This is potentially my favourite game of all time, with some bias due to sentiment. I have clocked at least 1000 hours on this 30hr RPG across 6 playthroughs, without ever accessing the online features. At one point I'd replayed this game once per year, which makes me want to do it again now. The Unova pokedex contains some of the most creative designs to date (my favourites being zoroark, chandelure, hydreigon) but unlike its predecessor, mixes in the older pokemon in a way that feels natural. It's so cool that I can catch riolu in like the 3rd route of the game! The music is the best this game. It's the graphical peak of the series, with incredibly lively animations and gorgeous spritework. The pacing of the story is strong, the game is a great difficulty for nuzlockes and the postgame is only rivaled by ORAS which came years later. This game squeezed every bit of value out of the DS and is simply perfect for this era of the series. Literally PEAK.