Improvements are expected in a new generation, if the games are getting worse, then it's perfectly reasonable to complain. And 5th gen did get worse overall, the game regressed in pretty much every aspect except story.
Gameplay flaws are rectifiable; storyline aren't, even with remakes. FRLG pretty much demonstrated that.
3rd gen only really had two problems: the lack of a day/night system and no backwards compatibility. The day/night feature wasn't a big deal to begin with (plus you still had a clock), it was just a capture gimmick that really didn't add much.
Also known as the entire 3D graphics of Gen VI. Both does nothing practically, but definitely enhance gameplay experience. In fact, Day/night feature isn't just a gimmick; it mimics real world ecosystem where certain creatures are nocturnal in nature. Gen IV's re-addition of this cosmetic feature was widely celebrated, and Gen V added visible seasonal changes in to the environment in addition as well. The only problem was that it's not eye-catching enough with the graphics of the NDS.
As for the backwards compatibility, people stopped caring as the series dragged on, they were able to recapture all of their favorites and built up an even bigger collection of Pokes than the one they left behind. Everything else they removed from 2nd gen was a regional gimmick that they usually ended up replacing. Apricorn Poke Balls were replaced by new Hoenn balls, many of which either functioned similarly or were much more useful. Pokegear was replaced by the Pokenav, and the only thing you really lost was the radio which was another pointless gimmick. And then they actually added features like Contests and Secret Bases as well as new battle mechanics such as Natures and Abilities.
Yet, when BW, a game with backward compatibility, wifi trading, and post-E4 opportunity to recapture another 100+ old Pokemon for the 5th time just to re-complete your dex started the players with 153 new Pokemon, people whine like there's no tomorrow. There was legitimate reason to complain about RS's lack of old Pokemon back then when there was no FRLG in sight, but not with BW when DPPt is just around the corner.
And when B2W2 'fixed' the issue people continue to use BW an excuse to shoot the generation down even though it's the '3rd game' that usually defines the generation.
5th gen was much, much worse in this regard. They removed actual gameplay functionality and added nothing in its place. You couldn't rematch trainers except through gimmicky battling facilities.
Also known as the Battle Chateau in Gen VI.
You couldn't plant berries except through an online gimmick that closed down at the end of the generation.
Agreed.
The regional gadget couldn't use all of the fun apps that the Pokegear, Pokenav, and Poketch had and was nearly useless unless you used local multiplayer a lot. It was the first game in the series where there was less you could do than the last game, a definite regression for the series.
The Pokegear and its incarnations were never able to replicate the usefulness of the apps that we know of on smartphones. At best, they can only be an augmentation to certain game features. For example, trainer phone calls for items and re-battles in Gen II, and re-battles alone with the PokeNav were eventually obsolete when there's a more straightforward, abelt rather boring means of doing so in Gen V and VI. Gen IV had a wide array of apps that honestly had little use, or displays information that were eventually incorporated within the game itself.
Have you even gone through the list of apps on GenIV's Poketech? Analog clock, digital clocks, kitchen timer, color changer, coin toss? ... I don't even put such things on my smartphone. Not to mention that they intentionally made it look like graphics from the age of tamagotchi when they have absolutely no reason to do so.
The PSS created a new online environment where you could communicate with hundreds of trainers at the push of a button.
Again, something that's limited by hardware, and Nitendo's own wifi service. The fact that Nintendo Wifi Communication couldn't support the 3DS and had to be closed down to make way for the Nintendo Network pretty much tells you that there is a gap between the two devices.
Fairy type affected the type chart and how you construct your team, and changed the competitive usefulness of various Pokemon.
The direct consequence of a new type addition is of course a change in the rules of engagement; it's not as if we've never experience it before. Of course, the types that have been added so far were able to fit in well with the rest, but let's not forget that such additions were as much of a necessity as they were a 'new feature' as Game Freak realize on two occasions the flaws that they've committed. In Gen I, Fighting type had little offensive use, being super effective to 3 types, of which Ice and Rock have a myriad of weaknesses anyway and Normal isn't capable of super effective damage or resistance, while Psychic was just plain broken. By Gen V, Dragon type was overly buffed by virtue of stats inflation thanks to Game Freak's obsession with creating tons of Dragon legendaries or pseudo-legendaries with crazy-high BSTs.
Diagonal movement allows you to move through the overworld you couldn't before and create area layouts that couldn't be done before.
If a game's movement uses vertical and horizontal movements, then it's only natural that the game map designer keeps this in mind and not create maps that hinders such movements. Like-wise, XY keeps in mind that the game is still based on grid movement and restricts the layout of its path/building layout and size to that. What's so unnatural about a game on an old system doing what it's supposed to do?
Mega Evolutions was a completely new type of evolution which also affected Pokemon's competitive viability.
Refer to the second part of
this post for the reality of Mega evolutions. Guess where Mega Banette and Mega Abomasnow, part of the first batch of Mega evolution is standing right now? RU tier.
Also, regardless of whether you think reusable TMs is a huge change or not, it's one new feature vs. 4 or 5 in XY. So XY improved much, much more than 5th gen.
Are we just going by the quantity of features vs quality right here?
If you're still inclined that Gen V is 'bad' for being a DS game and could have done more on the 3DS, we happen to be in time for an old Gen III game that is slated for a re-release on the 3DS too. Go ahead and compare the gameplay of RS versus ORAS when it arrives and see how much of difference in gameplay it makes. We'll never know how much of a difference Gen V and VI would have if they're both were released on the 3DS, but you could compare ORAS and XY to see how much of an edge XY has over it.
"It's a little early to say that ORAS have "hit the nail on the head". In fact, based on what we've seen of this game so far, I'd venture to say that it's going to do exactly the opposite."--> I wonder why you would say that. There you are talking about Gen V's flaws and Gen VI's improvement, mostly via its hardware advantage, and when you see the trailer of a Gen III game re-released on that same hardware with all the cosmetic improvement your first impression wasn't that of amazement?
