Pokemon Black(out)

[SacredRaccoon]

Hello,

I have been playing Pokemon Black the day it came out. I was very disappointed of the game and ignored it for a few months. (I played it until I got the 5th arena). So now I restarted playing the game and I came to the 8th arena and again I stopped playing, being disappointed and a little bit angry.
I am a Pokemonfan, I like all the other Pokemon titles very much, especially Emerald and I played all the titles (not including the Ranger titles and other stuff...).

So my question is: How do you feel or think about Pokemon? Do you like the game or not, do you think that the 5th generation of Pokemon has been improved? If you don't like the new Pokemon game, why?

My greatest issues with the game are:

1. I don't find, that the graphics have been hugely improved. In the fight mode, the Pokemon on my side is blurred (yes it moves, but it looks kind of crappy).

2. The new Pokemon look a lot like recycled Pokemon from elder versions (yes I know that it's always hard to find new things, but however, some Pokemon look horrible or like already existing Pokemon).

3. The story is strange. It wants to be complex, but it is confusing and boring. I mean, who calls himself "N"?! I haven't played the game to the end, but I think that I saw enough to say, that I don't like the story at all.

4. Why removing so many good features from elder versions? Berries, Pokemon following the trainer like in Soulsilver, Secret Bases...

5. The Pokemon musical is ridiculous. I mean very ridiculous, the trainer has to do nearly nothing during the whole performance. The other activities from other titles were much more interactive and challenging.

6. Pokemon Black says, that it wants to be more grown-up considering the story line. But I don't get this, it's even more childish, regarding "N"'s strange conversations (you can only stop me, if you do this, this and this...).

7. Why are there no more differences between male and female Pokemon? The only two Pokemon who use this feature are the Jellyfish and the Pigeon (I don't know their names, because I play the game in german).

So what do you think about this? Is this Pokemon game produced for younger gamers? I always liked the complexity and the increasing challenges in the other titles and I can't find any depth in Pokemon Black. Or am I just disappointed, were my expectations to high regarding this Pokemon title?

Looking forward for your answers and I apologize for my bad english. =)

 

[BanicRhys]

I thought that B/W was fine.

 

[GamemasterAnthony]

Personally, I'm rather enjoying this generation. With all the tweaks and improvements made over the years, this is now the first generation where I DON'T have to use an Action Replay to fix some of the balance and broken issues.

CAPTCHA: fla chammis

Is it just me, or does that sound like some weird flambe dish from France?

 

[Flippincrazy]

I found the game just as fun as I found all the other ones; a little more so due to the (IMO) better storyline.

1. Graphics are never an issue for me with the Pokémon games, and thus I don't really feel the need for large scale graphical improvement. Sure, the Pokémon are a little blurry in battle mode, but that's 'cus they were aiming for a more 3D effect. PLus, the DS will undoubtedly have certain limitiations technologically speaking.

2. That's a problem that's been recurrent through the entire series, and yes, some of the Pokémon really are quite ridiculous... but they certainly grew on me, and there were some pretty badass ones introduced as well. Didn't bother me all that much 'cus I found six that I loved, and they're the only ones that I used.

3. I didn't find the story hard to comprehend at all; it did a good enough job at improving the previous storylines by giving you an antagonist/rival who had plausible reasons for going agaisnt you, ideologically speaking. But then again the inclusion ofGhetis came and fucked that...

4. Secrets Bases? Meh, I found those exceptionally boring. Pokémon following you around? Not a big loss. Berries? Weren't there a hell of a lot of berries in this one too? I don't mind them cutting away a lot of the extra crap, playing through the storyline and focusing on the main objective (training Pokémon) kept me busy for a good seventy hours. Who needs all the extra stuff?

5. Never went to one of those god forsaken musicals; hated the idea, so avoided it. Didn't harm my opinion of the game though, different things for different people.

6. N believes in destiny, he's an idealist, a dream who percieves himself to be a hero; but he also percieves you to be somewhat heroic, just his rival. He wants you to battle on even-terms, to discover which ideology proves greatest. That's why he tells you what to do. I'm not arguing that he's the best characterised video-game character ever, far from it, but he's not all that bad.

7. Again, not something I particularly care about. Very minor details that I find easy enough to skirt over.

TL;DR: The main defining feature of the franchise remains in tact; you have Pokémon, you train them, you defeat the bad guy whilst having a lot of fun. I don't think it was a failure, I would argue it's one of the best games yet, or at least, a step in the right direction.

 

[Alssadar]

I didn't really find any other improvements in the series, and I stopped about halfway through thinking
"It's the same exact thing with different Pokemans. I've already beaten Gold, Ruby, and Pearl version, all of which when I was young and thrilled by Pokemon, but alas, this tires me now.
But, now, for your notes...
1. Graphics quality is something I never notice.
2. Yes, they're all generic animals they've already used. "Seagull type? Man, it sure doesn't look like Windgull in any way..." Also, Garbrador has made me environmentally friendly.
3. It's Pokemon. You catch them all-until they add another 9001 to catch. Nonetheless, it has brought up the 'enslaving Pokemon is bad' thing people joke about.
4. I felt sad that they left, too. At least there was no mining/the underground... I hated that.
5. Haven't done the musicals. I'm a man's man, I'd rather fight animals than watch animals dance.
6. N does seem silly and childish, but I guess for new players it is to steer them in a direction.
7. Noticed the same and annoyed. I liked trying to spot the small differences between the two, it always amused me.

 

[Mr. Omega]

In terms of the Pokemon themselves, this one is just like every generation (yes, even gen. 1 and 2), hit and miss. For example, this gen. gave us the 3-stage evolution of an ice-cream cone, but on the other hand, it gave us Bisharp, which is now my favorite Pokemon ever. And yes, a bunch look like logical evolutions to pre-existing pokemon (one is basically just a Tauros with an afro), but that's not really such a big deal.

The story is a small improvement, but that's not really a gigantic achievement. Still, I did like the fact that the gym leaders actually DID SOMETHING to try and fight Team Plasma rather than just leave it to the champion and the young rookie trainer.

The tweaks to the meta-game are the really great parts for me. And they made the process of EV Training and getting a pokemon up to level 100 MUCH easier in this game. And they made TMs have infinite use, which is awesome. Still, if you aren't into the competitive game, this probably won't do much for you.

I like B/W. Sure, it has a couple problems, but it's fixed a bunch more and is still just as fun as any other game.

 

[Magicmad5511]

Put your rant helmet on.

Overall I think that things are getting too complicated.
There's upwards of 600 now. It really dwarf the original 150.
If you want to be a pro player now you need to have knowledge of about 12 different values that are not eve shown on a screen in the game meaning you have to guess, and every generation they are adding more complicated ways to battle. Triple battles are too far in my opinion.
I think that Diamond/Pearl/Platinum were the best and I just can't be bothered spending more money to play the same game with more annoying little creatures jumping out at every corner because, lets face it, every game goes through the same motions (Starter,Gyms,Villains,Legendary Pokemon plot, Pokemon League, random stuff).

I haven't actually played Black/White because I'm saving my money for more adrenaline pumping games. I will defend that Pokemon when someone says its not cool but overall I think I've just outgrown it.

That's it, my rant is over.

 

[Terminate421]

I like the newer pokemon better than the old ones, there I said it.

My favorite generations are the 2nd and 4th.

Pokemon black and white are not meant to be revolutionary to the series but are meant to give it a nice Stimpak that the series needs. Which in this case it succeeded (at least I think it did)
The only problem I really have is Smogon, they've made pokemon slightly less fun IMO.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

Speeking as a long fan of the series (I remember buying Red)...

I was bored of it. I dunno why, but, eh. I got it, and then stoped playing about 8 hours in. I just... I don't know.

 

[RandallJohn]

1. I'm gonna be honest, I kind of expect them to fix that with the inevitable "Pokemon Grey" they release.

2. Yeah, there are some pretty terrible ones in there (I'm looking at you, Garbodor,) but there are also some really great new designs in there, so I think it's fairly balanced.

3. I think the story could have been better handled, but I like it well enough. I think it's better than the old "Evil team wants to take over the world. Evil team gets legendary Pokemon. 12-year-old takes legendary pokemon and beats the evil team's face in" formula.

4. You're apparently supposed to get your berries from the global link website. Which is annoying, if you ask me.

5. 100% agreed. I personally think the best alternate event was the pokeathlon. The musical is a giant step backwards.

6. Matter of opinion, I guess.

7. This is true. It wasn't a huge deal to me, though. Maybe that's just me.

 

[BrailleOperatic]

Personally, I hate Gen V, and feel the series peaked at around Pokemon Emerald. But in regards to your grievances:

1. I find the world camera is more perturbing than the fight graphics. The wide pans, and oft pointless zooms I find are really jarring and just kick me out of the experience utterly.

2. I think all the Generation 5 looks atrocious, but that is a matter of opinion, and one tha debating would be stupid. I do however agree that a disturbingly large number of the new pokemon to be rehashes of Generation 5, just uglier with dumber names.

3. I didn't actually think the story was that complex. For a minute I actually thought the story was gong to be the redeeming quality of the game would the bad guys having a valid and thought provoking platform forcing re-examination of Pokemon and humans and the relationships between them...but then Ghetsis was a megalomaniac bent on world domination and is argume is irrelevant and all semblance of intelligent plot were thrown out the window because the opposition was discredited instead of addressed. Ir kindof reminds me of the Catholic church's approach to Martin Luther: we disagree with him, therefore he is insane raving drunkard who has been duly excommunicated.

4. I actually don't have much to add here. I really liked Secret Bases. The concept was cool, and the decorating was fun. But all those stuff was peripheral, so while it wasn't centrifugal to e experience, they were neat and gave a nice flavour to the whole affair. Gen 5's flair mechanics were horrifying.

5. I'm a Theatre Major at my university. I was EXCITED for the Pokemon Musicals. It had so much potential! Little story lets acted out through clever use of pokemon moves and attributes to weave campy little stories of friendship and joy. It seemed so witty, so clever. hat we were given was horrifying. It was almost insultingly idiotic.

6. I kind of liked N. He was smart, and interesting, and he has compelling motives. If wasn't for Ghetsis, he would ha made for an amazing antagonist who provoked thought and challenged the players assumptions. He could have boosted the series up the intellectual ladder enough to make up for the slowly falling respect the Pokemon series claims. However, fuck the Ferris wheel scene. Don't know how many times I had to watch that scene because I kept losing. IT'S NOT A SHORT SCENE!

7. Because it was a gimmick. A cool gimmick that should have been expanded on, but a gimmick. Maybe there's no genders in Nintendo's rendition of America? I don't know.


I would like to add a couple more of my own grievances. First, the fights with wild pokemon seemed weirdly unbalanced. Often times, my pokemon could just barely handle pokemon of their own level. And while it could be argued that I suck at pokemon, I never had problems like this in past generations.
Second, The elite four: what the hell? Who picked the type sets getting used? Every Elite Four member's pokemon were weakest to their own types, and cripplingly powerful against the types of the other gym leaders. There was no real variety to them. It was like fighting the same guy over and over again, and having it suck because being able to give Super Effectives meant having to constantly suffer Super Effectives. There wasn't any real strategy to the fights; it was one long brute forcingwith no real room for creative strategies. I just loaded up on Ghost Types and charged. My regular tm now consistents of a bunch of mid fifties pokemon, and a Chandelure going on seventy.

 

[SacredRaccoon]

Thank you very much for your opinions. I think it's kind of sad what happened to a few things that I liked very much about Pokemon, I hope that if they will do a remake of Emerald (does anybody have some information?), that it will become as awesome as Soulsilver and Heartgold were. Giving the fact, that the bases, the genders and stuff like that were gimmicks, I am disappointed of finding nearly no gimmicks in B/W. In addition to this I ask myself: Why not publish the elder Pokemon versions, like Red or Blue on the Virtual Console on the 3DS? Those editions have been remastered for the GBA (Leafgreen and Firered), so I don't think that Game Freak wants to save these titles for a re-remake, or do they? I would enjoy these titles on the Virtual Console.
Besides, do you think, that Pokemon "Grey" will have the graphics of the Pokédex 3D? I hope so, but I don't think that Game Freak will do us that favor...
Aren't you sad, that no new Pokemontypes were added since Silver and Gold? I would enjoy this change, I mean there is enough room for some more types. Like, I don't know... ehm, Light or Wood or Bubblegum... xD

 

[Terminate421]

1. I'm gonna be honest, I kind of expect them to fix that with the inevitable "Pokemon Grey" they release.

I believe it might be Pokemon Chrome.

Or Pokemon Steel.

Grey sounds obvious but it doesn't sound very cool.

 

[scorptatious]

1. I didn't mind the graphics at all. I kind of like how they made it so that it looks more 3D. Of course graphics have never been the most important part of a game for me.

2. I actually like a lot of the new Pokemon. Especially Snivy and his evolutions. Although I will agree some of the Pokemon do seem to be recycled versions of past gens. Other than that though, the new roster is fine by me.

3. I like how the story in this game raised a moral question involving the freedom of Pokemon and whether or not trainers should own them. It's quite a nice twist to the old basic formula: Choose a starter, catch Pokemon, train them, get badges, fight Team Rocket/Aqua/Galactic ect, get more badges, got to Pokemon League, beat champion, win.

4. I remember getting berries later in the game from Ranger trainers. But I never found much use for them in the main story.

5. I will agree about the musical. There is literally nothing to gain through that mini-game. I kind of miss those contests from past games.

6. While I wouldn't say that the game is much more grown up than it's predecessors, I would say that it's an improvement.

7. Sort of mixed on this one. On one hand, I think it was a pretty creative touch to make minor differences between Pokemon of different genders. On the other hand, it doesn't really add anything to gameplay so it's not a huge loss.