Looking back at Gen V: What did it introduce that you liked and didn't like?

[Gaga]

Liked (no, loved) the auto-repel feature. Also the PWT, animated sprites, unlimited TMs, Join Avenue, etc. I could go on for a while as V was my favorite generation so far.

I have a lot less dislikes specifically introduced in V. Negotiations was implemented...oddly. It's a neat idea that I hope they improve on for VI.
I also agree that the Dream World is just unfun. I hope we have a more direct way of getting Pokemon with hidden abilities.
Hidden grottoes is a great idea that should be expanded upon.

 

[Te-em]

Likes

You can use an item several times without going back to the menu (less bad programming).
More animations in battles.
The Join Avenue and all the EV boost items and level up items (though sad that level up items should replace the chance to train your Pokemon instead).

Dislikes

No overworld Pokemon walking with you.
The grass is back to simple patches rather than continuous grass.
Battle music.
Slow training.
Sound effects when walking were removed.

 

[Genwunner]

First ever post on this site so I'd best make it a good one.

I loved the fact they invented challenge mode, but at the same time, disliked the fact you needed a friend who had already beaten the game (or an action replay ) to use it.
I liked the idea of 2 main rivals, but again wish they were tougher, also end this weird scenario like we had in Gen 3, where 1 rival is a bit rubbish really and not a challenge.

I loved the sequels and the twist at the end of BW and BW2 involving the league champion (or lack of in BW)

And I actually liked being limited to only Gen 5 pokemon to start, I think it should always be this way. Explore the new region, and all the new inhabitants, then once you've beaten the game, then you can start going back to the same old mons you use in every game.

 

[Stratelier]

One of my gripes with Negotiations trades is once you've selected your three Pokemon and hit the Confirm button, you are first asked "are you okay with your selection?" and THEN "Is it OK to pick one of these three?" (only then is it actually confirmed to the other player). Why do you need TWO confirmations before you can proceed to picking one of the three?

 

[DarkMeow]

One problem I have is the music. It wasn't very memorable, in my opinion. Well, except for Village Bridge, but that's about it. You also couldn't walk with your Pokemon, which was a big downer for me when I first picked up the game. I hate the GTS, everyone wants a level 10 and under Zekrom or Reshiram. Musicals really suck too.
However, on the good side, I love the bag system. You could easily sort your things. Despite it being minor, I really like how you could walk that old lady's Mienfoo. It was the closest I got to walking my Pokemon. Some of the Pokemon just look weird, but Zekrom is just epic! Those 3D scenes were pretty awesome too! Gen. V had the best storyline out of all the Generations.

 

[Team Gaara]

One problem I have is the music. It wasn't very memorable, in my opinion. Well, except for Village Bridge, but that's about it.

I agree on a lot of those things, but this one in particular, since I forgot to mention it in my original post.

There were a few themes I liked (Village Bridge, as you mentioned, Driftveil City, and a lot of the Gym themes in BW2 like: Burgh's, Elesa's and Roxie's), but Gen V's music didn't really stand out to me compared to Gen IV or Gen III in my opinion.

 

[Flying Christi]

Positives:

Indestructible TMs - About time they did this!
PWT - Mostly the proper RBY/FRLG and RSE battle theme remakes, I loved and missed them! (I hated the GSC Kanto battle themes, by the way)
Freedom of choice with the E4. However...
Instant repel prompt - no more repeated "Bag-Repel-Use" routines, thank you!!!
Being able to switch hold items around the party
Also being able to give items more than once in a row
Not having to depend on HM moves to progress through the story
The Sequels - they've gotten these spot-on! However...
Habitat list - made things a lot easier when filling the Pokedex
Item shortcuts using Y
Nurses/Doctors
Medal Rally - made me aim for other objectives in the game after beating all the main ones, preventing me from getting bored.
Soundtrack - original and awesome, a few themes like the Celestial Tower or Lostlorn Forest are some of my favourites.
"In a pinch" music for low health situations - a nice change from the usual siren. However...


Negatives:

How the BW storyline was limited to the use of Gen V Pokémon - there's too much Unova for only Gen V pokes.
BW - Having to battle the bad guys while challenging the League - part of the story, but "there's a time and place for everything!" Just saying...
BW - The level difference between the final boss battle and the post-storyline trainers - finishing the game with a Lv.45-50 party and then BAM!, facing Lv.65 NPC trainers.
-The sequels were so good that they made Black and White completely obsolete IMO. Only reason I play them now is to look for version-exclusive pokémon.
-"In a pinch" music for low health situations - it sometimes got in the way of some great battle themes like the Champion/Gym Leader battles, so it was a bit annoying in that sense.
The gyms/leaders (minus Fuuro) - I liked most characters, but they were disappointing battlewise.
-Elite Four - members all have the same level. But again, the types sort of relate to each other.
Musicals and Pokestar Studios - lame additions when compared to contests.
How effortlessly easy the games were compared to the previous generation. But there's Challenge Mode to fill that void.

 

[Stratelier]

Speaking of Challenge mode, it's a shame that you only unlock the difficulty levels by clearing the game and you only get one, you have to trade with another version (who has beaten the game) to get the other. They should have been made available early in the game....

 

[Swadloon]

I liked Global Link/Dream World, but I'm so disappointed with the lifetime of this feature... I hope they release features not so dated, like Pokéwalker.

 

[SuperSqueaky]

Likes:
-World Tournament: something I had wanted for a very long time
-Join Avenue: love all the various items and services you can get there
-Black Tower/White Treehollow: great places for training

Dislikes:
-Dream World: just wasn't a big fan...
-Low health music: don't like it when it replaces awesome battle themes

 

[aliiekat]

I hope the next Gen is not anything like Gen IV. But I feel as if Gen V everything was done right. Well almost. I enjoyed the New Unique typings and the only Pokemon I disliked was Garbodor. The designs of most Pokemon were great and the fact we can get Shiny's at the end made me motivated to complete White Tree Hollow and see all the Unova Pokemon. PWT is an interesting concept but I feel like it could be a little better. I also liked Darker grass, seeing two Pokemon and Pokemon of higher levels means easier grinding. Automatic poison heal, and re-use of items were also a nice touch. I do wish there was more to the map in the sequel but other than Gen III this is my second favorite. They need to bring back Secret Bases and the Contests they had in Hoenn. I really didn't like Hugh's character though, he was just too spiteful. The weather was great and the designs were too. Skyarrow bridge had me in awe the first time and I loved Castelia. I will miss the Sprites though but I do have to say Gen V was great and I expect a lot from Gen VI c:

 

[hyperspeed]

Things I liked:
* Indestructible TMs, which were a real help.
* Seasons, which I think made the games more immersing and realistic.
* The B2W2 aesthetic touches like battle backgrounds that aren't spastic disks of colour and even that little sunlight glare you get when you exit buildings.
* A lot of the Pokémon, I think Joltik, Archen and Snivy and their evolutions are my favourites of this gen. Tirtouga too, but I didn't like Carracosta.
* Bug-types that don't suck. I think bug-types look cool but I always found them hard to use.
* The plot and character development were so much better than last gens. They actually put a focus onto characters, whereas in previous gens they just served as random rivals and bosses who don't even seem to care much about their relationship with you. I was impressed, and I think this is a step in the right direction.
* Speaking of characters, I really liked how the characters in this gen really did try to help you instead of just leaving you to do everything. They even try to protect you from the villains. Even Bianca's "Whaaat! Don't hurt *player*!" in the dreamyard was kind of touching.
* The repel prompt and the Y-button shortcuts to items, those really helped when I was using my dousing machine and didn't want to turn it on and off every time I want to use an item.
* Team Plasma's flying ships in B2W2.
* As someone mentioned, they did away with the all caps Pokémon names. Epic.
* The Fire/Fighting starter. It was amusing to read the reactions. I actually think it'd be really funny if Fennekin becomes Fire/Fighting. Don't hurt me.

Things I didn't like:
* Unova was a compacted and linear region. It didn't have those huge spacey routes that Hoenn and Sinnoh had, everything's kind of compressed. In fact, that might be my main complaint about this gen.
* I didn't like the Pokémon distribution in both games for some reason, can't pin down why.
* The plot in B2W2 was rather messy and incoherent compared to BW, or at least that's what I thought. Also, the constant interruptions from the medal rally, Pokéstar Studios, Join Avenue and Pokémon World tournament got really annoying. Pokéstar studios was especially bad.
* I can sum up musicals with one word, and it's a flat 'wat.'
* The lineups of later Gym Leaders like Skyla and Brycen and Marlon were too easy to beat.
* They removed the ambient sound effects from HGSS, which kind of annoyed me because I really liked those ambient sounds. Also, it would have been nice if the walking Pokémon feature was kept. I understand why they might've removed it, but I felt like it gave more of a focus to the Pokémon themselves which was nice.
* The C-Gear was pointless for those who didn't use wireless communication, why did it have to permanently take over the screen?

 

[colours]

The Battle Subway was honestly the biggest piece of turd that I've ever played in any Pokemon game. It really disappointed me because I thought BW had so much more to offer, but instead they gave us some watered down version of the Battle Tower, and that's what let me down the most. I remember before BW was released, and seeing screenshots of The Battle Subway and thinking how cool it was and I was really excited to try it out, but it's just...it really sucks. You can't even partner up with someone over wi-fi to battle with you, so all you could do at that point when you beat the game is challenge random CPUs in a row in Battle Subway until you get bored. I mean, I don't think you even choose a CPU partner for Battle subway to at least makes things remotely interesting, but it's just your standard, 1v1 lv 50 matches against moderately to somewhat difficult opponents, I suppose.

...Yeah, I tend to make my hate towards that feature pretty clear. u___u

...So what did I like about 5th Gen? Well, I suppose you could say that Team Plasma certainly made an impact. Even moreso in BW2, they actually piloted a giant ship and froze just about an entire city in an effort to get the DNA Splicers. BW2's storyline was definitely more engaging. But I suppose that's it. D: Can't say I was too overly impressed with Unova, though the Pokemon were okay, I guess. Oh, and the fact that you could use TMs infinitely was really cool, too.

 

[Team Gaara]

You can't even partner up with someone over wi-fi to battle with you

Wait, so what's the Wi-Fi Train for?

 

[colours]

You can't even partner up with someone over wi-fi to battle with you

Wait, so what's the Wi-Fi Train for?

"In the Multi Trains and Super Multi Trains, the player can team up with another player via wireless or infrared. Otherwise, the player can team up with the NPC Hilbert, Hilda, Nate, or Rosa depending on the player's gender and game version."

...That's reaaally not the kind of partners I'm looking for. .____.;; I'm talking about the variety that was provided like in Gen IV Battle Tower, where you had other partners like Riley and Marley, Mira, etc. Though I guess in a technical sense that still does count, I suppose.

 

[Ice_Rock_Steel]

I have to say that B2W2 was highly superior to BW. The sequels introduced all the things BW should've had in the first place, and made the region a bit bigger too.

Likes:
• Team Plasma, and more interesting characters.
• Join Avenue
• unlimited TM usage
• PWT
• good, cool-looking Bug-types
• faster trades, text-speed, and battles
• You don't have to go out of the Union Room to battle someone with high-leveled Pokémon.
• Gen V really showed off the 3D graphics, making use of changing camera angles and stuff.
• higher-leveled wild Pokémon and Trainers post-game
• better experience system
• I actually liked the Gen V Pokémon.

Dislikes:
• Dream World is unfair to people who don't have regular internet access.
• I could never get the Entralink to work. And WHY is the C-Gear taking up my bottom screen all the time?
• All Gen V games were easier than RSE and DPPt. Challenge mode requires someone else who beat the game.
• On the topic of easiness, Poison status lost any problems it would cause you since it no longer does damage outside of battle.
• You can't have a 6-on-6 Flat Battle with someone in the Union Room.
• Unova felt smaller than Hoenn and Sinnoh did.
• I may be the only one ever to complain about this, but I preferred Gen IV's move sound effects.
• The music isn't bad, but it's not as memorable as in past games.
• You can't get anything incredibly useful from the BP exchange in the Battle Subway, IMO.

 

[Bob the Builder]

Pros:
Awesome new battle scene (full back sprites, fully animated sprites, changing points of view)
Believe it or not, I am one of those people that doesn't hate the musical. Spheal with it.
Seasons.
Dark grass, rustling grass, rippling water, etc.
Poke Marts inside Pokemon Centers are extremely convenient.
Cons:
Triple Battles and Rotation Battles.
I can't think of any others at the moment. Overall, Gen V was amazing. Hopefully Gen VI will be even better.

 

[Karpi]

Good:
The really involved plot of B/W. It was by far the best pokemon game for actual role-playing.
Chandelure. Damn he is cool.
Most of the new pokemon were good, except for...

Bad:

...The copycat pokemon. Why replace Geodude, Zubat, and Tentacool with Roggenrola, Woobat, and Basculin? What purpose does that serve? To me it just seems like the game designers rushed at the end because someone decided not to include any old pokemon so they made things chunkier and more cutesy and called it good.

Also the new experience system is extremely dumb. You can set up matches to get a pokemon freshly hatched from an egg to get to like level 50 in a single fight. With the old exp system it was definitely abused to get low level pokemon up fast but you started to see really diminished returns at like level 17ish, instead of level 50ish like now. That said, I do appreciate the idea of it being based on power difference, but there needs to be some kind of cap like 2 levels max per fight or something.

 

[PiPie314]

The Good:

• Infinite TM usage.
• Animated battle sprites
• Dynamic camera
• Based on NYC
• Plot twist in BW
• Pokestar studios (PAY ME ALREADY)/Join Avenue
• FLYING ON PLANES

The Bad:

• Musicals (Sorry BtB, I don't Spheal with it)
• Team Plasma in BW was a little stupid. No world domination stuff.
• The plane you fly on was a crappy propeller plane.
• Skyla is trying to kill you (cannons and windstorms)
• SO MANY FREAKING CAVES

The plain out inexcusable:

• Lines in Pokestar Studios/Join Avenue
• Not getting payed a single Pokecent in for making movies
• DW is way too childish, yet the only source of Pokemon with special abilities

 

[Almonds]

I have some cons after reading other threads

This was mentioned by someone somewhere else in a blog (tell me and I'll credit you), but I agree that some of the gym leaders should've swapped places in B2W2. Someone took Burgh as a very good example since there were plenty of powerful Bug-type pokemons that he could use, so Burgh could've been one of the last gym leaders with Galvantula, Durant, or heck, even Volcarona on his team if they wanted to.

That saying, I still don't understand why Elesa did not have a Joltik on her team and have two Emolgas in BW. Joltik can learn Volt Switch just fine so why not.

Drayden should've stayed the eighth gym leader regardless. Marlon was a pushover if you had a decent grass or electric type - and mind, I won against him easily without any grass-types or electric-types at all.