With Pokemon Legends: Z-A on the horizon, fans are getting ready to return to the beautiful streets of Lumiose City and the lush landscapes of Kalos. The announcement sparked a something in the Pokemon community with people actually talking about X & Y again.
It’s a second chance to revisit a region that once captivated with its beauty but ultimately confused in ways fans never forgot. So what exactly went wrong?
Why Were Pokemon X & Y So Hated?
For games that introduced so many technical and visual upgrades, Pokemon X & Y somehow landed like a Magikarp. Was it the weird difficulty? The unremarkable characters? Maybe the villain team with goals so contradictory even they forgot what they were doing? It was all of the above and more. Let's dig deeper into why Kalos didn’t get the love it was aiming for.
Released in 2013 for the Nintendo 3DS, Pokemon X and Y are the sixth generation of the franchise and quickly became one of its best-releases, selling over 16 million units.
Set in the Kalos region, a beautiful land inspired by France, the game showcased elegance, luxury, and a fresh new direction.
This was the generation that took Pokemon into the 3D realm. X & Y introduced full 3D models, dynamic camera angles, and 3D battle animations. This should’ve been a turning point and it was. Just not in the way fans hoped.
Despite the huge leap in graphics, many still consider these games some of the most underwhelming in the series. The shine was there, but the content? Not so much.
But to be fair, seeing Pokemon like Gyarados or Tyranitar fully rendered in three dimenstions for the first time was epic. Lumiose City’s flashing city lights, Reflection Cave’s shimmering paths, and the regal halls of the Battle Chateau were unforgettable.
The game’s theme of beauty, fashion, royalty was reflected everywhere, from trainer costume designs to grand structures. For a handheld game, the animations and environmental detail were revolutionary. Even to this day, parts of Kalos still hold up visually.
So why was it so hated? The most notorious reason is the game’s difficulty or lack thereof. The Exp. Share item got a total upgrade distributing experience to your entire party instead of just one.
Combine that with being gifted powerful Pokemon like a Kanto starter with a Mega Stone and a free Lucario that can also mega evolve.
Game Freak even admitted they wanted to make things easier to bring younger players into the Poke-wave.
It didn’t help that the game's pacing made it incredibly easy to be overleveled. Gym Leaders never have more than three Pokemon and the lengthy spaces between each city allow players to gain levels effortlessly.
In fact, some fans joked you could finish the game blindfolded just by spamming the A button.
The League's Elite 4 didn’t fare much better, either. Instead of the usual five Pokemon per member with varied and strategic movesets, each one here brings only four partners. Four. The supposed final challenge of the region is just as easy as the rest of the game.
And then there’s the story. X & Y introduces the most rival characters ever in one mainline game and yet not a single one has personality. Your bestfriend is paper-thin and the rest are background noise. They don’t challenge you emotionally or in battle.
Then we have Team Flare, arguably the most forgettable villain team in Pokemon history. Lysandre has style and charisma, but the rest are just a brand cult with no depth or cohesion. Their motivations go from environmentalism to genocide so quickly, even Professor Sycamore’s confused.
Speaking of story arcs, the one thread that genuinely interested players is the one with AZ and the ancient war but it was underused. The tale about the ultimate weapon, the broken king, and his Floette was haunting and powerful. But it is told way too late and gets wrapped up just as quickly.
It also doesn’t help that several locations in Kalos feel like filler. Couriway Town, the Lost Hotel, and the Power Plant all hint at deeper stories but go nowhere. The post-game content was similarly non-existent. Once you beat the Champion, there’s little reason to return unless you’re an expert breeder or shiny maniac.
To this day, fans are still requesting for Pokemon Z hoping it would fix the issues of X & Y, expand on AZ’s arc, develop Zygarde’s lore, bring back some challenge, but alas, it never came. Instead,
And yet, for all its flaws, X & Y still had a lot going for it. The PSS (Player Search System) was miles ahead of anything we’ve had, giving us easy access to online battles and trades. The dynamic UI, Pokemon rides, and new battle features like Sky Battles and Horde Encounters were creative.
The regional Pokedex was massive, giving players access to a wide variety of old and new Pokemon from the start.
Pokemon X & Y may be remembered for what it failed to be but with Legends: Z-A on the horizon, maybe it's time to look back and appreciate what it got right.
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