>>34289465Kanto pandering done right. Gen V did its best to provide the feeling of playing gen I for the first time back in the 90s. While a few of the Unova mons had a resemblance to Kanto mons, they were still Unovan through and through. The restricted dex, while controversial, ensured that everything encountered would be new. Though the evolution scaling for some Pokemon did suffer for this. Many routes contained secrets, some of which depended on the season, and they encouraged to go back after completing the main game to explore. While Unova was mostly linear, it still gave much to do within each route and town.
Sequels over third versions were a step in the right direction for GF as they gave a good reason to re-explore Unova. New locations, new gyms, new attractions, and a new story made going through Unova fresh again. The land of Unova was supposed to be Masuda's masterpiece, you can definitely see that a lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into making it. It may have suffered from the gen IV map complaint, but it still had a good focus on the Pokemon and exploration of the land.
Also, it introduced best girl. 