5th Gen Pros and Cons Discussion Thread

[Zayin]

Meh that's pretty lame... I wish they added a reward you could get from the Dream World.

 

[Ho-Oh]

I filled my Unova dex last night...

So I go to Juniper and she's like "WOW, you've seen all the pokemon in the unova region!" While a victorious little tune is playing. and then she's like "Now go try to catch them all!" Which I'd already done. So then she's like "YOU CAUGHT ALL THE POKEMON IN UNOVA?! That's great, Im so glad I asked you to do this," /End

That was it. No big celebration or cut scene. No mega-cool item.

First N leaves, then the shadow triad leaves, and now this.

This game is just filled with bitter disappointments.

What were your major in game disappointments?

You get a certificate in Castelia, though :( Anyway, the replies to your thread are going to clash with pros/cons, since your disappointments = cons, and there's really no point to having two threads covering the same thing, so merged!

 

[bwburke94]

I'll bring up "no Pikachu" again just because there's really nothing else I can complain about that isn't an obvious ploy to get us to buy the third version.

 

[Thingula]

Final Thoughts on Black and White

I really loved all of the Pokémon until Black and White. All of the previous Pokémon seemed simple, clean and clever in both design and name.

If there were any Pokémon that I disliked from the previous versions, they would be Zubat and Geodude, simply because of the fact that they were everywhere.

Honestly, I think that all of the rejected Pokémon from previous games were just thrown into the Unova Pokédex. Most of them just suck and make me wish that GameFreak sought out help from some of the more talented homebrew designers.

GameFreak's attempt to put a modern spin on the game failed in many ways, in my opinion. While the hexagon design of the Unova region make everything more convenient and eliminates the repetitive traveling experienced in the previous generations, it takes a little bit of the whole "country" feel, making the uniform design and routes feel more like a large city.

They also tried to modernize the Pokémon by making so ridiculous sprites, such as a trash bag and ice cream cone. Also, the names don't require much thinking to understand the thoughts behind it's creation.

And then there's the translation. It seems like an old woman was shunned from society, being forced to watch happy children's movies and taught Japanese and English. The dialect is too infantile and doesn't reflect the previous translations of Generations 1-4.

In spite of it all, I miss the old-fashioned buildings of the Johto region and the mystical feel of Cystal and SoulSilver/HeartGold. Still, I love Black and White. They offer so many post-game activities, stunning graphical effects, many sidequests and a ton of daily events. The amount of creativity put into the maps is truly impressive and I hope to see more games like this. The Dream World is an awesome feature. There are so many other small features that I greatly appreciate (such as the new registered items menu and the shaky grass), but I wish there were a lot of time-of-day/season exclusive Pokémon.

The fifth generation is truly a beautiful game and is so creative and detailed that it looks like a homebrew.

Well, those are my thoughts. What do you think about Black and White? What do you like/dislike? How would you improve it?

 

[Ho-Oh]

I really loved all of the Pokémon until Black and White. All of the previous Pokémon seemed simple, clean and clever in both design and name.

If there were any Pokémon that I disliked from the previous versions, they would be Zubat and Geodude, simply because of the fact that they were everywhere.

Honestly, I think that all of the rejected Pokémon from previous games were just thrown into the Unova Pokédex. Most of them just suck and make me wish that GameFreak sought out help from some of the more talented homebrew designers.

GameFreak's attempt to put a modern spin on the game failed in many ways, in my opinion. While the hexagon design of the Unova region make everything more convenient and eliminates the repetitive traveling experienced in the previous generations, it takes a little bit of the whole "country" feel, making the uniform design and routes feel more like a large city.

They also tried to modernize the Pokémon by making so ridiculous sprites, such as a trash bag and ice cream cone. Also, the names don't require much thinking to understand the thoughts behind it's creation.

And then there's the translation. It seems like an old woman was shunned from society, being forced to watch happy children's movies and taught Japanese and English. The dialect is too infantile and doesn't reflect the previous translations of Generations 1-4.

In spite of it all, I miss the old-fashioned buildings of the Johto region and the mystical feel of Cystal and SoulSilver/HeartGold. Still, I love Black and White. They offer so many post-game activities, stunning graphical effects, many sidequests and a ton of daily events. The amount of creativity put into the maps is truly impressive and I hope to see more games like this. The Dream World is an awesome feature. There are so many other small features that I greatly appreciate (such as the new registered items menu and the shaky grass), but I wish there were a lot of time-of-day/season exclusive Pokémon.

The fifth generation is truly a beautiful game and is so creative and detailed that it looks like a homebrew.

Well, those are my thoughts. What do you think about Black and White? What do you like/dislike? How would you improve it?

This is pretty similar to our pros/cons thread, which covers what they like/dislike, but not how the users would improve it. There's also a thread which covers what you miss, as you mentioned right here. :D

Anyway, merged this with pros/cons, since the replies are pretty much going to be the same.

 

[adamant57]

For me,

The Pro: Unlimited TM use, an interesting story, superb showing of the DS' 3D render capabilities, first playthrough consists of only Unova pokemon, the difficulty spike

The Cons: Uninspiring roaming legendaries, pokedex can only be completed by having event pokemon

 

[Sir Skids Nickelton]

I Don't Like Joltik And Galvantula. Arachnophobic Speaking Here Though.

 

[Oliviahope1992]

What didn't you like about B/W?

Just curious,
I wasn't a huge fan of this game actually! Maybe it was the way it was set up. It got annoying navigating through the bridges and cities. I prefer to have it how the other guys had it set up. Plus not many of the pokemon really struck me!
Am I the only one in thinking this?

:)

 

[Ho-Oh]

Just curious,
I wasn't a huge fan of this game actually! Maybe it was the way it was set up. It got annoying navigating through the bridges and cities. I prefer to have it how the other guys had it set up. Plus not many of the pokemon really struck me!
Am I the only one in thinking this?

:)

What you didn't like is covered by pros and cons, with that being a con. :D Meeerged.

 

[Zelda]

One con I really wish had been included in the games while playing through, is the VS Seeker that wasn't brought back in for the new generation. :s I could really use it with all of the trainers around, especially after beating the Elite Four as well. I'd get money pretty easily with it. :(

 

[fenyx4]

One con I really wish had been included in the games while playing through, is the VS Seeker that wasn't brought back in for the new generation. :s I could really use it with all of the trainers around, especially after beating theElite Four as well. I'd get money pretty easily with it. :(

This.

One new pro is that apparently, you can use any Poke Ball in the Entralink, rather than just the Dream Ball, like I previously thought.

A con is the removal of the PokeRadar, though. :( Not only does it seem like a neat way to encounter Pokemon, it also seems to immensely help with shiny hunting for those Trainers who can't plausibly employ Masuda's Method frequently.

 

[vagrantwanderer]

Few and Far between

The black/white gen reminds me of when I played emerald, because both generations have something in common: The Majority of Pokemon I want on my team are not available until later in the game. I don't have a problem waiting for two or even three guys, but If I wait to conserve experience I'll be stuck with using just my starter and sewaddle for the beginning of the game.

 

[AyameHikaru]

Yes? It's been tradition that the stronger a Pokemon is, the later it's available. (90% of the time, anyway.) That's just how it is. That's countered by the fact that there's not much experience given at the beginning, so if you train up a Pokemon you don't need it's not the end of the world. This is particularly true in Black/White with Audino training. You don't need to 'save' the experience, because you have a steady supply of more.

 

[Oryx]

The black/white gen reminds me of when I played emerald, because both generations have something in common: The Majority of Pokemon I want on my team are not available until later in the game. I don't have a problem waiting for two or even three guys, but If I wait to conserve experience I'll be stuck with using just my starter and sewaddle for the beginning of the game.

Don't worry about "conserving experience". Black and White was made specifically for this purpose; because so many of the Pokemon are new and Gamefreak kind of expects you to experiment with teams since you've never used any of the Pokemon before, they give you heaps and heaps of experience. You get the Lucky Egg, high level Audinos, and you have a short, easy grind to whatever level you need. Can't get the ones you want until later? Grab some random ones that you sort of wanted to try and give them a shot until you can get to the ones you really want. :3

 

[Krovvy]

I never really experiment. I typically just find 6 Pokemon and stick with them. Experience is a lot easier to get later on. So you can add Pokemon later and train them quickly.

 

[Ho-Oh]

I intended to make a proper post here earlier but I never did. This is a pro-B/W post, so beware! I'll be going through Route by Route, then City, etc. Actually, this might as well kinda be a review of the geography of Unova!

Now, Route 1 I expected to be bigger, but! I think it's a great starting point for Unova. Although I think the seasonal effects shouldn't just be on that route. It's gotta extend further than that! Also the amount of Pokemon you can find there... what about Purrloin?! It's like, the rival of Lillipup, tbh. One thing is that I didn't realise where Route 18 was til I realised I needed something from there, so they did well at concealing it. Route 2 I really expected to be larger, and... it's... not. I do like the little mound which features items though. :3 I just wish it was larger ;; Route 3... yeah, I really like that, cause it's where I spend a lot of my time, breeding and such. And I know for like a part I was like "umm so why is Audino grass shaking there where's that area", and I didn't realise I needed to cross the water to get there, oh well! And the little pre-schoolers was a nice addition, though I'd have preferred if we could actually access the back of the daycare, to see if there were more kids there, etc. Then again, I'm aware that hasn't happened in other games, so whatever.

Route 4 seems the largest to me (pre-e4), and most in-line with other games to be honest, because there's so many hidden areas (imo) that I didn't discover until later. That's not an issue though, cause of the name of one of the trainers on that route, and it being route 4, yeah. :3 Love that route! Uh, Route 5... God, that's waaaay too small. And boring! Like God, all we get is street performers barely doing anything. I know the whole Alder speech happens there probably to make up for it but as a whole it's hell boring.

Route 6 is boring, and not really as pretty as I expected. In fact, it reminds me of an area of Sinnoh, which does not please meee. :( Oh, and Route 7. I love Route 7, although it reminds me of Hoenn, it's still an awesome route because you first encounter the thunder storm (and the boring rain + wind >___>;) Route 8, on the other hand, is so annoying to walk through mainly due to the huge amounts of Palpitoad and Stunfisk. It's a nice feature though, for the water spots to actually have Pokemon in them, since it's always seemed logical to step in water spots and for Pokemon to appear, because it's like, where else do they go for a drink if there's no pond nearby. :( Oh and it's such a maze in Winter, which is awesome, but on the other hand, without Surf is hell to get through. Route 9 is waaay too small, and I still think we should be able to access the back area you see from the side of Tubeline that was just probably put in there as scenery. Either way I wanna access it. Though the bikies there are strange since it's in front of a shopping mall and all. Route 10, though, I love! It's designed pretty well, and seems natural, but... yeah, it's too damn short. It's still one of Unova's prettiest routes, though. :3

Post-e4, wow, those routes are crazy big. Route 11 is pretty, and for once, the size of the route actually makes sense. I also love how you can make use of waterfall there and go right down to the bottom for some double battles, and I also love how Braviary/Mandibuzz are found there, because yes, logically those types of birds are associated with living around cliffs. Route 12 is an awesome training spot for Lampent, and it's also well designed, but... it's too small! :( Like come on, you can go right to the left side where you face the bottom of the cliff, wouldn't it be awesome to you know... go down there and explore it by using rock climb? Okay now apparently I miss rock climb? Actually, iirc, you can't even access that if you go from Route 13 anyways. Either way, wow, Route 13 really reminds me of Hoenn, kinda because of the water everywhere, and it just seems like an area you'd expect to see within the Hoenn games. I also like the added thing of finding the letter for Wingull, since... the other two letters were hard to find. And it proved a challenge! I think everything there is appropriately placed, really.

Route 14 is so pretty. but the fog kinda ruins it - I remember when I first explored it I didn't really like it and I felt disappointed, mainly due to the fog :x But since then I've accepted that it's not that bad. XD Route 15, to me, on the other hand, is easily forgettable. And it's why I don't have much to say about it. XD Route 16 is boring, but I think it's well designed because there wasn't really much you could do with it. I don't think that was appropriate placement of Lostlorn Forest, though, which is too small. ;___; The last two routes of Unova reminded me of Hoenn so much, I mean, Hoenn introducecd the water currents and I was surprised you couldn't find secret bases on the island! Or... something like that. But it's a pretty big island it just should be bigger. As a whole they're two pretty interesting routes.

Now, onto the cities and extras I missed before! Right so, Nuvema is pretty, the water part in front of it is pretty (which I wanna access), but it's boring and reminds me of Sinnoh. Still, it's the place where the story begins, so... that's the only reason I don't completely dislike it. Accumula is too small, but it's got a nice feel to it, it seems so old and homely (is that a word?), which is why I like it tbh. Striaton I don't really have an opinion of, though it is the Unova equivalant of Violet City in Johto... and I prefer Johto's. :x Can't remember the other towns off the top of my head that actually matter to me--this is making no sense. Moving on! Dreamyard is awesome, though small initially and it reminds me of Johto's ruins with the back areas or something like that. Still, I'd have enjoyed exploring it more if it was larger. Nacrene is boring. I don't like anything about Nacrene EXCEPT the rail tracks, because it reminds me of Saffron. :( Only issue? There's no train ughh. But yeah, I don't like the design of the houses, or the placement of the houses, and I never usually like Museums.

Pinwheel is too dark... :( And not interesting enough. Though that cannot be fixed, oh well. Skyarrow Bridge is amazing - I wish we could see more from that zoomed in view towards the end of Pinwheel, though, but I think there's a high chance that could be fixed in the third game, so I'm not complaining. Castelia... wow, I love Castelia!!! It's so pretty (like Skyarrow), when the sun is going down, and the Royal Unova, to the side of it, is amazing to ride too. In fact, the Royal Unova is probably the best designed thing in the entire game, even though it appears as really pixel-y for the zoomed out areas, so maybe in the third game they may make it display better, because honestly, the Royal Unova is amazing. <3 I also love Nimbasa, too! I love how it looks so bright, even at night. And the little water fountains to the side are cute too, and... as a whole, it seems the most realistic. Driftveil Drawbridge looks amazing when it's being raised, but otherwise it sucks to walk across, a good way to get something to easily make money with, though. Driftveil itself is boring, so... I won't really comment upon that. Cold Storage is awesome though, but only on the outside - the inside sucks. :( Mistralton Cave is boring, but idk, didn't really seem like the right place to find Axew imo. And Chargestone, oh God. I hate walking through there and try to avoid it at all costs, mainly because almost every time I move a magnetic rock, a Pokemon appears. Once I got through there for the first time, I was impressed with Mistralton. It seemed to have the right proportions as a whole, and the soundtrack was nice, and even better, it looks amazing at night in Winter, so yeah I like it a lot. :3 The tower in Route 7 is tiring to get to the top of, but once you finally get to the top, it lacks something. Seems like a combination of the Johto lighthouse and Hoenn's ghost tower. On the plus side, once I reached the top I was reminded of a level on a Spyro game where you had to ring the bells to destroy the rhinos, so it was kinda nostalgic, even if as a whole the tower lacked in something.

The cave after the tower (lol I forgot what it was called), where it changes in Winter is really confusing to get through, and I was surprised Victory Road was kinda similar to that tbh, which was annoyyyyinggg. It was worth it to go to Icirrus, though, because it's a really pretty city, no matter what season it is, but when I first saw screenshots of it, I really thought it was a route. XD Dragonspiral Tower is amazing. When I first entered it, I thought it was really pretty, and it's one of the best places in the region, in fact, it looks stunning. I guess the music and such makes it exciting. :D Tubeline Bridge is really pretty when the sun goes down, so no flaws with that. :3 And Opelucid looks boring in White, but amazing in Black, with my thoughts on the soundtracks reversed. It has an amazing gym, though! Oh and Victory Road's leadup part is amazing as I mentioned once here. :3 But Victory Road as a whole is lacking in my opinion, since I don't think it's an appropriate place to find Deino. Ohhh and before I forget it, Anville Town is small, but I wish to explore more! I should make a thread discussing whether it was n--. Actually I prefer people making threads since it's better coming from others.

...anyways, now to the actual elite four building. It's amazing, and well designed, as is N's castle. I love both of them and no complaints here, and unlike others, I don't mind if Caitlin is sleeping! Now to the Abundant Shrine cause I like skipping things! It really reminds me of Ilex Forest in Johto, which is a good thing, I just wish I could plant berries there. ;; Lacunosa... I don't really mind it. The town could be larger, but I guess it works well as a small town. Giant Chasm is awesome, but confusing. Very confusing. I had to follow a guide online to get through it, which shows how confusing it is much like Abyssal Ruins. I do like that it suddenly goes into an ice age sorta thing once you reach the lake, so it's worth going through... and also useful due to Kyurem, obv. Abyssal Ruins, as I mentioned, is confusing, but it's pretty to dive down to, and it's interesting since I still haven't figured out its purpose! Oh and Undella, next to it, is awesome. I like that you can battle those trainers over and over, but sucks that at a point you can't battle them anymore. :( Oh and I skipped Challengers Cave cause I haven't quite explored it yet and I don't intend to anytime soon. Wellspring is boring though which is probably why I forgot that too.

Time to conclude on pretty much the selling point for getting the two games at once: White Forest and Black City. I expected White Forest to be a lot better (the first one I visted) and it was boring. I mean sure there were a few grass spots but by far it had nothing going for it. Black City was exciting though, because it left so much for me to imagine. Or maybe I imagined too much. Either way I like it, but I wish it was larger.

Anddd that's all! I mostly covered the aesthetic parts here, since that can't really be covered in other threads as much, so yeah. :)

I'll probably post other pros/cons later.

 

[Pokestick good times.]

BW added plenty of Pokémon very, very late in the game (found at the last few routes, and most particularly in this case, evolving late), that could have been of use during the main plot.

I still feel there are plenty of good options pretty early on in the game. I mean, if you take your time, finding a Drilbur in Wellspring cave is a good idea, and there are all sorts of goodies in the desert.

 

[Zelda]

[ Originally Posted by vagrantwanderer
The black/white gen reminds me of when I played emerald, because both generations have something in common: The Majority of Pokemon I want on my team are not available until later in the game. I don't have a problem waiting for two or even three guys, but If I wait to conserve experience I'll be stuck with using just my starter and sewaddle for the beginning of the game. ]

I disagree. In the start of the Hoenn region you have a wider choice of Pokémon selection than in the beginning of Unova. Zigzagoon, Ralts, Poochyena, Shroomish, Wurmple, etc. :x

But the point is, with experiencing new Pokémon, you'll want to experience them throughout the game within a variety of places. I think the pro about this is how it won't make you notice all the new Pokémon included all in the first routes and locations of Unova, and instead they are spread out throughout the region.That way you don't get bored of seeing the new Pokémon introduced so quickly, and you'll probably end up liking the Pokémon you catch later on, a bit more, since you don't see them too often. I see nothing wrong with that though, and I think there's an okay amount of Pokémon you can catch during the beginning routes of Unova, so that's still fair I guess.

The con about it all, and I'll agree, is when you want a Pokémon on your team that you can't catch until the very later on. It's hard to catch it up to the levels of your team and I find that pretty annoying. I know I run out of patience, but with the amount of Audino, it at least helps. There's also trading, and the little things that can help you get these Pokémon earlier on too, so it's not that big of a con. This is just my two cents though.

 

[The 100 Mega Shock]

Gee you think maybe if they hadn't removed the VS. Seeker item that already existed in the codebase of a previous DS Pokémon game for no reason that we wouldn't have this problem nearly as much?

 

[Neiko Star]

There are the rebattle-able trainers in Nimbasa and the Ferris Wheel, then Black City later on if you have Black. Plus, Audinos, which are much more efficient than trainers IMO.