5th Gen Black and White's Anniversary Celebration: At the start!

[Ho-Oh]

So while we have a thread comparing whether B/W is as good as you thought leading up to it, we don't have a thread asking about what it was like on release day (I'm aware it's two years from the Japanese release, however I'm counting for English players too!)

Think back - tell us about how you came to buy the game/s, whether you got them on release day or not and how much/what your initial thoughts were when you first set foot in Unova (but not if it was as good as you thought it'd be, I only want your first experiences here, and there's a thread for that!). Share your thoughts, and feel free to make lots of threads today to celebrate the anniversary (but you don't have to if you don't wanna :3)

 

[Meganium]

I remember getting the game on release day (March 6th), and I was so bummed that I couldn't play it because I didn't have a DS! >_< So I couldn't play it till months later and to be honest, it was totally worth the wait! I had the perfect team in mind, even though I had to make a couple adjustments. I originally wanted a Swanna and a Minccino, but it was later replaced by Leavanny and Mienshao during the gameplay. I was told that those two Pokemon were powerhouses and I couldn't agree more!

I was widely impressed with Unova. It was a much different experience than all the other regions, not just graphics-wise, but the storyline was really intriguing and it made me want to pick up my game and play more! Though it's not my first favorite region, it's the region that totally changed the way I play Pokemon today.

 

[Hikamaru]

Oh god where do I even begin, I remember when Pokemon Black and White got released in Japanese on this day in 2010, I was only 17 at the time.

Viewing all those screenshots, reading all about the new Pokemon, characters and features so I could get ready for the English release (which in my case, happened on March 10, 2011).

When the games came out in English, I was busy trying to remember all the English names for the new Pokemon, characters, features, moves and abilities so I can learn about them when I play the games.

My experience playing Black and White began in October 2011, it was my birthday, I was turning 19 and I got Pokemon Black for a gift. (I eventually got White in April 2012, originally my brother's)

I started playing the game right away, right down from receiving Oshawott as my starter to beating the main story 13 days later.

The story, gameplay and graphics were breathtaking, and I found myself lost in the moment. The new Pokemon's designs, despite most people's thoughts didn't stop me playing and eventually most Unova Pokemon became my favorites, especially Oshawott.

As for my overall thoughts, Black and White were as good as I thought it was. The storyline imo is one of the best of any Pokemon game to date and I'm so glad I got to be part of this experience which totally changed me forever.

 

[Psystar63]

I was so excited about Black and White. I did tons of research just trying to decide which version I was going to get first. I unfortunately couldn't get Black on the release date. I had sort of promised myself to not buy the games until the end of the year so that I wouldn't get distracted from Uni work, but I couldn't stop myself, and plus I wanted to get Black so that I wouldn't miss out on the Zoroark event later on.

My adventure started on October 8 last year. And when I first stepped out onto Route 1, I was just amazed at how beautiful and amazing Unova looked. Through my 10 day journey beating the main story, that feeling never vanished. Even now I still am in awe of how amazing Skyarrow Bridge is. And when I first saw Castelia City... I saw just how fantastic this game was going to be.

Ahh, those days of playing Black all day long until I went to sleep... ^-^

 

[Kikaito plush]

I remember being forced to chatting all day to someone that think her problems are more important that other people... meaning I only had time to get to HMV and get my game and download the Victini event. I started the game the next day with a snivy

 

[vaporeon7]

The day of Black and White's release was one that was great for me, bad for others. Well I have to assume that because I did not shut up about it all day at school. On the day of it's release here, I came home from school as fast as possible, running carelessly through traffic to get home ASAP and started playing White as I had got my mother to get both games for me while I was at school. As soon as I started the game, I was overwhelmed by its awesomeness. Before long it was the next morning and I had played for 14 hours non stop. I then went to school and talked about it all day before rushing home again to play more.

 

[william.alsup]

I remember I got this game on the exact day it came out. I was pretty excited to pick it up, and watching the opening sequences were extremely invigorating. My journey through Unova has to be one of my most memorable ones yet. A completely new region, new Pokemon, and a refreshing story! I must say, it's one of the better experiences with Pokemon yet, and it's a simple yet necessary reminder as to why I am so in love with this culture. I will say this, it started to drag me down a bit after a few months. I'm so ready for a new adventure. The music (particularly Castelia) and the battle graphics sort of bogged me down a lot, but all it took was a revisit to Sinnoh, Johto, Kanto or Hoenn to refresh me.

One thing that I loved most about this game was it was released during my school's testing period. Being a senior, I had no testing to do, so me and a few friends would play Pokemon. Cool thing about our school is, it's so small that something like Pokemon can exist among our classmates and actually bring us together. So beyond it being a way to pass time, I renewed friendships and bonded with my class. I owe this game a lot for that. It's been my goal to complete the Unova Pokedex ever since, and I'm almost there! I haven't had a lot of time to work on it between Conquest, KH3D and LoZOoT. But the game was well worth my time and money. I enjoyed this game immensely, even if it isn't my most favorite in the series.

 

[Golurks Were Meant to Fly]

I remember getting the games on March 6th, and being moderately excited. I remember I had my whole team pretty much planned out (as I didn't like most of the pokemon at the time lol)

I remember I had looked up all the pokemon and where to find them, yet had no clue what the storyline was. And while playing through the game and experiencing the amazing storyline I grew to love the game a whole lot more than I did when I first set out on my journey with my oshawott.

Ah memories. :D

 

[Ho-Oh]

Time for me to tell my story n____n

So um, apparently we were meant to be shopping that day but they decided not to and THEREFORE I had to catch a bus in, alone, to pick up Black and White, lmao. I pre-ordered from Dick Smith but they didn't have the games yet! Sooo I cancelled pre-order and went to EB Games, hoping they had them and SUCCESS THEY DID! Thus I brought the games, and the collectable strategy book which is quite pretty because the cover is holographic. Anyway so I then just missed the bus iirc, so I had to wait for a bit and I looked at the back cover of the book and everything and I was so excited omg. Then when I got home I was like omg must take photo of me and my games!!! Thennn Nan and Pop complained that I wanted to play the games straight away, but then I got on my laptop, and the weather was like light-ish (it was morning) but it wasn't completely sunny because there were shadows of sunlight through the window kinda like now sort--YES EXACTLY RIGHT NOW I cannot take a photo however, as it wouldn't capture how great it really is. Anyway so I went on IRC and I remember Erica was there and I started commenting on the games in IRC and I was very excited. Then like, I remember asking what my first Pokemon to capture should be and somehow we all agreed on Lillipup, or I did? But yeah. I WAS SO EXCITED THE REGION WAS SO PRETTY I WAS LIKE OMG I HOPE ROUTE ONE IS LIKE WHERE IT IS EVERYWHERE. UNFORTUNATELY IT WASN'T BUT OH WELL!!

To conclude, amazing day. :)

 

[Altairis]

OK so first I was out with my dad and my sister and I decided that right then I should go get BW, so then I dragged them to Best Buy and I bought Black. However after that my dad decided we needed to go somewhere for lunch and then after that to like 10 different stores, so then like a million hours later after holding the game itself for all that time I FINALLY got to play it. :3

I knew what the beginning would be like, and I had decided to choose Snivy but for some reason I spontaneously chose Oshawott, and when I played through the first time I went way too quickly and I had the worst team ever and that sucked, but then when I got White I played through with a good time and went slower.