Seen May 11th, 2012
Posted May 11th, 2012
357 posts
14.1 Years
I think it was really well done compared to the old games.
It's no longer a "one trainer against the world" type of story, but it has a good supporting cast now, even if they're admittedly a bit underdeveloped.

I like how the plot centers around the basic principal of Pokemon, but turns it into a seemingly negative aspect. Catching Pokemon is as bad as slavery?! Gotta Release 'Em All? OH NOES.

Then there's the new point where the bad guy isn't always bad, unlike other Pokemon games where there's a clear line between good and evil, and nobody can cross it.

Overall I think they done good (much, much more so than R/S/E oh god that mess...), but it could still be better in a lot of aspects.
Definitely looking forward to the 3rd game or the 6th Gen or a plot-enhanced R/S remake.

What do you think?
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Male
Seen July 16th, 2016
Posted August 5th, 2014
559 posts
13.3 Years
It's better. But its not excellent. Then again, Pokemon isn't meant to be story based. But sometimes I wish they would for a change....

Or better yet, make another Mystery Dungeon game. I swear, after PMD 2, I think I might be starting to like the Mystery Dungeon games better than the main series. 0.o
Male
Seen May 17th, 2016
Posted May 16th, 2016
526 posts
13 Years
It's definitely a step forward. The villains have, in the past, been quasi-comedic cliché maniacal-laughing needless-monologuing Bond villain types. N's got a lot more depth. Ghetsis was possibly a bit more of a throwback to past Pokemon games, but you have to say it's a real step in the right direction.

Now if only they could get the US team to translate the Japanese text in a slightly more natural way...
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Rionix

My girlfriend is a crazy fox

Age 31
Seen December 24th, 2011
Posted May 31st, 2011
224 posts
12.2 Years
I think it is a development for pokemon games too... Maybe if they keep on doing this, fanbase will increase much more than it is now. Superb story + Replay Value/Endgame activities/Postgame + Online features would really make Pokemon a top of all the games.

Oryx

CoquettishCat

Age 30
Female
Seen January 30th, 2015
Posted December 27th, 2014
13,184 posts
12.2 Years
I definitely feel like there was a step forward. Why do I say that? Because I've played every generation since Red and Blue, and can't tell you more about the plot than "catch Pokemon, beat Elite Four" for any of them. I'm sure they had plots, but they're not very memorable.


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gucci

Male
United Kingdom
Seen September 26th, 2021
Posted August 7th, 2019
21,056 posts
15.4 Years
It was quite a big step forward IMO. Like most people on here said, it seems alot darker and mysterious type of storyline compared to the other storylines in the past games.
Male
Seen August 15th, 2011
Posted June 19th, 2011
29 posts
12.2 Years
It's better. But its not excellent. Then again, Pokemon isn't meant to be story based. But sometimes I wish they would for a change....

Or better yet, make another Mystery Dungeon game. I swear, after PMD 2, I think I might be starting to like the Mystery Dungeon games better than the main series. 0.o
That...or you can say Pokemon IS meant to be story based...its just that the older stories are geared more towards kids, while this one has a lot more that goes into depth that older age groups can understand better. I'll be honest, I hate the anime exactly for that reason: Nothing important happens until a thousand episodes later...or maybe its just me. Only the movies have been good.

But either way, its definitely better than the others, although I don't know if its better than R/S/E. I did like Team Magma and Team Aqua and the legends in that game seemed more epic than those of D/P/Pt.
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Male
Seen July 16th, 2016
Posted August 5th, 2014
559 posts
13.3 Years
That...or you can say Pokemon IS meant to be story based...its just that the older stories are geared more towards kids, while this one has a lot more that goes into depth that older age groups can understand better. I'll be honest, I hate the anime exactly for that reason: Nothing important happens until a thousand episodes later...or maybe its just me. Only the movies have been good.

But either way, its definitely better than the others, although I don't know if its better than R/S/E. I did like Team Magma and Team Aqua and the legends in that game seemed more epic than those of D/P/Pt.
I would't say so. I don't think that Pokemon can get off by just saying "It has a story, it's just for kids!" Because even if it is meant for kids, that doesn't mean that the story has to be dumbed down and really simple. Of course, I use dumbed down in lightest of terms.

And about the anime, yeah. Reminds me of Johto League Victors. You literary could've skipped the entire middle of the series and not have missed a thing. I mean really. How long does it take someone to get to Olivine City?
Seen May 11th, 2012
Posted May 11th, 2012
357 posts
14.1 Years
Hooray.

Someone dragged Game Freak into using storytelling methods commonly found in mid to late 90s jRPGs.
When you think about it, every story always has similarities in method/execution to another so you can't necessarily say that something is original/new/etc or copied/reused/etc.

I'm just talking about the development of story from when they started having a story (R/S) to now.

I'm hoping they can go even deeper in the 6th Gen, or even for the R/S remakes if they end up existing.

The 100 Mega Shock

Male
Seen March 10th, 2013
Posted March 23rd, 2012
1,234 posts
12.7 Years
When you think about it, every story always has similarities in method/execution to another so you can't necessarily say that something is original/new/etc or copied/reused/etc.

I'm just talking about the development of story from when they started having a story (R/S) to now.

I'm hoping they can go even deeper in the 6th Gen, or even for the R/S remakes if they end up existing.
I was talking about the storytelling in general being equal to games that came out over 10 years ago.

Buoysel

Trust me, I'm a Professional*

Age 32
Male
Kansas City
Seen August 4th, 2015
Posted April 12th, 2015
2,006 posts
15 Years
I would't say so. I don't think that Pokemon can get off by just saying "It has a story, it's just for kids!" Because even if it is meant for kids, that doesn't mean that the story has to be dumbed down and really simple. Of course, I use dumbed down in lightest of terms.
I though BW did really good int this area. They had a good story I liked the story of N, what he said in the castle was really touching (about how your Pokemon wanted to stay with you). Makes the story so much more than just "here go catch 'em all and heres some cheesy plot to go with it." This time, you where searching for the dragon, to stop N, and even though you didn't have it, you were still going to face N. It had a good message of follow your dreams, yet the game play element was still simple enough you could play the game, even if you couldn't read. (I managed to stumble my way through Japanese Black version before I got my English Version, and I only know a few words here and there, not nearly enough to hold a conversation.)

It had a decent plot, and could still be played by 4 year olds. My only complaint is that there is no good major plot after the battle with N other than find the rest of the 7. I am excited to see how new games will and if the plots will be deeper. I am also excited to see games come out for the 3DS.
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Shiro

Dad! Or should I say... Big cheese of Hoshido?

Age 27
Female
Texas
Seen January 15th, 2017
Posted October 24th, 2016
151 posts
12.8 Years
Definitely.
For the first time in any Pokemon game, whenever some plot development was going on, I wasn't all "Crap. Looks like I've gotta go out of my way to go to some cave/shrine/tower/whatever." HGSS was especially guilty of this. OH. You want to fight a gym leader? LOL SUCKS FOR YOU TOO BAD GO WASTE HALF AN HOUR DOING THIS RANDOM THING TO GET THE GYM LEADER BACK TO THEIR GYM. It felt more like a chore rather than a pleasure to advance through the storyline.

Anyway, N was cool. The whole black white theme was a pretty rocking thing they had going on. N thought there was only black and white in the world, but through the storyline he realizes it's more gray. In a way I consider him the true main character of the game rather than just the rival.
Male
North America
Seen April 1st, 2011
Posted March 31st, 2011
13 posts
12.2 Years
Yeah it did, mainly because now with Team Plasma, they are actually active in the story plot. Where as in previous games, the bad guys would just be sitting in a cave or base somewhere waiting for you to come and shut em down.

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EJ

everything is purple

Age 30
Male
FL
Seen March 19th, 2022
Posted November 25th, 2019
1,618 posts
14.2 Years
It felt refreshing to see a deeper story with a not-so bad "bad guy". I actually liked N's character and all his quirks. It was a pretty big step and I liked Ghetsis' role in all this.

Great story for a pokemon game imo.
Age 36
Seen 16 Hours Ago
Posted 16 Hours Ago
10,149 posts
17.1 Years
It's funny that everyone is comparing B/W to Mystery Dungeon when both games were developed by different companies.

At any rate, the story of B/W just feels more solid. The plot isn't as simple as it was in R/B/Y. It also isn't as thrown together as it seemed to be in R/S (never played Emerald far enough to reach plot), where Magma/Aqua suddenly appeared. The plot of B/W developed at a good rate through the games, to where it just makes sense that the trainers are involved in the quest. Everything just seemed to fit the plot.

I love B/W's plot, and hope that Game Freak continues to work on their plotting skills.

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Age 30
Male
Michigan
Seen April 18th, 2013
Posted March 25th, 2013
22 posts
12.2 Years
I've been playing Pokemon since the release of Red and Blue... I have to say that they really took a big leap in the storyline with Black and White, it's so much darker and in depth then most of the previous games.
I agree with this 110%. Black and White makes it seem like Gamefreak had a meeting before development and said "Hey, you know what we should do? Make a new story!"
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