Talk about making a kickass sequel.
Pokemon Black and White 2 are (funnily enough) sequels to the original pokemon Black and White games and are the only direct sequels to the pokemon franchise so far. While the 5th generation of pokemon was largely criticized due to it’s huge emphasis on new pokemon and lack of innovative designs, I saw it as a big success and some of the new pokemon are my favourites in the series. So how does this strange sequel handle itself? Let’s find out!
In the story department this game is… well… lacking. The original Black and White told a very complex story involving the very ideology of pokemon battles themselves and whether we really were the bad guys. The villains were understandable and realistic and some of the story points were very heartfelt and warming. Here however this story is rather simple and back to the normal formula, evil team want to take over the world, you stop the evil team, you fight 8 gym leaders and face the Elite 4. This may be the normal formula for the pokemon games however from the great story that Black and White had originally it feels weird to have such a downgrade on the story department.
The mascots of these pair of games, Kyurem-B and Kyurem-W!
Presentation wise the game looks largely similair to it’s original counterparts. Using the technology of the DS well to create impressive displays of 3D environments. It’s quite odd how obsessive this game is over huge environmental effects such as creating 3D effects when going over bridges. It’s clear that the designers really wanted to show off what they can do with the hardware and even while using the same 2D sprites for both characters and pokemon battles it helps to make it still feel retro and charming despite being in a largely 3D environment. The characters introduced are interesting too, the most unique perhaps being the mysterious scientist Colress. I won’t spoil anything about him but all I will say is pay attention to him, there is more to him than you might think.
Gameplay is where this game shines over it’s original counterparts. While the original games had an emphasis on new pokemon, making it so that you could only catch the new ones during the main storyline, this game fully embraces both new and old pokemon. Allowing you to catch and train a huge variety of pokemon as you travel along your journey. This allows your team to be more diverse and also allows you to have more of a replay incentive. The post-game is where this game truly shines however. There are so many new activities to do such as the Pokemon World Championships and loads of legendary pokemon to capture that it is staggering just how much you can do even when the story is over. This game puts all the post-game of any other pokemon game to shame and really shows that this game had a lot of work put into it rather than just being another sequel. Finally a number of gameplay tweaks allowed the game to feel slightly more balanced and allowed the competitive scene of pokemon to thrive with the introductions of tonnes of multiplayer and online features. These gameplay changes allow Pokemon Black and White 2 to shine on their own as the superior pokemon games compared to their originals.
Now tell me young one. Are you a boy, or a girl?
The flaws however are still prevalent. The same tiresome pokemon formula is still at play here, therefore if you don’t like pokemon generally then this game is not going to change your mind. Also as previously mentioned the story really is a letdown compared to the original games. Gone are the complex ideologies and believable villains and instead are replaced with saturday night cartoon villains with world domination on their mind. As a result this game is not meant to be played as a story driven narrative, instead think of it as a gameplay addition to the original games.
Overall then a bit of a mixed bag. If you enjoy the story of pokemon games and want to have an original and engaging storyline then perhaps the original Black and White may serve you better. However if you want update gameplay mechanics, a huge amount of replay value and some of the best post0story content in any pokemon game then look no further than Pokemon Black and White 2. Now if you will excuse me, I need to try and capture this damn Volcarona.
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