5th Gen Happy English Release Anniversary, Black and White! Flashback to 2011: How Have You Changed?

This day six years ago marked the last date of the staggered English release of Black and White (the other release dates being the 4th and 6th of March).

We've now been playing games we can understand for SIX years. What did the games English release mean to you? Were you already playing the Japanese versions? Think back to what your life was like back then: were these games there for you during a tough time, or did they maybe enhance an already incredible time? How much have you grown as a person since then? I'm honestly interested to hear how the English release made an impact on you - and how you've since changed. Do you appreciate the games more as a result?

These games were quite significant for me, as they were the last Pokemon games I played for a few years, due to having a break from the series. They were released during my first year at high school and I guess I was making an effort to be 'cooler', so I just stopped playing after completing White and tbh, I didn't enjoy them that much the first time around. But since then, I've learnt to not care what people think you, which is a really important life lesson and has allowed me to find my love for Pokemon again.

I have a special relationship with Black and White. I was already playing the Japanese versions already on my DS (flashcard), excitedly awaiting the European releases. Unfortunately three months before that my mom decided I was playing too much games and ripped my DS in half... Yeah that's still a sore spot sometimes. It really hurt me that something very dear was taken away from me and also that I wasn't able to play the newest Pokémon games anymore. Since then I've always borrowed any of my cousins and friends' DSes whenever I could so I could continue my progress on my Japanese Black. After two years of on-and-off playing and struggling with a language I didn't speak, I finally finished the game for the first time. After that I immediately started White and then later Black 2, both in English.

Beyond the amazing updates and great story, it was the effort that I had to put into playing these games that has made me appreciate this generation a lot more. Five years after starting Black for the first time, I finally got myself a physical copy of Black and had never been happier about a gaming purchase; to me, this signified the end of hiding my interests because others disapproved of them. The only thing I'm still sad about is that I've been 'robbed' from experiencing the BW Wifi services such as Dream World and GTS, and I think I'll always be bummed out about that. :(

Black and white are my favorite games along with B2W2 RBY and GSC. Reshiram is one of my #1 favorites and I love him sooooo much. I always play Black version or White Version 2 when I'm playing these games. I love Nature and I love Reshirams legend.

I still don't think I'm over the damage these games did to my interest in Pokemon, honestly. I didn't follow along with the news up to their release so I went in blind...and god, I really struggled with that first stretch of the game. As I've said elsewhere, Black's early game seemed to be conspiring to put me off it, and it succeeded admirably in that. Coming off Gen IV, which I loved...it was a pretty bitter pill to swallow. I practically swore off Pokemon there and then.

I remember 2011 being a terrible year for gaming when compared to 2010 on the whole, too. Amongst other things, the 3DS was also released that year, with a miserably sparse launch lineup. Nintendo also released Skyward Sword that year - a.k.a. the worst Zelda ever - so I'll admit that my dislike of Gen V might be partially due to my disappointment in Nintendo that year. They literally did NOTHING right. Although I think the only game I actually enjoyed in 2011 was Disgaea 4, actually...

The games definitely came at a bad time for me, as I was in my final year of my undergraduate degree. I vaguely remember juggling a dissertation with half a dozen essays - some of them disorganised group work, in which I seemed to be the only person who actually wanted to pass - and, naturally, I went to pieces during my exams. I had no idea what I was going to do in the future. There were some other, more personal issues that year which I'd prefer not to go into, too. Suffice it to say that Gen V made things worse; bad enough that my life was a chaotic mess, but to have a series I'd love since childhood let me down like that? God, I hated 2011. Probably the worst year of my life before 2014 and 2016 happened.

I've not replayed Gen V at all - it's the only Gen I've not touched since finishing the games the first time - and I've actually been considering it recently. I have sometimes found that something is not quite as bad as I remember it being the first time around upon replaying a few years later and, as I know what to expect from the beginning of the game now, I may be able to push through it with far less difficulty. I woudn't say I've become more patient or forgiving of what I see as poor quality video games over the last few years - if anything I am even less forgiving - but I AM more willing to try new things, and give things a fairer chance before I dismiss them...this applies to old games as well as new ones.

Who knows what I'd make of them the second time around? At the very least the disaster that was Gen VII would almost certainly put these games in a more favourable light with me. At the time, I didn't think Pokemon could get any worse...oh, did Sun prove me wrong.

BW are tied for my favorite Pokemon games with Platinum. It was during this time where I got into everything related to Pokemon. I watched the anime, collected more cards, and traded/battled online. These games improved my happiness because I was in between a tough moment in my life.

I loved these games.

Black was the last Pokemon game I actually bought. It had been years since I'd played a Pokemon game and I just bought it because I was bored and needed a distraction.

Black & White may have been the first games since Red & Blue where Australia came last in the English releases, but this game had meant more to me than I first thought.

It was the first game of a new generation that I actively followed news of on Bulbapedia (my first one I technically followed pre-release news was HG/SS, but that wasn't a new gen) and I remember my first time playing this game, not only because it solidified Unova as my fave region, but Oshawott as my mascot Pokemon.

Discussing in the BW section here when I played the games made me learn so much that this generation never showed in-game, and that was why I respected Forever as a PC member I looked up to. She showed me and the rest of PC why BW was great.

Happy 6th anniversary, international BW release!

These games got me back into Pok?mon and also brought me back to this site, haha. It's one of the first generations where they took some risks with the plot and features, and it was amazing to see how much those risks paid off. The Gen 5 games are amazing, I need to replay them next time I get the chance :> Happy Birthday English B/W !!!