>>37428054>XY was better188 of XY's are exclusive to the Friend Safari - without those, ORAS comes out on top.
>HGSS was betterNope, just inheriting the PSS from XY makes it better by default, but the DexNav and AreaNav were fantastic additions that should have become standard.
>Contests were dumbed down, but secret bases were actually improvedContests were improved though - in the original games, you just picked Smeargle and could win every time. In ORAS, you get mega evolution which makes a lot of Pokemon much more viable, but the AI gets it too. Moreover, a lot of new move combinations got added in, so contests were hardly simplified at all. Pokeblocks were, but then, they weren't well implemented in the first place.
>It's just a worse Fly and an excuse to not make actual dungeons for the legendariesIt's an alternative to Fly, it's slower but you don't need anything at all but the Eon Flute and you can find all sorts of mirage spots. The legendaries could have all had their own dungeons, but it's really no different from things like the Embedded Tower or Rock Peak Ruins.
>replaces the Abandoned Ship, so it's a sidegrade not an improvementI disagree completely. More trainers, more items to find, more Pokemon including Spiritomb and Lugia/Ho-Oh.
>The most nonsensical game design decision GF ever tookI think it's pretty sensible, actually. The player had to return to Granite Cave anyways, why not give them even more incentive to do so? New trainers, new items, new Pokemon.
>It's literally just the XY mechanicsYes, but refined. There are areas where you'll only get a specific horde encounter to raise one EV rapidly, the IV checker is right there while you're hatching eggs at the Battle Resort, NPCs in your secret base can raise EVs themselves. Not to mention, you can much more easily get items like Lucky Eggs (from Pelippers) and Life Orbs (from Absols), and there are Blissey bases for when you need EXP, and move tutors cost less BP than before.
