>>55379860AG was Beta DP, that's why outside of Mayfags no one really pays much attention to it.
You can really tell they were getting used to the "new format" and trying out new things. It's specially noticeable with Contests.
>>55380232With Sinnoh everyone knew it was coming. We had things like the episode titles well in advance.
With Kalos they kept everyone on the edge and dangling the bait until the very last second.
There's simply no comparison.
Furthermore, the reason people give more of a "pass" is that Ash ultimately "succeeded" at "something" by defeating Paul, the thing that'd been built-up through the entire season.
And as much as a ridiculous asspull just to cockblock him out of winning the League it was, Ash was the only Trainer in all of Sinnoh to defeat Darkrai and then a Latios as the cherry on top of the cake. Sure, he lost, but he came out looking good nonetheless.
There's no such equivalent things at Kalos. There was never a "success" at Kalos. Kalos was pure and only Kalos League and nothing else and when that was made to fail there was nothing left anymore. Not even the Flare conflict since it ended up being way more about Alan and Puni-chan than anyone else.