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The graphics are top notch (for a DS) this time round with a more 3D like effect applied to the 2D environments we’re all familiar with. The bridge scene in particular is quite an experience the first time round although it’s obviously a gimmick, albeit a very nice looking gimmick.
Story wise there’s a few twists and turns and I did feel more for the characters this time round but it’s nothing you haven’t seen before in some old school 90′s RPG and it definitely doesn’t compare to anything released after Final Fantasy IV, then again story was never Pokemons strong point so I wasn’t expecting much and neither should you.
The triple battles are a lot of fun but the rotation battles just plain annoy me as they rely more on luck and prediction than skill and effort.
I really don’t have anything much to say on the WiFi capabilities since the networks still down as of me writing this (in Japan too I hear thanks to that earthquake) but there are two important features that we can use, one being the Global Trade Station introduced in Generation IV and my personal favourite… the Random Battle Challenge. That’s right folks. Now you too can take your very best Pokemon Team against the rest of the world in random match ups if only to show you just how much you suck at a video game marketed towards kids.
Unfortunately as every Black must have it’s White and every Ash must have his Gary, there are of course Con’s to the Pro’s.
First of all it’s too damned short. I’m well known for my addiction to favourite titles (Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts very rarely last a week in my hands) but in the same weekend which I purchased Pokemon Black I also completed it’s main story. Yes, it took me the rest of the week to catch and box up all but 3 (event exclusive) of the entire Pocket Monster catalogue but seriously, we haven’t had a mainstream Pokemon game with that type of life span since the original Red and Blue versions.
Secondly it’s too damned easy. I literally blasted through the game with one Pokemon, a Victini, the WiFi exclusive legendary Pokemon Nintendo advertised like mad during B/W’s first week, a Pokemon you could pick up as early as Castelia City (for those who haven’t played through yet, it’s pretty early in the story.) My sister’s boyfriend panned the game a few days later with nothing but his starter Pokemon. Another friend, someone far less obsessed and more interested in just enjoying the game had it cracked within the first week of on/off play.
Personally I think a lot of the reason for this was due to the lack of HM puzzles. For laments, HM’s or Hidden Machines were always a requirement in past Pokemon games. They’re moves which you would teach to a member of your team to help get past an obstacle blocking your way whether that was a tree which needed cutting down, a boulder that needed pushing aside or even a bloody great big ocean that needed traversing. Annoying at times, yes I agree but the whole process gave you a greater sense that you were on an adventure. In Black and White version to complete the main game you need to cut down a single tree and the rest is all forests mountains and roads which a five year old could work out how to get through. Of course you can go back and explore the extra areas with HM’s after you’ve completed the main story but that to me just seems like a chore more than a part of the quest.
I suppose another con would be that it’s just too much of the same but without changing the basic formula there’s not much can be done about that. It did as advertised and improved where it could, don’t think I could ask for any more than that.
If you’ve finished reading this review as a Pokemon noob then obviously you’re interested so I’d say go out and try a copy or borrow it off a friend, your children or just steal a copy from GAME. It’s easier than the others to get into and you need very little knowledge of the previous instalments to understand what’s going on.
If you’re already a fan of the previous generations then… well you’ve probably already bought a copy so stop wasting your time and get that team to level 100 so we can battle already.
PM me if you’re up for some 6 on 6 action.
