Game Review – Pokemon Black/White
Why? BECAUSE POKEMON
I know, I know. Gaming is Hato’s thing, so why am I here? BECAUSE I LOVE GAMES TOO! He can’t have all the fun, and besides, he doesn’t even like games by Nintendo let alone Pokemon. Ever since I bought the game (which was an adventure in of itself involving some french guy trying to whisk me off to a club to “pratique le français ;D”) I’ve been thoroughly obsessed with it. Feel like you’ve lost the fire for Pokemon? Not sure why anyone would want to repeat the same motions of stuffing small creatures into balls? Curious about what’s changed, but don’t want spoilers? That is why I’m here. Cool is here to convert you to become a Pokemon Trainer.
Pokemon. It’s been around for ages. Technically, they never planned on making anything past Silver, but that was before they realized how obscenely profitable this whole business was. The original 151 has multiplied to a staggering 649. SIX HUNDRED AND FORTY NINE. You only use 6 of the little buggers at once, why do you need so many?! Now at Generation 5, Black/White is the newest addition to the franchise. It promised new Pokemon, new battle systems, and a shinier 3D look. But was it enough to make it worth handing out money for yet another regurgitation?
Personally, I went with Snivy. Named it Dolce to match how pretentious it looks.
Let’s start with the gameplay. In a nutshell, it’s exactly the same as every other Pokemon game. You run from city to city beating the crap out of Gym leaders and Team Plasma (the Team Rocket replacement). The changes aren’t really as ground-breaking as Nintendo would like you to believe. Those tweaks are surprisingly enough to add spice. Afterall, Pokemon already has an amazingly complex battle system that doesn’t need any fixing. As a lover of tactics games, the amount of strategizing that has to go into picking teams, natures, movesets, abilities and held items is greatly appreciated. Once you get competitive, there is no end to the depth brought forth by this ingenious system.
First of all, the battle system looks downright sexy. All the Pokemon sprites (all of them. Remember how many there are?) constantly move around when you’re in a battle. Miniscule, I know, but you’ll never be able to go back to stationary sprites again once you’ve experienced it. There are also a few new battle modes for the competitive spirits out there, such as 3 on 3 battles and rotation battles where 3 Pokemon rotate during a battle. There are also retarded additions like Pokemon musicals where you watch your Pokemon wiggle about for 5 minutes.
The best thing about how the gameplay has changed is that there is no more dicking around. You get your starter Pokemon almost as soon as you turn on the game. I don’t think I was ever really forced to use strength, surf, or cut to get somewhere – it’s all for optional items. Because no one ever liked having to take out a stupid HM slave to use FLASH and wander about a twisting, winding cave full of level 5 zubats for days on end. It’s very clear where you need to go, and there are trainers practically everywhere to get your battle on. Finally, Nintendo realizes that the game isn’t about getting lost, it’s about SLAUGHTERING ADORABLE LITTLE PINK BLOBS. The environments are still nice, but they involve less frustrating guesswork at where to go next.
Are a cutscene skipper? I hope you rot in hell. All my friends buttonmash A as soon as they see text, and I resent them for it. Okay, usually people have nothing to say in Pokemon, but this time it’s different. (Except for your stupid friends who bug you all the time). Team Plasma actually grapples with the concept of Pokemon not actually wanting to be forced to battle. They question the ethics of the very thing you are doing – enslaving Pokemon. They want to free Pokemon so humans and Pokemon can be equals instead of master and servant. That sort of morally ambiguous villain is a lot better than, say, Team Rocket who is just “herp derp i want yer pikachoo.”Of course, some of them (I won’t spoil it) are just downright evil.
Pokemon Black/White has a surprising gambit of very mature themes. Even certain NPC’s spout some profound things. I walked into some chick’s house and she started asking me “Do we give up on changing our dull every day lives because we become used to it…?” Girl, I thought you had a TM or something, whatchu talking bout? ANYWAYS, this game has a very impressive plot for a Pokemon game. Compared to story-based RPG’s, it’s no masterpiece, but it’s absolutely the best storyline a Pokemon game has ever had.
Some sexy cities, a cave, and Zoroark’s ass
Pokemon looks pretty darn sexy. Look at it, it’s delightful! It even sounds delightful! The music is pretty catchy! The cities are all in glorious 3D as well (not popping out 3D, but foreground, middleground, background 3D). The 3D city thing is a bit superfluous and sometimes annoying, especially since some of them are huge and easy to get lost in. On the flip side, the 3D spin on things makes the Pokemon League quite possibly the most epic experience you will have on the DS. It makes you feel tiny, insignificant, and even apprehensive to so much as approach those massive steps to the champion. When they do it right, they do it right.
The real seller for Pokemon games is how you can play them over and over and over again. It doesn’t end until you catch them all. Black/White only shows you the new Unova region Pokemon until you beat the game – a wise choice to give that fresh feel. After that, if you had your heart set on a Pikachu, you can go back and train your brand new team. I know I’m gonna go back and train a secondary team of stone cold murderers. I can barely WAIT. I played Pokemon Diamond for YOU DON’T EVEN WANNA KNOW HOW MANY hours and I will do it again!
But wait! Once you beat the game, there’s MORE! What goodies await you, I cannot say, but it’s more than just expanding your army of Pokefleshlings.
If you didn’t like Pokemon before, you’re not going to magically like it now, even with the new bells and whistles. There’s nothing I can do for you. If you’ve never played Pokemon before then I don’t know what kind of horrible childhood you had, but there’s no better time to start than NOW. YES, it’s essentially the same thing but NO, it’s not boring! Starting fresh in a new region with new Pokemon is all I need for a good time.
PROS:
-Sexy sprites and graphics
-Best story in a Pokemon game ever
-New Pokemon!!!
-More straightforward, easier to navigate from town to town
CONS:
-3D cities are a bitch to navigate
-Your friends are kind of annoying
-Some of the new pokemon are hideous
-Gym leaders aren’t challenging and can be killed with OHKOs most of the time
Gameplay: 9/10
Story: 8/10
Graphics and Sound: 8/10
Play Time and Replayability: 9/10
Overall: 8.5/10
About Overcooled
A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular and Bassun-yo~ with 118 comments
Haha good stuff, that was a great read as per ush.
I agree with the score too, it’s right in between super awesome and awesome and that’s where it really is.
I loved how it felt fresh and new due to the lack of old pokeman and I love how they manage to recreate the feeling of playing through pokemon for the first time. The experience was awesome
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Thank you~ :3 It’s reaching for a 9, but it’s not quite there yet, haha.
This felt a lot more refreshing than SoulSilver, which I got bored of very quickly without having any new Pokemon or really anything too different from Diamond. I felt like I was playing Pokemon Yellow for the first time again ;w;
POWUH: Metanorn Regular and Bassun-yo~ with 118 comments
Haha I ate gold/silver up. Put in 150 hours into that monster and I didn’t even do any breeding or competitive battling “OTL
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 58 comments
I want to play this so badly. ;_;
Love how NPCs are capable of spouting profound thoughts, lol. The graphics look awesome, but I can honestly say that there’s not a single new Pokemon design that I actually like. They all look so freakish and… wrong. XD
POWUH: Metanorn Regular and Bassun-yo~ with 118 comments
They’ll grow on you though. I love quite a few of time now, ones that I swore off when I first saw them.
It helps that you see them as you play the game, since you can finally accept that they are actually cannon in the series.
POWUH: 600-699 and Romance Expert with 652 comments
I get that too. I think because they dont look um… cool and dangerous?
maybe this means I should watch the current anime to see them really move about(though I was still around diamond pearl galactic battles or something…)
POWUH: 600-699 and Wingman with 655 comments
you will get used to them if you see them long enough :3
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
As for the Pokemon designs, each individual pokemon is are either 1. beautiful or 2. an abomination. Gen 5 does have some really cool and adorable Pokemon though, so don’t let it stop you. My best advice to get used to them? Go to pixiv.
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 58 comments
B’awww that deer is so cute. I want one >w<
I never did get used to DP's designs either. That's when I stopped even learning all of their names, haha… but still, hopefully they will grow on me. ;D
POWUH: Metanorn Regular and Bassun-yo~ with 118 comments
Haxorus, Krookodile, Zebstrika, Electric Spider dude…..I grew to love quite a few of them lol.
POWUH: Novice (36-50) with 41 comments
I finally gave in and ordered White this morning >.< I don't know how much I'll play it though, since I barely touch my DS (don't use it much since my phone is an emulator for everything pre-DS)
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
BWAHAHAH YES!!! Join usssssss. If you ordered it, you should at least play it, lol. I’m sure you can slip in some play time somewhere into your schedule~
POWUH: 1100-1199 and Meta's Evil rice-flour Product with 1137 comments
FRIEND CODE :D!!!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Awesome!!! I’ve always been a fan of Pokemon, whether it’s the game or the anime. And Black and White will be no different. I’m planning on getting the Black version. The graphics look really sweet. One thing is sure, it’s gonna be more work completing the Pokedex this time. Wish me luck.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I only watched the anime as a kid, but I’ve always been a big fan of the game. Luckily most of my friends are too, so they get it XD
Are you really going to try and complete the Pokedex? Wow *salutes* good luck to you on your mission, sir!
POWUH: iLurker with 14 comments
I am pretty satisfied with the new mechanics in Black and White like new abilities, Rotation and Triple Battles… Unfortunately, the Wifi features are nerfed when I played with someone else in the Aniblogosphere. Unlike D/P/Pt/HG/SS, the Flat rules are restricted to four Pokemon and you can only use 3 (4 in Rotation/Double/Triple Battles), which is a big letdown. Hopefully there will be a Pokemon Battle Revolution 2 or something on Wii so everyone that has a Wii and the DS bypass the restrictions.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
The new mechanics definitely have my gears turning as I try to think up the perfect team…It’s great! I’ve only done wifi trading with an aniblogging buddy so I didn’t know battles were a bit on the restricted side. Oh well, better than nothing at all. It still blows my mind that you can use your DS to communicate with someone halfway around the world.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 305 comments
I want this game…SO MUCH T____T
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
This can be fixed. Buy it.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 234 comments
Maybe I should get a DS, but there aren’t many games I’d even play. I don’t think it’s worth it just for one game…
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 339 comments
I have a DS purely for Pokemon XD
POWUH: 1100-1199 and Meta's Evil rice-flour Product with 1137 comments
then get it for phoenix wright, worms, final fantasy, AND pokemon
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
You and me both…Sad but true not sure I would buy this based on one game.
POWUH: iLurker with 14 comments
It’s worth it to play Pokemon… This is the primary reason I bought a DS… One should definitely pick up Pokemon HeatGold/SoulSilver too considering it’s a nostalgic piece of art.
(plus those Mario games of course)
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Hey there Chikorita! -waveeee-
True mario would be worth it, I am curious to see how this game plays graphics looked decent.
POWUH: 600-699 and Wingman with 655 comments
did i hear chicorita? wats are you saying? CYNDAQUIL FTWW
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
LOL Junko. and Dango is right, there are a lot of good games for DS! Not to mention that there’s the 3DS coming out which has even more games announced for it (LAYTON X WRIGHT!!!). You two might wanna look into that and at least see if it’s worth it. :3
POWUH: 1100-1199 and Meta's Evil rice-flour Product with 1137 comments
the 3ds came out, and sold out in a single day in japan (And here in aus)
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 58 comments
PHOENIX WRIGHT. That is all.
POWUH: 1100-1199 and Meta's Evil rice-flour Product with 1137 comments
OBJECTION!
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 234 comments
Ohhhh 3DS is backwards compatible isn’t it…
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 339 comments
You’re my favourite poster now *__*
I got mine a few days ago. Picked the samurai otter and called him Yukimura. Hemay not be Blastoise but we GOT OUR GUNS ON dammit!
I freakin’ agree all over the place, this game is sexy. I remember playing Platinum and getting my head messed with in the reverse world, oh man. Now it’s like that every day, graaah XD My only complaint about the settings is the long wanky bridge that jsut reminds me that my D-Pad is seriously broke ;__;
But I honestly love this game. Everytime a new pokemon pops up I get real excited XD Have you read that hilarious review on DA? Pretty much sums up the game.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Awww you flatter me XD
lololol you’re not the only one who did that. Is it bad I wanted to name my Scrafty Ieyasu? So we can UNITE UNOVA WITH OUR FISTS? I definitely have a dragon type named Masamune in one of my storage boxes too. All together we can have a PARTY.
The 3D bridge was a nightmare. I was like OKAY, I GET IT, IT’S PRETTY, MAKE IT END NOW. But hey, new Pokemon makes it all better. I haven’t read the review on DA, I’d better go hunt for that…xd
POWUH: Metanorn Regular and Bassun-yo~ with 118 comments
But for that bridge it was just pressing up on the dpad the whole way…..I guess as an architect I loved the architectural stuff.
This game was Nintendo’s love letter to bridge lovers, there were so many of them lolol
POWUH: 1100-1199 and Meta's Evil rice-flour Product with 1137 comments
sexiest bridge vote? i like village bridge, it’s quaint
POWUH: and Yaoi Fangirl~ with 2320 comments
new pokemons are cute.
if i have a DS…
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Buy one?
POWUH: and Yaoi Fangirl~ with 2320 comments
i’m still saving for graduation dress, my itouch, laptop…nitendo ds if probably the last thing i’ll buy right now T___T
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Wear a plastic bag dress, make a statement, and get that 3DS!
POWUH: 1100-1199 and Meta's Evil rice-flour Product with 1137 comments
I SECOND OC
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 222 comments
OC, you should have done this with me ; __ ;
No, wait, I could have done this months ago. BUT STILL.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
OTL…I seem to be inadvertantly leaving you out of everything lately…I didn’t know!
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 222 comments
It’s okay, darlin’
But I’m there on Facebook, since I’m hardly on MSN.
*hint hint*
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I’ll get on that Facebook stalking then.
POWUH: 600-699 and Romance Expert with 652 comments
id love pokemon if there is an ending where you end up with the other character like if you pick the guy, you can end up with the girl….
well if my tito will finally send me a nintendo dsi, I might get this when I finish pearl and get diamond for dialga and the other kinds of pokemon.
POWUH: 1100-1199 and Meta's Evil rice-flour Product with 1137 comments
so so so hoping for a yaoi ship with cheren?
POWUH: 600-699 and Romance Expert with 652 comments
no, of course not. cant you tell im a yuri fan not a yaoi fan?
im talking about the character choices, you know, the character that you pick and the character you didnt. I want those two to really end up instead of just being ship tease. im talking about the normal boyXgirl pairing.
POWUH: 600-699 and Romance Expert with 652 comments
and I dont know who is charen
POWUH: 1100-1199 and Meta's Evil rice-flour Product with 1137 comments
Cheren is the male rival in the english version
POWUH: 600-699 and Wingman with 655 comments
hmmm actually there is one romantic event if you choose a female character at the ferris wheel :3
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Amado, you’re asking for too much lol. Kids are gonna be turned off by romance. Just be happy with your Pokemon and then play other, non-Pokemon games for the romance haha. Hopefully you get your DSi to play it.
If you play as the girl you get some romantic vibes from N in the ferris wheel and in the last scene. If you’re a guy then…well, you don’t get anything.
POWUH: 600-699 and Romance Expert with 652 comments
then a girl it is, if my tito does send me a dsi though…
POWUH: 1100-1199 and Meta's Evil rice-flour Product with 1137 comments
I had the same romantic vibes…and piano music…and cute lines…only my character is a guy…i wonder if gay marriage is legal in unova?
POWUH: iLurker with 7 comments
I honestly didn’t like the new straightforward aspect of it. As soon as you go to a new town, some gym leader comes out and directs you towards some mystical tower and that’s it. No chance to explore by yourself, there’s someone holding your hand every step of the way. I liked exploring by myself in Pokemon and this game didn’t give me the chance to. I would have gone to generic mystical tower #3 anyway, they didn’t need to point me towards it.
Agreed with everything else though. The profoundness of the plot really took me by surprise
POWUH: 1100-1199 and Meta's Evil rice-flour Product with 1137 comments
they did it to streamline the game…people complained for GENERATIONS about the stupid zubats in those annoying caves where you get lost for years on end, it’s to popularise the series EVEN MORE (nintendo u money whores) and add non conventional content (ZOMG LVL 52 elite four? wtf so easy)
POWUH: 600-699 and Wingman with 655 comments
i want harder game play :3
at one point i was so obsessed with the game, I could clear Mt.Moon cave without using flash, but now days, the caves are to easy to navigate even without the flash, so it doesn’t really matter anymore :3
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Overall, I liked that exploring was optional in that if you didn’t care, you didn’t have to go and get all the items. I think exploring should be at the player’s own will and not imposed on them, but they did take a while before you have enough HMs to actually…well…explore. There were times were I definitely felt like I was being babied too….It’s a bit of a mixed bag of being condescending despite being easier and letting me gleefully run around and kill things without having to think much.
DAT PLOT. I never thought a Pokemon game would ever touch issues like that!
POWUH: iLurker with 7 comments
Being anal for a sec: Rock Tunnel was the one you needed flash in, not Mt. Moon. And yes, I also went through that tunnel once without using flash. I felt so ridiculously accomplished when I managed that.
The Elite 4 were waaay too easy this time around, albeit my team were rather nicely set up to counter all their types rather conveniently. However that was partly down to the fact I OCD’d during the game and battled every single trainer possible so my powah level was way beyond them.
I actually liked that there was less HM usage because HM’s were always annoying to have to teach your pokemon. One useless guy stuck with Cut, Rock Smash and Flash was a bit annoying. But there’s plenty of ways to explore without using HM’s, or simply use the core HM’s more frequently.
…damnit, I should just write my own post on Pokemon monochrome…
POWUH: 600-699 and Wingman with 655 comments
I have a comrade!!! Oh and yes it was rock tunnel, my bad :3
I agree on the HM thing, since we had to always carry one stupid pokemon with the multi-HM moves :3
POWUH: Metanorn Regular and Bassun-yo~ with 118 comments
Yea my pokemon was set up pretty well for them too. I didn’t even lose a battle the whole game, it felt really easy since they included Audinos to grind with if you feel a bit low.
I think the Elite 4 was set up nicely since there were a ton of awesome badass dark pokemon, which matched up well with half of them,
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Even if you didn’t have a killer team, the elite 4 were pushovers…:/ Luckily there’s still a lot of other challenges like the battle subway, otherwise the difficulty level would be a big problem here.
I hated having HM slaves too. The only decent HM to have on an actual pokemon is surf. Yeah, I would probably like it more if they dashed the HM system altogether so all Pokemon with claws can cut things, all water pokemon can SWIM etc. Then all you would need is a Pokemon suitable to explore that area without teaching it an HM. That and areas that don’t need HMs at ALL. XD
…Write a post. Do ittttt.
POWUH: 1100-1199 and Meta's Evil rice-flour Product with 1137 comments
want harder gameplay? beat cynthia FML
POWUH: 1100-1199 and Meta's Evil rice-flour Product with 1137 comments
DUDE EVERYONE FRIENDCODES!?!!!
i’m up to victory road on my australian version
lvl 54 Zebstrika
Lvl 52 Victini
Lvl 54 Emboar
Lvl 58 Sawk
Anyone wanna fight me?
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I was so underleveled when I went through the elite 4…I was like level 48-50…MUST TRAIN MORE. You can trade me though? lol, i have Pokemon Black
In case you want it: 2365 5078 3829
POWUH: 1100-1199 and Meta's Evil rice-flour Product with 1137 comments
4803 5193 2148 under the name Ding
POWUH: 1100-1199 and Meta's Evil rice-flour Product with 1137 comments
i added you oc, play with me (but i’m still only lvl 60s)
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
How do I know when you’ll be on? @_@ And I’m still level 50 only, haven’t got around to playing again due to tests…T.T We can trade if you have pokemon white…?
POWUH: 1100-1199 and Meta's Evil rice-flour Product with 1137 comments
pokemon black :/ bahahha, have u tried audino training oc? google it, it’s soo good
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 322 comments
call me old-fashioned…but why does pokemon look so different to what it originally was..?
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
The Pokemon themselves or the actual game? Because if the game looked exactly the same, we’d have a problem o_o
POWUH: 1100-1199 and Meta's Evil rice-flour Product with 1137 comments
Because we have an icecream ice pokemon…yeah…thats right…ICE CREAM
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 107 comments
My fav pokemon at the moment is Munna! It’s just such an adorable pink, flowery BLOB. 8D
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Munna is like a cute Drowzee/Hypno XD I really love my Krookodile~
POWUH: 1100-1199 and Meta's Evil rice-flour Product with 1137 comments
i love my victini, adorable, event only AND IT CAN SHOOTZ ITS LAZOOOR
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 107 comments
Yep! it’s an MOE-FIED Drowzee.8D
POWUH: 600-699 and Wingman with 655 comments
ohgod oh god oh god oh god, you would not guess how much i wanted to play this series.. When it was first released, i heard rumors about this amazing storyline, and hints coming of in pixiv here and there, i knew that this game is the GAME. Unfortunately, i can not play this game yet, but i know one day i will, and that it will be an epic play :3
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Why can’t you play it yet? D= You seem to really want to play it…lol
POWUH: 600-699 and Wingman with 655 comments
NO DS lllOTL no money/no game too ㅠㅅㅜ
stupid thailand! since it came to this, i have no choice but to turn into the dark ways and find a ROM and a emulator
POWUH: 1100-1199 and Meta's Evil rice-flour Product with 1137 comments
you can get a ds lite for about 100 australian dollars off ebay
POWUH: 600-699 and Wingman with 655 comments
i wonder how much it will cost for the transportation fee :3
its like 1/4 of earth from Australia to here
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
There’s no one in Thailand you can buy a second hand DS off of? I haven’t used eBay so I don’t know what the chances are of getting ripped off or if you have to pay shipping…good luck! XD