Probably the best mainline Pokemon game, debatably only beaten by its sequel. Not top tier RPG writing, but pretty great especially for Pokemon standards, a lot of the characters are memorable and N is a big highlight on his own.

Gameplay wise it's overall the usual Pokemon affairs, with the big thing being the lack of returning Pokemon until the post game, which really helps make these games further stand out among the rest of the series.

If I were to say some complaints, it'd be that some characters do end up feeling pointless such as all of the seven sages excluding Ghetsis not doing much of anything throughout the entire game (you don't even fight any of them besides Ghetsis). The game can also feel a bit padded out, such as early on there being an absurd amount of rival fights almost back to back, and almost every gym leader making you do something before you can challenge them. The Unova dex as well while making the game stand out more and feel more unique to replay than other entries creates an issue where so many trainers feel incredibly similar, or essentially are (I feel like I fought over a dozen trainers that use Pansage, Pansear and Panpour or their evolutions as a team).

Complaints aside, this game is very good and is the peak of the mainline games.