• A new LGBTQ+ forum is now being trialed and there have been changes made to the Support and Advice forum. To read more about these updates, click here.
  • Hey Trainers! Be sure to check out Corsola Beach, our newest section on the forums, in partnership with our friends at Corsola Cove! At the Beach, you can discuss the competitive side of the games, post your favorite Pokemon memes, and connect with other Pokemon creators!
  • Due to the recent changes with Twitter's API, it is no longer possible for Bulbagarden forum users to login via their Twitter account. If you signed up to Bulbagarden via Twitter and do not have another way to login, please contact us here with your Twitter username so that we can get you sorted.

Was XY really that bad?

I've never really understood the notion that the games feel incomplete. The region didn't feel particularly short, especially compared to Unova in B/W, and I didn't think that there were a lot of loose ends with the storyline. I wouldn't have minded a return trip to Kalos to expand more on the region and do more with the storyline, either in sequels or a third version, but I don't really think that the games suffer significantly without something like that. It still felt like we got a complete story in X/Y.
 
To me they were definitely one of the worst games, simply because there was just very little I liked about them. Didn't care for the region, most of the new Pokémon, the music, the characters, or features like Super Training and Amie. Could be because I am European, so visiting a region based on France was just meh for me, and all the focus on fashion and prettiness is just not my thing.

Next to things I just didn't care about, there were also things I really disliked; like the 'rivals', Team Flare, the roller skates, too many Pokémon on each route, the paths where you're forced to ride a Pokémon, Sky Battles, Gym Leaders not having more than three Pokémon and Elite Four not having more than four Pokémon. I also don't like Mega Evolution, I prefer actual evolutions over forms and I dislike it made some Pokémon more special than others. Even worse is that those Pokémon weren't even gen VI Pokémon, so the focus was taken away from them, the worst being the Kanto starters getting Mega evos while the Kalos starters didn't.

It also had really good things though, the PSS and the Friend Safari are both great features which I both miss in the more recent games. And the one thing that makes me replay these games: character customization. I appreciate XY's customization feature even more after playing SM, where the selection of clothes was very meager. I did hate that the shops kept switching selections, that is one thing SM improved upon.

I disagree that the games felt incomplete though. The story felt complete, it didn't feel like there was missing something imo. I would rather not return there, no added/expanded areas or story or whatever would really improve my view on it, cause it would still have most of the things I disliked about it so yeah.
 
I've never really understood the notion that the games feel incomplete. The region didn't feel particularly short, especially compared to Unova in B/W, and I didn't think that there were a lot of loose ends with the storyline. I wouldn't have minded a return trip to Kalos to expand more on the region and do more with the storyline, either in sequels or a third version, but I don't really think that the games suffer significantly without something like that. It still felt like we got a complete story in X/Y.

Region wise, the games don't really compare well to other regions, especially before Unova, and doesn't really have a lot to explore. The region is BW2 sized, but really all they did was make one long main path and not really have much to branch off for. Plus there was a ton of empty space on the map, giving the impression that the region had more room to expand. The game skipped the entire Southern half of France and there was plenty of room in the south side of the map, it's only natural to expect something to go there.

Storyline wise, there were a lot of elements that weren't really utilized well that most games typically do. The mascots were pretty much afterthoughts, only shoehorned into the story at the end, and many characters had pretty minor roles and didn't really show up often. There was a lot of unexplored depth behind the game's characters.

All in all the games flat out just lack depth in a way that no other game has, especially compared to recent games. Compared even to other generation debut games like DP, BW, and SM it just doesn't stack up. It's more in line with RB or GS.
 
I loved X/Y. Although in hindsight I don't think I played it beyond the Elite 4. I don't like the story in any Pokémon game though (not why I play them!) so don't think I can say much there. :p

I really loved the new Pokémon in X/Y. B/W had majorly disappointed me so it was a nice comeback and restored my faith.
 
I really loved the new Pokémon in X/Y.

Yeah, I was going to mention this in my post as well: Gen 6's new Pokémon still comprise what, in my mind, is the best-looking wave of new Pokémon yet.

(I'm less keen on the Mega Evolution designs, but there are some pretty good ones.)
 
XY weren't bad games for challenge runs and replay purposes due to the large pool of Pokémon to choose from. In fact, they did add quite a lot to the table mechanic-wise. The problem these games had was the lack of regional-exclusive side-activities that only Kanto currently lacks (which isn't helped by the fact that both Amie and Super Training were carried copy-pasted into ORAS with no changes whatsoever), and many people wanted Rhyhorn Racing to actually be one of those things. However, the majority of XY's problems has to do with the poor utilization of the Kalos region as a whole. The map is big, but it lacked the side-quests and regional lore of the previous games, as well as having its lore of Mega Evolution and things related to the Kalos Mythicals shoved into another region, as well as a potential third game mascot being shoehorned into Alola with zero context (a.k.a. Zygarde). Also, more details on AZ's war would have been nice, and what about that Light of Ruin and the unique stat distribution of AZ's Floette? We also have a mention of Southern Kalos, but that never goes anywhere.

In terms of post-game content, I honestly didn't expect much out of XY's post game due to most first pair games of a generation have other things to focus on. However, the fact that the Maison was inserted into ORAS exactly as it was with no alternative facility really is a letdown. There's also the fact that the Sea Spirit Den didn't confirm a connection with the Legendary Birds and Lugia despite it being a reference to that connection in various other media. Also, remember Mewtwo being in a cave of the Pokémon Village? We never got an answer as to why Mewtwo was there and why it has its own Mega Stones.

Basically, the problem with XY is that the Kalos region itself felt incomplete and had lots of missed opportunities. The lack of a follow-up game that would at least attempt to address the problems with the Kalos region certainly doesn't help matters. While a follow-up might not realistically have fixed all of the problems, people would at least appreciate the effort. At this point, I'm more worried that Game Freak will use XY as a precedent for future games as far as to how little effort Game Freak thinks they an get away with in regards to content and the settings go.
 
X/Y were far from bad. Flawed? Certainly. But not "that" bad.

I think the casual approach to X/Y is why some people disliked it.
 
Other than the PSS and having a solid bunch of new Pokemon for such a small gen they're pretty bad. They didn't come close to previous generations and just felt lacking.
 
I quite enjoyed XY. The complaints about lack of depth and difficulty don't particularly resonate with me because I don't play Pokémon for the in-game challenge or story. If anything the ease and simplicity allows me to finish the game more efficiently.

The best part of the games for me were the plethora of new features and additions. Horde Battles for faster EV training, Friend Safaris for Hidden Abilities, the PSS, a new type and Mega Evolution mechanics to shake up the metagame, 3D models and move animations, easier breeding mechanics and chances of getting good Legendaries, some great new moves and abilities, O-Powers, the huge berry field, the Battle Chateau, the improved Vs. Recorder, trainer customization, the list goes on.
 
They weren't bad (but to be honest, I'd be hard pressed to call any main series Pokémon game bad), but out of the ones I've played they are the ones that held my interest the least. The story (as said multiple times before) I found unremarkable, same with the characters, the legendaries felt thrown in and forced (both the Kanto and Kalos ones), and I didn't enjoy playing through it as the single player felt too 'by-the-numbers' as far as Pokémon games go and there were a scarce number of side activities to play with. I also was not a big fan of Mega Evolution as while I like the concept, it ended up being unbalanced in terms of gameplay and bloated in terms of story and lore, so its biggest selling point ended up being a miss for me.

With that said, I did like the improvements to EV training as while I'm not competitive, it is a nice change to give to those players. Same with breeding, which I did use more often in the long run, and the online is much better then in previous generations via the PSS function. Customization was also welcome since it does allow players to feel more immersed in the world then previously, the game's options were limited admittedly, but it still was a decent first step.

All in all, I just found XY to be OK, some of the new additions are good and it was nice to make the jump to 3D, but it does sometimes come off as bland to me. I feel it could've used a bit more time to flesh out the region and give it more life, but as is I just didn't get as much enjoyment out of it as I did the other games.
 
I actually enjoyed playing XY a lot more than I enjoyed SM. I don't play Pokemon games for the plot - I play them to catch lots of Pokemon and have a good time raising them. In that regard, XY delivered for me. I loved the sheer variety of Pokemon species you could catch. I'm only ~11 hours into the game and I've already seen ~70 species of Pokemon and filled up a whole PC box. I actually had a hard time choosing which Pokemon I wanted on my team for the long haul, which is a first for me when playing the games.

I'm glad that the XY weren't very difficult either; I enjoy breezing through the games - while on the other hand I was so frustrated by the difficulty curve in SM that I stopped playing it altogether once I got to the 3rd island.

I have no complaints about the designs of the Pokemon; there are Pokemon I love from every single gen so I'm not picky. I actually really liked XY's chibi art style too; I thought it was cute and translated well from the sprites they used in gen. I - V.
 
XY was okay to me. It introduced some decent new Pokemon, gave us some decent music, and it was a good jump to full 3D. It was a bit too easy though and the characters were so bland. Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor were the most forgetable rivals the series has ever had. There wasn't anything special about Team Flare also. Kalos wasn't that memorable also as a region. Its okay really.
 
XY was decent, and I certainly enjoyed it a great deal more than I did S/M. I can partially understand the complaints people had with XY, but to me they were either non-issues or just didn't have as much of an impact on me. Compared to S/M, there were a lot of things in that that I did not like and got downright infuriating at times. The other thing is that XY was Game Freak's first foray into a fully 3D core Pokemon game, so there were bounds to be some faults with the region and the Pokemon designs. I'm willing to forgive its more experimental elements.

There were things I still didn't like about it though. I didn't like how the region layout wasn't all that different from Unova's.
 
XY were definitely decent games. Far better than kanto which has gotten overused and stale over the years. XY had flaws but they had more pros than cons.
 
They weren't bad. I don't think any core Pokemon game is bad. Well, Black 2 and White 2 weren't too hot, but I would never go as far as calling any of the main games "bad."

X and Y rank low on my list for a few reasons. It had a lot of things that annoyed me. I disliked how incredibly easy the games were (there was only one character that gave me problems but they were some random side character of all people!), the pandering to older fans with all the Kanto references and Kanto starters was eye-roll inducing (there's references and then there's just being Kanto 2.0), I found the plot pretentious, they gave you a gajillion rivals with names that I cannot even be bothered to remember- which reminds me that none of the characters being all that memorable to me (with the exception of Malva), the music wasn't exactly what I would call memorable for a Pokemon game, and the characters wouldn't shut up about the concept of Mega Evolutions. The Mega Evolution story bothered me the most because instead of being part of the Pokemon world that you would think people would have been used to by then, they yakked about it like it was the most special thing ever, when in the future of these games and future games like Sun and Moon. they would allow less than special characters to be in charge of Mega Stones.

It was this generation that I wished there was a Pokemon Z. There were some unanswered questions I had about X and Y. What was up with Zygarde? He was just there and even Sun and Moon didn't go into too much detail about it. What was up with that ghost chick in Lumiose City? What happened to Team Flare and AZ? I would have liked to know more about them, AZ in particular. With how much they hyped the story, it would have been nice to know more about what happened afterwards. And hey, they could have fixed the problems that plagued X and Y in the first place.

But like I said, X and Y are not bad games. They had some good about them. I loved that they were based off of France. Sure, the culture of Kalos was a little too refined for my liking, but it was a nice change and the references to French culture was fun. I loved that they made EV training something that everyone can be a part of. The Fairy-type was a much-needed introduction into the Pokemon world and it certainly took the Dragon-type down a notch in Uber-tier fuckery. As pretentious as the plot was, it was passable. It wasn't the worst story ever. I loved how they transitioned the games into 3D, and Mega Evolutions, while the story was annoying, are a lot of fun to use. Also, character customization is the greatest thing Game Freak brought to the main games.

They have their pros and cons. I guess I have a lot more to complain about these games than I have praise for. I played X twice, not to experience the game again, but only to play as the male character to get that stupid Pangoro hat. I beat the game with three Pokemon only on my second try. Yeah, they're pretty easy.
 
I've never really understood the notion that the games feel incomplete. The region didn't feel particularly short, especially compared to Unova in B/W, and I didn't think that there were a lot of loose ends with the storyline. I wouldn't have minded a return trip to Kalos to expand more on the region and do more with the storyline, either in sequels or a third version, but I don't really think that the games suffer significantly without something like that. It still felt like we got a complete story in X/Y.

I think the illusion of incompleteness had to do with the story quality, feeling entitled to a good postgame and a follow up of some sort (XY were the first games without a 3rd version or a sequel), and that XY had a lot of unsolved mysteries (That I presume to be by design. excluding Zygarde. Pokemon does tend to have things that are just there to be speculated about, like Ultra Space, as details that seem to build on the lroe but wasn't meant to be explored outside of that, like AZ's backstory.) The last factor was Zygarde. As fans also expected something to make him on par with Xerneas and Yveltal at least (that did happen, but not in the way they expected). And lastly a perception of style-over-substance, that having to focus on the new hardware made the games flashier but shallow in terms of story and (post)gameplay (Which wasn't likely helped by having the setting be based off France, a country known for its fashion.)

Mega Evolution however seems to be a different beast, as the reason to it from both TPC/GameFreak and fans seem to eclipse that of the rest of the games aspects. What was presumed to be a way to make unviable/unpopular mons more viable/popular was either given to pokemon that were already viable/popular (including Legendaries, which increased the BST cap, made Diancie and most Peudo-legendaries almost as strong as Arceus and made Mewtwo, Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquayza stronger) or worked a bit too well (Mega Mawile and Kangaskhan were among the list of Megas Smogon banned from OU in gen 6's meta, with Sableye being a little contentious to this day). The Gen 7 games paint Mega Evolution in a critical light (though some can be taken more neutrally), locked half the stones to the Tree and the other half to internet events and have no one in Alola but Tree contestants and Sino/Dexia use Megas (though in Anabel's case that is maybe justified). It does feel like game freak is trying to sweep things under the rug. I also argue that Mega evolution capping the evolutionary line for certain species was a factor, but I doubt they were gonna make cross gen evolutions for pokemon not named Eevee anyway
 
You can tell that Mega Evolution and competitive battles in general were meant to make up for an otherwise mediocre game. Too bad that a lot of people didn't care for those things.

I don't think Zygarde would have helped Kalos the slightest bit, though. No one Pokemon can do that, and Zygarde isn't exactly brimming with potential that is new for the series.
 
Ah, just noticed another reason why I god dang hate XY. The Gyms.
Outside the fact that I don't remember most of their teams, their puzzles. Or "puzzles", should I say. Because they are just mazes, except for one which is "which Pokémon is it?"... With, admitedly, a very cool ticking music... Which doesn't exist on Youtube for some reason.
BUT SERIOUSLY, EVERY ONE OF THEM IS "GO THIS WAY FOR THE LEADER, OR THAT WAY FOR SOME EXTRA XP"! Outside Lumiose's city gym, with the cool ticking song, the only one I think is cool is the ice one! (Get it, cool, eh) It actually has some kind of puzzle mechanic, which can make you stop and think for a sec.
Which means that 6/8 of the gyms are mazes, but I'm too tired right now to fix the text, so that's that. Boring gyms. Pretty ones, I might add, but simply mazes at the end of the day.
 
The main problem for me is that XY was such a massive step down from Gen V in terms of characterization and story. The post-game story arc with Emma was more interesting than the main plot of XY. Does it seem right that a B-plot should be better than the A-plot? Not really, no.

Also, I still don't like Mega Evolution much, mainly because Mega Pokemon designs are usually way too busy for my liking or otherwise inferior to the original forms.
 
I for one enjoyed X&Y far more than Black & White and the Unova region in general, but that's just me. Looking back on it now I can see why people wanted more out of gen 6. I fell off the franchise for gen 4 and 5 and didn't play Black until after ORAS and XY but felt while the story in BW was better, the game play was very frustrating.
 
Please note: The thread is from 7 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
Back
Top Bottom