I watch yugioh for the "plot"
No but seriously I get what you're saying but the main reason I couldn't get into GX that much, at least at the beginning is because I just don't like Jaden's character, I liked a lot of the other one's but I have a lot of problems with him. I like the original because nostalgia goggles and that one scene where Atem destroys weevil on top of the train and the soundtrack was really good. I like 5D's because the plot was engaging for me, I liked Yusei a lot, the action was good believe it or not card games on motorcycles is actually pretty cool, one of my favourite archetypes came from that series, BlackWings, and the end really got to me ;~; I do have my fair share of complaints though it wasn't perfect, same with the original. Zexal... is zexal, I couldn't even finish it I stopped at Zexal II because I felt like I'd tortured myself enough but I will... and I say this reluctantly.. pick it back up again. And ARC-V is honestly really good so far, at the beginning it felt a lot like Zexal but then once the plot started rolling it got really good, and while the story so far isn't that impressive, it is presented so well that you don't even notice, and best of all they made characters not only more relevant but more memorable by giving them their own archetypes meaning no one is irrelevant of course unless they lose in which case you probably won't see them for a while, but the main thing that hyped me about Arc-V was the third opening where it teased cameo's and the fan boy inside of me was screaming.
Also for the record I watch it subbed because they stopped caring after 5D's but even so the japanese soundtrack's are REALLY good that's the mmain thing that's kept me going this long. I could honestly talk about this for hours.
I mean you know how it is and how it used to be, the game's just not the same anymore, playing competitve just feels horrible because not only are you fighting the same bullshit all the time but it's basically whoever goes first has too huge of an advantage and the game ends in basically one or two turns even though those two turns feel like an eternity. All I'm saying is the game went, at least for me, from Using strategy to overcome your opponent by building a fun and creative deck to, the deck basically builds itself and you win if you follow the handy guide book