>>55521554They were the first games that I skipped through the main story, because I found it so boring. I distinctly remember feeling super let down as a teen with them.
Honestly, the tone is a big part of it too. The music all felt super low energy, like you were taking a walk in the park instead of adventuring out into a new world. General battle themes were kinda doofy and a little more kiddy, a lot of the routes seemed more like they wanted you to relax than explore. Combined with how fucking slow they are, and the terrible selection of Pokemon which hampered rewards for what little exploration there was.. just felt very limp.
