Black 2 hack: Official Black 2 Kaizo Public Release

[sauceyaTTa]

There is only one way to begin this, and that is with a huge thank-you to those in my discord server who helped make this hack possible.

Spoiler:

Cover art by my wife:

If you have not already seen the official trailer, you should watch it here.

The current release and documentation is available here.

Our discord server with the damage calculator and other useful resources can be found here.

I present to you, one of the hardest Pokemon ROM hacks ever made: Pokemon Black 2 Kaizo. If this is your first ROM hack, you will greatly struggle.

Black 2 Kaizo is an all-double battle difficulty hack of Nintendo's Black 2 version. It has many features, both for difficulty and quality of life. It includes an abundance of different encounters. There are approximately 450 available Pokemon, so every play-through will feel unique. Many Pokemon have easy access to their hidden ability or new abilities for both variety and balance. Many moves have been adjusted for balance and usefulness. Full list in the documentation. Level-up learnsets for stone evolutions have been adjusted to match their pre-evolutions (due to a lack of moves). Trade-based evolutions and such have been adjusted for a single-player game.

Trainers each have competitive teams, with maximum IVs (31) in each stat, as well as balanced and / or themed teams. In contrast, the player cannot earn EVs through battling. Trainers on routes are comparatively easier, while gym trainers tend to be stronger. Optional trainers tend to be far more difficult, since they are guarding better items, or access to extra encounters. You will also find every gym leader from previous regions throughout the game. Victory road contains world championship teams, featuring the real-life person who created the team. All 250+ trainers' full parties are documented, should you want to plan for the battle.

As per the all-doubles format, you will receive two starters. For those who prefer hardcore rulesets and need extra encounters in each town, they can be found on the second floor of every Pokemon Center. Each Center has a type theme, ensuring the player will have access to a Pokemon of that type. Level caps for each gym segment can also be found in documentation.

Gems have been removed from dust clouds in caves. Type gems are the single most powerful tool in generation 5, so their availability has been severely reduced. You can earn gems and other useful held items as rewards for defeating trainers. Stronger, optional trainers yield you better items. One can find the full list of trainers and their respective reward in the documentation (see above link).

A number of items can also be found in shops, including Rare Candies, Berries, Shards, and Heart Scales.

Best of luck, challengers.

Be sure to stay tuned for White 2 Kaizo, which will be available November 7, 2022, and all triple battle variant of Black 2 Kaizo.

 

[Orthopod]

Hey OP, This hack looks promising. Gen 5 needed a kaizo hack as your only competitor hacks were blaze black 2 which is already a moster. (Maybe vintage white) Doubles format is very eye opening and fun to play around. I am a casual player who enjoys beating kaizo hacks. (Definitely not the best nuzlocker in the world) I came here to write a review after beating first gym.

Things I liked so far:
1. Pokemon : you've not changed movesets and typing at all. Most hacks change too much regarding this and then it's just a big documentation read to find what's viable. Kudos.
2. Full Documentation : best feature ever and Others should learn from this. You've documented all possible things.
3. QoL : no grinding + free sitrus and lum berries deepens the feeling of Kaizo hack. Emerald kaizo needed this.
4. Familiar faces: beating Whitney and Norman as underlings to Cheren? Hell yeah.

Things I didn't like so far:
1. Baby Pokemon with weather abilities. Early game trainer with a drizzle wooper or drought ponyta. Do you have access to it? Nope.
2. Catch me all: the gameplay kind of relies on you catching many Pokemon. I had a really hard time beating Cheren even with 3 fighting types in the team. If you do encourage going back and catching correct Pokemon, make pokeballs cheaper. Or like cheap candies and berries, make ultra/masterball available from the beginning.
3. Level jumps: Cheren has cap of 17. Next trainer is Gardenia with level 23 Pokemon. So either it's reading document after every trainer, or rare candy time. Make this transition smoother.

Detailed review will follow as i play more. Thanks for the hack, OP. You rock.

 

[Moneytakerbaby]

Hey guys, I just wondered if any updates were coming for this? The romhack is obviously great but, here's the only issue: Lots of battles are still the original levels, namely after you beat the elite four. So, when you go back to face them a second time, you can't ever face the 3v3 level 100's hard elite four again! It becomes the original second elite for battle. Plus other battles like Cynthia, Alder, your rival, are the same. Some other battles in the main story like on the Plasma Frigate weren't edited either I would assume this would be an easy update compared to making the entire rom, AT LEAST fixing the elite for so the second battle is even harder. The original elite four battles were good but, I expected to fight them again and for them to have all Legendaries. I don't have the knowledge to edit this myself or I surely would but, hopefully since this is still a pretty new hack, that means it's still being worked on and someday, every battle is edited!

 

[Luciano_Fired]

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