It is truly hard work being an avid fan of the Pokemon series. Through all of the various versions, the struggle to actually catch them all is pretty much impossible without cheating. Being that “catching them all” is more of a general guideline for Pokemon these days, all we fans have left is the game play itself. Although all the versions have been great in their own right, few have actually made a drastic change. For us Pokemon fans, it has been a while since we had a significant change in the game. Pokemon Black/White finally breathes new life into the series.
As a note, the particular version of the game I played for this review was Pokemon Black, although there is no major differences between the two versions. As true in each generation of Pokemon games, the main difference between the two games is the legendary Pokemon in each game. Also different in these versions is the area unlocked after beating the game, which allows you to find Pokemon from previous generations. Pokemon Black has Black City, and Pokemon White has the White Forest. What is contained in these areas is essentially the same, besides the different design.
As in every Pokemon game to date, you are a young soon-to-be trainer who is about to get introduced to the world of Pokemon in a more direct way. You are able to name your character and pick your gender as well. It appears there was an attempt to change the way the beginning of the game went about, as instead of stumbling upon three special Pokemon, you are gifted them. Professor Juniper, the only female professor to appear in the video game series, gives you and your “rivals” a choice between three starter Pokemon.
Also different in this game from the rest of the series is the rival concept. In this game, you have two rivals instead of the usual one. Cheren and Bianca, your neighbors and friends, are the rivals of this game. The rival concept seems to have gone out the window, as they are much more friendly than previous “rivals”. They will battle you at every chance they get, and often one after the other. The main challenges of Pokemon games are ever present in these new additions, as you are still required to meet every Pokemon in the game to complete your Pokedex, as well as beat the Elite Four.
The secondary story portion is the defeat of Team Plasma, the Pokemon series’ newest extremists with matching outfits. Instead of being criminals with greed on their minds, this time they are Pokemon rights activists hoping to liberate Pokemon from trainers using them for sport. They are led by a mysterious boy, known only as N, who remains very cryptic during most of your encounters with him. The story has changed as far as the antagonists, but essentially they do the same things. Most of the time, you will encounter them and battle them and they will rush away again. I was easily bored with their antics, as enemies have had the same actions in every Pokemon game to date.
The setting of the game is Unova, which is quite a change from the rustic nature of previous games. Based on New York City, Unova has many tall buildings and city designs. The Pokemon Center and Poke’mart have been combined into one large building which was a welcome change, as it makes it easier to stop into just one place. Buildings only appear tall on the outside as most mysteriously only have two floors from the inside.
Perhaps the most exciting change in the game is the graphics. The environments and characters look fresh and new, and it was exciting just to walk around and look at everything. The only time there were heavy pixels was during battles, as Pokemon up close looked like they had been stretched out from much smaller pictures. There is also a loading issue when stepping into a building as your character will pause in the doorway for a few seconds before entering. New to this series is the addition of seasons, which change partially based on real time. The seasons change every month, and go through a cycle of four. These seasons have a role in which Pokemon you can catch at that time and are an addition to the day/night cycle already present. I loved the edition of seasons but anticipate when they will be fully based on real time (like in Animal Crossing).
Pokemon Black/White has also added a lot of features to help you connect to friends, although they are presented in a very confusing way. Most of the time you will spend a lot of time messing around with these features to see what they do as the instructions for these things is seemingly absent. The Dream World is one of these, and is a place that goes hand in hand with the new Extralink. The Dream World works similar to how the Pokewalker did, and allows you to obtain Pokemon with different abilities in the Extralink. This Extralink also allows you to go into another person’s game and help them if they are near to you by way of a ” bridge”. The main wireless functions of the game however, are displayed on the touch screen as the “C-gear”. When obtained in game, the C-gear will allow players to connect by infrared technology and also through wi-fi. I found it handy that you could obtain someone’s friend code by pointing your DS at another person’s instead of trying to type it in. Perhaps the most disturbing portion of the C-gear is video chat, which seems odd in a kid’s game. This is clearly only available on the DSi by way of the camera.
A small note can be mentioned as far as battles go as they have changed in a very minor way. Battle animations are slightly more elaborate, although they are still not up to television series quality. These animations can, as always, be turned off if you would rather expedite the process of battle. The most detailed feature, I thought, was the closed eyes of the Pokemon that has been put to sleep in battle. I did not notice it at first but it is a change that should have been there since the beginning of the series. The most annoying feature of battle was having the camera shift around if you start a battle and do not move in the first few seconds. The camera will sway around and seems completely unnecessary. The backgrounds of battles have not really changed, but I enjoyed the new perspective of them. Pokemon now look like they are standing on a battle ground instead of just simply floating on screen.
Also new in this generation are the inclusion of Triple Battles and Rotation Battles. Triple Battles are self-explanatory, and involve three Pokemon from each team. Pokemon attacks can affect one or more of these Pokemon, and the mechanics of these multiple Pokemon battles strongly reminded me of the card game. For those fans of the Pokemon card game, both past and present, you will likely enjoy the more strategic approach of these battles. Rotation Battles are similar to Triple Battles as they involve three Pokemon, but only one Pokemon is used at a time. This Pokemon can be switched with one of the other two whenever you want, but you will not waste a turn doing so.
The Pokemon series has managed to find a great balance in Pokemon Black/White as they have kept the game essentially the same in most ways while altering little things here and there. I thoroughly enjoyed the “brand new” feel of the game, and this was largely in part of the more than 150 new Pokemon in the game. A smart choice was excluding all old species of Pokemon from older titles, so that if you have played every one of these games to date you would not get bored quickly. A lot has changed in these games, but one can only hope for more change in the story. The main story line has too many similarities to past games, and it seemed that some changes were just direct opposites of original ideas (example: Team Plasma are Pokemon rights activists instead of abusers). It also felt like there was a learning curve added to the game to make it easier, as there were “gimmes” before each major challenge. Examples include the Pokemon given to you before a gym that was a type that would defeat the gym’s type, and a special move given to you before another gym that would also easily allow you to beat the gym leader easier. Though the changes were few, Pokemon Black/White is still a reward to the Poke’maniacs out there who have been trying to catch ’em all for all of these years.
