Pokemon Black Lacks Magic

[Dratis]

The main reason I'm in that same boat is the fact that they haven't changed anything up. Anything that would be magically you've seen before in pokemon games. And when something is done over and over like that it always looks its spark.

They are just giving you the same thing they have previously but with a new set of pokemon and new names for the cities and villian. The storys are always sub-pair and the new monsters all do tend to lose the character some of the originals had. Its just them trying to put out a new batch of games to make money and not do anything new.

 

[Just_A_Glitch]

I'm going to copy/paste my response to a similar thread about Black and White a few days ago.

I'm conflicted on Black and White. While I love some of the new typings, it really looks like they are running out of design ideas. I hate around half of the new pokemon designs. And the names are horrible. HORRIBLE.

And I know criticizing pokemon storylines is low, but this story is easily my least favorite. Its trying so hard to be deep and though-provoking, but all it comes off as is preachy and dumb. "We want to be friends with pokemon!" I hate it.

But what do I know? Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald were my favorites in the series. And I've still logged in more hours than I'd care to admit.

 

[Risingblade]

I know what you mean, I can't seem to bring myself to go through victory road and I've only really trained 4 pokemon so far :/

 

[EHKOS]

Totally agree except that there is one other city. I really liked the place with the warehouses. But then again I'm an artist. I also loved the fifth gym leaders backdrop. The giant green crystals were really cool and the reveal was breath taking. I don't like that gigantic ass bridge that takes forever to get across just because they wanted to show off the graphics. Pokemon XD did a fine job of that...speaking of which I really need to buy that again. The Ice gym was a total letdown though, and most of them have no challenge of getting through them. The cave systems weren't very intriguing although they did manage to still random encounter rape me every step I took. It got almost as bad as Skys of Arcadia >.<
But they are trying. I would like to see a longer game and more immersable locals. I want to surf to lost island and solve a little treasure side quest, maybe get some cool thing out of it like a dusk stone or a TM. I find that after every new pokemon game I play I am never satisfied. So a longer game would be good and some cooler places to visit. Maybe lean less on the legendary shit and make the normal pokemon a little better. But hey, for now we can play Pokemon ROM hacks. Some of them are really good.

 

[Erana]

Well, I feel very different than you, but that's OK. I just... can't understand where you're coming from. I feel like RSE was a horrendous nosedive from which I didn't think the franchaise would recover. Its just... Like if you shoehorned the anime into a Red Version cart.
If it weren't for the severe jolt of Nostalgia I got from the anime, I'd utterly despise it, too.

Now, I loved G/S/C too, and really liked it because its pretty dark for a pokemon-related thing. I mean, the experience was that I played sportsman using my skills in raising pokemon to stop gangsters from abusing animals.

Diamond and Pearl, for me, were them picking up the pieces after having crashed the series with R/S/E, and turning it into something new and cool. Rediculous, cartoony designs? Hell yeah, let's embrace that! Crazy, stereotypical anime bad guys with good ideals? Let's go with that too, then. Rival confusion? Um, have more likable characters and more tough battles?

From what I've seen, Black and White are building upon everything Diamond and Pearl did right, along with throwing in some of the things they forgot in G/S/C, and try to put it in a whole new setting. I'm waiting for a price drop or two, but I bet I'm gonna love it.

Oh, and one more thing that I like from Diamond/Pearl: a feeling of use for training pokemon outside of the metagame. I'm glad to see that they're really embracing the full level scale, rather than stopping at level 55 like in the original. I went back recently to my Blue version, doing a Poison-type run, and thought to myself: I just kicked Koga's butt ten levels under his weakest mon. Why should I bother putting any effort into training?

That's just one factor that's going to be there, simply because the game industry has grown up a bit.

 

[jjboat]

Well, I feel very different than you, but that's OK. I just... can't understand where you're coming from. I feel like RSE was a horrendous nosedive from which I didn't think the franchaise would recover. Its just... Like if you shoehorned the anime into a Red Version cart.
If it weren't for the severe jolt of Nostalgia I got from the anime, I'd utterly despise it, too.

Now, I loved G/S/C too, and really liked it because its pretty dark for a pokemon-related thing. I mean, the experience was that I played sportsman using my skills in raising pokemon to stop gangsters from abusing animals.

Diamond and Pearl, for me, were them picking up the pieces after having crashed the series with R/S/E, and turning it into something new and cool. Rediculous, cartoony designs? Hell yeah, let's embrace that! Crazy, stereotypical anime bad guys with good ideals? Let's go with that too, then. Rival confusion? Um, have more likable characters and more tough battles?

From what I've seen, Black and White are building upon everything Diamond and Pearl did right, along with throwing in some of the things they forgot in G/S/C, and try to put it in a whole new setting. I'm waiting for a price drop or two, but I bet I'm gonna love it.

Oh, and one more thing that I like from Diamond/Pearl: a feeling of use for training pokemon outside of the metagame. I'm glad to see that they're really embracing the full level scale, rather than stopping at level 55 like in the original. I went back recently to my Blue version, doing a Poison-type run, and thought to myself: I just kicked Koga's butt ten levels under his weakest mon. Why should I bother putting any effort into training?

That's just one factor that's going to be there, simply because the game industry has grown up a bit.

I dont watch the anime, haven't for years, But i don't understand your stance against R/S/E. The Music was the best in the series, it introduces double battles and the Hoenn region had some very memorable locals. The Storyline was simply par for the course but not any worse than the later games. The pokemon where also very cool. My only complaint is the omission of the day and night and day of the week cycles, though they added the awesome weather effects. Also it has to be noted that it was the first game with the running shoes, and the incredibly deep berry system. Diamond and pearl really just showed the series' age. It introduced nothing revolutionary and many of the pokemon were sub par. Black and white is the best from a balance and streamlined gameplay perspective, but the journey never feels special.

 

[jjboat]

Totally agree except that there is one other city. I really liked the place with the warehouses. But then again I'm an artist. I also loved the fifth gym leaders backdrop. The giant green crystals were really cool and the reveal was breath taking. I don't like that gigantic ass bridge that takes forever to get across just because they wanted to show off the graphics. Pokemon XD did a fine job of that...speaking of which I really need to buy that again. The Ice gym was a total letdown though, and most of them have no challenge of getting through them. The cave systems weren't very intriguing although they did manage to still random encounter rape me every step I took. It got almost as bad as Skys of Arcadia >.<
But they are trying. I would like to see a longer game and more immersable locals. I want to surf to lost island and solve a little treasure side quest, maybe get some cool thing out of it like a dusk stone or a TM. I find that after every new pokemon game I play I am never satisfied. So a longer game would be good and some cooler places to visit. Maybe lean less on the legendary shit and make the normal pokemon a little better. But hey, for now we can play Pokemon ROM hacks. Some of them are really good.

I am an artist as well, and i appreciate the artistic flourishes they have added to the game, but as a whole its too little too late for me. I really enjoyed the gamecube games, though not as much as the portable titles. Also the caves are ridiculous, I've used repel more in this game than in any other so far.

 

[emeraldrafael]

I disagree. I've been playing white and so far its been like I'm playing a whole new game with that same familiarness of a pokemon game. The interstate on the desert route was awesome.

Plus I like the characters (particularly your rivals) and the great contrast of it. and the first battle you have with your rival that shows the damage of having a battle indoor.

 

[jjboat]

I know what you mean, I can't seem to bring myself to go through victory road and I've only really trained 4 pokemon so far :/

Right? if feel like in order to fill up my team would be like picking the kids nobody likes to be on my dodgeball team haha.

 

[jjboat]

I disagree. I've been playing white and so far its been like I'm playing a whole new game with that same familiarness of a pokemon game. The interstate on the desert route was awesome.

Plus I like the characters (particularly your rivals) and the great contrast of it. and the first battle you have with your rival that shows the damage of having a battle indoor.

Whole new game? where have you been for the last 3 generations? The characters are fine but the storytelling is still years behind where rpg story telling was on the Play Station 1. The desert route was pretty cool, but won't stick with me like some of the routes in older games. I feel like we just need to hold these games to a higher standard so the creators will stop making it the same game with mild improvements. Devoted fans deserve more.

 

[LeonLethality]

Diamond and pearl really just showed the series age really. It introduced nothing revolutionary and many of the pokemon were sub par.

Woah woah woah, nothing revolutionary? Gen IV added the physical special split making a ton of pokemon that were useless due to ill fated typing+stats incredibly useful. That move along added a whole more layer of depth to the game.

If that's not revolutionary I don't know what is.

 

[Double A]

I agree it doesn't feel as epic as the previous entries until the first time you face the elite four, let me tell you now OP, the entire "story" up til the 8th gym is just foreshadowing, the real story starts at the elite four, trust me on this one.
Myself, I play Pokemon for the breeding and competetive side of it, so the story isn't a big deal for me. Not to mention, Pokemon Black has the best PokeGirl yet. As long as I can keep playing as Touko, I have no qualms. I mean, just look at that ponytail!

Yes, Flygon is awesome.

Anyway, I haven't gotten to the Elite Four. I noticed that there's a "Team Plasma Secret Lab" on the town map near that water route. If you say it's foreshadowing, I guess I'm going to keep playing. I actually haven't played since last weekend. That's unheard of for me and Pokemon. I hope Nintendo enthralls me better in the next game.

 

[jjboat]

Diamond and pearl really just showed the series age really. It introduced nothing revolutionary and many of the pokemon were sub par.

Woah woah woah, nothing revolutionary? Gen IV added the physical special split making a ton of pokemon that were useless due to ill fated typing+stats incredibly useful. That move along added a whole more layer of depth to the game.

If that's not revolutionary I don't know what is.

Maybe I'm wrong, but the physical and special attack stats have been around since gen 2 or 3.

 

[LeonLethality]

Diamond and pearl really just showed the series age really. It introduced nothing revolutionary and many of the pokemon were sub par.

Woah woah woah, nothing revolutionary? Gen IV added the physical special split making a ton of pokemon that were useless due to ill fated typing+stats incredibly useful. That move along added a whole more layer of depth to the game.

If that's not revolutionary I don't know what is.

Maybe I'm wrong, but the physical and special attack stats have been around since gen 2 or 3.

Yeah the stats have been but the moves were categorized in to physical or special by type. Fire moves were ALWAYS special and normal moves were ALWAYS physical. In gen IV fire moves can be physical OR special and normal moves can be physical or special. This also goes for the rest of the types. Moves like fire punch are now based on your physical attack instead of your special attack like they used to be

Also my post count is a palindrome WHEEEE!

 

[jjboat]

I agree it doesn't feel as epic as the previous entries until the first time you face the elite four, let me tell you now OP, the entire "story" up til the 8th gym is just foreshadowing, the real story starts at the elite four, trust me on this one.
Myself, I play Pokemon for the breeding and competetive side of it, so the story isn't a big deal for me. Not to mention, Pokemon Black has the best PokeGirl yet. As long as I can keep playing as Touko, I have no qualms. I mean, just look at that ponytail!

This post actually really makes want to keep playing, so thank you :, still the fact that it hasnt held my attention enough to sustain me up to that point is very disappointing, since i've played every game through almost non stop with every previous title.

 

[emeraldrafael]

I feel like we just need to hold these games to a higher standard so the creators will stop making it the same game with mild improvements. Devoted fans deserve more.

Playing all of them. The game felt new. All new pokemon, all new group of enemy, all knew professor, all new rivals. It just felt like a break from the norm of a pokemon game.

And what do you mean devoted fans deserve more? What do you want this game to be? keeping in mind that this company and game is a stable and main cornerstone of the Nintendo empire that still sells well and makes it hard to make a "bad" pokemon game. They cant really change the game for fear of alienating the new audience in every generation (since pokemon is something of everyone's first time with an RPG) and cant change the way the game runs.

Lets say for example the Halo series. they got mounds of praise heaped on them, and they were like every other shooter outside of Halo CE. They could just change the entire game.

 

[jjboat]

Diamond and pearl really just showed the series age really. It introduced nothing revolutionary and many of the pokemon were sub par.

Woah woah woah, nothing revolutionary? Gen IV added the physical special split making a ton of pokemon that were useless due to ill fated typing+stats incredibly useful. That move along added a whole more layer of depth to the game.

If that's not revolutionary I don't know what is.

Maybe I'm wrong, but the physical and special attack stats have been around since gen 2 or 3.

Yeah the stats have been but the moves were categorized in to physical or special by type. Fire moves were ALWAYS special and normal moves were ALWAYS physical. In gen IV fire moves can be physical OR special and normal moves can be physical or special. This also goes for the rest of the types. Moves like fire punch are now based on your physical attack instead of your special attack like they used to be

Also my post count is a palindrome WHEEEE!

Fair enough I'll give you that, it is a VERY welcome addition to the series, but still wasn't enough to hold my interest in the game. But i loved last year's heart gold, so i havent burned out on the series in general, i just want them to step up their game.

 

[w@rew0lf]

Diamond and pearl really just showed the series age really. It introduced nothing revolutionary and many of the pokemon were sub par.

Woah woah woah, nothing revolutionary? Gen IV added the physical special split making a ton of pokemon that were useless due to ill fated typing+stats incredibly useful. That move along added a whole more layer of depth to the game.

If that's not revolutionary I don't know what is.

Maybe I'm wrong, but the physical and special attack stats have been around since gen 2 or 3.

You are wrong. The change made in Gen II was splitting the Special stat into Special Attack and Special Defence and the Physical stat into Attack and Defence.

The Physical-Special split refers to the change in Gen IV which labelled moves Physical and Special based on the move itself instead of the type.

For example if Zen Headbutt existed in Gen II, it might have but I don't care enough to check, it would rely on the Special stat for power simply because it was a Psychic-type move. The P-Sp split made it so that Zen Headbutt relies on the Physical stat because that is what the move itself implies.

 

[jjboat]

I feel like we just need to hold these games to a higher standard so the creators will stop making it the same game with mild improvements. Devoted fans deserve more.

Playing all of them. The game felt new. All new pokemon, all new group of enemy, all knew professor, all new rivals. It just felt like a break from the norm of a pokemon game.

And what do you mean devoted fans deserve more? What do you want this game to be? keeping in mind that this company and game is a stable and main cornerstone of the Nintendo empire that still sells well and makes it hard to make a "bad" pokemon game. They cant really change the game for fear of alienating the new audience in every generation (since pokemon is something of everyone's first time with an RPG) and cant change the way the game runs.

Lets say for example the Halo series. they got mounds of praise heaped on them, and they were like every other shooter outside of Halo CE. They could just change the entire game.

I don't want the to drastically change the game, just add one or two mechanics that make it feel fresh(battles still feel the same), and a story that isn't dull. A new prof and new rivals are a superficial update. I want them to surprise me. Its my fault for buying the game, but in a lot of ways the press and reviews led me to believe this was a big step forward and it wasn't. Black and White are not bad games, but they are not the reboot the series needs and that the creators promised they would be. Also I am not a big fan of Halo or the FPS genre in general, so the fact they they haven't evolved also bothers me.

 

[jjboat]

Diamond and pearl really just showed the series age really. It introduced nothing revolutionary and many of the pokemon were sub par.

Woah woah woah, nothing revolutionary? Gen IV added the physical special split making a ton of pokemon that were useless due to ill fated typing+stats incredibly useful. That move along added a whole more layer of depth to the game.

If that's not revolutionary I don't know what is.

Maybe I'm wrong, but the physical and special attack stats have been around since gen 2 or 3.

You are wrong. The change made in Gen II was splitting the Special stat into Special Attack and Special Defence and the Physical stat into Attack and Defence.

The Physical-Special split refers to the change in Gen IV which labelled moves Physical and Special based on the move itself instead of the type.

For example if Zen Headbutt existed in Gen II, it might have but I don't care enough to check, it would rely on the Special stat for power simply because it was a Psychic-type move. The P-Sp split made it so that Zen Headbutt relies on the Physical stat because that is what the move itself implies.

yea this was already settled thanks though