We chat about videogames and videogame accessories.

Nope, I'd agree that (nostalgia of Gen III put aside for a moment) IV and V weren't nearly as fun for me as III. HG/SS failed to correct some core issues in the original game, even with the additional features granted by Gen IV. I did feel pretty "blugh" after having completed Pearl, and didn't feel the same desire to comb over it like I did with Sapphire. The game was a slog.

Y, on the other hand, has been a vastly better game for me than my limited dip into White 2. Gripes about Pokemon designs aside (because you can't pick one questionable Pokemon then ignore all the legitimately cool shit) , the game itself is better. The mechanics are polished. You're given a lot of freedom to set your own challenges, and the way experience gain's been adjusted it's easy to try out completely different teams without extraneous grinding.

I'd hazard your "perception" of a single-player experience is faulty, chiefly because GF executed the transition to a properly social game extremely well. The game has a well-integrated "Player Search System" which can idle in the lower screen when exploring the overworld, which lets you invite friends and passerby for battles, trades, and to send them in-game boosters. Because you'll show up in other players' passerby lists too, you can play without DS friends provided you have net access. Having said that, the game isn't constantly pestering you to get online and interact with people, so if you want to strike it solo it's easy enough.

Is the game challenging? Not really. Is that a poor decision on Gamefreak's part? Not when they clearly state (through the group of four friends (a dancer (the superior choice in friend), a dex-filler, a girl who wants to meet cute Pokemon and make good memories, and your ostensible rival) who you bump into along your journey) that it's up to you to decide what success is, what goals are worthwhile.

The plot, as usual, is hecka stupid. It's a JRPG, not a Pultizer candidate. I don't think that's a fair basis for criticism in a game still aimed at kids. What I really appreciated out of Game Freak was this message that Pokemon are pretty ok, but their true merit lies in their power to bring people together.

We've gotten the friendship and trust speech way back when from Gen I, but it's refreshing that they focus more on the bonds between people rather than the bond between a trainer and their Pokemon. From a feature that lets you toss Pokemon into the web-ether and get a random trade back from a complete stranger, to a stream of randomised players from around the world with whom you can trade or battle - the focus is on people and what links them. Game Freak acknowledged that Pokemon is something of a common language, and made a game which celebrated that fact on multiple levels*.

I cleared the game a couple days ago and I'm still having fun running around chasing postgame content, catching things to trade with friends doing weirder runs. Sure, the 8 badges and E4 were a nice tour through some cool scenery, but I'm making my own challenges now trying to find a fucking Houndour for bigro.

*ask me how, if you're gonna trust me on this then that's cool but I can bog you down with examples too if you like