Friday, September 16, 2016

Pokemon Black and White Review (DS)

Pokemon Soft Reboot
It's been a long time since I played a main Pokemon game, the last game I played is Pokemon Silver on Gameboy Color (and I played Pokemon Heart Gold for a bit) so once I picked up and Played Pokemon Black/White, a 5th Generation Pokemon game. Everything in this game feels new because it introduces a lot of new Pokemon and this game is emphasizes on the story which is great.

STORY
The game is set on a new region, Unova, which is based on New York. You're a teenage boy or girl, with no dad, sent on a quest by a tree-named professor who gave you your first Pokemon to complete the Pokedex, fight other trainers, earn gym badges, fight your rival(s), stop an evil group, beat the Elite Four in the Pokemon League and become a champion.

The story is better this time. Team Plasma wants to liberate Pokemon from their owners, either by force or voluntarily by delivering their speech/propaganda to the people. They're like PETA mixed with the illuminati. You see these guys doing bad things wherever you go in Unova. The Gym Leaders have their roles by giving you some story lore and they also help you stop Team Plasma.

You have three rivals: your best friends Cheren and Bianca and the mysterious boy, N. These rivals are friendlier and pretty easy to beat unlike Blue (Green?.. "Bleen"?) and Silver (I named him "Idiot" in Pokemon Silver). These new rivals shine because the story gives them personality making them lovable and memorable, but still I feel sorry for these guys, especially Bianca when I beat them in a Pokemon Battle.

GAMEPLAY
I played both versions, just like the previous generations, both Pokemon Black and White have exclusive normal and legendary Pokemon. All Pokemon in this game are all new, but I noticed that they're just counterparts of the original 151 Pokemon. You want the old gen Pokemon? Don't worry, you can catch older Pokemon after you finish the first part of the game.

Exploration and encountering Pokemon is the same except with the introduction of darker and much taller grass. These new grass have higher encounter rate and there's a chance that you'll encounter two wild Pokemon to simultaneously, too bad you can only catch one. There's another type of Pokemon encounter, this time you can see them by checking out the surroundings if there's something moving on the grass, water, ground or sky (shadows on the ground). If you step on them, you will either encounter a Pokemon or get an item.

The day/night cycle is back with the addition of seasons that changes every month. These affects Pokemon in the field and their evolution. The weather changes that affects Pokemon battles. It also changes the landscape, like when it's winter, the northern parts of Unova is covered in snow making some unreachable parts reachable because you can use a huge pile of snow as a bridge and the water is frozen making things slippery.

The core battle system is the same, beat the enemy Pokemon in a turn-based battle for exp or weaken then catch them with a Pokeball. There are some additions to the battle mechanics like Pokemon Abilities that gets activated on certain conditions in battle and Double Battle. Pokemon Black/White introduces Triple Battle (3 vs 3 Pokemon Battle) and Rotation Battle, a Triple Battle that plays like a triple tag team battle. Rotation Battle makes Pokemon battles fresh and more strategic.

Going in Pokemon Gyms is fun, every gym have a unique theme and have fun puzzles that's easy to solve that leads you to other trainers and to the Gym Leader.

The touchscreen really helps access things easier in Pokemon Battles, like assigning a move, switching Pokemon and selecting items by tapping the on-screen buttons that are large enough for your finger to tap.

The touchscreen can be fiddly when switching gadgets (i.e. Dowsing MCHN) and going through menu screens. The main display in the touchscreen is the C-Gear. It lets you contact other players, trade Pokemon online, local wireless or IR. No main menu shortcuts on this screen, so you need to press X to display the menu (if the Dowsing MCHN is active, close it to switch to the C-Gear first then open the main menu). Good thing there's a shortcut function by pressing Y and select the gadgets or menu screens that you assigned.

No PokeGear means you can't contact NPCs to battle with but this game have Nimbasa City where you can participate on different types of Pokemon Battles that can make you earn exp, PokeCash and stuff. There are also some NPCs scattered around Unova that can be challenged again. Once you beat them, you must wait till the next day to battle them again.

Also in Nimbasa City, if it's your thing, you can go to the Pokemon Musical where you can dress-up your Pokemon with props and have them perform on stage. Props help your Pokemon stand out with the rest of the Pokemon on stage and if your Pokemon have the highest praise from the audience you can get more props.

GRAPHICS
I played as a boy in Pokemon Black and girl in Pokemon White. There are aesthetic differences in the menu, if you're playing as a boy, the interface is blue and have manlier/normal design, but if you play as a girl, the interface is pink and some parts have a feminine design.

This game have improved graphics, the background, including the interior of the houses and buildings, is in 3D (even the gym badges are in 3D) and some locations in Unova have better camera angles for that scenic or cinematic look.

The players, NPCs and Pokemon are still 2D sprites and they're a bit larger. I noticed some detail on the player character especially when turning them left and right, you'll notice that the player's bag is always on their left hand side.

All Pokemon (and I mean ALL of them) during Pokemon battles are now animated but you won't see them animate and throw a High Jump Kick or any move on the opposing Pokemon. The camera pans around zooms in and out whenever a Pokemon performs a move. And you might not notice this but the Pokemon battlefield is also in 3D.

MUSIC/AUDIO
Pokemon Black/White have a memorable soundtrack in my opinion. Its got a mix of calm, catchy, adventurous and intense music. I like all the music in this game. Each city have its own soundtrack and when you're exploring in Unova's routes, whenever you move, a drum marching tune or any additional musical instrument plays. In some cities/towns, additional instrument(s) can also be heard playing if you're near them. The music also slightly changes depending on the season.

The battle music changes if your Pokemon is close to fainting or if the Gym Leader have only one Pokemon left.

The only disappointing part in this game is that the Pokemon, especially the older ones, still have the same old Gameboy chip tunes. But some newer Pokemon, especially Pokemon Black/White Pokemon have decent cries, Stoutland have a real dog bark.

The game uses the stereo sound that makes you hear sounds or audio cues from a distance.

REPLAY VALUE
You have lots to do in Pokemon Black/White, you can explore caves, seas and route detours for well hidden items and legendary Pokemon, You can also do some other activities like training your Pokemon to its maximum potential, Pokemon breeding etc. The gameplay lasts for more than 40 hours. The game have a second part that opens up new locations and unleashes the Pokemon from older generations. When you're done in the single player, you can trade Pokemon or compete with other players online (discontinued) or local wireless.

CLOSING REMARKS
Well Pokemon Black and White is a fresher take on a long-running game series. But if you played all the main Pokemon games, you're probably fed up on the same core battle mechanic and formula. Good thing is that this game introduces a whole new batch of Pokemon with no old Pokemon in sight unless you finish the first part of this game, additional Pokemon battle variations, new types of grass, better graphics and beautiful soundtrack. This Pokemon game is like a soft reboot of the series and have the same vibe that I felt when playing a Gen 1 and 2 Pokemon game for the first time.

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