Pokemon Black/White In-Depth Review

[Music] hey guys stand here and I know it's been a while but I've got a new place a new set and a affordable new video schedule to match apparently but you guys are not here for that no this is something you've been waiting for since I first released my Gen 4 review all the way back in January and despite some major hiccups along the way it's finally finished and I hope you have as much fun watching it as I had playing these games but I'm getting ahead of myself and even something fun can be flawed so boot up your SI gear and prepare for something a little bit different as we take a look at pokemon black and white [Music] in many ways the fifth generation of Pokemon is often overshadowed by other entries in the series and could even be referred to as the franchise's divisive black sheep whether it's the revamped formula emphasis on story or the fact that games released on the Nintendo DS with its successor imminent black and white stick out like sore thumbs even years after their debut but despite being a punching bag of sorts for a small but vocal portion of the Pokemon community these titles do have a rabid following who celebrate all of the controversial features that made black and white so polarizing right out of the gate regardless of which side you lean towards the fact remains that after years of following the same cookie cutter formula Game Freak aspired to do more with the fifth generation of their signature franchise and if their goal is to reinvent and redefine what Pokemon could be then they succeeded and it's not like these games were failures or anything far from it with sales just north of 15 million units sold worldwide as well as impressive review scores across the board even the world-renowned and often stingy Famitsu gave these junichi Masuda directed games of perfect scores so when the games released in March 2010 here in North America both excitement and expectations were feverishly high when it comes to my own involvement with Gen 5 I didn't purchase either game until the summer of 2011 when I needed a solid title for my brand new 3d s unfortunately for me the only decent launch game at the time was sold out everywhere that being the Ocarina of Time remake and rather than but grudgingly pick up pilot wings or something else of that caliber I opted instead to buy pokemon white since all my friends had left to begin their first year of college and I finally felt I could get back into the series without being judged too harshly by my peers was that a stupid reason to stop playing something I loved for such a long time absolutely but thank Arceus I gave in to my inner child and just went for it because it was my experience with Pokemon white that Reese parked my passion for the entire series and it's also highly likely their fault that I'm here on YouTube today bringing you an hour-long vanity project disguised as a review but all jokes aside I'm barely scratching the surface of the impact that these videogames had on my life at the time and more importantly what makes them so special to people like me and millions of others across the globe and I'm certainly that like other call classics turned beloved gems such as earthbound in Majora's Mask these contentious games will eventually have their day in the Sun and it won't be too much longer now until cries for a switch remake become as loud and obnoxious as a vanillish hate group but for now we've only got the originals to go off of so let's switch gears and jump into one of the most adore to aspects of generation 5 and if you've never played these games before just know that it's going to take a while [Music] this time around we're greeted by Professor juniper who specializes in Pokemon origins and is of course the first female professor in the series which has no bearing on her character but is both a positive step forward for representation as well as the first of many formula breaks implemented to surprise and delight series veterans players we'll start off in the peaceful new vemma town is either Hilda or Gilbert wait is that seriously the character's name I'm not trying to be a comedian or anything I just think that's an interesting choice considering you know this region is based on New York City and the Americas so those two names are just not what I expected I guess and yes you heard me correctly because for the first time ever our story doesn't take place in a japanese-inspired region which makes for some creative locales architecture and of course is the in-game explanation for why there are zero pokemons from any of the previous generations found across Unova the downside to this new monsters only rule is of course that adoring fans who've grown attached to certain teams or creatures over the past decade of games will be out of luck and need to build a brand new team starting from scratch however on the flip side this means that while traversing and exploring Unova each player gets to catch him before end over 150 brand new additions to the roster many with creative typing or designs that will hopefully grow in you throughout your journey but of course one can't start their journey without first obtaining their started in generation 5 your choices include snivy tepig and the adorable Asha wad and right after making your decision you'll immediately take on your two new rivals Bianca and Charon I can't give enough credit to how well paced and streamlined to this beginning tutorial is as you receive your pokémon partner experience battles and learn about your rivals and their motivations before even leaving your room it's fun filled action right off the bat and it's a big departure from the standard and sometimes slow pokémon origins we've come to know once acquainted with your new starter buddy you and your two friends will head over to junipers lab receive your pokedex ah's and set out towards a cumulative where you'll run into a vocal group of demonstrators known as Team Plasma for the first time unlike many of your past foes these guys have no issues with being seen and their plans are anything but secret the organization led by the charismatic sage getss wish for all Pokemon to be live as they believe that using these creatures as tools for battling and entertainment is inhumane and unsurprisingly many of the people around Unova listen and even sympathise with their dreams of equality for Pokemon once gets his finishes Team Plasma disbands and scuttles off to the next town leaving the crowd with something to ponder and it's during this time of reflection that a strange young man named n challenges our hero to a battle when defeated he'll proclaim his desire to better the world for Pokemon everywhere and now long after he leaves you'll find yourself headed towards Triton City in order to face off against a trio of gym leaders named silent chilli and cress who each specialize in one particular Pokemon type don't worry though despite there being three of them you'll only have to take on whoever has a type advantage over your chosen starter which is a gimmick I love as it teaches new players early on not to over rely on their first partner Pokemon with the win you'll take home the trio badge in a spectacular 3d moment and bump into Professor junipers friend fennel who tasked you with bringing her back some dream mist from the aptly named dream yard just outside of Stratton sadly though once you arrive you along with Bianca will catch the valiant Team Plasma who champions the freedom of Pokemon for aiding and even abusing a terrify muna in order to obtain the mist for themselves to the best of my knowledge this is the first demonstration of physical Pokemon abuse in a main series game and along with leaving players feeling sick it does a lot to inform you of team plasmas hidden nature and plants the seeds for a despicable villain to root against once you dispose of the two grunts some Muniz mother will use its powers to exact revenge by conjuring up a nightmarish version of getss that terrifies them until they flee and with that you can safely give fennel her dream mist and make your way to the historic nekron city although before you make it there you'll be doing battle with both Charon and a few thieving plasma grunts for good measure these guys are pushovers compared to the combined forces of you and your rival and speaking of rivals the mysteries and bumps into you once again as you enter the nekron museum once defeated he claims he'll use the power of the legendary pokemon Reshiram or Zekrom to make his dreams reality and walks away sheesh there's never a dull moment in these games once he's gone you're free to enter the museum and take on his gym leader Lenora who specializes in normal type Pokemon also in case that last part seemed a bit confusing one of the most ambitious additions found in these games is along with being the town or city's best trainer every gym leader also now hold down some sort of secondary careers such as pilot artists or in this case museum curator whether this was done in order to give each leader more personality or as a reflection of America's capitalistic nature isn't entirely clear but it is a great touch and certainly makes the world of Unova feel more realistic and lived in these top trainers may serve as a test of strength for up-and-coming trainers but they also contribute to their communities in a more positive way beyond just waiting for the next battle to start and personally I think it's one of the most subtle improvements the series has seen so far moving on though once Lenora is defeated she'll relinquish the basic badge but and as you exit the gym you'll find Team Plasma stealing the museum's prized dragon skull with the help of Lenore's friend and fellow gym leader berg you follow the nefarious organization into pinwheel forest where after many battles you'll eventually come face to face with Gorm who like gets this is a member of the group seven sages he explains that they're looking for the remains of a legendary dragon Pokemon to assist in their liberation mission and after both Berg and Leonora arrived as backup he cautiously retreats along with his grunts after this you're able to continue on your journey via the gorgeous sky arrow bridge towards Castelli a city where Berk awaits your gym challenge before you can settle this score however Team Plasma turns up yet again in the gargantuan metropolis this time having stolen Bianca's Pokemon with her help as well as the assistance of both Berg and a strange new girl named iris you'll have to scour the massive land mass that is castella in order to find team plasmas industrial headquarters upon entering the hideout you'll come face to face with Getz's for the first time as he recites the history of Unova and expresses his desire to bring back the legendary dragon Pokemon and pair them with the prophesized hero who together will create a new world where all pokémon can live free of human constraints once he's finished rambling he'll return bianca's muna and with his escape you're finally able to battle the bug wielding burg in order to collect the insect badge with this new piece of hardware in hand you'll continue on towards the always lively NIM bossa city while taking on an increasingly aggravated Sharon once more along the way after a few beat downs this prideful perfectionist has become obsessed with pushing his Pokemon in order to become stronger but before we can sympathize we discover Team Plasma harassing an elderly man embosses city once they're taken care of he'll repay your kindness with a brand new bike which you can use to explore the wonders of the towns up-tempo paradise some of these must-see attractions include the city's popular athletic stadiums its renowned musical theater and of course the local theme park where you'll bump into your old pal n who reveals in the most dramatic way possible that he is the true king of Team Plasma it's his desire to save Pokemon worldwide from the inequality they suffer at the hands of humans and once he's defeated were treated to a really nice POV shot where he announces that he'll become the champion of Unova in order to obtain the power and social platform required to fulfill these lofty ambitions and that if we want to stop him our hero will be forced to do the same with that and storms off urging us to become stronger in both battle and in our convictions and for once our desire to become the champion is rooted in more than just tradition as the relationship between humans and pokémon is dependent on our ability to overcome n and his selfish bolts but of course before all of that we still have to collect the remaining five badges and coincidentally mombasa just happens to be the home to the glamorous Alisa as well as a gym featuring rollercoasters after the electric-type mastermind slash supermodel throws in the towel he'll provide our player with a shiny new bolt badge as well as Bianca and her father with a voice of reason during their confrontation in the heart of the city now I really love this exchange and I'll go more in depth later on but for now let's just say that this is a compelling scene full of standout character moments for both Bianca and Alisa and in the end the two make up and Bianca continues on her adventurer albeit with a more thoughtful perspective and while we're speaking about rivals almost immediately after this tearjerker of a moment were introduced to alter the current champion of Unova and Sharon is clearly unamused by his carefree antics see our studious friend as mentioned before strives to be the strongest trainer which of course to him means constant training and discipline so when he watches the man who wields the title he one day hopes to make his own essentially goofing off and having fun on the job you can understand why he gets so upset however after asking Sharon what he do after becoming champion the judgemental rival is left dumbfounded and despite his constant arguing it's apparent that his convictions and resolve may not be as absolute as he projects it's not long after this epiphany that we cross a newly opened drawbridge into the business-oriented drift Vale city and meet up with clay the town's mining mogul and ground-type gym leader he's upset that some Team Plasma members have mosey on over to his beloved city and offers our hero and Charon a deal if they successfully run the deplorable organization out of drift fail he'll allow them to challenge him fair and square unfortunately for them of all of the places they could have had that they've decided to take over the town's cold storage which has left them as cornered as they are frozen after dispatching the swarm of grunts their leaders in Zlin of the seven sages is apprehended by clay who offers to make good on his promise however before the battle can begin get dissapears ass out of the gym and threatens the minor king with serious action if he doesn't release both xin zulan and his goons to avoid disturbing the city any further clay reluctantly agrees to these hostile demands and for claims that a good old-fashioned gym battle should help cheer everyone up and after making your way through the many mine shafts found in his arena you'll fulfill your agreement and take on the no-nonsense cowboy eventually walking away with a quick badge in hand not long after the battle clay will assist you in d webbing charge stone cave and man is this place a treat for the eyes however before you can fully explore this electric Wonderland you'll be introduced to the shadow tree add a group of Team Plasma ninjas who take you to n the mysterious King warns you that he's informed getss and the others all about you and your friends and reminds you of the challenge he gave before disappearing into the cave and after examining the area and running into Professor juniper and Bianca who are studying some Pokemon origins you'll meet up with Team Plasma and once more just before the exit after another emotional battle and choose out the you Nova scientists for assisting in the incarceration of pokemons however juniper raises some good points about letting individual trainers and pokémon decide how they work best together she debates that each person has their own distinct values and experiences that make their beliefs and convictions different and that often things aren't always simply black and white get it this infuriates n who states that despite there being a few decent humans he will not stay idle and watch more and more pokemon be abused and mistreated by countless others and with that bold Proclamation both he and our hero leave charge stone cave behind as we arrive in mr. Alton City before you can do much of anything here you'll receive an upgrade for your pokedex from the one and only professor juniper no not that one in a weird plot twist our new vemma town mentor is actually the daughter of a famous scientist named Cedric and while he's tinkering with your decks you'll also bump into mistral too Gym Leader Scylla who seems preoccupied with the potentially sick Pokemon atop the celestial tower also as a side note do all these gym leaders choose their type specialty based on their names or do they just take up clever monikers after they become well-known they're always just so convenient like a butler being named Jeeves or being a successful talk show host named Jimmy I guess anyways after you follow her up what turns out to be yet another Pokemon graveyard she'll successfully heal the ailing pokemon and have you ring a large bell and now that she's seen your abilities firsthand it's time for an official challenge at her airport gym and after going down harder than Amelia Earhart she'll award you with the jet badge what too soon upon exiting the building a seemingly conflicted end will approach you and reveal team plasma's plan of resurrecting univis legendary dragon pokemon from ancient stones and used their combined power to liberate all his Polka pals it's in this conversation that he also reveals he's able to directly communicate with all Pokemon and is shocked to learn our hero and their Pokemon get along and want to work together as he leaves he laments that if more humans and pokémon got along like this he wouldn't have to go through with team plasma's plan in the first place and with that you're free to continue along until you run into Sheren as well as alder once again after a hard-fought battle with your rival alder compliments you both however Sharon still isn't done brooding about his losses and reiterates that he wants to have power so that people will acknowledge his strength after he storms off yet again were able to access the expansive twist Mountain where we quickly find clay in his mining playground he mentioned something about the Unova team leaders meeting about Team Plasma and then takes off leaving you and Charon to explore the cavern when you make it to the end you'll run into a few Team Plasma grunts who get aliy inform you that they've uncovered the power they seek at a nearby tower and as they depart twist mountain Sharon decides to stay behind and consider what alder meant when he asked him what he do with the power he seeks this frees us up to meet with the elder juniper as we enter Icarus city where he mentions he's on his way towards Dragon spiral tower the birthplace of Reshiram and Zekrom but before we can climb our second tower in his many towns you must first battle a Karissa's anime loving gym leader Bryson who after being defeated awards players with the freeze badge that's not his only purpose though as on our way out of his gym during a moment of discovery for Sharon and Bianca he's able to detect the shadow tree odd who invite our hero to take on n at Dragon spiral tower when you finally reach the top you'll discover that and has successfully resurrected one of the legendary dragons of Unova from an ancient artifact and as he flies off towards the infamous Pokemon League he challenges you to do the same by locating the opposite stone now with alders help you'll need to confront gets us at the relic castle back in the desert who reveals that the stone you seek is missing and that if alder is unable to stop an from becoming the new champion team plasmas vision will indeed be unstoppable with that are traditionally easygoing champion decides to get serious and after we retrieve the special rock from Lenora and nekron city he heads towards the pokemon league for a final showdown with n but ask that our hero continue growing and bonding with their pokemon just in case he fails as this important detour comes to its close we head back to northern Unova and with one last battle with Bianca out of the way find ourselves a top two blind bridge where Gatos is awaiting to threaten our commitment to become the hero this region needs it's during this speech that he reveals his true intentions for Team Plasma and have you been following the clues than the twist that gets us is the true mastermind behind everything including ends abysmal outlook on humanity isn't the surprise he's hoping for it turns out that almost since his birth yet this has been grooming and to become the fabled hero and boast about how with the influence of Zekrom or Reshiram at his side as well as the necessary power afforded to him by the Guardian dragon and will slowly persuade more and more of the population to release their Pokemon until the sheer force that is public opinion makes sure every last person gives in to team plasmas will and once the vast majority have pulled a bye-bye Butterfree he and his minions will use their strongest Pokemon to become the de facto gods of Unova once he's completed this monologue you'll find yourself amongst yet another crowd observing the hypocritical tyrant during a Team Plasma rally in Opelousas City this leads directly into a meet up with Drayton and iris two of Opelousas premier trainers as well as older aren't you supposed to be battling for the fate of the world right now like when you left the museum did you decide to fly halfway to the league instead of just taking a direct flight or whatever I guess regardless with an affinity for dragon-type pokémon both drayton and iris have a bit of a personal stake in the fate of the world as they're justifiably upset over gets is's influence on the legendary dragons being used as tools to warp people's hearts and as it turns out they're also the toughest gym leaders found in Unova which means you've got to defeat Raiden in black and iris and white version if you want to gain access to the Pokemon League and put a stop to end once and for all upon obtaining your eighth and final badge you'll run into some old friends who along with providing you with a master ball some revives and a battle thanks Sharon we'll wish you luck against your upcoming duel with it after this the only thing left standing in your way are eight tedious gates the infamous Victory Road and finally the elite for themselves who shockingly enough have no distinctive order this generation you can tackle each and every member in whichever fashion you choose and though it does take a bit of the overall challenge away these trainers are still just as strong as any previous iteration and the experience itself is both innovative and way more streamlined which makes for a refreshing take on the stale trope but for posterity's sake the four members this time around are Sean tall a ghost wielding author Grimsley a pale gambler and Master of dark types the impatient psychic user Caitlin who fun fact actually made her debut as a member of the battle frontier throughout generation four seriously look it up and finally alders apprentice and fighting type guru Marshall who can pack quite a wallop if you're not ready personally my team had the most trouble with Grimsley but they're all within the same level and should pose a similar challenge no matter which order you decide to proceed with and after the fourth and final member is defeated you're finally able to climb the champions way Lord sized staircase where you'll find alder awaiting your arrival except he's lost yup as hinted at multiple times while going up against the league and has already stormed his way through the entire Elite Four and as we rush towards the scene is clear that universe champion has succumbed to the overwhelming powers of the troubled boy and his legendary partner and if that wasn't dire enough and unknowingly shifts Getz's his plans into overdrive as a summons team plasmas grandiose castle from the league itself and as he heads inside he asks you to awaken the stone and put your conflicting viewpoint to the test in one final battle before you're able to catch up however you're intercepted by six of the seven sages who on guess as his orders have been tasked with ensuring that you never make it to the new champion but just when all hope seems lost and it appears that Unova is doomed they appear nearly every single gym leader across the region have banded together and arrived the lead to assist you in ensuring the futures protected from plasmas corruption and with that they urge you to go on ahead as they dispose of the pesky stages the momen is outstanding for a number of reasons but mostly because it unifies everything you've been doing along the way into one climactic moment unlike past regions the strongest trainers from coast to coast unite in order to protect the people and places they love and in doing so make every character interaction and badge one field that much more special as a result except apparently silent Gillian kress who like guests we're working a double that night anyways with that distraction out of the way our hero is free to make their way through the castle until they encounter Getz's who surprisingly just gloats about his plan coming to fruition and actually pushes you to challenge n in the next room and once you arrive it's on and talks about his ideals one last time as he summons his legendary partner and as the battle is about to commence our protagonist light or dark stone begins to glow as zekrom or Reshiram is finally unleashed to combat a stray conic counterpart now you've got to capture your very own legendary pokemon in order to earn your role as the opposing hero and once you've succeeded it's time to take down the new champ and put an end to team plasmas madness for good as a substitute for the traditional champion battle you can bet that n is no walk in the park and to my surprise he had a varied and well put-together team for a guy who hates making pokemon battle but he's no cynthia and when his final Pokemon faints you can finally breathe once again because getss arrives on the scene and showers end with a disturbing amount of emotional abuse for his loss he also reveals during this tirade his true intentions to both N as well as eventually alder and Sharon and it soon becomes clear that this demented soul who also happens to be ends foster-father has an insatiable god complex and essentially wants to be the only person to wield the destructive powers of Pokemon he used the sympathetic people of Unova used his organization and even used his friends and family like pawns in order to achieve these self-serving dreams and now that they've evaporated before his very eyes he'll use his personal team of disgustingly strong Pocket Monsters to eliminate everyone in the room and so we've reached the true final boss and this deranged sociopath and despite a tough battle that includes his infamously underleveled hydrogen it turns out getss isn't as infallible as he believes and with his defeat and subsequent arrest Unova is finally free of team plasmas grip once and for all afterwards still in shock and templates what it means to be a hero and also the value and consequences of sharing and accepting the ideas of others even if they're not the same as his own he laments that ever since he met our protagonist and observed the bonds between them and their Pokemon as well as their friends he knew he didn't have what it takes to become the true hero of Unova and he's to take some time to discover who he really is and what Pokemon actually desired and with one last fantastic POV shot he urges the player to believe in themselves and the dreams they aspire to Ward's as he flies off with his partner and the game reaches its narrative end of course to become the true champion of Unova you're going to have to make your way through some postgame content and challenge both the Elite Four and alder one more time but aside from some loose threads involving the seven sages and a few other characters that's black and whites overall story and man oh man is it a long one there's an obvious reason that this generation is referred to as the most JRPG like amongst the core series of games and that massive storyline is the major culprit here practically every single town bridge route or pathway has some form of character interaction or exposition dump to move the plot along and Noah can chug along at a slow pace once in a while story-wise this was a massive improvement over all previous generations and is clear to many that this was the main focus when Game Freak created these works now I can see why some people are turned off by black and white as the focus on story does have noticeable consequences on other important areas within the game but personally speaking I believe the attention to story is something that helps make this gen standout it's got its very own identity and charm and though the amount of exposition dumping and dialog can get quite annoying and even condescending for those who love exploration I don't think anyone can deny that all these details create the most lived-in and believable world to date the characters are beaming with personality the snakes seem more personal than ever and everything feels much more United with small plot points and characters actually having a payoff like the gym leader moment I mentioned earlier does the content of the story have its weaknesses and flaws absolutely and I'll discuss them in full within the other sections of this review however for the first time possibly ever the series feels like it's embracing the fact that these games are RPGs and in that sense I believe that with an already deep combat system and the technology to bring their creations to life game freaks strive to deepen the stories they tell and if that was their goal then they absolutely succeeded it's no Final Fantasy or anything like that but it's a massive step forward for such a notoriously safe series and I'd like to discuss the parts that really worked as we move into the next section with such a rich storyline it's more of a challenge than ever to pick out one particular theme that encompasses generation 5 but if I had to go on instinct alone I'd say that the most central message revolves around conflict this is reflected in both the obvious such as the whole truth verses ideals debate that pops up through it most of the game's confrontations as well as the mascot Pokemon themselves but this theme can also be found in more discrete ways such as Bianca and Sharon's personal struggles as well as the Guardian trio of Unova being fighting types conflict is everywhere in these games and although it's much more difficult to design a region's Pokemon around a heavily philosophical theme rather than something more tangible like mythology or nature I think the game freak's intent was to have these new creatures as well as the setting be in conflict with the very traditions players have come to expect these more abstract themes play out in ways I could have never imagined back when the franchise was still in its infancy and with multiple viewpoints to choose from and some pretty complex questions being proposed it leaves me wondering if perhaps now 15 years with the franchise Game Freak were internally at war with their original vision for the series and these untraditional and polarizing games were the result now personally I enjoy this colder world and think that besides a few missteps particularly towards the climax black and white featured the best plot line out of any generation thus far with potentially one exemption but we're still ages away from talking about those titles I've mentioned this already but I think it's worth repeating that because of its massive story this world feels connected with nearly every character or locale having a reason to exist that makes sense within the narrative it's crafted even though team plasmas goal is at its core identical to Team Rocket's the steps they take to achieving it makes it feel more impactful when they get there do I think it's a bit of a cop-out that just as the tensions rising getss reveals that Team Plasma is irredeemably evil making your choice to stop them ironically black and white why yes I do and I'll discuss that a bit more in depth during the con section but for the most part this story poses a lot of abstract questions and views that have no definitive answer is it wrong to essentially capture and make Pokemon fight for our benefit does striving to achieve ones goals make them narrow-minded and blind to others opinions and criticism and in the case of n can we grow beyond our natures and mistakes to become better there's ambiguity and purpose here that's beyond your typical Pokemon adventure and despite choosing to play it safe with the predictable ending if you've been paying attention during your playthrough black and white will leave you pondering a lot more than just why there's a Pokemon made of garbage however good this story is though at the end of the day it owes a lot to another one of Gen 5s most revered additions which is its cast to fully realize characters pokemon black and white have the best all-around character writing I've ever seen in a main series game even if the other incarnations have had better overall rivals like silver or outstanding champions like Cynthia Jen 5 has no weak links when it comes to its supporting cast for example before getting into some of the heavy hitters let's just focus on Professor juniper the very first character were introduced to unlike many of her former plant named peers were able to paint a fairly detailed portrait of what her life outside of the lab is like and even get an understanding of what drives her forward as a person she's a kind individual who instinctively trust those around her she seems to be confident in herself and her abilities despite at times being compared to or overshadowed by her famous father and rather than simply reacting to and being affected by the game's evil organization she actually takes charge and attempts to persuade and regarding his stance on Pokemon while doing work within her field and oftentimes we learn these traits and viewpoints not because she tells us but because she shows us or because others help to inform her personality she's kind and trusting because she sees Bianca struggling with her limitations and sympathetically takes her under her wing she demonstrates confidence in the way that she approaches ends presumptuous views by sticking up for her life's work and engaging him with her own ideals despite his resistance and through her father we get a sense of what drove her to study pokemon in the first place and we can imagine the struggles and benefits of living up to Cedric's legacy and that's just the professor when it comes to Gym Leaders almost every one of them get multiple moments to shine and through having careers outside of their league work we gain a greater sense of their contrasting personalities as well as their motivations Lenore is a no-nonsense history nerd clay is a blue-collar businessman who makes sure he's on the winning end of any deal iris is a well-meaning young girl who wants to protect her friends at all costs I mean I can't deny that some of them get more development than others in particular I think the striking trio bricen get the short end of the stick just due to where their battles take place plot wise but it's amazing to see almost each and every leader interact with other supporting characters with the world around them and of course with each other and it's in part to this coexistence they established throughout your adventure that you begin to appreciate Unova and its many quirks the Elite Four however is a bit of a missed opportunity despite not having a real battle until way after the game's initial ending alder is clearly a character with a lot of history and love poured into him it's revealed that what sherry mistook for laziness was actually alder aimlessly searching for meaning after his partner Pokemon fell ill and passed away which is an intriguing concept that makes this guy more relatable than your typical champion however this approach is a double-edged sword as it makes the true final boss of the game feel more frail and aloof than those in the past and disappointing as it is in how it visually reflects his loss this decision as well as the decision to make gets as the final boss narrative Lee does make alder feel more forgettable than a few of his peers that being said though he is the most fleshed out and sympathetic champion we've had yet and as a character he's a solid addition to the main cast unfortunately I can't say the same about the actual Elite Four outside of the league marshall gets a small moment with sharon during the postgame but other than that these guys are the blandest roster of boss trainers I think we've ever had as the various gym leaders in Team Plasma were given more of a spotlight Grimsley and the others disappointingly fell to the wayside which was a sad but necessary sacrifice in order to make the end game more climactic I do however think the decision to let the player choose which order they want to approach the league was genius as it now allows for more strategy and can make each subsequent playthrough feel more unique oh also the various animations as you approach each member are ridiculously well made but now moving on to the rivals I find myself sort of torn on one hand both Sharon and Bianca have incredible standout moments at various points throughout this game and I love how they aren't bystanders throughout your adventure these two who are purposely made to be exact opposites both develop into strong characters in their own respective ways however for some strange reason compared to the rivals of other generations there's no denying that they don't have the same instant memorability I feel like the only explanation for this is that in a sea of wonderful and well-defined characters they're just unable rise above some of the more truly enigmatic figures such as n this of course in no way makes them bad in fact replaying this game has made me fall in love with each of their personalities and you better believe that when Bianca finally stood up for herself to her overbearing dad I was right there with him and reveled in every triumphant work and I guess that's sort of the thing when it comes to these rivals it's that they're not really rivals at all they're your best friends whereas a rival as someone you build up in your mind whether it's through fear respect hatred or some other deep-seated emotion they become larger than light but typically friends though more important are more of a constant presence in one's life and likely don't take on the same antagonizing forests that a traditional rival might and I think it's because Bianca and Charon play the role of friends so well that they often get lost in the shuffle despite being some of my favorite characters in the game however like most of the internet I believe and to be the most complicated and probably the best overall rival in black and white also for the record complicated doesn't necessarily translate to good it just in this case is something that makes n stand out from the crowd as gets us his adopted son and has lived a life of luxury and Authority no doubt but it's also clear from the start that this upbringing is in direct conflict with who he is and as we learn towards the end of the adventure it's a point of contention between the boy and his father harassed and emotionally abused his entire life and was kept away from those who can influence him and his gifts in a positive way for his entire childhood he was sheltered lonely and had the bizarre gift of being able to understand the hearts of Pokemon but not people which made him the perfect pawn and gets us his wicked games and after arguing with all of those who rejected his and team plasmas plans until the very end he finally learned the entire truth and is left feeling shocked and betrayed that his entire life has been a lie he's the furthest thing from evil but the choices he made and the things he's done were all for nefarious purposes and the worst part is he feels he's now betrayed both humanity and the Pokemon he thought he knew so well leaving him caught between the two worlds if any one character in generation 5 best represents the central themes of conflict it's n and despite how sad his story is he picks himself up and strives to at least find the right reasons to do better and atone for his sins which is the reason I think so many people adore him he's sympathetic he's depressingly relatable he's got pretty iconic partner Pokemon and most importantly he's a symbol of hope and despite being so conflicted about his past he embraces the future with open arms and in doing so leaves an impact rivaling blue himself but of course we can't discuss natural Harmonia Gropius and yep that's his name without also talking about this generations fiendish organization Team Plasma after Gen 4 is deliciously sinister Cyrus gets us and his band of hooded outcasts had enormous shoes to fill and despite the previously mentioned cop-out I think overall they surpassed Galactic and every group that's come before there's many reasons why for me plasma takes the cake here but the most important one is how realistic they actually are we've all seen the memes of Heather basically a fictionalized version of our world's overbearing protest groups but that only adds to my point in the same ways that various humanitarians battle for animal rights and against other unjust causes humanity may be guilty of it's logical to believe that if creatures like Pokemon did exist we see these organizations naturally evolved to take on those who profit from their exploitation and that's where Team Plasma comes in they're meant to raise these ethical questions and make the player feel conflicted when having to battle other people who might simply have a different way of thinking again Game Freak doesn't let the player go crazy with all of this uncertainty as they make sure almost from the start you see Team Plasma for what they truly are so that you never feel too bad about shutting them down at the end of the day this is a group of thugs who harass and bully the weak in order to make their dreams come true and despite gamefreak neutering their potential in order to make clear-cut villains plasma is the type of evil team that gives the player immense pleasure in taking them down and thwarting their plans which make for battles with higher stakes throughout the campaign and of course their leader like Cyrus before him is one twisted man getss is a textbook psychopath in every sense of the word and to the best of my recollection he's also the first big bad who threatens to personally eliminate the player in a fit of rage he's arrogant he's selfish and he's unsettlingly smart with a plan for world domination that utilizes the mass opinion of people rather than sheer power alone to forge his new world to me at least this is what sets gets us apart from the other team leaders we've opposed in the past he's not this weird loner but rather a charismatic figure who charms and manipulates his way into the hearts of the masses and even his own organization making n the figurehead though tragic for our foil is unnaturally brilliant for a person who secretly craves the spotlight and though anyone with half a brain can see the twist coming along before it occurs it's still a surprise when after you take down n he reveals himself as the game's true final boss and with such a ridiculous team and a pseudo legendary mascot of his very own it makes him stand out in ways that no other crime leader has before my one and only complaint with getss disregarding the lackluster world domination thing is that he's maybe a little too evil for the sake of being evil make no mistake this is a terrifying individual whose given dimension via his relationship to Team Plasma and his son I just think it would have been slightly more interesting if we had some real motivation for why he's such an abusive tyrant to everyone around him and in that way I think I still have to give the edge to Syrus as my favorite Pokemon villain albeit slightly also upon booting the game up post credits for the first time it's revealed that both getss as well as the other sages have escaped and gone on the run these sages though difficult to find can be apprehended however getss is nowhere to be found which is sort of anti cathartic for such a cruel man to have no repercussions at all of course a sequel would arrive not too long after black and white but at the time players didn't know this so it likely left more than a few people with unresolved feelings anyways now that we've taken care of most of the story beats and characters and let's get into the more abstract positives Gen 5 has to offer and at the forefront is the ridiculously great design now I know that millions of players around the world we're praying that we'd finally get to play a 3d Pokemon game this time around but honestly by the first gym I couldn't care less because these games are downright gorgeous it's mind-boggling to me the black and white use what's essentially just a more refined version of Gen 4 SDS engine and make no mistake they're squeezing everything they possibly can out of it here and it shows no matter where you go throughout this region something is always happening on screen whether it's water crashing down around you a thunderstorm flashing against a vast grey sky or something as simple as the wind blowing a patch of grass on route 1 this sense of motion helps immerse the player immediately into this cinematic world and speaking of cinematic the sprite work 3d modeling and battle animations found in this game are just stunning everything here is rendered with bold black lines in Pop's with the brightest of colors to create what can only be described as a work of virtual art the background scroll is the battle chugs along and with dynamic camera angles to emphasize the action and changes within the music to reflect the battling conditions there really isn't ever a dull moment here I can seriously gush about the battle interface and how these games love playing with perspective all day long but this review is already crazy and I've still barely scratched the surface of what makes them so important now moving along to well movement compared to the disparate progression through platinum Gen 5 is a breath of fresh air when it comes to pacing there is always something important happening within the game's narrative and even when there isn't other improvements like revamp Jim puzzles helped to ensure the player won't stop playing for hours pokey centers and Mart's have been seamlessly combined TMS are reusable for the first time ever HMS are used far more sparingly than in previous generations at least through the main campaign and with one glaring exception involving the relic castle backtracking is kept at a minimum I mean I love the sinnoh region but I know I'm not the only one who always hates traversing Mount coronet and it's many hidden pathways throughout that journey but in all fairness black and white though practically free of pointless backtracking do suffer from lots of exposition dumps that can at certain points become obnoxious there are times where you'll meet so many new characters and have so much exposition thrown at you that you may lose track of the task at hand which although in my opinion isn't as grueling as some of Platinum's worst moments is still a major reason why this pacing is far from perfection another new addition that helps with grinding is the introduction of two new battle types of course because triple and rotation battles are virtually non-existent throughout the main storyline they don't help with the pacing all that much but the odd late-game triple battle which are like double battles but bigger is a lot of fun and eventually when you finally do get to experience rotation battles you'll likely have a good time with them as well there's sort of like rock-paper-scissors but with various combinations of Pokemon and when you do successfully predict your opponent's moves and land that super effective hit I can't deny how good it feels now whether it was because of the hardware or because they were just deemed to be a key game free quickly did away with both of these new battle types but regardless if you missed them or not it's fair to say that at the very least they add something distinctive to generation 5 another thing I think Gen 5 gets right is the way that it makes use of its postgame as mentioned earlier upon starting up your save file post-credits you'll be greeted by looker yep that look who needs your assistance in order to track down the remaining stages across Unova he also gives you a fishing rod for some reason which is honestly the funniest moment in the entire game so it's all good now when it comes to this side quest personally I think it's kind of lame that all the sages got away in the first place but admittedly it's because of this postgame mission and the sense of closure it brings that you'll be enticed to explore the rest of Unova for example pretty much right off the coast of Route 1 there's an entirely new area where you'll not only encounter rude but also battle more experienced trainers as well as pick up some seriously helpful items this turns out to be pretty important because if you remember although you beat the Elite Four you technically never beat alder so therefore you are the champion but it's sort of questionable considering you bypassed having to battle the stoic adventurer unfortunately though with a team consisting of Pokemon level 75 and higher your post gets his pocket monsters likely aren't going to even make it to Alder and so as you round up the last few sages and explore the region more thoroughly you'll find your team and experience is growing to overcome the vast difference in skill personally I don't know if I totally agree with forcing the player to do all of the postgame stuff in order to become the undisputed champion of Unova but I will say it's a damn clever incentive to do so it's also not too bad as you'll run into tons of old and familiar Pokemon now that you've acquired the national dex as well as some cool side quests and familiar faces to make your experience more satisfying some of the best postgame elements include exploring the underwater castle to get filthy rich running into and battling cynthia who's still as tough as ever and of course going out and catching all of the legendary pokemon the region has to offer although with the exception of kiram and Landorus you could technically add them all to your team before taking down an at the pokemon league you can also now gain entrance to the poke a transfer lab which enables you to download any pokemon from gen 4 be an adorable little minigame of course there is one glaring omission from the usual postgame lineup here but although Ventoux that during another ranked overall though despite maybe not having as much to do postgame wise as platinum or the johto remix pokemon black and whites postgame feels far more meaningful in the way it encourages you to explore there's a bit of backtracking necessary short but for the most part you can discover univis secrets and travel city by city in fashion until you're ready to head back to the elite pour for your date with alder so in that way it's not the best post game we've ever had but in my opinion it's definitely the most rewarding and for whatever reason it sort of reminds me of a larger and more intricate seve Islands and now that I've covered the basics of our end game we can finally delve into Unova as a whole and unsurprisingly there's a lot to cover here too now the good news is I've already spoken at length about how the various character is pacing and graphics help shape a region that feels incredibly connected so I won't prattle on about that too much I will however say that I really admire the scope of this world and that would fall short in a few places overall many of these settings blew me away Unova likely because it's based on the United States features a far more industrialized look than many of its japanese-inspired counterparts it's got a massive cityscape that's honestly too big for its own good construction happening everywhere breathtaking bridges galore and heck even its iconic forest as both man-made and natural elements marrying the two into something we've never quite seen I feel like this is yet another reason why these titles are often looked down upon by those who swear by brighter generations such as 3 but with awe-inspiring landmarks like the giant chasm marvelous bridge and of course charge stone cave is clear they're not looking that hard and as if these settings weren't creative enough on their own Game Freak decided to take things even further by giving us our first seasonal cycle in the world of Pokemon with every month that passes within the real world the season will shift accordingly in-game and with each new change comes a new variety and even a few secrets here and there now sadly during the recording period for this review I only got to experience spring and summer which in my opinion don't hold a candle to the visual delights of fall in winter however that in and of itself only adds to the replayability of these games and once again brings a distinctive element that makes Unova its own place untainted by past influences though I do need to mention that there are also a few duds and a handful of unmemorable cities that sort of all blend together along the way and although I like the idea of aa pellucid city being futuristic in black and more historic and white I sort of hate that you only get to experience one small little gripes but still worth bringing up so that you guys know Unova could be even better but of course no new region is complete without its accompanying soundtrack and if you guys were sure by now just know that I'll never be too critical of any Pokemon OST because there's rare anything to complain about in fact in my opinion gen-5 strikes that perfect balance of both brilliant melodies and natural ambience that a more refined region requires it's upbeat and charming when it needs to be but also at times perfectly encapsulates the gravity of the characters and their personal struggles and I think overall it captures a slightly foreign sound that's expected of such an unusual setting also you guys would crucify me if I didn't bring up that this game gave the world some of the saddest video game music ever produced there are some heart-wrenching themes here but by far the game's most popular track emotion takes the cake being on YouTube where it's basically a Mima at this point I've become a little desensitized to it however that doesn't change the fact that it's an important piece in the series symphonic history and along with some of my other personal favorites like route 10 celestial tower Victory Road and ends castle bridge I would honestly rank the soundtrack as the best of the DS era meaning that wasn't a remake of course so between the sound the set pieces and the connectivity where does univer rank overall within the series best regions well once again your opinion will be vastly different than my own but personally I feel that with its unrivaled variety and unparalleled diversity it falls just below HeartGold and SoulSilver version of joto but it's on par with generation freeze natural environments I think in many ways universe airs a lot of similarities with Hoenn and that their worlds don't only exist to be explored but as thematic anchors that help inform nearly every feature found within them mind you this isn't a distinctive trait of those specific regions I just think that generations three and five succeed the most in demonstrating their themes of nature and conflict respectively through their settings I feel like on the whole most people will instinctively praise more organic and pristine elements rather than those that are in direct confrontation with themselves but I believe it takes a little extra spark of creativity to convey conflict through a physical world and the varying places within it and when you think of it in that way univille becomes even more impressive so does this trend continue when it comes to this region's enormous amount of new Pokemon well yes and no new rosters are always a mixed bag every time around but with such a massive influx of fresh faces especially five generations in there's bound to be some winners and some losers as I've sort of already alluded to the thematic elements of black and white do creep into the designs of a few of these newcomers and you'll find many brilliant typing combinations such as Volcarona x' Gloria fire and bug pairing that shouldn't ever work and yet result in some of the most memorable Pokemon we've had in a while on the other hand we also see plenty of conflict demonstrated through the physical designs of Pokemon such as archeops being based on a feathered serpent or represented in constantly shifting forms like Deerling seasonal variations of course that doesn't mean every Pokemon here is some flash of genius given form but for now we're focusing on the positive and among them we have creative creatures like our starters and their evolutions stout hland zeb stricka-- giggle if excadrill a dino Levani scolipede krookodile dar man it's an the two fossils Zorua and it's evolution Emolga ex cavalier Calvin Chawla Ferrothorn Electress Schindler a cell borer Haxorus golurk by sharp ray V Airy hydrogen and for my money every legendary or mythical has something to offer with the possible exclusions of meloetta and the forces of nature trio who at least in these games are lazy palette swaps of one designer also some of the most underrated types such as bugs steel and dark got huge upgrades this time around and unlike a few former generations gen 2 you'll discover so many new Pokemon that you'll be hard-pressed to finalize your team without being seduced by some stronger cooler looking Ally as you proceed through your initial playthrough ecstatic about your electrifying elven chola well not so fast because this electro sky has solid stats and zero weaknesses think that krookodile was the ultimate dark type for your team that's a great choice however can I interest you in a pseudo legendary dragon who happens to share that typing again I know it's all subjective but the fact that you have no choice but to rely on these 150 new Pokemon as opposed to the beloved partners from your past makes this campaign in particular the battling more engaging than it's been in years and with so many inventive designs you're bound to fall in love with at least a few of these creatures who you may have passed up for an old favorite like dratini if given the chance so with so many damn fine additions why on earth do people complain about black and whites contributions even still today well I have a few theories on the subject but I feel like they may be better suited for our next section where I get to share my thoughts on the shortcomings of this device of gender [Music] question when playing through an immersive RPG would you rather a take in the world at your own pace and forge a personalized quest that allows you to decide how you want to explore or be hold your hand the entire campaign until its number then cub choose notes if you answered B then congratulations pokemon black and white are likely going to be some of your favorite handheld games of all time because my god is this Jan Lanier now despite rabid portions of the fanbase arguing otherwise this series has in fact never been the most open of RPGs there are certainly times where you can switch things up or take a detour during your quest with Gen 1 having a few prime examples of this type of freedom and how its map is laid out but when it comes right down to it in order to accommodate their story and ensure the players don't get too ahead of themselves intentional boundaries and blockages show up in every region no matter how big or small and unfortunately as a trade-off for receiving the franchise's richest story yet black and white sense of choice is all but removed of course there are a few occasions sprinkled throughout where you can tackle a side quest er make things easier for yourself down the road by battling trainers but for the most part your journey was decided for you the second you picked your starter and the game will reveal itself to you beat by beat eliminating almost all chances to explore the world at your own leisure once again this is nothing new and due to its target demographic no Pokemon game is going to play like the original Legend of Zelda or offer the style of freedom that a more robust RPGs such as Chrono Trigger may enable the problem with these particular incarnations stems from the constant hand-holding and immediate explanations that are forced upon the player with little to no leeway virtually every time you enter a new route exit a gym discover a secret or dispose of an enemy some event or character will pop up that informs you exactly where to go next and what to do when you get there you rarely get a break from these barrage 'as of exposition and although it can often do wonders for getting into a character's mindset or add a media sea to a situation it's just too much and in some rare instances can even have the opposite effect a few examples of this include the problem with alder I mentioned in the story section where because the developers wanted to make the player understand how manipulative getss was it results in the champion seeming forgetful or lazy and his commitment to stop n at the Pokemon League this is made even worse by the fact that we literally just spoke two guesses prior to entering the city so when we do arrive in Opelousas city it almost repetitive another example of this redundancy is incharge stone cave where we meet the shadow tree at an N upon entering bump into professor juniper and Bianca not long after then they show up a second time after like one or two trainer battles which is then followed by another run-in with the shadow tree yet who practically forced you to take the correct path downstairs we then have to battle a few grunts towards the end before finally running into and battling and near the exit where he has his war of opinions with the professor and if that wasn't bad enough before entering we have an admittedly cool but overall superfluous moment with clay and upon exiting the cave we immediately meet both Cedric and Scylla and mr. Elton city somehow gamefreak made this small trek through a beautiful area feel like a brutal game of red light green light and although this is one of the more blatant examples of expositional abuse found in black and white this type of thing albeit maybe not to the same magnitude is found throughout your entire journey however as previously stated the reason for this style of forceful hand-holding is because Game Freak aspired to do more with its storytelling and for every exemplary moment of character growth or cinematic triumph were given a repetitive text dump or grinding stoppage as a result and at the end of the day you've got to ask yourself if the greater emphasis on world building and a more robust story was a worthy trade-off for more access to in game choice personally just on the merits of being something different I found the price justifiable but there's many who won't and it's worth addressing because of that moving on to my most personal gripe by far I think it's a shame that Game Freak felt the need to wrap up the storyline with such a neat bow all of the burning questions black and white asked are ultimately left hanging in favor of a clear-cut ending and although this is obviously another byproduct of being designed with children in mind in hindsight this was a bit of a misstep nowadays Gen 5 is fondly remembered as being the most mature and melancholy of the entire series and if the current direction and success of its recent entries is anything to go off of then it could be a very long time until we're able to experience something quite as polarizing again black and white or thoughtful games with more complexity than your run-of-the-mill Pokemon titles but by turning tail 3/4 the way through and making gets us and his team just another troupe bent on world domination it ironically forces the developers ideals onto the player in the same way that Team Plasma was judgmentally forcing their will on to the people of Unova and in my opinion when they filled in the blanks for you they stopped this generation from ascending into something more provoking and I believe that to gain commercial accessibility gamefreak betrayed their own ambitions which Rose black and white from their full potential story-wise I know I'll take some flack for this particular bit of criticism because given their history and who they make their games for asking for more is admittedly unfair but remember we're not talking about a franchise like fire emblem or Final Fantasy where one wrong move could have wiped out the entire series no we're talking about Pokemon one of the most iconic and successful franchises to ever exist and at a time where Game Freak was aiming to shake up the status quo it's hard not to wish that they'd gone even further but moving on to something more universally accepted I'd like to take a moment to address the small steps back the series took with black and white when it came to the various battling alternatives found across Unova tell me who thought musicals were a good replacement for pokemon contests I'm aware that in all likelihood the addition of musicals was an afterthought by the team considering the amount of time and effort they were pouring into the story and presentation but I have yet to meet another person who mourns the absence of these dress-up competitions in later games oh and speaking of long gone additions does anyone out there remember the Pokemon dreamworld I'm not going to spend much time on it here because the external website has been shut down for a few years now so I've got little to no footage or recent experience to go off of but it was essentially pokemons answer to Neopets and a pretty decent way to get hidden ability Pokemon as well as special skins for your sea gear which was the vastly improved UI featured on the lower screen I didn't bring up this improvement during the pro section due to its overall unimportance but despite being a tad confusing Seger was a simpler way to connect and battle with other trainers both locally and online as well as connect to the aforementioned Pokemon dreamworld site although that last one also required a visit to fennel in the games so yeah see gear was a much needed addition and looked a thousand times better than gen fours interface but the dream world itself could have used some work and for the record I actually did use the website multiple times back in the day so I'm not just aimlessly complaining that it was a fun but ultimately mediocre side to an already jam-packed main course next on the docket we have the often glossed over battle subway and yeah this one's a bit of a mixed bag as well considering that there was no grey version it's kind of a miracle we even got something for the die-hard competitive fans out there and do I get bonus points for thematically tying its design into the overall regions look where it falters is in its variety and in something even more unfortunate despite the appearance of many different trains to do battle on gone are the days of creative and troublesome challenges like the battle art kick instead you can compete in single double mixed and Wi-Fi battles as well as the super versions of those first three types once the originals are beaten and that's it there's only two frontier brains and amazingly there aren't even trains for triple or rotation battles no matter how far you progress in the game but the really unfortunate part is that well let's just say that there's a lot of imbalance when it comes to Gen fives battling as a whole those of you who played competitively during this time and likely remember how broken and chaotic some of these battles could be and it's especially made difficult when facing an equally strong opponent and not in a satisfying sort of way many people believe that the sheer amount of ridiculousness that could be accomplished with a few key dragon types is the main reason why we'd eventually get a ferry typing in X&Y and although there were far more pressing issues than an opponent's well-trained Haxorus the point remains that Gen 5s competitive scene eventually got a little too overwhelming for most folks and Gen 6 did a lot to correct this finally now that we've gotten all of those negatives out of the way let's dive into one of the largest areas of criticism these titles routinely receive as we take a look at some of the not so stellar Pokemon I always found it sort of funny how gen waters desperately hate on a lot of these designs with no awareness of how many of them work as parallels to their beloved Kanto nyan creations for example remember that one rock with a face on it that could only reach its final evolution via trade well here's a slightly more creative version of that same Pokemon do you have warm fuzzy feelings regarding a purple pile of sewage named muck well now you've got another bulky poison-type with a similar theme involving mutated wastes okay fine but in our day we would have never fused multiple Pokemon together and called it an evolution or just slap faces on food yeah because Gen 1 did none of that look I know I'm being harsh here but can't we all just agree that when you get a massive roster of pokemons like both gens 1 and 5 there's bound to be some iconic additions as well as some of the most ridiculous designs we've ever seen and personally I believe the only reason people hate on the fifth generations roster is because a vast majority of them have less exaggerated eyes I'm not kidding when it comes to black and white for whatever reason the tone down the expressiveness and made a majority of the creatures eyes look more proportional and realistic which I think a lien ated a lot of people used to the classic Sugimori esque designs from her childhood this is by all means just a hypothesis and maybe I'm just reaching for an explanation because I refuse to accept that the majority of these pokémon are uninspired or clumsy but aside from a few duds like mur actus the Goffe towline cryo Janell and a la mola I believe all of these pokemon have something to offer in some form or another but that's just my opinion having put 50 hours into this playthrough and I think once again having a few disappointing designs is par for the course when it comes to the biggest roster of new Pokemon we've ever gotten at one single time mind you I will admit that from an inspiration standpoint it's clear that the team was in need of an overhaul at least in terms of influence as the majority of designs fall into the average category for me with the great ones previously discussed during the pro section there's only so many times you can play with the idea of a Pokeball inspired evolutionary line you know actually add fungus and amoonguss into that bad pile just for pure on originality come on guys you can do better than Voltorb clones anyways all jokes aside that about does it when it comes to weaknesses for the most part the good definitely outweighs the bad but as you've seen there's a valid reason as to why these titles are so polarizing and where you fall in terms of alignment all depends on what you believe makes a Pokemon game enjoyable oh also this is the smallest nitpick ever but what the heck happened to the end credits sequence I don't know if it was meant to be simple on purpose but coming off of the johto remakes it's just so boring but anyways if you're still with me after all of that then please just stick around a little bit longer as we wrap things up with my verdict [Music] so in the end after finally overcoming alder and rounding up all six ages were these games as good as the life-changing masterpieces I'd conjured in my mind after my first playthrough all those years ago well although I wouldn't use the word masterpiece to describe them I do still feel they're every bit as engaging and refreshing as I remember pokemon black and white may not be for everybody and that's okay but they're beyond special to me and aside from a few remakes I still feel like they're my personal favorite entry games of any generation sometimes certain products have a way of transcending every assumption of what we thought they could be and with the most substantial story we've ever gotten in a Pokemon title as well as some of the best sprite work and cinematic presentation in a 2-d game period I sincerely believe that these contributions to the franchise possess this special sort of influence many of the Pokemon designs are hit and miss and the sheer amount of story progression and accompanying dialogue all but removed the player sense of freedom throughout the main campaign however it's my personal stance that these are side effects of aspiring to overcome and surpass familiar traditions and mechanics of the series and I can't in all good conscience 'no spino lies these titles too harshly for their attempt to be more and to break away from many of the formulas we've all gotten accustomed to do they have faults indisputably and I believe that in their search for accessibility game freak's stopped short of truly making these games something iconic however in the end I'm so happy that rather than just resting on their laurels and waiting to simply just modernize past generations on the 3ds we receive something that clearly had an overwhelming amount of both thought and ambition poured into them without these efforts we may have never known how grounded and conflicting a Pokemon game could be and for still holding up and being the most refreshing in the entire series pokemon black and white receive an A+ this is the one that I've been looking forward to replaying the most during this entire review series and though it might not be the best for competitive battling discovering secrets or even shiny hunting I was pleased to discover it still holds up not only as a video game but as an experience that leaves you questioning both the truths and ideals of your own mindset as well as the world around and if gamefreak was swinging for the fences desperately trying to revitalize the long comfortable series then I believe that generation 5 was the walk-off home run they desperately needed of course as we all know now our adventures in Univ o weren't quite done yet as we'd eventually get pokemon black and white to the first number of sequels in the franchise's history funny enough the original plan was actually to incorporating those games into this review making a sort of Gen 5 mega review but I'm not in the business of making a long-winded documentary so I nixed that plan almost immediately actually this review was a bit of a demon for me behind the scenes and I really do hope that you guys enjoyed it because I put everything I had into making it something that I was really proud of even though it probably took longer than it should have so sorry about that either way I'm still here I'm still making videos so please let me know your thoughts on this review and black and white as a whole in the comment section below and look forward to my review of pokemon black and white 2 hopefully sometime mid summer 2018 that's the plan at least until then they'll have a fantastic day thank you from the bottom of my heart if you made it through this entire monster-sized video and as I always say happy hunting Davey rhinos I want to take a moment to thank everybody who waited patiently for this one while I was busy dealing with some stuff behind the scenes I also want to give a huge shout out to my sponsors who allow me to continue doing this even when I don't post a video in forever seriously I could not do this without your guys support if you enjoyed the video please consider leaving a like and if you're new to this series and the channel as a whole subscribe for both past entries and ones that haven't been created just yet 2018 is poised to be another massive year and I can't wait to make a bunch more videos that I've been waiting to record until this one was done but until then take care my friends [Music]

Channel: RandomTens

Views: 655,504

Keywords: Pokemon, Black, White, In-Depth, Review, retrospective, gen 5, generation 5, team plasma, nintendo ds, randomtens, series

Id: N7dAxOl1_cY

Length: 65min 13sec (3913 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 13 2018