>>47763045Gen 6 didn't need a Z, it just needed everything that came after to not be even worse.
If SM properly tied up the elements from XY that were left unexplored and didn't completely butcher everything Gen 1-6 had been working towards, Gen 6 wouldn't be looked on as poorly.
XY are hated because they did just "okay." Yes, they had a metric fuckton of QOL and much needed improvements to the formula, but the game that came directly after didn't meet the expectations of a remake that people wanted after HGSS.
Then, to top it all off, Gen 7 went back on just about every single thing Gen 6 did right as well as removing series staples like
>National Dex>Triples/Rotation Battles>The ability to fish anywhere>Maps being built around branching paths and backtrackingNot to mention, SM ended up being even more rushed because they decided to cut gyms at the last minute and invalidate the teasing that was already in XY to reference Alola and its supposedly unbeatable champion.
XY is hated because it gave a lot of promise, but none of it was ever able to be delivered. The direction that Gen 6 was going to take us was in stark contrast to where they decided they wanted to go halfway through Gen 7's development. That's why we're here now.
