Pokémon Black and White 2 [DS] Official Thread

Obviously BW didn't get a third version like everyone thought it would, instead the clearly unfinished game gets a bit of a sequel treatment which is ultimately somewhere between a third version and what GS is to RGB... continuing the plot and letting you visit lots of the same places in a slightly different order.

- A lot of the same Gym Leaders, but a few new ones!
- Explore the Unova region in a different order, less linear, and a lot of new locations, possibly twice as many.
- All the music is basically the same except for presumably new locations
- Many old Pokémon now found as standard rather than after the game's ending
- New protagonists Nate and Rosa, and new Rival Hugh.
- Old Rivals Cheren and Bianca return, Cheren is a Gym Leader and Bianca is the new Professor.
- Continuation of BW's plot

So yeah.. BW2 is more than a third version, but less than an all-new game with a lot of the same locations. I guess you could call it a third version with more incentive for those who want freshness? Like I said before reception has been a mixed bag; personally I like this better than a third version, and it's possible that we'll get an all new Gen in another 2-3 years anyway.

Plus some of the li'l new features such as more convenient item management, much smoother sprite animations and high quality models in small instances gives a small peek at what a potential 3DS Pokémon could be like!

So.. discuss away! What does C3 think of the Pokémon series having its very first ~sequel~ game?

PS. For those of you wishing they'd do something new with the series, look no further as I'd like to point you in the direction of Pokémon Conquest, a strategy spinoff game which has been getting surprisingly great reviews across the board! (which will.. hopefully come to Europe soon)
PPS. forgive the awful banner I was lazy

General Pokémon Discussion

Pokémon Black and White 1 Discussion

EDIT: And what better way to start than with some footage of the opening? The title screen theme is fully orchestrated for the first time in a mainseries game and it sounds brilliant!

Harsh to see this thread die off without a single reply! I remember the days when there were tons of Pokenerds on here.

Personally, I won't be investing in this iteration. A direct sequel as opposed to a usual third version is a nice change of pace, but I realised with playing Black 1 that I don't enjoy Pokemon games that much anymore. Over-exposure I guess. Maybe the first true 3DS duo can change that, we'll see.

I'm sure Black 2 and White 2 will be great games though.

I still love Pokémon as much as when I was younger. I just don't really feel like talking about it anymore, particularly after the stupid discussion surrounding the reveal of B&W 2. Just can't be bothered and will just enjoy the games when they come.

I haven't got time for these big games any more. Xenoblade is enough RPG to last me the rest of my life... maybe (it's so overwhelming).

Either way, I love Pokémon games and I'm sure Black and White 2 are going to be great, but I'll be skipping these.

I'm glad it's still for DS. I'm not ready to buy a 3DS to be completely honest, lacking titles and I'd hate to buy it for a Yellow/ Emerald type game. A few more titles next year and an all new Pokémon game might be the push I need!

That said, I doubt many will complain about this sequel as they released this instead of an updated version (Yellow, Emerald, etc).

I suppose it might be because DS' WiFi community has been dwindling somewhat.. and C3 doesn't promote it as much as it once did.
Even in ye olde Pokémon threads it was mostly WiFiers rather than C3 regulars who posted in it- I guess Pokémon just isn't C3's (Poké)ball game.

Still, this gives us a nice snippet of what a true 3DS Pokémon title could be like, orchestrated music and even better sprite quality/animation anyone?

I don't actually think B/W1 were all that good compared to the 4th Gen games, they felt purposefully gimped of features which I'm assuming they did to pave the way for this (something that kind of annoys me).
BW2 seems like it'll be a lot more 'definitive', but really I think the first game should have had many of these features to begin with.

Nonetheless I'm really looking forward to it Maybe it'll give me a reason to sink some good hours into Gen5 like I did with Platinum.

Well said, I am indeed looking forward to a new game. I started playing my DS again, some Pokémon White after one of my friends mentioned they started Soul Silver. Currently earning BP in the subway.

Also playing Phoenix Wright: Justice For All trying to figure out if I've actually completed the game before (I may have made it to the final case..).

For some reason, though, the game also seems harder than the original Black/White.

Perhaps I’m not concentrating grinding as much as I usually do, but all the lackey trainers in the Virbank Gym were at least 2-3 levels higher than me, and Roxie herself (the Gym leader) was 6, which is a stark contrast to the previous game where I was always on par or perhaps even higher level than the Gym Leaders without much effort at all.

This sounds really, really awesome. B&W was a fair bit more challenging than previous games, but still not anything where you have to play really well to win. Of course, this doesn't really say that the AI is any better this time around and you can probably still crush everyone in sight because of heavily unbalanced teams and stupid move decisions. Not being several levels higher than all trainers even with multiple Pokémon on your main team is a good start though. I wonder if trainers will still be using tons of unevolved Pokémon though...those always make me angry because you lose out on so much possible EXP.

On the contrary, I found B/W was so easy that only the first two Gym Leaders offered any challenge at all, I even beat the final boss first try.

It's good to see BW2 seems to be a little more balanced in terms of difficulty.

To make difficulty even better, a new feature:

SuperLink said:
On the contrary, I found B/W was so easy that only the first two Gym Leaders offered any challenge at all, I even beat the final boss first try.

It's good to see BW2 seems to be a little more balanced in terms of difficulty.

To make difficulty even better, a new feature:

Show Spoiler

Easy mode and Hard mode are unlocked depending on which version you own, can be swapped with other versions. Unfortunately they can only be used postgame if you have no one to swap with, but still a nifty feature if you want to up or lower the challenge of postgame stuff.

On the new feature:

SirLink said:
On the new feature:

Show Spoiler

So it'll just increase the levels of the other trainers' Pokémon? Or is there more to it? Really wish it would be available at the start. :/

Additional spoilers on biggest disappointments with game's features:

Wait, there's a hard mode with these games?

Hmm...getting a bit more interested now...

SuperLink said:

Show Spoiler

"Assist Mode" (unlocked in White2) lowers levels and AI of opponents
"Challenge Mode" (unlocked in Black2) increases levels and AI of opponents, as well as making the teams themselves bigger in some instances.

It's possible to get them before completion but you need to connect locally with someone who already has them. That also goes for getting the one not found in your version (i.e. if you want hard mode in White2 you'll have to connect with a copy of Black2 that has it)
Using them before completion only affects Gym Leader teams though.

But yeah it really should be available from the start, one of my bigger disappointments.

SirLink said:

Show Spoiler

Wow, that's really lame. So I'm basically forced to buy Black 2, even though I had White and was going to get White 2 as well. That Challenge mode better prove to be a real good challenge.

How Pokémon Black/White 2 were developed "For The Fans"

This is all kinds of awesome, I'm so excited now!!

Hopefully the difficulty won't spike like it did in the previous games. After the league, the trainer difficulty rose a bit too much for me to handle as someone that just plays through the game with a few main Pokemon.

Just started playing! And also got Dream Radar, looking forward to getting nice and stuck in using all features as convenient. I think I'll start with getting my Genesect and having Rosa choose her Oshawott

I went for Snivy last time only to find that as awesome as it looks, Serperior has a very limiting movepool. Samurott on the other hand is supposed to be quite devastating, especially for a region that's lacking in the Water types department.

In my opinion the grass-type starters usually tend to have limited movepools... The only one I've found to be appealing in battle was Turtwig I think.

I went for Snivy when I played Black and chose him again in B2 but I don't really think that was a wise choice >: Though it just might be the difficulty of the game that's making me think that way

I think Snivy is actually the first grass type I chose and focused on as a starter but omg the evo line is so cool I can't help but love it even if it's a bit on the weak side.
I'm still very near the beginning but already finding that wild battles are tough and don't always net as much experience as they perhaps should.

I thought HG/SS/B/W were much too easy compared to Platinum, but I just hope that the challenge in BW2 is more refreshing than frustrating overall.

I really don't see why they would see the need to step up the difficulty in an RPG, especially considering Pokemon is a children's game too. If they were trying to stop the complaints about BW1 being too easy, they should have at least put an option to change difficulty in there I think.

But that's like asking Game Freak to enable multiple save files in a Pokemon game.

I went for the usual water starter as I normally do. Currently at all 8 badges, but I don't want to give to much away as to what i'm doing.

Decided to adopt a Mareep from day one, alongside my Oshawott and Genesect, who is proving to be rather nasty.

3 Pokemon instead of my usual plow through the game with 2, give me a break.

I think I'll get the game later in the year and I might choose Snivy as my starter since I haven't had a grass starter since Leaf Green.

Just after the third badge.

Very happy I was given a team of Pokémon early on that I like (Growlithe!). Wondering how early I can get an Eevee (and Thunder Stone). Enjoying the game verily so thus far.

I'm just about to leave for Castelia but I'm also messing around in Virbank for the time being, Pokéstar Studios mostly.. because well it seems like a good source of healing items and man is money harder to come by in this game.

So far my team is Oshawott, Riolu, Magby, Sigilyph, and Magnemite with a Purrloin as a temporary HM Whore. I forgot how good Magnemite was! It served me well in Platinum and seems to be even better in this, it basically owned Roxie for me. I'm sure Magby will come in handy for Burgh too.

Oh yeah can I just say even if Dream Radar isn't the most amazing thing I got a Sigilyph!! From it! Early!! I don't think you guys understand Sigilyph is my favourite Pokémon I was so happy to have him as my second party member!!
PS. Here's my Friend Code: 5072 1842 9013

Ultima said:
Just after the third badge.

Very happy I was given a team of Pokémon early on that I like (Growlithe!). Wondering how early I can get an Eevee (and Thunder Stone). Enjoying the game verily so thus far.

I chose Oshawatt this time round. I chose Snivy in White, but only because me and my two friends wanted to start at the same time with different starters. It was the first time I'd ever chose a non-water starter first time round playing the game, quite possibly the last. Really enjoying the game so far. ^^