>>37143227XY were pathetically lackluster in terms of story, character development, and overall presentation. There were only 3 aspects of XY that were superior to any other version. 3.
1) The music (orchestration). Each area has its own unique theme that best conveys what is happening on screen. Some of the best music ever to come from a Pokemon game were in XY. Unlike SM, we didn't just have remixes of the same base Alola theme for every major thing happening, such as going through a trial, completing a trial, meeting the Tapu, or fighting the Kahuna. And unlike SM, general areas don't share the same theme (such as how the routes or outside locations of each island have the same theme). Only real negative of XY's soundtrack is that the battle themes are mediocre aside from the trainer theme. But the positives far outweigh the negatives.
2) The environment. This isn't as fair of a comparison, since ORAS were remakes of a game developed using GBA hardware. But truth be told, XY has some of the most amazing looking environments of any Pokemon game. I am still amazed and astonished when I go through Snowbellle City and see the twinkling snow fall down upon me, or when I am navigating that scary, spooky swamp north of Lumiose, afraid of getting ambushed by wild Pokemon and suspicious trainers. Or, as I am hatching eggs, I go through this long winding path that is right beside a river. And even going through that amazing castle with all of those golden statues and jewelry lining up the halls, outside to the courtyard surrounded by fountains, massive Pokemon statues, and bushes. SM, being mostly a tropical region, wasn't very diverse in its environments and had little to no human development. Once you go on one island, its almost like you've been in every other one Most of the caves and sea routes are practically the same. XY had the best environments, period. And
3) Battle mechanics (Megas and Fairy-type) introduced in Gen 6 were far superior to anything else.
