The games gave me probably my favorite starter Pokemon of all time and I'm convinced I'm the reason some people on these forums dislike the Popplio line, I apologize for that. And while it's probably not my favorite region for Pokemon, I did like a many of them of them. Decidueye, Vikavolt, Rockruff and all Lycanroc forms, Mudsdale, Lurantis, Salazzle, Tsareena, Type: Null and Silvally, Mimikyu, Kommo-o, the main trio of Solgaleo, Lunala, and Necrozma, Poipole and Naganadel, and Zeraora were others I really like, too. Not to mention many of the Alolan forms, particularly the Ice types. Another thing I noticed is that basically every new Pokemon introduced either has its own unique ability, attack, or a type combination that had not been done yet, and I think that helps a lot of Alolan Pokemon feel more memorable.
Except for Faba, I don't think there was a single character I really disliked, either. And even then, Faba is obviously deliberately written to be hated like Dolores Umbridge or Joffrey Baratheon, so... mission accomplished there? In particular, I liked the main family at the center of the games (Lillie, Gladion, Lusamine, and Mohn), Guzma and Plumeria, Nanu, and Acerola in the games. Throw in Lana from the anime, as well also convinced I'm part of the reason many people in the anime chat dislike Lana.
I think the Alola games succeeded in trying to have their own identity and change up the Pokemon formula a little bit with the Trials instead of gyms, and I think it's one of the best regions at world building. Because let's face it: a lot of people at the time felt that the gym formula was getting a little stale and holding the series back from trying other things. After all, if you create this obligation that there has to be eight gyms, an evil team, an elite four and champion, there's only so much you can do with the story. And while I do feel the Trials could have distinguished themselves from gyms a little more and the challenges themselves could have been a little more difficult, I still think they felt organic within Alola and still gave us a different experience from gyms. Some of those Totem battles were pretty difficult, too (looking at you, Totem Lurantis). Well... assuming you're not either overlevelled or using a team of OP Pokemon, anyway, but all Pokemon games are easy when you do that.
I really liked that Alola placed a lot of emphasis on family albeit moreso in the anime but also in the games with Lillie's family, because that inherently creates a more emotional story than what we're used to. In the case of the games, it's the first time where a family's storyline was placed in the forefront, and Lusamine was a very different kind of villain because of it. Like... she wasn't just another villain out for world domination like basically every other Pokemon villain. She was a concerned mother and wife researching the Ultra Beasts to rescue her husband, slowly losing her sanity and growing obsessed with the Ultra Beasts in the process to the point where her children turn against her in their own ways. To me, that is significantly more interesting than just another villain out to take over the world. And that's before mentioning stuff like Lillie and Gladion's storyline or Hau trying to step out of the shadow of his Kahuna grandfather or getting to see all the Captains just having lives outside of being Captains.
And one last thing I appreciate is that, while not overly difficult, they were a huge step up in difficulty from XY assuming you're playing with the EXP Share turned off. Like I said, there were a few Totem battles that were legitimately difficult, the leaders in Rainbow Rocket were pretty tough, and then there's the Ultra Necrozma fight.
No, I don't think the games are perfect. Yes, there was stuff that GF could have done more with. Even I was a little bothered by the lag in some places and prefer Mega Evolutions over Z-Moves, and I can understand people being annoyed by the cutscenes and tutorials, though personally, I am typically not bothered by the latter two things in video games. But I do think the positives far outweigh the negatives overall. It does make me sad that most people on here seem to think these games are trash, but from what I've seen outside of these forums, from the less hardcore crowd? I have a feeling Gen VII will be like Gen III and Gen V where it will take time for people to warm up to them. They just need a bit of time outside of the spotlight.