Pokemon BW2 vs Platinum vs Pokemon White / Silver Soul and Heart Gold

[Warmmedown]

2 questions, since everyone here seems to be into Pokemon at the moment. 1\13rd5. (Nerds)

1. What's best out of Platinum, BW2 and White? I played White already (read spoilers so never finished it, because the plot with N as a villain was the best part) and I wasn't that impressed.

2. Also I forgot the other question. Oh yeh how does Silver Soul compare to Crystal? Is it just updated graphics? I've played Crystal twice (once as a kid, but still). Same goes for the Ruby/Sapphire remakes - did they remove some of the water and make any other actual gameplay or plot changes?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

1. Black/White > Platinum > B2W2. Black/White have the best story out of any Pokemon game with it doing something different from the typical formula and having some of the best character development in the series. As far as gameplay goes, it stands out for being the first to make TMs reusable and its post-game is probably 2nd only to the Gen 2 games and their remakes with the amount of locations available and the huge level spike making it far more difficult than most post-games. None of the old Pokemon being available until the post-game was also a great move in making the player use Pokemon that were new at the time and learning all about what they had to offer. Platinum stands out well due to improving on the flaws of Diamond/Pearl, though its story is otherwise just the same old formula that's only slightly better than the Gen 3 plot. Still a good game, but inferior to Black/White. B2W2 are lacklustre sequels with a return to the more typical route with its plot and the return of old Pokemon for a general playthrough, though it still was good when it came to introducing Hidden Abilities and the Pokemon World Tournament was by far one of the most interesting set-level challenges in the franchise.

2. SoulSilver/HeartGold are vastly superior to Gold, Silver and Crystal. Leaving aside the obvious advantages Gen 4's gameplay had over Gen 2's that make the latter redundant such as properly handling the physical-special split and improved graphics, the levels of the post-game trainers such as the Kanto Gym Leaders were significantly buffed and the post-game allowed for a lot more Pokemon to be caught. There's really no need to go back to Gen 2 when its remakes make it completely obsolete.
As for ORAS compared to R/S, the remakes' handling of the story is overall worse from minor things such as how a few missing details make the Mr. Briny sub-plot contrived to more obvious things such as Steven just handing you a Latias/Latios in the middle of the game no effort required. The impact of Groudon/Kyogre on Hoenn in the remakes is better represented though and Wally has a solid arc unlike in the original games where he's a pushover entirely.

 

[Classic Adamas]

What CC said ^

Platinum is the best of the Gen 4 trio, fixing a lot of the problems with Diamond and Pearl and adding some interesting new story elements.

HeartGold and SoulSilver are the best Pokémon games in my opinion. They hold up very well in terms of visuals, sound and gameplay. If you liked Gen 2 I'm sure you'll like these, since they're virtually the same but with Gen 4 enhancements.

ORAS are more or less the same as the original, just really easy. Can't speak to B2W2.