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Y'know, I didn't realize how much I really loved Unova until months later. Looking back, it had some of my favorite designs in the series. Beheeyem and Seismitoad will always be my bros. Generation V was a bit of an oddball, but it was really fresh. When Diamond and Pearl were released, you could feel the little pang of stagnation begin to settle in. The new Pokémon were largely forgettable, and for the first time I felt like I was "going through the routine". It really scared me, to be honest. I was afraid of how underwhelmed I was by the end of it.
Say what you want about Unova, but it came to make a statement. The Pokémon were bold; sometimes too much so, and verging on the flat-out bizarre. The narrative was sweeping. It was dotted with new features and long-needed tweaks. The adventure felt genuinely exciting and new. Like it or hate it, it was a generation that made a point to be remembered. I think it was the first step in a fantastic new direction for the franchise, and a total rebound from the generation preceding it. With Kalos on the way and looking bigger and brighter than anything we've seen so far, I don't think Unova failed in what it set out to do. I'll remember it as a fitting cap to the 2D era of Pokémon. The final chapter in a legacy, and a first blink into the horizon of what's ahead.
