i hate cutomisation. We are but men we wear the same pants all week long.

Games can always be better, so of course that's not gonna stop me from enjoying them!

Because unlike in Gen4 and Gen5 I wasn't bored to death after 5 hours. Sure, it might lack some features those games had (I wouldn't know) but in return the game was much snappier to play. Better models and animations as a result of finally switching to a 3D engine, in my experience faster battles and Exp. Share. Single most redeeming quality of X/Y for me. Suddenly keeping a full team wasn't as much of a chore as in previous games anymore, I could just catch and use Pokemon whenever I wanted without having to worry about the rest of my team since Exp. Share made sure all Pokemon were roughly on an equal level.

I actually am not sure if I'd buy a Pokemon game without Exp. Share again. Probably not. And if I'd do a single Pokemon run until after E4.

I agree with a lot of what you had to say especially about the games being at a peak at gen 4.

I liked XY for the new game mechanics and much needed upgraded graphics but I really disliked the story, it was defiantly one of the worst in the series and on top of that there was virtually no post game content at all... Many people over look the lackluster story because of the nice new 3D Pokemon designs and better online features which is why so many people say they love XY but really i felt XY was a step back for the franchise story wise.

I was quite disappointed in the game. It started off well, but it never really took off after that.

What irritated me most was the amount of good content and features that were taken away, and the amount of bad features that were added, Pokemon training easily being the worst. I also felt the camera was zoomed too far in, not allowing you to appreciate the world, and it was made worse due to the poor controls and forced use of rollerskates.

Ugh. I felt they had the right idea, but the execution was so poor.

At first I thought the game was very good, I was mostly overwhelmed by the aesthetics.
I can understand that the game turned out to be what it was. It made some sacrifices and sadly those sacrifices were what made me replay the older ones.. However, the game introduced some new elements that are hopefully going to stay, because now that they have them we'll be hopefully seeing those sacrifices crawling back into the sequel, 3rd version or next-gen.

I disagree. Objectively, they stopped getting better after gen 4. Everything after that had minimal changes. Non better or worse, just different.

I can list like 30 games off the top of my head that are better than Pokemon gold/silver/and crystal. Are they important games? Yes. Greatest games of all time? Not even close.

Yes, gamefreak could do a lot with Pokemon to make it truly amazing, but as is, I think a lot the elements of X/Y were among the best in the series.

I am overall very happy with the game, but it could go much further with some of the concepts that were introduced. I had a lot of fun with X/Y and I am sure the next game will be just as fun whatever GameFreak does with it. Am I complacent? Maybe, but I'm not going to let anything but the game itself affect my enjoyment....

Pokemon X/Y was a disappointment all around. Game Freak and Nintendo need to work out many more important kinks before they get to the frivolous stuff you mention such as character customization and Pokemon following you.