[justavisitor]

Yami has Zaruba, and it is a big part of the story that Zaruba finally acknowledges Ryuga as the true protector and successor of the title of Garo

I guess, what I mean by lacking in most Garo series (my memory is pretty vague so sorry if I say something that is wrong) is the lack of a good plot movement in most of them

Yami has all the flaw you mention but it has a good plot from beginning till the end. You will feel like it is actually trying to tell a story

The second series of kouga is actually pretty stretchy. The bad guy manages to pull a death spell on EVERY single knight (or the most powerful one). We find out in the second series that actually knights have a hangout place to meet (The senate?) but they never warn the others in advance. "Oh you got a death spell, haha me too!! but I just don't wanna to warn you guys in advance."
and then the bad guy does every little , and meanwhile kouga and zero accomplish the mission as usual until the death spell time limit is up (thus, standalone stories) until the later part of the show

Makai no Hana-->at least , until the part that I drop (ep 12?) the story is like, some horror have the item to be collected, some don't, meanwhile, Raiga continues the routine (thus, standalone stories), and at the end of each episode, Raiga would a)collect an item b)no item this time

Ryuga second tv series does not have that many standalone stories (I think it is Ryuga series' characteristic that they don't want that many standalone stories in the Ryuga timeline) but the plot is so thin and I think like they drag on too much.

Zero Tv series-->You would think that, for only 13 episodes, it would be much more story-packed. But from my memory, they still drag on. (Can't remember exactly but that's my impression)

Jinga Tv series-->They don't even bother showing the armor anymore

So at the end, I guess I prefer the continuation of the plot over the standalone stories, don't like the plot to be dragged on, and I like armor battle (who don't?) (cgi is ok for me, but at least make it happen at least one per episode, unlike Jinga XD)

It is really a matter of personal preference. Hope I did not offend anyone's favourite show. It is just my impression.