#5. Pokemon Black/White (NDS)
Pokemon Black and White dared to be different. They dared to ask questions, probing questions that Pokemon, which at that point had been stagnant for the better part of a decade, was not really expected to ask. What would happen if one were to break years of continuity, and basically force players to play only with all new Pokemon? What if the entire premise of Pokemon was wrong, or at least morally suspect? What would happen if Game Freak decided, for once, to focus on the narrative, the characters, and the compelling world that they build with each Pokemon game?
What, indeed. Pokemon Black and White answered that question, with a pair of games that was bold, progressive, fresh, and a clean break from the slow stagnancy that had come to characterize the series in its DS years. The new Pokemon were a mixed bunch, but led to a ton of fan favorites. The new region, Unova, gave players a playground to mess around in unlike any other in series history. The games placed an emphasis on its characters, such as the enigmatic N and the villainous Ghetsis, also probing players to answer questions that Team Plasma raised, and question the very basis of the series.
They got rid of multiple longstanding issues with the games- their slowness, their static Pokemon battles, disappointing online modes, the reliance on HMs to progress in the story- all of it was gone. In its place, we had a Pokemon game that, for the first time in nearly a decade, looked like a product of its time, instead of an anachronism, and also, along the way, delivered a damn good product.
