Just when I was beginning to feel buyer's remorse for the 3DS, Game Freak saves the day.
So far, this is looking pretty slick.
+The Pokemon actual move while fighting, recoil in pain(Not a sadist), definitely a step up from "energy hose" animations.
-The region looks like its based off of France. When you say "adventure", you don't think France.
+/- Starters don't look like ass, unlike like Unovas'(But then, again I like the Vanilluxe lines, so my aesthetic opinion probably doesn't matter), but I'm not really "feeling it" from any of 'em. Then again, the only Gens in which I wanted all of the starters are Gen 1 and 3. I'll probably choose Froakie, and if I can breed early on, trade for a Chespin too.(female starters are really handy).
+/- Roller Skates are too retro, but a change of pace is nice. I usually run everywhere anyway(bump into too much shit on a bike).
+/- Cool looking Legendary's, Yultcher(Nicknaming Y Chromosome legendary) looks like it needs some meat on its bones. I'm liking DNBambi's freaky alien look. I hope the don't go overboard on Legendary's like they did last gen.
I liked Gen 5, but I thought the Geography of it needed a little work. Maybe it was because Unova is heavily urbanized compared to Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh, but there wasn't much room to go exploring for rare pokes, sweet treasure, and battles. There were still some optional areas(Desert Resort, That cave leading into the Volcarona ruins, and Plasma Lab route), but the Pokemon series as a whole has a problem with linearity.
As far as story is concerned, I think they should dial it back just a little. I think B/W2 was the sweet spot, but I felt like they tried too hard to make give two shits about N, Cheren, and Bianca in B/W. They should try to follow the manga's mix of "AWESOME" and down to earthiness feel (bear in mind I've only finished Red's arc and even then they tried to shoe in a half hearted "pollution is bad m'kay" moment).