Despite the unoriginal nomenclature, I have to say this is the best game since Emerald. Yeah the GS remakes were okay but there was a lot of things lost in the 'update' of the game. Same goes for the RB remake. (LG/FR)

Why this is good:

1. Originality. Everything is so much different from previous games. The game is still somewhat "linear" but you're not walking from routes 1-15 in ascending order anymore, they take the world of BW and mix it up a bit. The starting town is a city (not a 4 population village), it's not a professor that gives you your pokemon, and your rival is actually a very close friend and there aren't a billion fights against him. All leading up to a somewhat unpredictable storyline (old villains are... good?).

2. Pokemon availability is great and varied. Unlike the original BW which forced you to use the new generation pokemon, B2/W2 have pokemon from pretty much every generation available.

3. Continuity. The game takes place X amount of years after the events of BW, which give you a good sense of continuity and background info, unlike most games which just throw you at it. Like G/S/C, B2/W2 give a sense of being a real sequel, if not even more so than G/S/C.

4. Overall improved gameplay. You remember how you'd always have to spam those goddamned repels every 250 steps? Well no more, because once your repel runs out, a notification pops up asking if you want to use another one, assuming you have more of the same kind of repel. This saves at least an hour of game time/in-menu crap that you had to deal with before, over the course of a single "playthrough". There's also a new pocket (item area) where you can move frequently used items to (like Soda Pops or something, used between battles) called "Extra Storage". Basically nothing goes in here automatically so you don't have to scroll for 8 hours looking for the item you want. The little things add up to a much smoother and more convenient gameplay.

5. Difficulty. The game is actually somewhat challenging (I didn't teamwipe enemy trainers with random pokemon, even though I'd "EV trained" them), and encourages varieties of pokemon setups. I think there's also other difficulties that can be unlocked once you beat the E4 for the first time (I just beat it last night so I haven't tried it out yet though). Obviously 1 type gyms and E4 members are still 1 type and a breeze, but for the most part, trainers will have varied pokemon, which adds to the difficulty of each battle.

6. Training is less grindy. This has a bit to do with point 5, but there are also new trainers called "Pokemon breeders", you might remember them from other games. Every time you leave the area the Breeder is in and re-enter, you can fight them again. This is really frickin amazing because now you don't have to spend hours upon hours grinding random patches of grass for EXP, you just beat the crap out of these trainers over and over again. Remember that Trainers give 1.5x the EXP of wild Pokemon. These trainers are also tiered to the area they're in so if you need a quick grind to beat a gym, they're there for that.

7. HMs are less required. Really all you need HMs for the most part is exploring optional areas. There are some exceptions to this (particularly Strength...), but they're not huge/annoying factors. One significant change is that Waterfall isn't required at all in the main story line (ie, you don't need it to get to the E4 like you always did).