Zero Punctuation: Pokemon White

[Chromanin]

I love it when Yahtzee tears apart games I love. One thing that shocked me though was that he said it was difficult. I've heard many complaints about the series, but I've never heard anyone say the games were too hard. In fact, one of the complaints I do hear pretty often is that it's too easy.

Still, loved the review. It really cranks my gears when I have to fulfill some arbitrary requirement just to find a gym leader, too. Though that is part of the appeal of Pokemon for me: riffing on all the stupid little things about it.

 

[randommaster]

Disliked this review.

While it was clear he actually did play the game, his criticisms are all moot.

Turn based is just how the game plays out. While its not YOUR cup of team, a real-time Pokemon game would be clunky.

As for "theres only one play style", thats wrong too. He said he power-grinded Pokemon to take on the gym, just because you can do massive damage to Pokemon of a weaker type. Thats not how I play the game at all. I have a team, which I teached varied moves, and I dont power-grind them. You can use Buff moves, intricate strategies, etc. OR choose to just balls-to-the-walls-grind and smash everything down with ease.

Part of the appeal of the game is that there are so many creatures: especially if you play the game competitively. Lots of mechanics to master. Once again, not everyones cup of tea.

He also complained about the ease, but also mentions how frustrating random encounters and the cycle of losing health/healing/losing health/healing etc. is.

Eh, to each his own. Yahtzee doesn't like these sort of games, so I wasn't really expecting hiim to praise it, anyways. The single player game is pretty simple and basic type-trumping works fine. I'd be lying if I said that's not how I played through the game the first time.

 

[Lieju]

Going rather easy on this one.

I'm a fan of pokemon, but the plot was retarded. Not as much as the Ruby/Sapphire one (I hate land/ocean! Let's go drown/dry the world! ), but still something I'd have wanted to hear Yahtzee stomp all over.

 

[portal_cat]

At lest I'm not the only one who thinks N is a idiot. I like the game but not him.

 

[GiantRaven]

That's why you stock up on max repels

Well sure, if you don't want to encounter wild Pokémon at all. But it's irritating when you're levelling up to have a bunch of battles all together when you first walk into the grass and then just have a long stretch of nothing whilst you run around like a fool.

 

[Aura Guardian]

Damn, he ripped pokemon apart. Now this is the yahtzee I know and enjoy.

But he didn't rip it apart.

 

[SlothfulCobra]

I've heard that pokemon black is better since it's ina a more...urban environment.

That aside, I figure that if there's so many god damned pokemon, how would you ever figure out which ones to use? With that many, it's impossible to form a meaningful opinion of every single one. But then what do I know. I stopped playing pokemon after gold, because a quarter if the way through, I got bored with grinding and decided to just use one pokemon all the way to the end. I quit when I couldn't get through the Elite Four without using up all my attacks.

At college though, there are tons of people who play pokemon. I know a guy who had Pokemon White imported from Japan, even though he didn't know Japanese, because it doesn't matter what anyone is saying.

 

[Marik Bentusi]

Huh, first he's complaining his balanced team was near untouchable, then he complains about losing to everyone on his way. I'm not an expert or something, but losing against a random trainer is as hard as running out of money in Pokemon IMO.

Also, somebody should've told him the (vast?) majority of players don't aim to actually catch all Pokémon, they just run through the campaign.

And in fact, how could he know Pokémon hasn't changed an inched when this is the first Pokémon game he's playing? Does he rely on his blurry childhood memories or second-hand-reviews? Especially since Black/White is arguably the first installment with a real storyline, or at least it's a bit more advanced than usual, YMMV.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

You got your game strategy thrown off by EMOLGA enough to complain about it? Pokemon wasn't EASY enough for you that a Gym Leader you COULDN'T sweep with one move is a negative point against it?

The bane of Yahtzee's existence.​

Besides, "catching them all" is no longer viable...or even the point, really. It's all about competitive play, with the advent of wi-fi in D/P/P.

Heh...someone looks insulted.

What's the matter? Is Pokemon one of your favorite franchises? You have to admit that it's not for everyone. Same with a lot of other games/ activities.

Oh, I understand. I just hate the misinformation that Yahtzee can spread. Like how it hasn't changed in 15 years. Just because it's still turn based. The underlying mechanics have gone through quite a few changes.

He's the FOX News of game reviews.

 

[scorptatious]

Wow. You're the last person I'd expect to review a Pokemon game. 0_o

Anyway, nice video. Twas very funny. I wonder which starter you chose though...

 

[mjc0961]

You got your game strategy thrown off by EMOLGA enough to complain about it? Pokemon wasn't EASY enough for you that a Gym Leader you COULDN'T sweep with one move is a negative point against it?

The bane of Yahtzee's existence.​

Yeah but she had TWO of the little bastards! And they switched out every time they used whateverthefuck move it is she has.

And she had a stockpile of Hyper Potions, so whenever you finally got close to knocking one of the little shits out between all the switching, she just flips you off big time! I know all gym leaders do that, but this time it was especially annoying. I even went out and got a rock type and it was still the most obnoxoius gym battle in the entire history of the franchise. Anyway, I'm glad somebody blasted that gym and all the idiots in and near it that told you "go get ground types!"

Also, anyone miss when you could just walk into a gym, fight a few trainers, and then find the gym leader without riding a bunch of stupid roller coasters, elevators, and other nonsense they've been putting in gyms lately? You know who had good gyms? Everyone in first gen except for Sabrina and Giovanni.

Anyway, that's enough ranting about how lame the gyms have become lately. I have to go climb a tower -_-. Yes, I had stopped playing last time right after that gym leader said I should follow her up the tower. I figured she was just wasting my time, nice to know that she is so I can be prepared for extreme stupidity when I reach the top. Reminds me of another thing, remember when gym leaders just stayed in their gym and waited for you instead of blackmailing you into doing whatever it is they want before they let you challenge them? Oi.

(Don't get me wrong, overall I'm enjoying the game, but so far I don't think there's been a gym leader who didn't make me want to punch them in the face due to their blackmail and gimmicky gyms.)

Besides, "catching them all" is no longer viable...or even the point, really.

Bull puckey. I did it last generation. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnOusTiOQlI] I'll do it again.

 

[Skeleon]

Heh, interestingly it's the exact opposite for me than for Yahtzee.
I didn't care for the anime at all but rather liked the games. In fact, I still occasionally play one, even bought some of the recent ones. It's basically a simplistic RPG with focus on collecting different characters rather than equipment and like many such simplistic RPGs, it can be rather addictive.

 

[JoJo]

The only Pokemon-featuring game I ever played was Super Smash Bros. It appears I made the right choice.

You do realise these reviews are aren't meant to be serious, right?

OT: As a mad pokemon fan, I'm delighted to see my favourite series finally get a ZP video, good one Yahtzee!

 

[randommaster]

Disliked this review.

While it was clear he actually did play the game, his criticisms are all moot.

Turn based is just how the game plays out. While its not YOUR cup of team, a real-time Pokemon game would be clunky.

As for "theres only one play style", thats wrong too. He said he power-grinded Pokemon to take on the gym, just because you can do massive damage to Pokemon of a weaker type. Thats not how I play the game at all. I have a team, which I teached varied moves, and I dont power-grind them. You can use Buff moves, intricate strategies, etc. OR choose to just balls-to-the-walls-grind and smash everything down with ease.

Part of the appeal of the game is that there are so many creatures: especially if you play the game competitively. Lots of mechanics to master. Once again, not everyones cup of tea.

He also complained about the ease, but also mentions how frustrating random encounters and the cycle of losing health/healing/losing health/healing etc. is.

Eh, to each his own. Yahtzee doesn't like these sort of games, so I wasn't really expecting hiim to praise it, anyways. The single player game is pretty simple and basic type-trumping works fine. I'd be lying if I said that's not how I played through the game the first time.

 

[Lieju]

Going rather easy on this one.

I'm a fan of pokemon, but the plot was retarded. Not as much as the Ruby/Sapphire one (I hate land/ocean! Let's go drown/dry the world! ), but still something I'd have wanted to hear Yahtzee stomp all over.

Also, as he is not a big fan of the series, it's obvious his critisisms wouldn't be the same they'd be from someone who is into battling online and really hardcore poke-fan.
He wasn't really saying much critisism, was he?

 

[solidstatemind]

The Yahtzee is extra vitriolic today! Yum!

I haven't heard that profound level of anger in his voice in a while, and it's refreshing... Plus, I think he may have set a new personal best for number of times he said 'fuck' or some variant.

So what's the over/under on number of really upset pokemon fan posts? 300?