Pokemon Black and White Review
Pokemon Black and White, a new installment to the Pokemon franchise, brings all new features, a set of new creatures, an assortment of renowned Pokemon, and the addition of 3D landscapes.
Gameplay
Pokemon Black and White encompasses basic elements presented in previous installments (except for Pokemon Gold/Silver/Heartgold/Soulsilver). I don't think I have to explain much about the basics of the game unless you (the viewer) have never seen or heard of Pokemon (which is quite unlikely). You start out as a trainer who is given a starter Pokemon in order to progress through the whole game. You must fight your way through ambitious gym leader battles, treacherous evil-doers, and even acquaintances from your own childhood.
During casual gameplay, you'll notice that the game has its own restrictions. You are only able to catch Pokemon that are inimitably found in the Unova region, but if you beat the whole game, the option of catching a handful of renowned Pokemon in dispersed areas of the Unova region is available to you. There are Pokemon in which you can only catch in one of the two games; these are referred to as the version exclusives. Pokemon Black and White introduces new battle systems that enhance the overall gameplay.
The game incorporates triple battles, and rotational battles to the pool of innovated battle customs that the franchise offers. During triple battles, you are encouraged to send out half of your time to battle your opponent head on. During rotational battles, you are required to send out three Pokemon, this kind of battling is similar to Triple Battles except you must rotate a specific Pokemon that you want to battle against your opponent.
Pokemon Black and White appends new features such as the C-Gear, which gives players a variety of options to enhance their overall gameplay. One of these options in includes customizing the C-Gear itself with a variety of skins available on the Global link. Other features incorporated into the C-Gear include; battling with friends via wireless, a Friend Code Exchange option, the ability to trade Pokemon with people within your radius, Feeling check (a rhythm action game), Xtranseiver (video chatting), game sync (Records and Achievements are sent to the Global Link) and finally, Entralink (which allows you to join your friends adventure). Out of all these new features incorporated into the C-Gear, I have noticed that one of the features (That I haven't mentioned yet), is somewhat similar to a feature found on the 3DS's streetpass feature, a feature called; "Pass By" Mode.
Pokemon Black and White incorporates online interactions, in which a player can receive Pokemon, grow berries, play mini games, and receive downloadable content all in one place called; The Global Link. The Global Link, in my opinion, is one of the greatest features that have surfaced from this game. I'd say that this feature is a great way to expand the limitations of online gameplay from previous installments.
Pokemon Black and White introduces 156 new Pokemon, of those 156 Pokemon, in my opinion, a portion of them are just repulsive, and or obscure. An example of a Pokemon that I find abnormal, would be Trubbish, what in the world is this Pokemon supposed to be, some kind of used of garbage bag with lint protruding out of it? Trubbish's evolved form is even more abnormal, it's like someone ripped open the green trash bag and let out the lint that somehow stays in place and don't even get me started with Klink and Vanillite. The point is that the Pokemon company is losing its creativity, well not all of it, but most of it. What will we expect from the next generation?
Graphics
The graphics on Pokemon Black and White seem clear and quite vivid. I noticed that when battling, the words and maybe even the Pokemon seem more pixelated then previous installments, the big indicator of my assertion, would be on status bar showing the Pokemon's name, level, and gender. Some cities, such as Castelia city, have a 3D look to them; there are different camera views as you walk in around different areas of the Unova region.
Audio
Pokemon Black and White has a variety of enthralling tunes. In my opinion, Pokemon Black and White has a lot of catchy tunes, I don't really have any problems with the audio, there isn't one track found in the game that seems to be irritating to me.
Replayability
To be honest, I hardly think anyone would want to restart their journey with the current team he or she has. I certainly wouldn't start my game all over again, unless I really felt like it. The feeling of starting a new journey is tempting though, I do restart older installments of the franchise from time to time. Pokemon doesn't really get boring unless you don't have other people playing with you.
Overall, Pokemon Black and White is a captivating game. The game incorporates new ideas that keep the franchise alive, innovative gameplay, and a whole new set of features. I don't really see anything wrong with the game other than a few Pokemon that are quite abnormal in my thought, but I kind of expected more out of the game. The game isn't just for casual gameplay either; it's quite competitive, in fact it's quite intense at times when you win battles, you have a feeling of triumph and victory in heart (I don't know if this applies to you or not). Anyways, I highly recommend picking up the game if you haven't; I very much enjoyed playing it.
8/10
