Pokémon Black and White

[hisak]

I've only been able to log around 30 minutes so far, but I like what I see. The graphics aren't the nicest the DS has ever seen, but they're a big improvement from Diamond & Pearl, and the shift in perspective helps create a sense of scale that was absent before. I also like how Pokémon Centers have been condensed to include a PokéMart and connectivity stations all on one floor, which cuts down on loading times and actually looks pretty nice.

I've caught most of the early game Pokémon so far. They're familiar and fill the same purpose that they always have, meaning that I probably won't stick with them very long.

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

I've grown strangely accustomed to the pixelly sprite-work of White, I'm enjoying the games contents that much I've slipped back into my standard content-over-graphics mindset. Besides, they can tidy that up with the added oomph of the 3DS with Generation VI.

With the Elite Four and Team Plasma soundly beaten, the Pokédex has been expanded to National level and all of a sudden there's new Pokés everywhere! In a couple of days my Dex has grown from Seen 141 Caught 84 to Seen 228 Caught 116.

Trainers are considerably stronger than my Lv 50-ish team so there've been a few sound thrashings along the way, but at the same time the wild Pokés are at the right level for some training. (Also, Lucky Egg + low level Pokémon + Wild Lv 50 Audino + Bait and Switch tactic = 20 Level level up. Or Magikarp + Above = Gyarados!!!!)

And I got Victini! My 3DS finally allows me to get online so I'll be wasting all sorts of precious hours now trading to fill the Dex. Really need to get those other starters. Oh Snivy, it's almost a shame I didn't start with you...

[hisak]

I've beaten the first gym leader in 1:30. Receiving a free Pokémon that's strong against the Gym Leader's type felt like a little bit of a cheat to me, until I barely ended up scraping past a victory.

My (very) temporary team:

Rope Lv. 12 - Tackle - Leer - Vine Whip - Wrap	Rowf Lv. 11 - Leer - Tackle - Odor Sleuth - Bite	Miniblin Lv. 7 - Tackle - Leer - Bite - Cut
Gengle Lv. 6 - Scratch - Growl - Assist	Ook Lv. 12 - Scratch - Leer - Lick - Water Gun

[Hyruleansoldier]

I picked Snivy too.

The rest is crap (well obviously you just started), except Lillipup.  Train that shit, I'm still waiting on it to evolve a third time.  Herdier learns Take Down pretty fast and that's a powerful move.  Also it has Retalliate which I use all the time (sacrifice a mon, sometimes inflicting some kind of status condition), and then switching to Herdier when my first mon died so Retalliate will deliver more damage.  Super neato.

Lol @ Gengle.

I never nickname my mon, it's hard enough memorizing 493 + 156 new mon.

I was gonna post my team here too, I don't have my DS handy so that'll be tricky.

I've been keeping Yanmask around, and I'm looking forward to the 3 chandelier ghosts.  Since the E4 is all about psychic/dark/fighting I'll need some mon with good stabbing abilities.

Darumaka or whatever his name is a decent fire mon.  I like how many of them can learn Dig and easily take out fellow fire types (and electric, naturally).

Still looking for good Flying and Rock types.  Guess I should have given rock'n'rolla a try (haha, that's one nickname I would definitely want to assign ^^)

[hisak]

I just caught a Blitzle (christened Ordona). It seems pretty cool, I think I'll stick with it for a while.

[Beh]

Gets awesome when it evolves into Zebstrika.

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

Friend code! Mostly for trading because I'm lame like that.

5071-3779-4984

[hisak]

I'll add you tomorrow, EA.

Only around 15 minutes of playtime today (busy busy), but I caught a Roggenrola ("Rock Mario") and a Woobat ("Keese") in Wellspring Cave, one or both of which I'll probably put in my party (probably Woobat).

[The_Human_Cyborg]

Keep roggenrolla, his final evo is a beast. I want to post my team, but I'm not exactley sure how... Anyone want to give me an explanation?

Anyways, I'm on the final gym, and something tells me I've trained too much. All my opponents are 5 levels below me. One thing I've noticed about this game is the story has a lot more characters that carry the story. Which is nice, the important characters for the previous game were limited to the bosses of the bad guys or a champion or something like that.

[hisak]

I want to post my team, but I'm not exactley sure how... Anyone want to give me an explanation?

I've been using sprites from here (though you might want to re-host them).

[The_Human_Cyborg]

Hmm, okay I'll see if I can figure that out.
Anyway, the dragon gym was a piece of cake, at least compared to the Johto one. Really happy with my new axew, who evolved into a fraxure, and i'm hoping his final form is soon, cuz i'm not dragging him to the elite four for nothing!

(click to show/hide)

This game is really throwing a curve-ball for the legendaries, usually you get them before or after the elite four at a pretty predictable time, but in this game you're literally carrying him around. I'm thinking the Showdown with N will release him.

[hisak]

I reached Nacrene City today, and quickly left the gym as soon as I realized how outmatched I was. Visiting the Pinwheel Forest proved useful, as I evolved two Pokémon. I also captured a Tympole (Zola) and an Audino (McNulty), but I don't think I'll be training either of them anytime soon.

Three and a half hours logged. Seeing all of these new Pokémon designs, movesets, etc. is doing a lot to keep me interested this time around.

My current team:

Rope Lv. 17	Ordona Lv. 13	Rowf Lv. 16
Mutoh Lv. 13	Rock Mario Lv. 16	Miniblin Lv. 8

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

Been using the transfer system lately. Seems a bit of a shame that my Diamond game will soon be without any notable Pokés, but I guess that's sort of to be expected. Your critters all migrate to the next big stage with you.

Unova Dex: 142 seen, 100 caught.
National Dex: 276 seen, 179 caught.

Most recent addition was an Igglybuff. Dawwwwwwwwww.

Really tempted to get HeartGold at the moment, but so many other games...

[hisak]

I used six Pokéballs to catch a Throh (worst name I've come across so far) on the outskirts of Pinwheel Forest, then immediately ditched it when I got annoyed with its moveset and switched back to Timburr, which got me through the second gym.

Going through Pinwheel Forest took longer than I expected, but I got a bunch of neat items and leveled up most of my Pokémon. My team remains mostly the same, so there's no use updating it.

Team Plasma's theme? Best in the series. Plus there was a meta line about their silly outfits.

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

Anyone dabbled in the Dream World yet? A nice little distraction, though have yet to get anything amazing out of it.

Though I have reserved myself a Jolteon for whenever they start giving those out, thanks to the world's slowest block-breaking game.

[Hyruleansoldier]

I should thank this game since it got me over Pokémon...

Though I'm still a little sad I didn't get HG/SS when it came out, I would have enjoyed that.  But now I there just wouldn't be any enjoyment.  [/sadness]

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

Ah, welcome to the club HS.

Although for a brief period there I was considering going all out to catch the complete Dex, there are just too many for me to give a damn. Shouldn't be so surprised about it really. if 493 is too many for my patience, then eventually the penny will drop that 650 is even more and so even less likely to attain.

I was replaying Ruby to try get some of those legendaries, but that got old pretty quick. And of course there are the online event exclusives which aren't likely to come up again anytime soon (Celebi, Jirachi, etc).

I'll eventually get round to defeating the Elite and Champion proper, but I'm just level grinding now to get to the Lv 75-ish mark, and even with wild Audinos at the 50-ish mark, it's slow going.

There's a fair bit to like about Black and White, sure, but with the series so set in its ways of making the ultimate goal being the capture of the current region's Mon and all which preceded it, it's really not that fun. 151 Mon per region, and only those 151, would've made each generation a fresh experience. Black and White gets it half right.

[Hyruleansoldier]

You are right.

I guess the premise of "you can catch most of the 151 new ones BEFORE defeating the Elite 4" didn't hold up?  Judging by your 110 I guess it can't really be done.  I have 'em all in every generation, so yeah.  Now if there would be a fast way to get all the D/P/P Mon on B/W WITHOUT losing the original Mon on your original 4th gen games, then it wouldn't be a big deal.  I did have all 493.  I COULD get pretty much all the legendaries (from the first 3 gens) from the Emerald game (where you can use the duplication glitch), but that would still mean a lot of work + transferring them to Pal Park in D/P/P, and you can only move 6 (max party) per day, per GBA cartridge.  And then transfer those on to B/W.

So if it weren't for all that, it would still be relatively doable.  But there's just not enough Mon that you can simply catch in B/W.  But of course if they were to make a game where you can simple catch ALL mon in, without the need of ANY previous games, all the previous games would cease to sell.  Now people still buy them, for those elusive mon.  I know I did at some point - got all the 3rd gen games in a bundle (just the cartridges) on Ebay.  LG/FR/R/S/E

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

So, how do you settle the Grey/Gray debate? With more Black and White. Black 2 and White 2 are coming in June to Japan and the Autumn for everyone else. Anyone interested? If HS is through with the franchise, it'll be interesting to see who's still up for catching at least two new beasts (or, at least forms)...

I think I'm officially over the series now. I know I've said it before and I thought differently after some time with Black, but it really is much the same thing from generation to generation, being driven slowly into the ground. And the decision by Gamefreak to continue with the franchise on the original DS just supports that theory.

Also, the fact they're now making two cash cows out of their typical third bovine money-spinner just makes me rolls my eyes some more.

[hisak]

From what I can tell, we don't have any solid information on the games yet, right? I'll wait until we hear more. If they're legitimate sequels, I'll actually be interested, considering it's something we've never seen before.