Pokémon Black and White

Best: The philosophy

I hesitate to say the story of Black and White is the best part of it, because it stops short of reaching a more radical conclusion. But it asks some interesting questions through its antagonist N. This guy thinks Pokémon shouldn’t be trapped in Pokéballs and fighting at the whims of humanity. He comes in here and questions the entire basis of the Pokémon franchise and makes some salient points. Ultimately, his beliefs get swept up in another villain’s schemes and nothing really changes, but it’s a compelling throughline as you travel through the Unova region.

Worst: The Pokémon themselves

Gen V Pokémon are mid. Some of them are okay (Chandelure is doing its best), some of them are awful (Sawk is just a human man), so the whole generation just meets in the middle to be extremely underwhelming. This is made all the more apparent because Black and White don’t let you catch Pokémon from previous generations until after you finish the main game. So despite some great strides for the series as a whole, Black and White center one of the most forgettable batches of critters Game Freak ever put on a cartridge.