5th Gen Which version did you pick?

[PageEmp]

I personally went with Black(for both prequel and sequal) and was beyond satisfied for doing so. As much as I do like Zekrom and understand it looks great, I prefer Reshiram by a mile. There is nothing about it that I like less compared to what Zekrom offers; Electric/Dragon is a relatively uninteresting typing(at least compared to Fire/Dragon which is cooler IMO, especially after gen6), and I've always preferred it's design and learnset. I mean, don't get me wrong, Zekrom is cool too. I just prefer it less. And apart from that, everthing about Black just exceeds the other one IMO, maybe barring version exclusive mons(though there are some Black exclusives which IMO are just as worth using as their counterparts) and as a whole, you have the first and only version in which I have never regretted picking up to this day.

So which of the version do you prefer/pick? (Also, please don't bash others for having a different opinion as you, btw)

 

[BlazingCobaltX]

This has been a dilemma for me ever since the games came out. While I prefer Black because black is just the cooler colour (ay) and Reshiram is just awesome, White has all the exclusive Pokémon I want. I initially played Black when it came out but I had already promised myself I'd play White for the exclusives I wanted to have (mainly Braviary and Reuniclus). Black felt like an incomplete experience because I couldn't use the Pokémon I really wanted to, but White felt incomplete because it just wasn't Black. Even though the style of the game looks better with all the white, I preferred playing Black for some reason.

To this day I am not sure if I made the right choice to settle with Black (and Black 2), not only because playing White just felt better, but also because it feels like White tells the 'actual' story: N defends the truth that Pokémon and humans can't live together and you, the protagonist, fights for the ideal that they can live together in harmony. For this gen I really wished there was a third edition that combined the two games. Ideally, White should've had Reshiram as title legendary.

 

[pkmin3033]

I went with Black and Black 2. I just think Reshiram just looks better than Zekrom, and it seemed logical to carry on with it afterwards...playing Black and White 2 would have felt strange.

...although I was not pleased that Lilligant is a White exclusive. I don't really care for Whimsicott. Honestly, asides the mascot, all of Black's exclusives are inferior to White's in my opinion, so I'm not sure WHY I went with Black.

I don't know if this really influenced my decision or not, but...I've always preferred dark backgrounds, so I found the box art of Black more appealing than White's too, which just looked too...plain, I guess? Even now I'm actually put off a bit by White's box art.

...my mother also assumed I'd go with Black; when I got home with the game she automatically reached for White and started playing it, and I wasn't really in the mood to disagree with her. xD

I've still not played White or White 2, although I have had thoughts to, if only because I typically give Pokemon games at least one playthrough per version and I haven't touched the fifth generation since. I have to wonder if the content would differ enough to make me more enamoured of it...

 

[BlazingCobaltX]

I went with Black and Black 2. I just think Reshiram just looks better than Zekrom, and it seemed logical to carry on with it afterwards...playing Black and White 2 would have felt strange.

...although I was not pleased that Lilligant is a White exclusive. I don't really care for Whimsicott. Honestly, asides the mascot, all of Black's exclusives are inferior to White's in my opinion, so I'm not sure WHY I went with Black.

I don't know if this really influenced my decision or not, but...I've always preferred dark backgrounds, so I found the box art of Black more appealing than White's too, which just looked too...plain, I guess? Even now I'm actually put off a bit by White's box art.

...my mother also assumed I'd go with Black; when I got home with the game she automatically reached for White and started playing it, and I wasn't really in the mood to disagree with her. xD

I've still not played White or White 2, although I have had thoughts to, if only because I typically give Pokemon games at least one playthrough per version and I haven't touched the fifth generation since. I have to wonder if the content would differ enough to make me more enamoured of it...

You play Pokémon with your mother? How cool!

 

[pkmin3033]

You play Pokémon with your mother? How cool!

Yeah, mother has been playing the games alongside me since I bought Yellow and badgered her to play Red, the only ones she hasn't played are White 2 - because she didn't want to play through the same region twice in a row - and Sun/Moon. I think she liked Zekrom's design more than Reshiram's actually, which may have been part of why she snatched it from me before I got the chance to ask or pick. xD

 

[Rivvon]

I picked Black because, like with other main-series games, I go for the one whose mascot I prefer. And as awesome as Zekrom is, I love Reshiram more.

Afterwards I got Black 2; although I do think White Kyurem looks cooler than Black Kyurem, since I played Black I wanted to get its sequel.

but also because it feels like White tells the 'actual' story: N defends the truth that Pokémon and humans can't live together and you, the protagonist, fights for the ideal that they can live together in harmony.

I actually see this the opposite way. I mean, I think both work: N's world is an ideal, because the truth is, people have been living together with Pokémon to great success. But also, N's world is, to him, the truth. But in my mind, I prefer the lore that he sides with the Pokémon of ideals because although to him he's fighting for his truth, it was basically just an illusion created by Ghetsis--Ghetsis giving him abused Pokémon to show that "all Pokémon that interact with people end up hurt," along with Ghetsis fighting for "Pokémon liberation"... It was all a ruse. So N, in fighting for his ideal, discovers the truth (with help from the protag, who sides with the Pokémon of truth)--not just the truth of people and Pokémon living together, but the truth of Team Plasma and Ghetsis, too.

 

[BlazingCobaltX]

Yeah, mother has been playing the games alongside me since I bought Yellow and badgered her to play Red, the only ones she hasn't played are White 2 - because she didn't want to play through the same region twice in a row - and Sun/Moon. I think she liked Zekrom's design more than Reshiram's actually, which may have been part of why she snatched it from me before I got the chance to ask or pick. xD

Haha wow what a cool mom! Which games are her favourite?

I actually see this the opposite way. I mean, I think both work: N's world is an ideal, because the truth is, people have been living together with Pokémon to great success. But also, N's world is, to him, the truth. But in my mind, I prefer the lore that he sides with the Pokémon of ideals because although to him he's fighting for his truth, it was basically just an illusion created by Ghetsis--Ghetsis giving him abused Pokémon to show that "all Pokémon that interact with people end up hurt," along with Ghetsis fighting for "Pokémon liberation"... It was all a ruse. So N, in fighting for his ideal, discovers the truth (with help from the protag, who sides with the Pokémon of truth)--not just the truth of people and Pokémon living together, but the truth of Team Plasma and Ghetsis, too.

That's also a valid way to look at it - of course, both ways are supposed to be valid - and with Ghetsis' manipulation, it does make more sense. But personally, I like the idea of being the "hero of Unova" for fighting for your ideals against an absolute truth. I don't know, the story has a more heroic tone to that in my opinion. I hadn't decided on which story I preferred more until the Pokémon Generations episode came out and it was revealed that the hero/Touya had a Zekrom. That kind of means White is the 'more-canon' version, right? I decided to stick with that then.

 

[Radiating]

I chose white because I liked better Zekrom. I chose White 2 because I knew I would get the counterpart, Reshiram.

 

[Lunar]

I think the determining factor for me was the White Forest, I liked both the legendary Pokemon and (imo) the exclusive Pokemon for each game were pretty cool so in the end I chose on which version exclusive area I preferred, which was definitely the White Forest.

 

[Amore]

If went for Black, partially because of the same reason I went for Diamond - preferring the look of the legendary on the cover. Also, after I felt I spoilt HeartGold / SoulSilver for myself by learning too much before they came out (there was so much hype on here) I didn't know much about the games - I might have chosen White in order to get Braviary and Solosis.

Another reason was that with the exception of LeafGreen (bought second-hand so wasn't much choice) I had always gotten the primary version (if that's the right word) - Diamond, HeartGold, then Black and later Black 2.

 

[Rivvon]

That's also a valid way to look at it - of course, both ways are supposed to be valid - and with Ghetsis' manipulation, it does make more sense. But personally, I like the idea of being the "hero of Unova" for fighting for your ideals against an absolute truth. I don't know, the story has a more heroic tone to that in my opinion. I hadn't decided on which story I preferred more until the Pokémon Generations episode came out and it was revealed that the hero/Touya had a Zekrom. That kind of means White is the 'more-canon' version, right? I decided to stick with that then.

Actually, I also regard both versions as equally "canon," so I wouldn't put a lot of stock into Generations's portrayal as "confirming" White as "more" canon. Not only was that episode altered quite a bit from the original scene, but Generations only utilizes the male protagonists, and to me it's rather uncool to think of only the male protagonists as canon.

But that's a really neat point in regards to the protagonists fighting for their ideals--it definitely does seem to cast the protagonist in a manner that makes things more difficult for them, which does, in a way, make their victory seem more impressive or heroic. I guess that, for me, since I love N so much as a character, I naturally place heavier emphasis on his involvement, so I love the idea of him fighting for his ideals and coming to understand the truth with the help of the protagonist.

Also I love Reshiram so I want it for myself.

 

[kitarei]

I went with white for no particular reason - it sounded nicer.

I've noticed now though that I always pick the second game in a series for some reason (Eg: Red/Blue, Gold/Silver, Ruby/Sapphire...) White was no exception - maybe it's a subconscious thing, ahaha

 

[Hikamaru]

I have both, but Black was the one I mainly played since it had the version exclusives I liked better, such as Whimsicott and Gothitelle.