Basically Team Magma/Aqua and Team Galactic. Leaders felt followers were throwaway to their ultimate goal. Plasma just happened to single out N instead of it being the whole team. Messages were the same messages given to us since the beginning of the series: "Pokemon are not tools of war, they're your friends" "There's a bond between you and your Pokemon", etc. Again it was just a reskin of everything we've already seen. Mechanical upgrades and graphical facelifts are done every generation, so that just falls under aesthetics. Just because it's categorized as aesthetics doesn't mean it's a USELESS update, but an update that doesn't change the way we actually play the game.
Here's a perfect comparison to what I wish the Pokemon Series would finally do: New Super Mario Bros was a thing, and then the next few releases were rehashes. Finally, 3D Land comes out and gives us something totally new, while still being the familar Mario game. Now, 3D World is aiming to do the same thing, yet still retain the feel of Mario. Why can't Pokemon do the same thing? Why does it need to continue being the same thing over and over again?
Here's a perfect comparison to what I wish the Pokemon Series would finally do: New Super Mario Bros was a thing, and then the next few releases were rehashes. Finally, 3D Land comes out and gives us something totally new, while still being the familar Mario game. Now, 3D World is aiming to do the same thing, yet still retain the feel of Mario. Why can't Pokemon do the same thing? Why does it need to continue being the same thing over and over again?