Anybody got proof that Gen 5 was hated when it came out?
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Out of my friend group, I was the only one who purchased black/white when it came out, and we all each had the full set of gen 4 games or nearly all of them. They didn't start purchasing it until later, if they did, since they were highly upset about it being black/white pokemon only. I remember breeding a bunch of gen 1-4 starters to entice my friends to get it. Don't think any of those chats survived since they were on IRC and msn messenger. Average age for the group was about 22-27ish I think.
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Yeah unless you had a good friend who already completed the game, your first playthrough in Unova (for a lot of people, their only playthrough) was not going to use any of the old pokemon. That had to have left a bad taste in their mouths.
Though now obv I can go back and start a new save with any pokemon I want because I have the means to transfer them in.
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I think hoenn got away with similar because we were all pretty young (you dont see returning mons until after rustboro or something like that) but once black and white rolled around 10 years later we had developed too much attachment to certain mons. Now a days that I'm older, I do try and get mostly new region pokemon or ones I didn't use in a previous game if i'm not doing a speed-y run or stream run.
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(Edited to hopefully be approved this time. I love Big Brother.)
Anecdotally I recall that Pokémon fans I knew at the time were very skeptical about it. I was too.
It came during a low point in the Pokémon series, although looking back now it was a period when the best games in the series were produced. Yet it felt like the series was becoming repetitive and stagnant. Ironically the radical new Pokémon only regional Pokédex was not well received either.
Furthermore those who had been children when the original games dropped were now in university or getting jobs. They were adults. "Too old for Pokémon. " Plus "the older games were the best anyway". Many thought a new Pokémon game had nothing to offer them.
Personally I also did not like the fact that Pokémon did not follow you, which I had hoped would become a standard feature after HGSS.
However, despite my friends' misgivings, I decided to pick up Pokémon White during launch weekend and fell in love with it.
I think the reviews of the time and recent surge in positive reception for the games closer reflects their quality. In retrospect the DS era was the best in the series. Platinum, Heart Gold and Soul Silver, alongside the gen 5 games, regularly top fans' favourite games lists.
But we didn't know it at the time. You never know you were in the good times until they are gone. I recall the announcement of new Pokémon game releases being met with eye rolling back then.
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@TheJeffers I find it ironic that people were at the time complaining that Pokemon was getting too samey, yet Black and White were arguably the games that taught Game Freak that getting too unconventional will harm them in the end.
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To be honest, after replaying White, I kind of understand the criticism. It was cool, but at the same time felt restrictive, with the region being oval shaped with barely anything in between. And there was barely anything to do in terms of minigames and sidequests. A lot of people hate XY but tbh I feel like Lumiose City had more to do in it than the entirety of BW1 (not counting plot), even though I really love replaying the games, I really like having something to do other than exploration and plot. BW2 introduced Pokéstar studios though, which was amazing, I've done all the movies and they're really fun.
The shape of the region feels a bit narrow when comparing it to other generations too (not counting SV, that one's too open world). SwSh felt like it gave me more freedom despite it being one line.
I still love Unova though, definitely one of my favourite gens to play.
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Unova's linearity comes up a lot, but I don't consider it significant. Games like Metroid leverage freedom to choose paths far better than pokemon games ever have. In pokemon, it's the design of the areas themselves that shapes the experience rather than the order in which you explore them. In the games where you can greatly influence your path, it mostly causes problems the devs can't seem to fix. (See: Johto, Paldea)
Unova and Hisui are two good examples of how a linear path of exploration is not inherently bad. Again, in Pokemon, it's the design of the environments themselves that shapes the experience rather than the order in which you progress through them.
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Unova's layout is one of the weaker elements of the game. I am glad they changed it up a little and added new areas for the sequel.
Gen 5 may be my favourite gen, but that doesn't mean it's flawless. There are plenty of valid criticisms. I do not blame anyone for not liking it or thinking it is not for them. To each their own.
What does frustrate me is when someone dismisses the games offhandedly for superficial reasons like 'ice cream and rubbish Pokémon dumb'.
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