5th Gen Did you feel BW was a "rebooting" of the franchise like RS was?

[FreakyLocz14]

Both the BW games and the anime combined gave me the feeling that BW was a rebooting of the Pokémon franchise. In the games, you were restricted to only obtaining Unova Pokémon until post-E4. In the anime, none of Ash's prior Pokémon except Pikachu came with him to Unova and he regressed back to the skill of a beginning trainer.

I largely skipped the BW series of the anime because I didn't like the feeling of a reboot. I have played all the Gen 5 main series games. Gen 5 took some time to grow on me, but I enjoyed all of the games.

 

[Nah]

I don't know about the anime since I haven't watched it in quite some time except for the movies, but the Gen V games didn't really feel like a reboot to me. If anything Gen VI is more of a reboot to me.

 

[Hikamaru]

To me, there was a bit of a reboot vibe going with these games due to only new Pokemon in the Pokedex, but at the same time I also feel like X & Y had a reboot of their own going for them.

 

[TheBaconToastie]

Sort of yeah.

You were forced to use Unova pokemon, route numbers went back to 1, the region was kinda unique and it felt like they'd really invested in the narrative for the first time in a pokemon game. Even subtle changes like the re-use of TMs, battling the E4 in any order etc. made it feel fresh.

 

[Rivvon]

In the sense of a "starting-over," I think BW is as close to a "reboot" as the series has gotten. And that's mainly due to not having access to previous-gen Pokémon until post-game. Otherwise, all Pokémon games have added new features and tweaked existing ones to keep the series feeling fresh. So while, for example, gen 3 majorly revamped mechanics such as the EV/IV system, it didn't feel like a reboot of the series. The same can be said for gen 6 and its addition of the Fairy-Type along with Mega Evolutions.

Personally, I feel the "reboot" idea gives BW a nice unique charm when compared to the rest of the series. While I usually don't watch the anime too heavily, I do appreciate that they tried to mimic that with details such as Ash holding on to only his Pikachu, and Team Rocket's change of attire and more serious attitude.

 

[FreakyLocz14]

In the sense of a "starting-over," I think BW is as close to a "reboot" as the series has gotten. And that's mainly due to not having access to previous-gen Pokémon until post-game. Otherwise, all Pokémon games have added new features and tweaked existing ones to keep the series feeling fresh. So while, for example, gen 3 majorly revamped mechanics such as the EV/IV system, it didn't feel like a reboot of the series. The same can be said for gen 6 and its addition of the Fairy-Type along with Mega Evolutions.

Personally, I feel the "reboot" idea gives BW a nice unique charm when compared to the rest of the series. While I usually don't watch the anime too heavily, I do appreciate that they tried to mimic that with details such as Ash holding on to only his Pikachu, and Team Rocket's change of attire and more serious attitude.

I think Gen 3 largely felt like a reboot because you couldn't obtain most Gen 1 and 2 Pokémon until FR/LG came out, because of lack of backwards compatibility, as well as not being able to visit Johto or Kanto.

 

[Elysieum]

I did not experience RS or BW as reboots at all really. It's interesting that some people did. I don't regard the anime when I say so; perhaps that has a lot to do with it (I stopped watching after Misty left).

In my view the game generations simply followed one another in evolution. Each game improved on its predecessor in different ways and in different amounts. I'm not really sure how much of that change constitutes what we call a 'reboot'.

 

[Rivvon]

I think Gen 3 largely felt like a reboot because you couldn't obtain most Gen 1 and 2 Pokémon until FR/LG came out, because of lack of backwards compatibility, as well as not being able to visit Johto or Kanto.

I can definitely see where you're coming from with the lack of older Pokémon and no backwards compatibility. The only reason why I wouldn't consider it as part of the "reboot reasoning" is because the lack of backwards compatibility from gen 3 with gens 1 and 2 was almost entirely due to system incompatibility; it was out of Game Freak's control. On the other hand, BW's omission of previous-gen Pokémon was completely intentional.

Although, I also see where you're coming from in regards to the regions. In my opinion, RS(E) seem more like reboots because GSC were so heavily imbued with gen 1 aspects that when those aspects were dropped in gen 3, it seemed more "new" than ever. But in that sense, gen 5 is even more reboot-esque because it's the only generation thus far (aside from gen 6, as we don't know how it's gonna end just yet) to not include Kanto in some way (gen 3's remakes of gen 1; gen 4's remakes of gen 2).

 

[FreakyLocz14]

I can definitely see where you're coming from with the lack of older Pokémon and no backwards compatibility. The only reason why I wouldn't consider it as part of the "reboot reasoning" is because the lack of backwards compatibility from gen 3 with gens 1 and 2 was almost entirely due to system incompatibility; it was out of Game Freak's control. On the other hand, BW's omission of previous-gen Pokémon was completely intentional.

Although, I also see where you're coming from in regards to the regions. In my opinion, RS(E) seem more like reboots because GSC were so heavily imbued with gen 1 aspects that when those aspects were dropped in gen 3, it seemed more "new" than ever. But in that sense, gen 5 is even more reboot-esque because it's the only generation thus far (aside from gen 6, as we don't know how it's gonna end just yet) to not include Kanto in some way (gen 3's remakes of gen 1; gen 4's remakes of gen 2).

They could have found a way to utilize the dual slot mode of the GBA SP like the DS had a dual slot to use Gen 4's Pal Park.

 

[Rivvon]

They could have found a way to utilize the dual slot mode of the GBA SP like the DS had a dual slot to use Gen 4's Pal Park.

I think you're mixing something up here. The GBA SP didn't have two cartridge slots. You just put your GB/GBC game into the single slot provided. And even if there were two cartridge slots on the SP, RS were released before it, so only Emerald (and FRLG) would have been able to utilize that theoretical concept.

Unless you're referring to the SP's (and standard GBA's) backwards-compatibility feature, but even then the older games couldn't connect properly to the newer GBA titles.

 

[Oddball_]

Yeah, I do think generation 5 was trying to reboot the series a bit. Starting the routes back over, the Gen5 only mons... I can't blame them, it had been what, 15 years? Besides, I quite liked generation 5! So all in all I say good job gamefreak...

Just give us our Pokemon followers back already!

 

[Itcheeee]

I felt it was more of a alternate 1st gen. I foud major parallels between 1st gen and 5th, and even obvious refrences in the games and especially the anime.
The games felt fresh, and at the same time were not cut off from the older Pokemon thanks to being able to bring them from 3rd and 4th over. Unlike 3rd, where for a while you could not even obtain most pervious Pokemon untill FR/LG. I remember some calling 3rd gen even a "new series" of Pokemon XD

 

[BreakingHeart]

I wouldn't exactly use the word reboot. But I felt like BW was kinda inspired by Generation 1. Many Pokemon had counterparts outside of the usual starter and legendaries.

Trubbish line - Grimer line
Elemental monkeys - Original Eevee line
Roggenrola line - Geodude line (They even have to get traded to evolve to their final forms)
Klink line - Magnmite line

Hilbert and Hilda's designs also remind me of Red. The hats, the jackets. Hilda basically looks like a female Red.

Although, Black and White are extremely different from the rest of the games. They went away from the usual formula. Your main rival is the evil team's leader (or king in this case) and the relationship you have with N is... interesting to say the least. For the first time, you must catch the mascot of the game and battle N who owns the other one. Team Plasma actually target the Pokemon League and defeat the Champion so they feel like giant threats. Version exclusives also make a bigger difference than just exclusive Pokemon.

 

[lamePotato]

In my opinion, it CANNOT be compared as a reboot in the same sense RS was. I see RS as the graphical revolution of Pokemon; the moment when they kicked the graphics into high gear. XY would be a much better comparison to a "RS-esque" reboot.

However, I still believe that BW a revolution, but one of a different kind. BW was the first time Pokemon actually recognized that their RBY fan base... hadn't left yet. So, in response, they created a storyline all could appreciate, rather than the other, much more kid friendly ones. Comparing it to XY, both, in my opinion, really had story lines that made the player think, which makes me beleive, BW was a revolution for storyline, since it seems their taking a much more edgier approach to storylines since.

 

[Lunar]

Gen V brought some interesting new features and some graphical improvements, it also had a unique region and Pokemon. But I feel like it generally wasn't a reboot of the franchise (which X and Y were imo) because it didn't revamp the Pokemon experience enough, yes there was an intriguing and epic story but not enough of a change -such as the 3D Pokemon models of Gen 6- to call it a reboot. Despite this the Gen V were really fun to play and although some of the new Pokemon got a lot of hate, I felt the games themselves made up for that.

 

[_Dud_]

I think Game Freak just tried hard to innovate in this generation as I recall around that time I heard a lot of people complaining the games were basically the same each year, though I do agree partially with that, you can't expect a franchise to release completely different games each year, after all they do what earns the most money for them. So yeah, I think Black & White was kind of close to a reboot, but not quite. It was very close, but in my opinion it was just missing something minor to make it a "full reboot" like R/S/E is considered to be.

 

[Hikamaru]

I think Game Freak just tried hard to innovate in this generation as I recall around that time I heard a lot of people complaining the games were basically the same each year, though I do agree partially with that, you can't expect a franchise to release completely different games each year, after all they do what earns the most money for them. So yeah, I think Black & White was kind of close to a reboot, but not quite. It was very close, but in my opinion it was just missing something minor to make it a "full reboot" like R/S/E is considered to be.

I agree with this, because it's gotten to a point where we thought Game Freak was going to be predictable, and while I do think B/W did a good job at the reboot image it was still missing something. The Pokemon present in the Unova Dex heavily resembling 1st Gen Pokemon also furthered this reboot hint.

 

[Adam Levine]

In my opinion, Generation V was an almost complete reboot of the franchise altogether. It goes back to Route 1, there are the most Pokémon introduced here, none of them are related to Pokémon of other generations, and has many Pokémon that are basically "American" versions of our original 151. It's not really such a bad thing, but what bothers me is that many Pokémon from past generations appeared in its region, but not its PokéDex.

 

[Hikamaru]

In my opinion, Generation V was an almost complete reboot of the franchise altogether. It goes back to Route 1, there are the most Pokémon introduced here, none of them are related to Pokémon of other generations, and has many Pokémon that are basically "American" versions of our original 151. It's not really such a bad thing, but what bothers me is that many Pokémon from past generations appeared in its region, but not its PokéDex.

Unova was very distant from its predecessors, so the reversion back to Route 1 made sense in the big picture, and even Kalos uses the same route numbering system since it also seems to be far from other regions.

As for Pokemon from previous regions appearing but not in the Unova Dex, there is Pikachu on a billboard in Castelia City, a Pikachu-shaped attraction at Nimbasa City, and even the Driftveil Drawbridge being nicknamed the "Charizard Bridge".

 

[GetBeedrilled]

Seeing as gen V was the first Pokemon gen I played, I couldn't really have any input until a few weeks ago when I started to play gen III on an emulator. I found gen III better, so I don't find gen V to be a reeboot