Pokemon Black and White

[Brieg]

My First Impressions

Let me start by saying this: "New Pokemon game,  woo hoo!"

That being said, I've noticed that if you can accept the very different 3rd Generation games and were able to accept the insanity of the 4th, it can usually be agreed that, more or less, the games got better as they went on. The second is better than the first, the third is better than those, and so on. Right? I've played Pokemon Black and White for a solid 3 hours and while it's fun to be back in a familiar world and I was fully accepting of the idea of a game completely detached from the previous 4, I can't honestly say that I like this one better than Diamond and Pearl.

I know it's only been 3 hours, but the fact that I even stopped playing a Pokemon game says a lot. I hated Mass Effect, but that didnt' really settle in until after I beat it. But with Pokemon Black and white, I knew from the get go that I was into some weird, slightly above average entertainment. I was young when I got Yellow and so I probably wasn't attached to it. I got Gold on a school night, but I was up way passed my bedtime with that one. By the time Generation 3 came around, I had "grown up" and no longer even liked Pokemon. But I was soon stealing/borrowing my brothers' copies of Sapphire and Emerald to play. They were drastically different from the later games. Gold and Silver were like expansion packs. Rattatas and Caterpies still plagued the first few areas in those games, but with Gen III its like a whole new world.

Diamond was something special. all the subtle hints to the GS remakes were fun, and there were enough nods to Gens 1&2 that I didn't feel to alienated. I actually bought this one, unlike with Gen III, but I don't really remember much about my experience.

So onto my early impression of this game. The opening sequence was bat-**** retarded. I won't spoil it not as a story point (it's just hilarious), but you'll be saying "what the hell?" for the first 30 minutes. The acquisition of your starter Pokemon is usually the same with a bit of a twist, but this was ridiculously unique to the point of obscurity. The inclusion of a second rival was something though, but that deserves a bit of an in-depth look.

In Gen I, there was Blue. He showed up at about six unexpected times to battle and that was it. In Gen II there was Silver. A bit of a story was added other than the randomness of simply being a rival. It would have been nice to see him behind bars though.

In Gen III and IV however, you got 2 psuedo rivals. One was the opposite gender character than the one you chose, and the other was a normal boy who had his own journey going on. These were two separate kinds of rivals. One to give you tips, hints, and valuable key items, and another to battle or team up with. I actually liked the idea. It was implemented into the GS remakes, although you can tell it was just shoehorned in at the last minute. Lyra constantly called to tell me that her Marrill evolved, but it never did.

In Gen V however, we get two unique characters to form a trio of friends with the hero. It kind of reminded me of the gang from Kingdom Hearts. But while Riku, Kairi, May and that blond kid from Diamond go off on their own quests, Cheren and Bianca are a different story. They don't go anywhere! And they just want to battle half the time. One time Cheren shows up at the entrance to a town, shows you to the PKMN Center, and gives you a berry. For absolutely no reason. How much time and effort went into programming all these rival encounters?

Technically they're not always with you. Like rivals of the passed they come and go. But they don't go very far and they certainly don't stay away for two long. Literally at every junction on my journey I run into one or both of my rivals. At the pace of a veteran player, I ran into Cheren and Bianca at what seemed like every other minute. I’ve literally met them each more times than I battled Blue in Yellow. And it’s been three hours.

This time around, it feels like the prologue to Kingdom Hearts II. Bianca and Cheren are actually presenting a long tutorial about the new and old features of the game. But its the old parts that naturally bug me. This is the fifth (sort of) game that's come out. Sequels are supposed to show you something familiar and new, and Pokemon has done that time and time again. But ever since the prototype of Gen II was changed to "Pokemon Gold and Silver" from "Pokemon 2: Gold and Silver" I've noticed something.

There really hasn't been a literal sequel yet. We're playing "versions" or in some cases "special editions" of the same game. So naturally each game is going to explain the same thing. This isn't Pokemon 5, its the 16th version of the original.

Okay back to serious stuff. There just seems like there is a alienation from the game and its older fans. All of the new innovations in Black and white, from the titles to the morally/ethically confusing plot of the villainous team, point to one thing. This IS pokemon from the older fans. So why is the tutorial so spread out this time around? Beats me.

There should be a sort of "Pokemon Academy" where you take courses that go through the basics of capturing pokemon all the way to what ever weird connectivity feature I usually never use. And if you're a veteran player, you can just drop out and get onto your adventure. "I'm Professor juniper," she says. "You've been to the pokemon world before? Alright, come on in and start getting badges."

These first 3 hours weren't just about annoying tutorials and rivals that never really leave. I noticed something strange around the time I was in the first gym. In Gen I, by the time you met brock, you had gone through a couple of routes, including an off-sequence one where you could catch Nidorans. Later, you walked through a forest crawling with bugs and birds and in some cases even Pikachu himself.

The first gym in Black and white is separated by a town and two routes around it. On these routes you'll meet Purrloin, Patrat, and Lollipup. Get used to them, because they're going to be the only pokemon you see for a very long time. Seriously, every trainer, even the one in the gym and the leader himself have one of these guys. It gets old fast. Especially since I had two of those guys in my party anyway. Also the advantage of picking the Grass or Water starter is done away with. Now you basically get two starters. The first one from the professor, and the other is given by a random girl on the street in an area the gym leader tells you to go and train at. This pokemon is the exact type you need to defeat whichever of the three gym leaders you're up against. And they're all from this same family of elemental monkeys. These same monkeys are used by three different preschoolers you get to battler later. So there is little in a way of variety in the first few hours.

I was honestly excited when I heard these games would be set far away, with a world of more than 150 new creatures. No more zubats and tentacruels. I decided not to use the internet's faqs/wikis for at least my playthrough. But who needs to when there are only 3 pokemon in the first part of the game? Why not add trainers with pokemon from areas we haven't been to yet, but are close by? Like bug catchers come out of that forest or something.

I know this is only based on 3 hours of gameplay, but the fact that I have this much negativity to say about something like pokemon based on just three hours has to say something. Again, mass effect was much worse. The dialogue was so obviously designed to go with any random answer, scrolling through your menu every time you killed something just to equipped an add on for +2 damage took you out of the action, and the quests are beyond idiotic and are more suited for a game where you play a security guard at an airport terminal.

But I didn't really notice anything wrong with Mass Effect until after I beat it. Over 11 days and 18 gameplay hours. For those of you who think I rushed it, I just skipped the awful missions (95%) and saved the good ones for after I beat it... but there is no continue function and replaying the exact same plot with horrific differences in the main "character" is not worth it.

But back to Pokemon. It's not an awful game. but I found way to much wrong with it in the first few hours. The Plasma plot actually brings up a very important issue to the entire Pokemon universe, but it's executed kind of weird. The rivals are annoying and it takes a while before any fun pokemon show up. But when they do, boy is it a treat. Every pokemon is fully animated now and they feel like they cold star in their own sNES platformer. And it's going to be fun to see a completely new world. Hell I wouldn't be surprised If it turns out with was a game originally set in a different universe that Nintendo demanded be made into a Pokemon game to milk the franchise. I would not have bought this game if it didn't have the pokemon name on it... That's actually a lie. I'm looking to get some other fun DS titles, if anybody knows any good RPGs or Pokemon knock offs. not The World Ends With You. Or Nostalgia.

So, now I must ask. What becomes of my woes? I know the variety in monsters will jump up, and the stories have never really been great.

but seriously! Do these rivals ever leave you alone?

[Archem]

I love constantly being pestered by them. It's almost like having friends!

[SaiKar]

In Gen I, there was Blue. He showed up at about six unexpected times to battle and that was it.

What? Dude was the champ. He was the freaking final boss! It was back in the glory days, when the champ wasn't some smug adult wandering around being better than you are. Blue was a total douche, but you got to stomp him in the end, and that was way more satisfying than just beating Lance or Cynthia in some boring friendly contest.

There really hasn't been a literal sequel yet. We're playing "versions" or in some cases "special editions" of the same game. So naturally each game is going to explain the same thing. This isn't Pokemon 5, its the 16th version of the original.

Gold/Silver truly does feel like a sequel to Red/Blue, especially as the game begins to make progress and references get thick. I'm talking Lance and the Rockets here. And I'm sure we all remember the first time we were approaching the Elite Four and some NPC said "Congratulations! You've taken your first step into Kanto!" and we were all WAIT F'ING WHAT?! and pulled up the map and SURE ENOUGH, whole new world map! This made the ride on the SS Aqua one of the most flat-out enjoyable things in gaming history - you KNEW where you were going! They even made the final final boss a respectable attempt at the Red/Blue player. THAT'S AWESOME. THAT'S THE COOLEST SEQUEL MOVE EVER. You fight yourself from the first game in the second game! Why don't more games do this?!

But anyway, just because they teach you the basics doesn't mean it's a new version of the old game. It's just a way to make sure that players that possibly didn't play the first games aren't totally lost. There's the "stand alone" sequel vs the "left out in the plot cold" sequel theory, and I think Pokemon is wise to go with the first one.

[Brieg]

What? Dude was the champ. He was the freaking final boss! It was back in the glory days, when the champ wasn't some smug adult wandering around being better than you are. Blue was a total douche, but you got to stomp him in the end, and that was way more satisfying than just beating Lance or Cynthia in some boring friendly contest.

Gold/Silver truly does feel like a sequel to Red/Blue, especially as the game begins to make progress and references get thick. I'm talking Lance and the Rockets here. And I'm sure we all remember the first time we were approaching the Elite Four and some NPC said "Congratulations! You've taken your first step into Kanto!" and we were all WAIT F'ING WHAT?! and pulled up the map and SURE ENOUGH, whole new world map! This made the ride on the SS Aqua one of the most flat-out enjoyable things in gaming history - you KNEW where you were going! They even made the final final boss a respectable attempt at the Red/Blue player. THAT'S AWESOME. THAT'S THE COOLEST SEQUEL MOVE EVER. You fight yourself from the first game in the second game! Why don't more games do this?!

But anyway, just because they teach you the basics doesn't mean it's a new version of the old game. It's just a way to make sure that players that possibly didn't play the first games aren't totally lost. There's the "stand alone" sequel vs the "left out in the plot cold" sequel theory, and I think Pokemon is wise to go with the first one.

1. Blue might have had a big role in context, but when i say he showed up six times and that was it. THAT. WAS. IT. Yes one of those times was the final boss, but he didn't pop up every 15 minutes to show you where the Pokemon center was in ever town.

2. Yeah I don't know about that one. Being able to go back to Kanto wasn't exactly a secret to me. Plus i got surf and right off the bat took my "first steps in kanto" like as soon as posible, long before the Elite 4, who i never beat as a kid. So no Aqua for me.

3. Dude. reread that paragraph. it was a joke. This was a review of the number of faults I found in just hours of playing an entry in a classic series. I had to spice it up with hilarity. One way was the mini Mass Effect review I put in. The other way was my pretending that I thought it was the same game made 16 different times.

you gotta learn to lsiten. And everyone knows you're a guy, stop pretending and change your avatar already, its been like 8 years.

[SaiKar]

Oh Christ, I didn't look at the screen name. It's that annoying writer guy that likes to pretend to be someone of consequence. Well THAT'S disappointing.

And I didn't read the whole thing. It's so tl;dr it burns. Get a blog.

Edit: what did you do to get banned anyway?

November 28, 2010. Prior Ban. Dualk sic accounts. Tried to post some javascript thaT IVOLVED a boatload of our directory resources. This guys trying to break the place...

Well, that's fascinating. Also makes me wonder if someone on the staff is illiterate, but that's another matter.

[Brieg]

first of all, this wasn't supposed to be a long post... it just happened that way. And for the record, the way this site has gone, there is no one of consequence.

and i was young, like really young, when all that **** went down. The real reason was because I was a mod and I posted my password to the public. Again, I was young and a drama queen. Insignificant stuff was happening and everyone made a big deal about it.

edit: oh and the 4th hour rocks. Lenora's a weirdo though

[A Forgotten Legend]

I really like the way they did the rivals.  Sure it can be like, WTF?! Why now?! sometimes, but I mean,  you all started the journey in the same place at the same time.  Of course you would see eachother everywhere.  Plus,  later they are pretty helpful sometimes. 

[Prpl_Mage]

blablabla rivals... One time Cheren shows up at the entrance to a town, shows you to the PKMN Center, and gives you a berry. For absolutely no reason. How much time and effort went into programming all these rival encounters?

Your friends pretty much just pops up after every gym challenge or at the start of the next route later on. Mostly the guy, the girl kinda gets bored and hangs out with the Proff. Also, it's kinda natural that they don't stick as a group. I mean, who'd like to be the sidekick of a non-talking person? When you enter a new town there might be a "Oh hi, I just beat this gym, flawless victory. I'm gonna head on to the next route to train."

I kinda like it though, more battles for me. Started out kinda annoying but you get rather used to it. It's kinda like a survival horror, you don't really know when an event will kick in and give you a challenge. You have the Chino guy, Bianca and then N. And I like to think of them as bosses or something. Love the exp.

There should be a sort of "Pokemon Academy" where you take courses that go through the basics of capturing pokemon all the way to what ever weird connectivity feature I usually never use. And if you're a veteran player, you can just drop out and get onto your adventure. "I'm Professor juniper," she says. "You've been to the pokemon world before? Alright, come on in and start getting badges."

Well, after knowing stuff since the first gen and playing additional games I think I'm immune to whatever annoyance this would bring. I know that there will be tutorials. It's part of the game. They don't go around explaining super effective hits, type advantages, status conditions, move STAB or anything like that. That would be annoying, they only explain what is new and what is basic. How to catch pokés, were to heal pokés and buy items. Done, great.

In Gen I, by the time you met brock, you had gone through a couple of routes, including an off-sequence one where you could catch Nidorans. Later, you walked through a forest crawling with bugs and birds and in some cases even Pikachu himself.
The first gym in Black and white is separated by a town and two routes around it. On these routes you'll meet Purrloin, Patrat, and Lollipup. Get used to them, because they're going to be the only pokemon you see for a very long time. Seriously, every trainer, even the one in the gym and the leader himself have one of these guys.

Agreed, few pokés to gain at the start. But I still kinda like it, the first gym comes quick, you get the sucky monkey and then you get to experience some "plot".
You get too many cool and new to handle afterwards. Lillipup and Patrat family pretty much cease to appear after the first 2 routes. And I like that, also the Zubat equalent isn't in every cave. There is pretty much no poké that makes your Area map go rave party on you in this game. Pokés are rather local, like that.

But back to Pokemon. It's not an awful game.

Sure isn't.

The Plasma plot actually brings up a very important issue to the entire Pokemon universe, but it's executed kind of weird.

Make it any more rhetoric and kids might erase their save files and others to liberate their suffering pokémon

The rivals are annoying and it takes a while before any fun pokemon show up. But when they do, boy is it a treat.

It's totally worth the waiting.

I'm looking to get some other fun DS titles, if anybody knows any good RPGs or Pokemon knock offs. not The World Ends With You. Or Nostalgia.

Golden sun, Clash of heroes, Arcadia, Dragon-something, Final fantasy. There are a lot, question is the taste.

but seriously! Do these rivals ever leave you alone?

No.


PS. A heads up, there's apparently a glitch with triple battles. Just fought one and lost two of my pokés the same turn. When I tried to send in two new ones I could only pick one, the remaining two had the text "Can't be switched out". Had to turn off the game and reload. Sad day

[X_marks_the_ed]

The first gym in Black and white is separated by a town and two routes around it. On these routes you'll meet Purrloin, Patrat, and Lollipup. Get used to them, because they're going to be the only pokemon you see for a very long time. Seriously, every trainer, even the one in the gym and the leader himself have one of these guys. It gets old fast. Especially since I had two of those guys in my party anyway.

I warned you guys.

[Prpl_Mage]

Major spoilers. Get used to the first three or four Pokemon because those are all that you'll be seeing up until the second gym.

I remember that.

[Brieg]

That's like verbatim what I said, x

You know as fun as I'm sure golden sun is, I never beat the first game so i didn't play the sceond one and although i sort of no how it ends... iunno it wouldn't be the same.

But back to pokemon. I noticed a glitch like that actually in double battles. It seems like firs you have to pick a new pokemon, then the one you're having it replace. Maybe it doesn't work to well in tripple battles.

Oh and i walked into celestia city for the first time last night. A beautiful experiance.

[Valiere]

All right, this. Great Pokemon or greatest Pokemon?

[Prpl_Mage]

It's a great pokémon. Special attack is the vice, works well with the moveset it learns beside heart stamp. Evolves around lvl 20-21 or something and can dish out some neat damage comparable to N/Xatu.
It's pretty much a great poké.


Also, the story gets deeper and deeper the further you get in this game. So I suppose one could say it's story driven. Kinda reminds me of Colosseum and X D when it comes to that. You don't wait for Strength to progress, you wait for the next part of the story instead.
It's kinda different but not too fucked up yet.

Also <3 Bulldozer, great pre-Earthquake move.

[Archem]

All right, this. Great Pokemon or greatest Pokemon?

Oh my gaw, I want one. Why am I still playing HG?

Oh, because I'm determined to beat it before moving on. I've made some sort of pact.

[Valiere]

I don't know if it's this game or all Pokemon games, but it feels like the dialogue has gotten wonkier.

At one point, Bianca's dad confronts her about leaving home without permission, and one of the gym leaders steps in to intervene: "I'm so-and-so, the gym leader of this city. I also happen to be a model." Good for you?

I also wish the Team Plasma members weren't so buffoonish -- although I guess that's kind of a Pokemon tradition. I am enjoying N though, especially after our romantic ferris wheel ride.