Pokémon Black & White

[Serebii]

If they try it, argue. Refer them to their internal memo...specifically the bit I copied. It states you can do it

[Mr_Master_X2]

I guess I'll find out later this week if my Gamestation (Meadowhall) is actually doing this. Whether it's order or not, which brings up a dilemma; I have actually ordered it from the GAME branch, but online, whether that counts for Gamestation these days or not, who knows? I have a feeling I won't be getting Keldeo though. Which already puts a dampener on BW2 since now I can't get every Pokemon without risking getting dodgy hacked rubbish on the trades.

 

Originally an Amazon order, but there "super free saver" delivery isn't worth **** anymore. It may be the same price as GAME, but it goes over £30 if you want decent delivery, whereas GAME's price is now the same as Amazon but with free 1st Class delivery.

[Serebii]

I guess I'll find out later this week if my Gamestation (Meadowhall) is actually doing this. Whether it's order or not, which brings up a dilemma; I have actually ordered it from the GAME branch, but online, whether that counts for Gamestation these days or not, who knows? I have a feeling I won't be getting Keldeo though. Which already puts a dampener on BW2 since now I can't get every Pokemon without risking getting dodgy hacked rubbish on the trades.

 

Originally an Amazon order, but there "super free saver" delivery isn't worth **** anymore. It may be the same price as GAME, but it goes over £30 if you want decent delivery, whereas GAME's price is now the same as Amazon but with free 1st Class delivery.

ShopTo is cheaper and you're more likely to get it before launch

[Murr]

Ah bugger. I forgot to bring my DS to work. Was going to pop to the mall at lunch to try there. Will have to try tomorrow then.

[Dcubed]

Keldeo get! The Game store at Stratford are doing the event, no pre-ordering nonsense, no stress

 

If you're heading to the Paralympics, be sure to bring your DS + B&W with you!

[killer kirby]

I really need to get back into playing this game, I mean I only have like 4 hours racked up on a file, and I've had it since launch -_-'

[Murr]

Keldeo get!

 

Same for me... got em twice

[Serebii]

Got my English Keldeo. Went to the Southampton one, all ready to kick up a fuss about pre-order but they were fine with it without pre-order...they didn't even mention it

[Hamishmash]

I got my download.

 

It's still a crap way of doing it... I mean... I was in the store for about 10 minutes before I plucked up the courage to ask someone "Hey... can I... download the new Pokémon?"

[Serebii]

I got my download.

 

It's still a crap way of doing it... I mean... I was in the store for about 10 minutes before I plucked up the courage to ask someone "Hey... can I... download the new Pokémon?"

It's technically meant to be running constantly. It's just some stores decide to do it only when someone asks

[Mike]

Got my English Keldeo. Went to the Southampton one, all ready to kick up a fuss about pre-order but they were fine with it without pre-order...they didn't even mention it

 

What are you doing in my neck of the woods? Did you come just for the download, or are you over here for a while?

[Murr]

I just walked to the DS section of the store (which happens to be at the back), got my DS out and started downloading. Game staff walking around and past didn't say anything.

 

Nice and easy.

[Serebii]

What are you doing in my neck of the woods? Did you come just for the download, or are you over here for a while?

Visited it for a day, just for shopping and everything.

[Ike]

Been replaying the original Pokemon Red and was surprised at how well it's aged. Sure some of the sprites are terrible (how did some of these look good back then?!) and the battle mechanics are unbalanced but still play great. Thought I'd have a hard time getting back into it, but nope. I'd might even go as far as saying it stands up better than the remakes...

[ryan36]

I wonder how will the game play of Pokemon affected when Nintendo will release successor of 3ds.It will be another revolution from Nintendo.

[Hero-of-Time]

What with the rumours of Pokemon Switch being in full swing, I've been in the mood to play a Pokemon game. Even though I have yet to finish them I didn't want play Ultra Sun or Moon ( wanted to play a good game  ) so I hit ebay and picked this up.

Nobody else bid on it so I got it stupidly cheap. 

Looking back through this thread, I don't think I actually finished this game. 

I have to say, I have loved my few hours with the game so far. The start of it is super snappy. I'm not being stopped every 5 seconds to have something explained to me. Sure, you get the usual Pokemon tutorials but these, along with any story beats, move along a hell of a lot quicker than any of the newer games.

I also like the setup of your rival in this game. Having 2 of them ( one friendly and one a little more competitive ) is pretty neat. It's also nice to not have them constantly yabber on with a stupid smirk on their face. I'm looking at you Hau.  

The battles also seem to move at a more brisker pace, although that just could be my mind playing tricks. However, the battles certainly run a lot smoother than they do in Sun and Moon.

I love the sprite work in the game. There's a certain charm to the characters and Pokemon that seems to have been lost when moving to the X/Y/Sun/Moon engine.

I forgot how good the Team Plasma battle theme was. I've looked forward to battling them purely just to listen to their theme tune.

I'm currently on the way to the second gym. The first gym battle was great, with the 3 siblings offering a different end battle depending on what type you picked. My team was made up with Pansear, Oshawatt, Patrat and Lillipup, all kicking around the levels 8-12. Since then I've picked up a Woobat, Purrloin and Pidove. I was gonna catch Audino but I wanted that sweet sweet exp off of it.  

Off to the second gym I go!

Edited May 20, 2018 by Hero-of-Time

[Julius]

5 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

What with the rumours of Pokemon Switch being in full swing, I've been in the mood to play a Pokemon game. Even though I have yet to finish them I didn't want play Ultra Sun or Moon ( wanted to play a good game  ) so I hit ebay and picked this up.

Nobody else bid on it so I got it stupidly cheap. 

Looking back through this thread, I don't think I actually finished this game. 

I have to say, I have loved my few hours with the game so far. The start of it is super snappy. I'm not being stopped every 5 seconds to have something explained to me. Sure, you get the usual Pokemon tutorials but these, along with any story beats, move along a hell of a lot quicker than any of the newer games.

I also like the setup of your rival in this game. Having 2 of them ( one friendly and one a little more competitive ) is pretty neat. It's also nice to not have them constantly yabber on with a stupid smirk on their face. I'm looking at you Hau.  

The battles also seem to move at a more brisker pace, although that just could be my mind playing tricks. However, the battles certainly run a lot smoother than they do in Sun and Moon.

I love the sprite work in the game. There's a certain charm to the characters and Pokemon that seems to have been lost when moving to the X/Y/Sun/Moon engine.

I forgot how good the Team Plasma battle theme was. I've looked forward to battling them purely just to listen to their theme tune.

I'm currently on the way to the second gym. The first gym battle was great, with the 3 siblings offering a different end battle depending on what type you picked. My team was made up with Pansear, Oshawatt, Patrat and Lillipup, all kicking around the levels 8-12. Since then I've picked up a Woobat, Purrloin and Pidove. I was gonna catch Audino but I wanted that sweet sweet exp off of it.  

Off to the second gym I go!

That’s awesome! I played through White for only the second time a few months ago, and I really do think that they’re some of the most underrated games in the franchise. The game is extremely well paced for the most part, with something moving the story along in virtually every location that you come across, and your rivals actually develop as characters throughout the course of the game.

I’ve seen some people complain about how linear it is, but there’s enough in each location to deviate a bit from the critical path to explore areas before moving on, and I’d much rather have a linear, well paced, narrative driven Pokémon game than a potentially open, disjointed, exploration driven one (I’d also have to imagine that it’s cheaper to pursue the former than the latter from GF’s point of view). 

I also noted the same thing about the battles feeling much faster during my playthrough, so I think that there must be a difference there. Levelling up is also much faster because of how it depends on the difference in level between your Pokémon and the opposing Pokémon; if your Pokémon is a higher level than the opposing Pokémon, it will earn less EXP, and vice versa. It just feels like Game Freak really went out of their way to streamline the narrative and gameplay with these games, and it shows in just how well the game has aged.

And yeah, that sprite work is top notch!  

[Glen-i]

Yeah, I played through this again a month ago and it just hits so many right notes. Unova's main path looks linear at first glance, but the majority of routes tend to have a completely optional place to explore if you look around.

I won't go into too much detail, just in case you don't know what happens later.

But I will say that Krookodile is one of my favourite Pokémon. I love that thing. And Excadrill is pretty sweet too. And Chav-tastic Scrafty. I still use Hydreigon a lot too. Zoroark has a cool concept. Beartic, Heatmor, Simisage... OK, I'll stop now.

...Oh, and Zekrom.

Edited May 20, 2018 by Glen-i

[Hero-of-Time]

14 minutes ago, Julius Caesar said:

 

I also noted the same thing about the battles feeling much faster during my playthrough, so I think that there must be a difference there.

Ah, so I wasn't imagining it. It's great how fast they are. 

7 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

But I will say that Krookodile is one of my favourite Pokémon. I love that thing. And Excadrill is pretty sweet too. And Chav-tastic Scrafty. I still use Hydreigon a lot too. Zoroark has a cool concept. Beartic, Heatmor, Simisage... OK, I'll stop now.

...Oh, and Zekrom.

I love this thing. Its design is great.  I think I may have used him when I was playing the game 7 years ago.

Its a shame that all the network features are now down on the game as I'm no doubt locked out of a lot of stuff.  

[Aneres11]

Black and White are the best Pokémon games ever for me. 

I'd happily play through them again whereas you couldn't pay me to revisit X / Y or Sun / Moon. 

[Hero-of-Time]

Second gym leader defeated and Basic Badge obtained! Her Pokemon were a little high leveled than mine but Timburr and Dewott managed to carry me through the battle.

Here's my team at the moment.

   

Ive got a few more stored in the Box but these are the ones I'm rocking at the moment. Timburr will probably get dropped as I just caught and used him for the second gym. I may do a spot of leveling and coaching before heading off to Pinwheel Forest. 

[Julius]

1 hour ago, Aneres11 said:

I'd happily play through them again whereas you couldn't pay me to revisit X / Y or Sun / Moon. 

I’ve tried twice already to return to XY with Pokémon Y, both to experience the journey again and to catch a lot more Pokémon for my Dex, but it is just so bland and by the numbers that I get bored after the first few hours. It’s already aged quite poorly in terms of overworld graphics, almost like an early PS1 game, considering the jump from Gen VI to Gen VII. That being said, I’ll probably try to give it another go this summer. 

As for SM, I really enjoyed my first playthrough with Sun and had one of my best experiences with Pokémon with it. That, coupled with opinions I’ve heard about a second playthrough souring the experience, has stopped me returning to Alola with Moon, which has been sitting on my shelf for a year and a half since Christmas 2016. Not too sure I want to trade it in for Ultra Sun/Moon either, considering how I’ve heard similar things about that game as I did with second playthroughs of SM. 

I’ve yet to play through White 2, so that’s one of the games that I definitely want to play this summer. 

[Hero-of-Time]

My team is currently these guys.

  

I reached the 4th gym last night but realised it was going to be a toughie to overcome electric based trainers when my two highest levelled Pokemon are weak to that element. That's why I have put Sandile in my team and will be training it up in order to give me that edge in the up and coming fight. Blitzle will probably be getting dropped once I find another electric Pokemon. The thing looks cool but it can hardly take a hit.

I spent ages in the desert. I found some ruins and was baffled why I couldn't make any progress in them. I eventually had to Google what was going and it turned out that I need to comeback to that point much later in the game. I guess this is what Glen-i was talking about when he said that the game has optional routes to discover.

I loved the scene as you were crossing the Sky Arrow Bridge and heading towards Castelia. Once again the sprite worked looked lovely and the music for the bridge was also nice.

Another tune I really like is the one that plays when you enter Nimbasa. The whole thing reminds me of some kind of tune you would hear in a casino level on a Sonic game.  

I quite liked what happened in this area. You get dragged off to do a Pokemon contest with Bianca. Here you have to dress up one of your Pokemon. What I like about it is just how short this sequence is. In the newer games you get things like this popping but they tend to drag on and force the point. In this game it shows you very briefly what you can do and then lets you decide whether to pursue it or not. It's very much appreciated.

As i'm playing through this game i've come to realise I really can't remember a thing about it. Sure, I remember the Pokemon but the story beats, characters and locations feel completely new to me. It's like i'm playing a brand new Pokemon game. Its great.  

[Hero-of-Time]

Another day, another team update.

I going to be dropping Pansear soon as it has outlived it's usefulness. Blitzle got dropped for Joltik but i'm still unsure if it's any better than the zebra or not. Gothita got added to my team because of it being special. Those eagle eyed Pokemon fans will notice that the sprite I posted is the shiny version of the Pokemon. That's right, I finally caught a shiny! Sure, it's colour isn't that different from the normal looking one, and I didn't really have plans for Gothita to be in my team, but it's a shiny so i'm sure as hell gonna use the thing. I honestly don't think i've ever caught one before.

The 4th gym fight as a toughie. I originally caught Sandile in order to combat the electric Pokemon of Elesa. Yeah, this didn't go to plan due to her using 2 Emolga, both of which were immune to the ground attacks. I had to whittle them down with dark attacks but only managed to get rid of one of them before she took down Sandile. I then had to rely on my 2 strongest Pokemon, both of which were stupidly weak to electric attacks. Elesa managed to wipe out all of my team except Dewott, who managed to pull off the victory despite only having 3HP left!

The 5th gym was an absolute pushover in comparison to the last. At this point my Samurott is about 15 levels higher than everything the game is throwing at me and it's essentially one shotting everything.  

I had my first bad experience with the game last night and that was trying to navigate the Chargestone Cave. Who ever programmed the encounter rates in that area needs a good slap across the face. I couldn't take more than a couple of steps before being thrown into a battle. The cave itself is pretty easy to navigate but trying to make any kind of progress took an absolute age due to how many random encounters I was being forced into. I eventually just started to run from every fight just in order to make it through the area.

The last thing I done was headed into the Celestial Tower. Totally got Lavander Town vibes from this area and I love the music that plays. It's a tune that wouldn't sound so strange being in a Zelda Dungeon.

I brought my 3DS to work with me today so I may get the Celestial Tower finished and maybe even head to the next gym, if time allows.

[Julius]

2 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

 I had my first bad experience with the game last night and that was trying to navigate the Chargestone Cave. Who ever programmed the encounter rates in that area needs a good slap across the face. I couldn't take more than a couple of steps before being thrown into a battle. The cave itself is pretty easy to navigate but trying to make any kind of progress took an absolute age due to how many random encounters I was being forced into. I eventually just started to run from every fight just in order to make it through the area.

Funny, because I mentioned the exact same thing after my playthrough. I thought I was going a little nuts - I don’t know, it’s a cave, so we get extraordinarily high encounter rates, I guess? - so I’m glad that you mentioned that. Honestly, I think it’s my biggest gripe with the game (and, admittedly, it’s not that big of a gripe): for all of the game’s excellent pacing, the last place that you want to encounter a Pokémon every two steps is in a cave with an important Team Plasma encounter, multiple dead ends, and a lot of items to find off the main route. And all of this happening just after the midpoint of the game really does bring the game churning to a halt, and, from what I remember, it takes a little while after successfully traversing the cave to get back up to its previous momentum. 

And yeah, the music in this game is ace