The New Normal - OMAKE - Ingame Snippets - Pokémon: Black and White

The New Normal – OMAKE – Ingame Snippets – Pokémon: Black and White

[A review of Pokémon: Black – a worthy sequel? Or a hastily produced ripoff?] by Earlier Access

[A gallery containing the official promotional material of the game. Many Gym Leaders and Pokémon that are exclusive to Unova can be seen]

For those wondering whether it’s worth it to buy the game as a casual fan – or if you greatly enjoyed their previous titles – then I will save you the trouble and state that yes, this game is very much worth getting.

As the promotional material showed, the game will include content from past regions. And having played through the game myself, while I don’t want to get into any spoilers, I can say that these past regions of Indigo, Hoenn, and Sinnoh haven’t just been tacked on – they are an integral part of the game.

Though they are locked to the so-called ‘post game’, but don’t let that term fool you, this game has many hours of content and story on offer. Because of this, you should expect to see many familiar faces from the past games make an appearance during your journey. There are many welcome, and several unwelcome, surprises amongst that cast. You’ll see.

Okay, official review aside, I love this game. It’s been a while since we really got a brand-new adventure, and Unova is such a welcome change from all of the regions we’ve known so far. I also think the plot is one of the most ambitious and interesting stories that they’ve ever told, and while I won’t spoil why, I look forward to seeing your thoughts about the story in the comments.

Comments

GitGud

Man, it’s so weird going from the large difficulty spike that we got from the past DLCs to this game. Maybe it’s because I’ve just started the post-game, but the first part of the story taking place in Unova was just so much easier in comparison.

Like, the Elite Four and Champion were tough, sure, but nowhere near as difficult as the battles we got in the Gauntlet or during the quest for the Legendaries.

LocalEGirl

That’s because those were supposed to be extra challenging. Not every fight needs to be like that last fight against John and Cynthia during the Gauntlet or John and Regigigas during the Legendary hunt. And thank god for that.

The Unova League was tough enough. I definitely struggled more at the start (when I had few Pokémon to choose from) and at the end during the Elite Four. They aren’t weak!

BackseatGamer

Nah, the Pokémon Company’s got balls this time around to write a story about Pokémon freedom and not forcing them into battles. That scene with N was pretty heavy stuff. Honestly, I’m really surprised by this level of writing. Way more mature and thought-provoking than the kiddie stuff that they shovelled out all that time ago.

NoGameNoLife

Well, it’s pretty obvious that the Pokémon company is trying to appeal more to a more mature fanbase now, so they probably just assumed we could handle a story like this. And they were right, because I love the change in tone. The story was actually pretty dark at times, especially when Ghetsis’ abuse of N is revealed, but that stuff just made me more engaged with the plot.

MadCuzBad

Look at who I found:

[Screenshot of John saying hi to the player]

The fucker’s back!

LocalEGirl

Oh boy, can’t wait to get completely cucked from catching any Legendaries from now on. Motherfucker’s walking around with a Regigigas at his beck and call and doesn’t want to share.

Fucking John.

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[UNOVA STORY DISCUSSION THREAD! HEAVY SPOILERS AHEAD! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] By LocalEGirl

^title. What do you all think about the story? Favourite character? Moment? Villain? Etc.

Comments

MadCuzBad

N was easily my favourite character and villain. Hell, he basically hard-carried the Unova side of the plot by himself. And even now, having played through the whole thing, I still very much don’t consider him a villain. In my eyes, he’s just the misguided hero.

LocalEGirl

True, I really liked N too. His backstory was depressing as fuck, and Ghetsis’ treatment of him just hit way too close to home sometimes. Playing as N was definitely the most interesting story beat that I’ve experienced in a Pokémon game in a long time. It felt like something out of the Mystery Dungeons.

My jaw dropped to the floor when it was revealed that ‘Hilbert’ was actually Looker. I can’t believe they kept such a twist hidden away so well! I was actually so mad for N when it turned out his best friend was a traitor.

SpeedRunner

I definitely caught onto a few hints that Hilbert wasn’t who he said he would be. For a man as jovial and easily exploited as he said he was, he seemed to be very firm about certain topics. I only knew this because I tried to fully explore the dialogue tree, so I can agree that the twist was very well hidden. Can’t believe the man was actually a part of the International Police.

Oh yeah, speaking of which, fuck Ghetsis. I can’t believe he managed to top Cyrus’ title for being the ‘most evil’.

BackseatGamer

Eh, I’d still say Cyrus was worse. Don’t forget that man was actively trying to end the world and kill every single living thing within it. Ghetsis might be a tyrant, but Cyrus could have been the one that brought about the annihilation of the entire world. You just can’t compare the two.

But I agree that Ghetsis feels a lot more evil. Cyrus was more like an emotionless robot than an actual human being, but Ghetsis was a power-hungry abuser that was willing to inflict massive amounts of harm just so he could get his way. Maybe I’m just biased because of N, but I found Ghetsis so much worse than Cyrus.

LocalEGirl

Yeah, genuinely can’t believe I would find a villain more repulsive than Cyrus. Honestly, having some parts of the story focusing on N’s POV was such a good decision. It makes you sympathise with his perspective so well, and it makes you really feel like you’re doing a good thing.

…Only for all that to be ripped out from under you by Ghetsis. Seriously, fuck that man.

GitGud

Ghetsis and the main story aside (though it was very good), I really enjoyed the post-game even more. First time I arrived back in Sinnoh, I couldn’t believe my eyes on how much had changed since we were there in the last game. Saying hi to all the familiar faces was nice, but it was also super interesting to see how the younger trainers have grown. Brock, Misty, Sabrina, Whitney etc. They’ve all gotten so much more powerful.

And while I won’t go into any spoilers, I really liked how they tied the rest of the regions to the plot that takes place in Unova. Looker being the main link really makes a lot of sense when you discover what’s been going on from the other three regions. It also proves that this is indeed a sequel to the past games, as events that have happened there are referred to in this one. For example, Steven’s Champion now, not Wallace.

NoGameNoLife

Yeah, I really liked being able to explore the past regions too. I also liked how you can actually see the characters interacting with each other – they don’t just talk to the player. They move around and you can overhear them talking about their lives and stuff; it’s actually super interesting and makes them so much more personable.

But anyone else found it super weird that we weren’t able to use any non-Unova Pokémon for the first part of the game? Maybe I’m just rooted in the past, but the new Pokémon don’t hit the same.

LocalEGirl

Nah, definitely just you. I actually really liked that we were restricted to only using the new Pokémon for that portion of the game. I didn’t do research intentionally on what the types/abilities of the new Pokémon were, so I could discover them for myself as I played. Definitely made the game way more interesting and harder.

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[SPOILERS: THE WORLD TOURNAMENT – THE NEW POSTGAME FOR POKÉMON: BLACK AND WHITE] by SpeedRunner

[Screenshots of the World Tournament ingame]

Anyone reached this part of the game yet? I didn’t think they’d include something like this into the base game when they gave us The Gauntlet last time, but it’s a very welcome addition.

The fights are really tough! Anyone beat it yet?

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MadCuzBad

I caught the World Tournament being foreshadowed on the TV in the player’s house, and I immediately thought back to all the resets that I had to do in order to beat The Gauntlet the last time. Please don’t tell me it’s even harder than that.

I don’t want go through all those resets again just to beat John and Cynthia. Please don’t make me do that again.

GitGud

Eh… I wouldn’t say it’s ‘harder’. Same rules as before, where you’re randomly given a partner and have to fight in a series of 2v2s with them. So the difficulty is about the same.

So yes, that does mean you have to beat John again – and this time he has new Pokémon on his team too!

LocalEGirl

NOT AGAINNN!!

BackseatGamer

Yup. Given his appearances in the anime, I don’t think he’s going away any time soon from the mainline games. I think he’s like the reverse of a crowd favourite.

GitGud

Oh yeah, and it’s not just John. All of the other trainers also got new Pokémon and new moves to deal with. So you can’t just reuse the same strategy as last time! Also don’t forget that now you have to deal with all the new Gym Leaders and Elite Four – don’t look down on them either.

Have fun!! Hope you got good from last time! 😊

BackseatGamer

^True. Iris’ glow up in the Tournament compared to her Gym fight during the story needs to be studied. How much was she holding back? Why does she feel like fighting against Lance all over again?!

NoGameNoLife

Right now, I’d rate Drayden, Iris, and Marshal to be the most fearsome trainers (not including Alder) out of Unova to face during the Pokémon World Tournament. All of them are really, really powerful. And they’re easily as difficult as someone like Drake or Lorelei.

SpeedRunner

Okay, tbf, jokes on John aside, I think he’s a nice addition to the game. Yes, we meme on him, but John always serves as the ‘final challenge’ to overcome. Both him and Cynthia serve that role, and there’s value in that.

After all, we all wanted a challenge, so there he is to give us one.

NoGameNoLife

I agree with all of that… until he cockblocks you out of another Legendary. All my homies hate John for that. Hope he doesn’t do it again here, or I’ll be pissed!

GitGud

…About that…

A.N. Got inspired, so here’s another one of these! Again, please don’t take any of this too seriously – it was all written for fun. Also, please don’t assume that any of the plot developments mentioned here will actually be in the actual story. They may or may not be – so just treat this as some fun. I hope you enjoyed!