, I think a lot of the reason XY was considered "bad" was because:

1) It was the first game that didn't really try to cater to the older fans gameplay-wise. Sure, there's a lot of Kanto throwbacks and a lot of Kanto things got Mega forms, but this game tried to make things more accessible to your little cousin Timmy instead of making it harder.

2) 3D Pokemon was extremely hyped and then XY underdelivered despite the general art style being perfectly serviceable.

3) After hating BW stopped being cool and people started to go "It's good actually", people started to compare Gen V's difficulty, plot and world building with XY.

4) The whole generation was kinda rushed, they didn't have DLC or a third version to tie up some loose plots or add more lore to the region.

Give it like 5 more years and then you'll get a lot of people saying it was actually pretty good and if you don't like it, you're just a genwunner, just like it happened with BW.

 

[Koopa_T]

I enjoy playing X and Y. Years ago when it came out and still play it sometimes to this day. I agree with everyone's opinion. Love it. Sure not every Pokemon game flows the right way like they should be, but still have fun with this Gen. :)

Music is actually very nice. Has a good challenge to achieve the shiny charm. Mega's are awesome and good 3Dness.

The only bummed part in the game I think was no VS. Seeker. I always like using that feature. No customization on the character I suppose too. I'm sure there is more, but meh...

 

[Zeostar]

I didn't dislike X/Y. I did think the region was a little lackluster and I can 't remember a single town besides the main hub.

I agree with @ShootingStar, these games would have seriously benefited from a 3rd version.

 

[Palamon]

X/Y were a step backwards in many ways. Game Freak tried to honestly take a step back, and it just didn't work out. These games felt incomplete, the story was just, terrible, and I've always found these games to be the worst main series game in the franchise in the modern era. If I'm being honest, the only thing that was good about X/Y was it was the first 3D main series Pokemon game, but even then a lot of Pokemon looked lifeless when transitioning into 3D.

But, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and if you liked X/Y, then that's fine.

 

[_confused_piplup_]

XY are the opposite of gen 5 games to me. I loved the style of the game, going from the region, to cities, pokemon and character designs to music. I definitely preferred those things in XY rather than gen 5. This can be personal tho. What I didn't like about XY was the game rhythm, which was really fast at first (you find yourself in the first gym very fast lol), then it slows a lot around gym 2 and gym 3 but then starts to be super fast again. I also obviously didn't like the story, except the AZ's part even tho it could have been more detailed. The story was too simple and with lack of creativity. The game was really easy and really fast. Enjoyed the Mega evolution mechanic, but too limited to few pokemon. In ORAS is kinda better, while in XY is really too limited imo.

It's not a game I completely dislike because all the times I played it, I had fun. However, to me it pretty much sticks to the "fast game" thing that is typical of last generation games. So, I would say you enjoy the games, but there's no much depth.