I haven't come across a lot of people that said they liked the Ranger games, but I also haven't come across many that they hated them, either. I think fans are largely apathetic about that spin-off series.
People do love the shit out of Sky, though, so liking it isn't really an unpopular opinion.
Oh. I guess I'm with the minority side of Ranger vs. Mystery Dungeon: I've played only of the former series and none of the latter. I played the first two Ranger games, with the first one played with a friend and the second (
Shadows of Almia) owned.
To throw my opinion out here on the Ranger series,
Do I like the Ranger gameplay mechanic? Of course I do--it's fun and feels rewarding to try to capture Pokémon using a method that takes more effort than just selecting moves from a menu. Of the games I played,
Shadows of Almia (Ranger 2) is much more fun and forgiving than Ranger 1, since Ranger 2...
- does not require one to have to capture a Pokémon with a single stroke of loops, which is where the difficulty in Ranger 1 stems from.
- has the Steel Poké Assist, which, in my opinion, is the best Assist in that game.
- has the Dragon Poké Assist, which lets you "Drop a Draco" (actually a generic meteor but is still awesome).
Do I like Ranger 2 overall? Well, it has its ups and downs...actually thinking about it almost everything about it is a combination of hit and miss for me.
The missions and side missions can either be really fun or very dull, no single character in the game stands out unless its his or her time in the spotlight, and the Almia region's landmarks range from being nothing noteworthy to me wishing these were included in the main Pokémon games (shoutout to Almia Castle!). The Pokémon themselves were my favorite part of the game--they look cool, they all have unique behaviors when in the midst of a capture, and all of them are immediately useful because of Field Abilities and Poké Assists.
I always thought most Ranger fans probably felt in some way similarly: that the series is good and all but does not deserve high praise due to a number of flaws that prevent it from being great.
You actually got a Ranger I cartridge with an unredeemed Manaphy egg? How much did that cost you?
This reminded me that I never redeemed my own Manaphy egg out of
Shadows of Almia yet...or the Aura Sphere Riolu...or the Darkrai
...or the Shaymin (which can't be transferred but would like regardless).