Tastes like...POKÉMON!Okay, so maybe that's a cyclical definition, but really, is there any other way to describe a new Pokémon game? What was the iPhone 4S like? Well, it's like an iPhone 4, but better. I can't think of a better descriptor: Pokémon defined their own flavor in 1996 (1998 here in the US) and they've stuck to it like McDonald's has stuck to their fries.
And since I've been playing Pokémon since I got Blue Version back in the summer of 1999, I can't very well say this qualifies as a "first impression." I can, however, describe my reactions to some of the changed ingredients and say that White Version 2 tastes the best out of the series.
Exploration. There are only a few new locales (remember, this is a sequel) that I've visited, so there's not much to be surprised by here. I haven't advanced far enough to see how HMs are handled or required, but at least I haven't become frustrated yet. The biggest surprise was having a gym in the starting town and thereby the amount of back-and-forth running about that was done early on. This worked for helping to find Pokémon to fill out your team early, but otherwise felt a tad unnecessary -- there may be a solid reason why there's never been a gym in the starting town before.
Battles. The visuals are pretty, and not just for Pokémon standards. This is a visually appealing game. The sprites are crisp, the camera swings and pans to show off environments, and the battle animations are nice. Along with these upgrades, the game seems to run better all around. I remember battles in previous games feeling long or sluggish, but here they move nicely which helps keep the rhythm of game play going. The pacing for difficulty feels good, as well. Combatants' levels don't plateau for too long and don't suddenly spike either, keeping the game from becoming dull or requiring extra experience grinding. The variety of wild and enemy Pokémon types is well spread out, adding interest and color to the early areas.
Collecting. This is been my biggest surprise and joy for this version. The variety of Pokémon that can be found and caught early on is impressive. Before earning my first badge, I had, excluding my starter, one Electric-type, a Fighting-type, a Water-type, three Normal-types, and a Dark-type. Some of these, like Riolu and Azurill, took a certain concerted effort to collect in previous iterations. It wasn't long before I had filled out my team with a Fire-type, two Poison-types, Flying-types, more Electric-types, and a Steel-type. Really, I was impressed. And this is a big deal. Collecting is such a vital part of the Pokémon recipe that I'm surprised The Pokémon Company hasn't done this sooner. The collecting feeds into team building, it feeds into battling, it feeds into exploration -- every other aspect of the game is affected by this. And having these Pokémon come from a variety of generations is only a positive, as it encourages nostalgia and rewards older and newer players alike: older players like the older Pokémon and newer players get to see more of the established legacy. Basically, options are good things and this game provides plenty.
So that's Pokémon: serving the same great meal for 15 years. Perhaps that's a bad thing and people no longer care for the taste. The rest of us keep buying the games just like we keep ordering pepperoni pizza. There are changes in spices but the core remains the same -- it has to remain the same. If it was any different, it wouldn't really be Pokémon anymore. As hardware improves, so will the tech the engine is built on and so will the social features evolve. Also, nothing else tastes like Pokémon tastes. It's not another first-person shooter, another action game, another open world RPG, or another sports simulation; it's another Pokémon. And it tastes just fine.
The new social mechanics in BW2 are really exciting. Since Nintendo is pretty much the only big name out there doing anything in social gaming that doesn't involve microtransactions, it's interesting to see how they use Pokemon in that.
ReplyDeleteDream World is amazing, considering they have so much going on there with no costs beyond what you pay for the initial game (not even advertising). Not sure anyone besides Nintendo could pull off the hosting for such a massive server usage load. Dream World not only has the whole 'get unique pokemon abilities' aspect, but the actual interaction that goes on is a lot of fun. I've actually made aquaintences in other countries just through watering each others' berry crops in the dream world and having their character info downloaded to my game to meet them in Join Avenue
Join Avenue itself is probably my favorite use of their game profile interaction mechanics. I love that they're leveraging all the various questions NPCs ask you in the game, and using them to give a little personallity to visitors to your game. Not only can I see that my friend chose to be a Ranger over a Scientist, if I recruit them to run a store, visitors may want to meet the person who caught the most Pokemon from among my friends.
The fact that Join Avenue is really useful beyond the social aspects helps sell it. If you don't care about trading 500+ Magnemites on the Global Trade Station in order to find people with interesting quirks to run your shops, you can still recruit the in-game NPCs and get the exclusive items the Avenue stores sell. Pokemon is a full single-player RPG in addition to it's competative battle gameplay, and now the newer social mechanics, so it's nice to see a company add these new things without giving in to the lure to make them mandatory.
As a complete aside to the social mechanics, one of the things I found the most exciting about BW2 is the plot. Getting away from the heavy lectures of BW1, BW2 feels more like the very first game, in that the player can focus on just being a great Pokemon trainer and not have to worry about recieving ham-handed gospel from hippies and PETA chariactures. In addition, ever since the Ruby/Sapphire games, the story mode tends to have the player running around, constantly saving the entire world from disaster. While BW2 has a couple side tracks where you have to defeat the bad guy team of the generation, it doesn't feel like you're forced to handle every possible problem in a world full of inept townfolk.
I'm glad you brought you the social mechanics added in this version. I haven't played far enough along yet (still just my three badges) to discover those for myself, but social game play is a big part of what Pokémon is. I loved seeing the evolution of the networking introduced in BW1 and greatly look forward to the Nintendo 3DS installments of the series: StreetPass and SpotPass just seem so perfect for what Pokémon is and does with player interactions.
ReplyDeleteI will give you that Dream World offers a lot of expansive content for free, but I'm personally a little bummed by how clunky it feels. Well, at least how it felt in BW1, as I haven't tried it with BW2 yet. I would love to see an "always on" implementation of this, but who knows how feasible that would be. Heck, I know you praise it for being free, but I could see a Dream World subscription service being a really big success. But that's an entirely different conversation.