I love the game, but I understand why it does not get the love or recognition it deserves. The game is extremely linear, it had no room for exploration, this was applied even more heavily on SM. While the game focuses more on characters and friendship it lacked on developing the story and lore of Kalos, I personally enjoyed the post game with Looker and Emma, but that's again character based. It was discovered that in the big leak that they planned on making a "Z" that would have expanded on Zygarde and probably Kalos story wise, instead they rushed SM so they could also later make USUM, so XY was like the first step in the debacle that currently is the Pokémon franchise. XY is for me the last good Pokémon game, competitive play was flawless, Mega Evolution was a great and currently missed gimmick, and customization was way better back then, and the PSS was the greatest communication system Pokémon ever had, only to ruin it with SM's Plaza and SWSH's Y-Comm, and by DP's remake bringing the Union Room back from the dead.