Gamespot score:7.5(Good)
my score:8.5
(+)Pros:-Great leap in terms of visuals from the previous game,-brand new continent with totally brand new pokemon (no repeats from older versions AT ALL until post game),-battle system is yet again FURTHER improved,-super long gameplay,-C-gear is convinient,-story actually tries to be a little different this time and the villians have a somewhat bigger impact.
(-)Cons:-Its pokemon all over again! You jelly haters?,-C-gear takes WAY too long to connect sometimes.
Gameplay time:50 hours+
Pokemon stories always make me go zzzzzzzzz. Because its basically the same shit all over again. Thankfully though, Game freak emphasised on thier story more this year. While the root of the story remains mostly the same, now we actually have REAL villians, and more worthy rivals. Previous games had the game make you go through this same procedure....8 gyms> villians appear somewhere in between>capture the legendary at gym 8> kill off villians at gym 7> proceed to steamroll elite 4>credits. Now though, there are changes. The villians arent just a team of losers trying to abuse the use of pokemon, but there are actually solid characters behind that team, and make you think. I think Ghetis and N make great villians, just as cheron and bianca make great rivals. There are 2 rivals this time round, and other than just fools that appear like 3 times in the game just to fight you, these actually appear frequently, and thier seperate ideals are an interesting thing to have. Finally, the professor is a CHICK! WAD.
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| The most stressful moment of all history...choosing your starter. |
White/black version's improved story is just one of the many juicy things it has to over. Like all pokemon games, black/white's theme is to FUCKING CATCH THEM ALL.WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. Well, no harm in that, pokemon has always been like that. In black/white though, we get the leisure of exploring a brand new continent with brand new pokemon. I say this because its 100% true, all pokemon are BRAND NEW. Unlike, the gen 4 games, where we got cool ass pokemon like gastrodon and garchomp, but the caves were still populated with fking zubats and geodudes.
None of that is in black/white, the pokemon in the continent are all gen 5 exculsive.....now that is awesome. I'd say that is a step in the right direction, lets hope all future games do this. Of course, old school pokemon still appear....post game. The visuals also took a nice leap in the right direction. Instead of still images, now we have like sort of GIFs. The pokemon all move in thier own seperate animation in battle now, and that is great. Took them 5 generations of games...but they finally done it! Also, the visuals in towns and other areas look pretty sweet. The camera angle turns to capture the best parts of the area, and dynamic zoom outs reveal the best of cities and mountains.
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| Game freak really gave it thier all in terms of visuals. |
The basic flow of the game hasnt changed at all. You travel through towns and challenge gym leaders for thier badges, and participate in pokemon battles. Battles have changed quiiiite abit in black/white. For example, now in the wild, there are "dark" grass patches. Walking on these will make you encounter usually rarer and stronger pokemon....you might also trigger double battles. As usual its all about beating them or capturing them when in the wild. Trainers are also mostly the same. The game runs on the exact same elemental weakness system it has been using all the while.
Though a new feature this time round, is the triple pokemon battle. As if double pokemon battles werent hectic enough, 3 on 3 fights are even crazier. These new features promote multiplayer even more, and they have something to address this as well. Meet the C-gear. A brand new item that allows users to communicate with others through wifi, be it battling, trading, travelling together, or just for the sake of communicating. The C-gear makes everything multiplayer so much more convinient, but of course, those who prefer the way of the old school can always go to the nearest pokemon center.
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| Triple the pokemon....triple the madness. |
Pokemon, no matter how fancy, will always be pokemon. White/black does have some great improvements, but boy, old school fans will still be bothered. I have played every pokemon game since the original gold/silver/crystal, and up till now, black/white is still using the same formula. Like I said earlier, I don't think Game freak is going revamp thier game plan anytime soon. The exact same cycle of going through 8 gyms, getting the legendary pokemon and beating the bad guys is getting old, and even the improved story cant fail to save that. Another issue is regarding C-gear. No matter how convinient it is, it has issues, like taking forever to connect.
The pokemon formula is getting stale, and it shows us so in black/white. But, the extra effort put into the story, and the fact that the continent had nothing but brand new pokemon is sweet. All that and more make black/white a great addition to the already blooming franchise. Black/white proves that Game freak still has some tricks up their sleeves, and I cant wait to see what they have in store for us in gen 6.
Happy gaming!
