>>30837669Not all of them were ugly. Haxorus, Volcarona, Chandelure, Reshiram, Zekrom, and Scoliopede, to name a few, all had good/great designs and they aren't shitmons.
Colress' theme was great, but it wasn't the only memorable one. I feel the town music was one of Gen 5's strongest points, though no one ever seems to pay attention to them.
Linear? Pretty much every Pokemon game was linear until post-game. Sun and Moon averted this, however. Also the region itself wasn't the most interesting one around, but it still had a good variety in its areas, and that's what matters at the end of the day.
Story was average, but that was par for the course for Pokemon at that point.
