>>50127261They actually put effort into battle animation and characterization. Characters were allowed to display stronger emotions which made the stakes higher. Look at the sheer ANGUISH on Serena's face here when she notices Eevee went missing, or listen to Clemont's scream after Clembot dies. Those characters are people, despite all the battle robot memes. Including Bonnie, who is a child and thus not as well socialized as the older main characters, also lets them do shit like the Tyrunt episode, which is emotional as fuck.
The final battle with Team Flare also has personal stakes for the heroes, as it directly risks Marion's beloved Chespin. We see real anguish and danger there. Alain shows real guilt for what he was conned into doing. In comparison, in DP, which is an otherwise good series, Cyrus basically attempts to undo reality and there is zero weight to that, it's played almost like a more serious Team Rocket scheme.
Honestly the ONLY real thing XY did badly was making Ash lose the league which went against all previous buildup the series had to that moment. It was perfect otherwise.
