>a weird mishmash of cave, random patches of forest and cliffside/waterfalls
>you exit right at the old BW Victory Road as a "ha ha, fuck you, you can't explore this anymore"
Not really. It was interesting, but not much more than that. I like BW's cliffside caves better. Also because it didn't require you to use every single fucking HM. And you could catch a legendary there.
I would say it's BW>XY>BW2>DPPt>RSE/ORAS>RGBY/FRLG>GS/HGSS
Fuck post-timeskip Kanto Victory Road. Silver is literally the only fucking trainer you battle. I want a challenge, not an overglorified puzzle dungeon.