5th Gen Black & White VS. previous games

[Sakura Rain]

Oh god. White is actually my second-favorite pokemon game. (The first being Crystal) I love Black and White so much! The plot is actually pretty good, omg, the Gym Leaders actually factor into the plot a little bit, the Unova region in general is spectacular omg, and the graphics, of course, are excellent.

I don't really get all these people who cry "THE NEW POKEMON ARE NOT ORIGINAL AT ALL GAMEFREAK IS RUNNING OUT OF IDEAS" Especially when they're die-hard Gen I fans. Gen I had some of the least creative pokemon designs, and I say that as a fan of Gen I. Growlithe? Dog that becomes a bigger dog. Grimer? A pile of sludge that becomes a bigger pile of sludge. Squirtle? Turtle that becomes a bigger turtle. This happened in Gen IV too, you know. The designs aren't getting less creative - you've just grown up.

That being said, I love most of the Unova pokemon ksdffjsdlf. ESPECIALLY GALVANTULA OMG AND VOLCARONA AND STOUTLAND.

I do miss the Battle Frontier though. I absolutely loved the Battle Arcade.

 

[Atomic Pirate]

Oh god. White is actually my second-favorite pokemon game. (The first being Crystal) I love Black and White so much! The plot is actually pretty good, omg, the Gym Leaders actually factor into the plot a little bit, the Unova region in general is spectacular omg, and the graphics, of course, are excellent.

What plot? Sure, it's not a bad plot for a Pokemon game, but compare it to most other RPGs (for example, the Shin Megami Tensei series or Final Fantasy IV or VI), and you will realize just how bland the plot is. If you want a good plot, then play a different RPG.

The Gym Leaders appear a bit in the plot, but they have no personality and are bland characters.

The Unova region is not spectacular. It looks very unnatural, with the stupid Pokeball-shaped island in the middle and the boring cities.

The graphics are actually worse than the rest of the Pokemon games. Just look at the pixellated backsprites of the Pokemon.

I don't really get all these people who cry "THE NEW POKEMON ARE NOT ORIGINAL AT ALL GAMEFREAK IS RUNNING OUT OF IDEAS" Especially when they're die-hard Gen I fans.

I'm sorry, but when there are Pokemon based off of ice cream, goths, trash bags, gangsta rappers, and pillows, then GF is obviously running out of ideas.

Gen I had some of the least creative pokemon designs, and I say that as a fan of Gen I. Growlithe? Dog that becomes a bigger dog. Grimer? A pile of sludge that becomes a bigger pile of sludge. Squirtle? Turtle that becomes a bigger turtle.

Least creative? Seriously? At least the Gen. I Pokemon actually had designs that made sense. Does an armored green dinosaur dragon with an enormous number of spikes and tusks make sense? No. Does a red, fire-breathing dragon with a flaming tail make sense? Yes.

Whereas Haxorus is just a jumble of overly detailed, overly-spiked armor and teeth, Charizard's design harkens back to the mythical dragons from medieval times.

The designs aren't getting less creative - you've just grown up.

Er, I grew up with Sapphire Version, but I have to admit that the Kanto and Johto Pokemon were much, MUCH, MUCH better and more creative.

That being said, I love most of the Unova pokemon ksdffjsdlf. ESPECIALLY GALVANTULA OMG AND VOLCARONA AND STOUTLAND.

What is a "ksdffjsdlf"?

 

[thanethane98]

Whenever I go on a long trip somewhere, I bring a Pokemon game with me. The defining feature that a Pokemon game is good to me is that it's one of the games that comes to mind when I'm considering which one to bring. Right now, only two games come to mind when I'm trying to figure out what to bring for a long trip: Firered/Leafgreen and Black/White.

Black/White had a lot of things that put it above the previous generations, and then a few issues which stop it from being one of the best Pokemon games. I loved the 3D effects (Castelia City shocked me when I saw it), and I did like that Pokemon actually moved during battles. The storyline was different from others in that Team Plasma was actually involved in something between each gym badge, something that wasn't done in any other generation (even in Emerald with Magma/Aqua).

While that was great, there were 2 things that stopped me from seeing Black/White as the best games. First, there were tons of features that we'd enjoyed in the previous generations that were left out of Black/White (game corner, contests, Pokeathlon, etc). I was fine without a few of those, but then the big thing was that the games really didn't have a strong postgame. After you finished the story, there wasn't any really big motivation to keep going. Perhaps if they had a bit more continuation of the story besides just looking for the sages, it would of been more worthwhile to keep playing, but I've found that I can't continue playing after I finish the main story.

So overall? The game's great, but it missed out on a few necessary things that really could of made it even better.

 

[Lugia_Da_Boss]

I played Pokémon White and I have to say that it is my favourite game, beating SoulSilver by a very, very tiny bit. B/W was more plot driven and that is something I really liked. SoulSilver was my second favourite because there was so much more to do during the game and post-game then there was in any other Pokémon game.

 

[Palkia]

I found B/W the best games because of the reuseable TM's. I have a terrible habit of wasting TM's, especially those which you get once only (I'm looking at you, Stealth Rock).

It also had pokemon which actually went in a diffirent direction, not too over-realistic and not to cartoon-ish at all, which expectations.

Spoiler:

btw, I despise threads like this as they always spark arguments. -_- Better ignore them seeing as I think Haxours has one of the best designs in Pokemon (and Charziard look like something a 5 year old would draw.

 

[Sakura Rain]

What plot? Sure, it's not a bad plot for a Pokemon game, but compare it to most other RPGs (for example, the Shin Megami Tensei series or Final Fantasy IV or VI), and you will realize just how bland the plot is. If you want a good plot, then play a different RPG.

I meant for a pokemon game.

The Gym Leaders appear a bit in the plot, but they have no personality and are bland characters.

I thought the fact that they were in the plot at all was a good step forward.

The Unova region is not spectacular. It looks very unnatural, with the stupid Pokeball-shaped island in the middle and the boring cities.

It's supposed to look different, these games were touted as a reboot of the series.

The graphics are actually worse than the rest of the Pokemon games. Just look at the pixellated backsprites of the Pokemon.

It's their first time animating (constantly moving) backsprites, I'm sure they'll get better.

I'm sorry, but when there are Pokemon based off of ice cream, goths, trash bags, gangsta rappers, and pillows, then GF is obviously running out of ideas.

And a pile of sludge, a cat, a butterfly, and a snake that becomes a bigger snake are such revolutionary ideas. though I really don't like Trubbish, tbh. and lol which one is based off of a rapper? are you talking about Scraggy/Scrafty?

Least creative? Seriously? At least the Gen. I Pokemon actually had designs that made sense. Does an armored green dinosaur dragon with an enormous number of spikes and tusks make sense? No. Does a red, fire-breathing dragon with a flaming tail make sense? Yes.

Whereas Haxorus is just a jumble of overly detailed, overly-spiked armor and teeth, Charizard's design harkens back to the mythical dragons from medieval times.

Why does everything have to make sense? It's a fantasy world. And remember, this series is still geared towards kids. Of course they'll slap some stuff (spikes, horns, etc) on to appeal to the kids.

Er, I grew up with Sapphire Version, but I have to admit that the Kanto and Johto Pokemon were much, MUCH, MUCH better and more creative.

I will admit that Kanto and Johto had some creative pokemon (the Nidoran lines, the Vulpix line, all the starters from Johto) but I found that Hoenn's were just a bit more...exotic, if you will. (Feebas line, Ralts line, Trapinch line). Maybe our tastes are just different. and look I love Gen I/II I'm merely stating my opinion

What is a "ksdffjsdlf"?

...I was excited. Why can't I be excited? I'm seriously not trying to start a fight, I was just excited.

Spoiler:

Agreed, Para-Dox. Not really looking for a fight, tbh.

 

[smurf]

I love black an white but the graphics coulda been better an it would be the best game with better graphics

 

[Aeroplane]

Hello Pokecommunity, joined this site so that I could give my opinion on this subject.. (Keep in mind I haven't played Black in almost a year so I'm a little hazy on some of the names and stuff..)

Storyline/Plot
This plot is probably the worst plot in Pokemon history. Yes, it changed the standard formula a little bit, but changed it for what? A generic soap opera aimed towards little kids.

Every 10 minutes there was some sort of allusion to "We need to accept eachother and be friends ^.^!!!" This really ruins it for the non-8 year old players.

You could argue "Well it's essentially a kids game!", yet how come we can play, say, Emerald and there not be any direct allusions to the player being a kid?

Including the gym leaders in the plot was neat, however I don't really remember much about them.

When the building came out of the ground during the E4?! What?! My childhood died a little bit when that happened. Just ridiculous.

Being able to choose which E4 order you wanted was "OK", although I think I disliked it more than enjoyed it.

The new gym puzzles were definitely a plus.

It was interesting how you had to catch the Legendary, that was definitely new. Not exactly amazing in my opinion, but it kept things fresh.

The only highlight for me was at the end, I can't remember what was happening but I thought N was going to jump out of a building or something and kill himself, would have totally redeemed the game IMO. (But obviously he didn't.) **Not saying I think suicide is ok and cool, it just would have been so unexpected.

I can't speak much for the storyline progressing the game or anything because I simply don't remember much of it (I got half way through when I first got it, then restarted and played through and beat it.)

Can't speak much for post-game since I stopped playing right after I beat the E4.

Kinda sad since I remember more of playing Red when I was 6 then I remember playing Black less than a year ago..

Pokémon
This was by far my least favorite part of the game. Yeah some of the pre Gen V Pokes weren't so great, but this generation by far has the least amount of redeemable Pokemon. Like literally, I was trying to think of my favorite from each Gen and I couldn't think of one for Gen V. I'm gonna leave this section short because I could rant forever, but come on, the ones that had clothes on and stuff?

As someone on here said, they looked too "toyish", and too much like Digimon IMO. Not just the "concept" of them, but the actual images just didn't look like Pokemon either, if you had a team consisting of Pre Gen V and then a Gen V Poke, it just looked out of place.

Shortly put, they weren't all terrible, but none were really that memorable/great.

Pokédex
I actually enjoyed that they didn't feature any old Pokemon pre-Elite4. This was only ruined by all the Pokemon themselves being ridiculous, but still, it felt like I was playing Red as a kid again and not knowing anything. I don't think GF should do this with every Gen, but it was a bit refreshing.

Features
The moving Pokemon in battle idea is a great idea, but the execution of it was terrible. The pixelated backsprites literally shocked me; it seriously resembles a Gen 1 game (but with richer color).

I do enjoy how the battles felt quicker, despite more stuff going on.

The infinite TMs were stupid. Before when you had 1 Flamethrower, you used it wisely. This just makes it too easy to give all your Pokes great moves. (I'm speaking from the Pre-E4/Storyline standpoint, I guess this is nice for competitive online battling.)

Speaking of making it easier, I believe they made it so that you didn't take poison damage outside of battle? Come on! That's what made it challenging!

The pouchless bag got ridiculous. Yeah you can auto-sort them, but still, I have no idea what they were thinking, especially since this game has the most items out of all Pokemon games.

As mentioned, the removal of the Running Shoes toggle from HG/SS really disappointed me (and my thumb.) Again, really not sure what they were thinking on that one. I

I think they tried to focus too much on graphics and 3D as well, which is odd because the graphics weren't even done that nicely. All the crazy camera zooms on that bridge and stuff were neat I guess, but it's not like that made me think it was a better game at all. If I wanted good graphics I would play Chrysis 2 or something. Honestly, Gen4 graphics were more than enough for a handheld Pokemon game. These ones just look too rough, they should have held off on the deeper 3D look and try and improved the faux-3D look of Gen4.

Also, you can't have a certain amount of numbers per box name? What the hell? I name my boxes like 001-030 and have all the Pokes filling up the spots, because of the number limit I had to put like 001 - 03O and stuff. Wasn't a huge deal, I just don't see their reasoning behind it.

Was a little disappointed by the "No follow" feature that was in HG/SS, but honestly it wasn't that big a deal, atleast that features makes HG/SS/Y special.

I definitely agree with whoever made the remark about the Triple/Rotating battles.. that was a huge feature they were boasting in the promos, yet I recall only having 3 or 4 of them..

The big rotating city was cool. The people walking around was also very well done, I liked that.

Also, the season feature is awesome. Not only aesthetically, but how certain parts are only accessible in certain seasons. That was very nicely done and I hope to see it in future games.

WiFi
Not much of a WIFI player, but adding random battles was a good idea. Yeah, it's full of the people using the same team/etc., but that's not GF's fault.

Didn't understand the Dream World so I can't really comment on it.

OVERALL
As I stated, I believe this to be the worst Pokemon game yet.

HOWEVER, "worst" is a relative term. I'm not saying it's a bad game, I don't regret buying it, but I was very disappointed with it. I think they really over-thought this one and tried to focus too much on the graphics and less on the actual mechanics and gameplay.

And people praise how "different" it is, yet I really don't see how this game is any different than Diamond is to Silver or that Red is to Sapphire.

Also, as someone else said, I regret transferring my old Pokemon to it simply because I can't do much with them (although Gen 6 could change that so whatever.)

Finally,
G/S (HG/SS) > R/S/E > D/P/P > R/B/Y (FR/LG) > B/W

 

[Asuf]

I find it hard to answer when I get asked that question, comparing Black/White against other games is difficult, I like every single one of them, I have no favourites, they're all so good in my opinion.

 

[Rivvon]

BW are currently my favorite Pokemon games because I really love when games have a narrative drive to them, and BW have the best narrative so far (granted, I haven't played B2W2 yet). Also, I felt even more characters developed their personalities based on their actions rather than simple descriptions of them when compared to previous games. As a result, the characters ended up having more personality, more growth, and generally were enjoyed more (with certain exceptions...).
I also appreciated the small changes in regards to overall appearance and organization, but I have to say that in the end, it's the narrative of BW that really makes it shine, and I hope Game Freak continues this trend in any and all new Pokemon games to come.

 

[Atomic Pirate]

Why does everything have to make sense? It's a fantasy world. And remember, this series is still geared towards kids. Of course they'll slap some stuff (spikes, horns, etc) on to appeal to the kids.

I'm just trying to say this: The older Pokemon weren't spike-covered or armor-plated, with a few exceptions that actually make sense. For example, Nidoking. Nidoking is based off of Godzilla and Japanese movie monsters in general, which also have spikes and armor. Compare that to Haxorus, which has armor and spikes for the purpose of... I don't know what, exactly.

And referring to your previous comment on how cat and dog Pokemon are supposedly uncreative, remember that this is the first generation, and some basic animals were necessary. Thus, a few basic dogs and cats were great ways to introduce new players to Pokemon, as they mixed elements of the fantastical and the familiar. This really resonates in Growlithe's evolution into Arcanine. Whereas Growlithe is just a puppy, Arcanine's origins come from Japanese mythology and the Shisa and Komainu, two types of mythical lion-dogs.

Nowadays, we just have rock monsters, dragons, and a few highly-altered real animals, many of which are covered in scads of pointless markings and spikes. Even compare two rock monsters of old and new, Golem and Gigalith. While Golem clearly gets it's inspiration from the giant turtle, Gigalith is just a giant rock monster.

And yes, I know what you're thinking right now, "What about Magneton, Electrode, Muk, and Weezing?". Sure, they're all unnatural and don't have the most altered evolutions, but that all makes sense, as they have clear origins. Magnemite is a robot that joins to other robots, forming Magneton. The concept of a lookalike Pokeball that attacks you when you try to pick it up (Voltorb/Electrode) comes directly from the early RPGs and the Mimics (Enemies that look like treasure chests and attack you when you attempt to open them). Grimer/Muk and Koffing/Weezing form from pollution, and are based on the fears that pollution could create new life.

And plus, even though these designs are more man-made, they all seem inspired and natural, unlike the spiked, armored, randomly colored and marked giant lizards that we get today.

One more thing: The unlimited TMs. That was a horrible idea. I miss actually having to think about what Pokemon would get a good TM, such as Ice Beam, Psychic, or Flamethrower. Nowadays, though, you just get an infinite number of uses, which makes the game even worse.

What I'm saying here is that, for the most part, older Pokemon have more natural designs, and newer Pokemon have more man-made designs.

 

[Aeroplane]

I agree with Elgyem, without getting into the whole "Well what IS a Pokemon" debate, the new ones just seemed out of place. I found myself thinking "What even is that" a lot of the time while playing through Black. Other times I was laughing at how ridiculous some of them were.

While I, like a lot of you, have played since Gen I, I don't consider myself a Nostalgia freak, I bought Black (and researched it) with the highest optimism, I was extremely excited to play this game. I wasn't expecting it to be the best Pokemon game ever, but I wasn't expecting it to be my least favorite, either.

It's natural for them to run out of ideas, but my god, I expected better than this. Yes, there are some nice Pokemon designs, but there are far more worse designs than good ones.

 

[Sakura Rain]

I can find something I like in every gen, tbh. How about this: Gen I had some stinky designs, Gen II had some stinky designs, Gen II - some stinky designs, Gen IV - some stinky designs, Gen V - some stinky designs. I have favorites from every generation, and I have dislikes from every generation. Arcanine, in fact, is my all-time favorite. that might just be my bias for dog pokemon talking D;

I thought Black and White were excellent games overall. Yeah, they had quite a few flaws -like every other game in the series- but they were still very good. Personally, I think the good designs -Oshawott line, Snivy line, Lillipup line, Joltik line, Mienshao, Larvesta/Volcarona, Solosis line, Rufflet/Braviary- far outweigh the bad ones not going to name any because I don't want a fight

I do like your classification of older pokemon as "Natural", though. That's nice!

 

[The Legend of Zorra]

Whether or not B/W is "the" best I'm not going to debate, but I will say this: what it lacks in some areas, it makes up for in story. I'm one of those people who's a sucker for a good plot, and Black literally took my breath away with its eerie depth and attention to detail. I loved the character of N, the amazing 3D sequences at "The End," the creepy little jingle when you enter his playroom, even the vileness of Ghetsis. All of it. It was the only game I'd become emotionally invested in, and I'm not ashamed to say that when it was over I just got this rush.

 

[Raichupacabra]

Personally I love these games in comparison to previous games. It's the story that won me over. The only ones that would probably stand a chance are Emerald, Platinum, and HGSS.

Spoiler:

I love B2W2 better.

 

[Mana1]

I don't really get what people liked about the story, it was just very blah - and I found the ending incredibly tedious rather than innovative.

On the Pokémon side I have no complaints, some were good but somewhere bad. Never going to please everyone anyway.

I do agree that the graphics were quite dodgy at times, I think they tried too much new stuff at once and it just ended in... mess. For example, the zooming in and out in the battles was the thing that ruined the graphics for me. I also generally don't like the 3D style/buildings but meh :3.

Down with odd camera angles.