Yeah, I’m sorry. I said I would post every week, but that became a very long week.
So, on March the 10th, like the good Pokemon fan I am, I went down and bought Pokemon Black. I chose Black because you get Black City over White Forest, for some reason I chose a city over a bunch of trees.
From the start, it is pretty obvious this game is different. The camera is slightly lower than Diamond and Pearl, and even lower than Ruby and Sapphire.
The starters are probably the weirdest so far. The fire Pokemon is a pig, as many of you already would know (it gets weirder as it evolves). And the grass one is a snake… thingy that also get weirder as it evolves. The water one is an otter, that gets more awesome as it evolves.
In these games, the Pokemon’s individual personality comes out with animated sprites. I know that it doesn’t seem like a large achievement to have moving sprites, but it looks really cool. Suddenly a cute little puppy just standing there (Lillipup), turns into this energetic bundle of fur, jumping around like crazy. I can’t wait to finish the story so I can see what the previous versions’ Pokemon look like.
The story… It’s slightly weirder than usual. The evil team is like PETA, but without all the naked celebrities. There are no boss like things that you can actually battle. There are 7 Sage things, but you can’t battle them. There are 3 ninja dudes, but you can’t battle them either, so you’re stuck with grunts and their leader, N. It just seems weird most of the time.
The difficulty seems significantly lower. I haven’t once had a problem with N, your two friends or any Gym Leaders. The first Gym battle is type dependent, but a nice person gives you a Pokemon that counters the Gym Leader’s Pokemon- and you don’t even have to train it. From then onwards its smooth sailing. The Gyms themselves are pretty cool, and are rather fun.
The region map is large enough, and densely populated. The 5 bridges that are in the region (3 of which I have passed over) look awesome. The camera when passing over the main bridge to Castelia City (and Castelia City itself) look amazing.
The addition of darker grass in which double battles with wild Pokemon happen, and the movements that show either a hidden item or a rare (ish) Pokemon are also a neat addition. That said, the encounter rate is far too high, many times I’ve had 3 or 4 Pokemon come out in as many steps.
The seasons I can’t say much about, seeing as it’s been the same season for the whole time I’ve had the game. That said, I look forward to seeing part of the region in snow in Winter. The weather also changes slightly. Raining areas don’t constantly rain (again, doesn’t seem like a big thing) and a legendary Pokemon whips up insanely strong storms and makes trouble (which looks pretty cool).
The music, as always, is awesome. The battle music isn’t annoying, and the routes and cities have fitting music. You’ll walk past someone playing an instrument in a city and the music will change to suit. It’s a nice touch.
Game Freak have messed with the age-old formula ever so slightly, but it’s enough to be noticeable. HMs are hardly used. Cut and Strength have only been used twice, and I’m up to Victory Road. You aren’t even told which Hms you can use after beating a Gym Leader. TMs can be used infinite times, and you don’t get a fishing rod or a chance to grow berries until post game.
Elite Four, here I come.
Wait, What? 