Sauvie Reviews Pokemon Black and White

Same addictive gameplay | Top notch multiplayer features | Great presentation | Campaign is very lengthy | surprisingly deep battle engine | Potentially infinite replay factor

The Increased Random battle Rate is painful | Pokemon designs seem to be losing creativity | removed some fan favourite items | Some dungeon missteps

The Primer:

Pokemon Black and White are the two primary titles in the Fifth Generation of the Pokemon series of role playing games made by Nintendo. The basic premise is actually often referred to as a pokemon style RPG by many gamers and reviewers alike.

You travel through the world you are in finding monsters in grass, caves, on water and pretty much anywhere you can imagine. There are a ton of different pokemon, who level up individually when they level up they get stronger, when they hit a certain level or requirement, they can even evolve into stronger forms. Each pokemon can be one or two of seventeen different types, each type has the advantage against others, as well as the disadvantage against some as well. Water beats fire, fire beats grass and grass beats water. Simple in concept, but with the staggering number of pokemon in existence, some with two types or special abilities, the knowledge of a weakness, and potential for a counter is very deep and highly addictive.

Pokemon has always been a love or hate series of RPG titles. From the first game on the Nintendo Gameboy to the more modern titles on the Nintendo DS they have always elicited a reaction, whether it be positive or negative. However, as time has gone on, people have become more and more critical of the series. Generation three, of Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald were received very poorly from long time fans to the point of being nearly abandoned my the fans as a whole. Generation four consisting of Pokemon Diamond, Pearl and Platinum were widely considered a step up, but still garnered some minor disdain for game play decisions such as battle animations taking longer than before as well as the new graphics engine for the over world but they could not deny, the battle engine which was a primary target for improvement was a huge success. While the base game play stood at a rock, paper, scissors style Role playing game, the mechanics for battle were greatly improved. Moves, which were once decided Physical or Special depending on type (Fire, Water, Fighting ect.) had been changed that each move has it’s own attribute. While this may sound minor, in practice the games new engine allowed for many, formerly obsolete pokemon to become usable, and many formerly over powered pokemon to become balanced, making the playing field a lot more variable.

The Review:

Pokemon black and white are the Fifth Generation of titles in the now controversial series of RPG’s Nintendo hit a home run gameplay wise when it came to mechanics in the prequel generation of titles so what could they fix this time around? Actually, Nintendo did an absolute ton to this game, from every different angle imaginable. The series signature setup and mechanics return seemingly at first. You are asked for your characters info, you choose which of the three starting pokemon you would like to have to begin your adventure and that is where the similarities really end. The team went crazy with upgrading the presentation of these titles and it is immediately noticeable as soon as you get onto the over world for the first time. The world feels more alive than ever before, with animations everywhere, more people in this world than any other Pokemon title predating it. What were once, static Sprites for the pokemon all now have animation loops that move fairly smoothly. The almost unnoticeable music of the generation four over world has been abolished with catchy, well made tunes nearly the entire way through the game. Lastly, this is by far the pokemon title with the largest, most impressive cities and towns to date! They all feel alive and all have their own quirks. Whoever was in charge of the presentation of these games have done a truly stellar job.

Story wise, this is the best pokemon game by far….For what that is worth really. These games are openly mocked for the lack of a plot, and with Black and White, the team seemed to care about story more than ever before. It will not win awards, by any means, but it is a much healthier attempt than the previous games in the series. The main villain is interesting and is so, throughout the entire game much to my surprise. The series main stay mechanic of Gym battles return, but again are greatly amplified in effort, in terms of presentation, challenge and fun.

You’re not playing a pokemon title for the story however, you are likely playing it for the familiar and exceedingly addictive game play. This is here, and there is a ton of it. However there are some missteps in the fun. Random encounters in unsafe zones have seemingly doubled, bogging the game down a bit and some of the new Pokemon in this title are…less than amazing. That being said, if you’re playing a pokemon game on the DS, odds are you know what you’re getting into. With tons of after game as well, this game will last most players easily more than 50-100 hours, and if they have wifi, countless hours of fun can be had.

Speaking of which, the last point in this review will be about the multiplayer functionality of these games. My goodness did they go overboard with the multiplayer functions in these, so let’s quickly list them off.

Online trades
wireless trades
Online battles 1v1
Online battles 2v2
Online Battles 3v3
Online battles Rotation
Wireless battles 1v1
Wireless battles 2v2
Wireless Battles 3v3
Wireless battles Rotation
Mystery gift to receive event items from Nintendo
Infared connectivity with other DS’s and Pokemon B/W carts in the area.

I am still missing a few, but there are tons of ways to play this game with friends.

Final thought:

Pokemon Black and Pokemon White are both fantastic and refreshing entries in a series that has grown relatively stagnant flaws exist but this is clearly the most effort Nintendo has poured into this series and it certainly shows. The game play is addictive, the music is catchy, the visuals are very strong and the new twist on the story is oddly intriguing. If you enjoyed previous titles in the past, I recommend these games a go, if you’re new to the series, they are still very solid, potentially even better for the newcomers. If you own a Nintendo DS of any variety I would suggest this game as a must play. You may love it, you may hate it but I think this is a game that must be tried.

8Overall Score

Presentation:8/10

Gameplay:7/10

Replayability :10/10