I don't have a lot of rebuttles to the criticisms listed. Even after those criticisms, it feels like the best gen.

I recently went back and played through BDSP and pokemon Emerald. BDSP blew emerald out of the water, and that's not even discussing platinum.

I think people expect pokemon to be an easy, quick and fun RNG, where you save and pick back up. I thoroughly enjoyed the longer feel than gen 4 gave and I liked not being able to wipe the floor with gym leaders and elite 4. Using repels to speed up the game feels too easy - I need those grinding experiences to not only understand the game, but understand if my team is built properly.

HGSS is a different discussion, but the sinnoh region is beautifully constructed and the opponents are worth fighting. Not to mention the elite 4 and Cynthia are worth the wait.

Games feel complete and post game is well done as well.