>>34163587It's kind of a wash for me
Gen 5 probably had the most compelling pokemon story to date, but that's not saying much when it comes to pokemon. Gen 6 had a pretty forgettable story, but it's supposed to be about the journey of traveling a land and growing as a person, which I think it adequately accomplishes.
Design wise, Gen 5 is easily the most mixed bag IMO. There are plenty of great designs, but they're also the ones that have the most that don't feel like pokemon if that makes sense. Gen 6 I think clearly wins the design comparison. Less mons, but nearly all of them are slam dunks IMO. Also only having 6 legendaries vs 13 is a bonus for me.
Map wise, both regions are giant ass circles, but I think Kalos pound for pound is probably the most beautiful region in the series design wise. Unova has a lot of great ideas and towns in it, like Nacrene City and Opelucid City, but it's also got a lot of bland cities IMO, like Driftveil. Every city in Kalos has at least one memorable landmarks I enjoy spending time around.
Difficulty wise, Gen 5 wins, but it also dumbed down the franchise a lot. 4 Mons and no fight against the Champion until the post game. B2W2 are great, but also need the context of the first games. Cheren and Hugh are far better rivals than Tierno, Trevor, Shauna, and the other MC. Diantha and Iris are kinda on the same level for me. Alder is one of the best characters as a Champion, but he's also probably the easiest champion. the E4 are also kind of even. Drasna, Malva, and Siebold are awesome, but so are Shauntal, Marshall, and Grimsley. I think Unova has more memorable gym leaders, if only by virtue of having so many.
I think I liked gen 6 better because I loved Mega Evolutions, Fairy Types, character customization, and the new pokemon more than I liked the Unova pokemon and White Tree/PWT. I also kind of dock Gen 5 points because B/W are kind of boring post game, and B2/W2 have just about all the stuff that makes Gen 5 worthwhile.
