I see a lot of discussion on what they did wrong, but little on what was right. So what do you think this generation successfully accomplished? I think the concept the story had was very interesting, maybe not executed properly, but it was interesting none the less.
The addition of Wonder Trade and Super Training are two things that come to my mind right away. I've never had a lot of friends who played Pokémon and the comunication and trading made me feel for the first time in a Pokémon game like I was actually connected to something. As for Super Training, it made EVs easily accessible for everyone for the first time, I feel. They were around long before that and dedicated players would train how they would, but this streamlined that process and laid it out, and I'm sure introduced the whole concept to a lot of players who before might have heard something about EVs and what they are but beyond that didn't pay much attention, or just never knew at all. It helped to open up a part of Pokémon that was to some extent kind of closed before. I'm sad to see it gone in Sun and Moon but I'm thankful for it existing at all because I was one of those people who barely cared before and found it to be a chore and just never bothered because it took looking up a guide on how just to get it done halfway competently unless you've already been doing it and are familiar. I'm still not some competitive badass or something but it made me really care about the nuances for the first time and understand the game mechanics better. I also love the sheer amount of available Pokémon just right there in the game (when talking about X and Y). If I recall correctly it's something like 450, well over half the entire Pokédex was available in game out of the box. This made it a great starting point for new players who wanted even a chance at completing the Pokédex and was helpful for someone like me who just returned to the series the generation prior after a short break. Overall I guess I'll say to me, Gen 6 made you feel like you really got your money's worth.
I will admit that the story, while flawed, was quite ambitious, and what few characters did get developed were done well (see: Shauna and the player at Parfum Palace)
The introduction to Trainer customization was nice in Gen 6. Features like wonder trading and other mechanics helped the game a lot as well. Although I'm not a huge fan of Mega Evolution, I liked having to do sort of a scavenger hunt for Mega stones across Kalos. Transitioning from sprites to 3D models made the games seem a lot more engaging and interactive as well! One thing from gen 6 I miss from ORAS and Sun/Moon is those roller skates! They were so much fun. xD
I really enjoyed having horde battles. It definitely made EV training a lot easier. It was really cool to see the Shiny Horde memes.
Not too much to add. Horde Battles were awesome, EV training and also facing multiple Pokémon like in the real Series. It reminds me to Pikachu facing all the Spearows in the very beginning of the series.
I think that horde battles, mega evolution and the graphics are the big highlights of this generation. I'm not to hyped of the Pokémon. They're just... I dunno... not as awesome as the previous gens (with gen 5 as an exeption, 'cause that one really was stupid )
The amount of customization you could do. You can customize your trainers clothes, skin color to an extent, eye color, you can even make a PR video to show off. I love customization in games and this is no exception. I also like the number of ways you can shiny hunt and train your Pokémon.
The only things I think Gen 6 did truly well was making IV breeding and EV training way more easy. It helped a lot more people like myself to breed their own perfect and legit Pokémon.
I'd say the evil team's motive. I admit, Team Flare was (incredibly) far from perfect. However, their plan to wipe out pretty much everyone in the world? Now THAT was a nefarious deed! The biggest issue was how they handled that story-wise and the fact that all the grunts acted like complete fools whenever you encountered them. But ambitious evil plans like that are what made Team Galactic so great. Maybe if it had been done better, Team Flare could have been as popular. (And if the grunts had gotten their designs changed. Orange and evil don't mix very well). As well as that, I'd say customisation. That was heaps of fun.
I think that wonder trade is a huge thumbs up, as was the clothing customisation. The graphics were pretty good too, considering I'm so firmly a fan of the pixel style.
Diagonal walking it's the only thing we ever needed just kidding. For me it was the new Fairy types, Roller Skates, Trainer Customization, and the Exp. Share giving exp to all Pokémon. Also the story and music
The fairy-types, customization, Ev training, and the diversity of the Pokémon. The more I played the more I disliked the story and the rivals. But overall I still enjoy it