By Meylani
So Pokemon Black and White has been out since March 6, 2011. That’s plenty of time for players to have made their own team, beat the main story line, fill up the Unova Dex, or find majority of the items in the game. Though, some have yet to purchase this game. Some are not sure whether or not to purchase this game for fear they might waste their money. Many believe that there are no significant changes/differences in this brand new game. Some also aren’t sure if they should throw money down on a game that might “be the same as the others,” or “the new Pokemon look stupid. They probably suck”. Well, that’s what this article is about—I am here to help players decide whether or not they should buy this game or not.
First, some pros and cons! I’ll list the new key features and you decide whether you like or dislike the new functions. Easy, right (I would separate pros and cons into two different paragraphs, but that would make this a HUGE article!)? Okay, first off, there are many new features brought to players that are unique to only B/W. Including 156 brand new Pokemon that were added. New functions such as:
1) Players are introduced to a brand new touch screen system for their DS (the bottom screen) systems. The C-Gear. The C-Gear is a new function that replaces the Poketch from HG/SS. It allows players to control the various wireless capabilities. This includes: connecting to other players through infrared communication (battling, trading, friend codes, and the “Feeling Check” function). Wireless communications with friends is a lot easier now with this function. Players can now add friends with the infrared function (mentioned above). Meaning, to add a friend, all you have to do is aim your DS’s towards each other and the games will automatically add your friends (of course, players can also use the Pal Pad function to add friend codes as well—you know, just in case your friend(s) live far away).
2) Something unique to ONLY the B/W games is the “Dream World,” and the “Entralink” functions. These functions are dependent on the Global Link system—first introduced in D/P. This is where the player can befriend Pokemon not normally obtainable in the game—some which have special, secret, abilities. Anyways, after players sync their games to the Dream World, the players can then create their own house where other players can visit them! Cool, huh?
3) Next up is the Feeling Check. This function tests the compatibility between two players, awarding them with one of two items depending on the level of compatibility. It’s kind of like a mini game for friends only. In addition to allowing players access to Pokemon acquired in the Dream World, the “High Link” also enables players to interact with each other and perform mini games with each other! Players are also awarded special points that can be traded for certain items/awesome gifts. Some of these gifts improve normal game play! Such as increasing experience, capture rate or lowering prices of items in certain PokeMart.
4) Now, there are two brand new battle systems given in this game: Triple Battles and Rotation Battles. Triple Battles were not my favorite (they’re too messy), but a lot of other players enjoy this feature. How it works is both teams must send out three Pokemon at once, but only Pokemon in front of one another or one away from each other can attack each other (i.e. if both of you have middle Pokemon facing each other than those Pokemon can attack the middle, the left, and the right. But the left Pokemon can only attack the center and the left—it can’t reach the right). Rotation Battles I liked a lot. It has a lot of room to being one of the main tournament battle modes. So serious players will most likely like this feature. In Rotation Battles, both sides send out three Pokemon at once, again, but instead of a three-on-three match, it is a one-on-one match where the Pokemon in the front can be switched with either of the two other Pokemon sent out without using up a turn.
5) The way players can transfer Pokemon from other games is a real pain. If you remember the Pal Park from the past D/P games it’s very similar. Instead of going into a park to recapture your Pokemon with a “capture everything” ball, you have to play a type of mini game. In this mini game, your Pokemon jump from bushes to bushes and you must “shoot” the Pokeballs at them to capture them. Think of it like the old game “Duck Hunt”. On that note, if you happen to run out of time during this “game,” the Pokemon you didn’t capture in time return to the past game. Forcing you to reselect those Pokemon again and restart the mini game until you catch them.
6) Another cool feature is the seasons change with whatever month it is. So if it’s June, then the in game season will be summer. This is important because certain Pokemon can change their forms during the seasons (Kind of like Castform, but Pokemon in B/W don’t change in battle—they change until the next season comes).
So from that, there ya have it. Those are the new (key) features in the Black and White games. Now, there are many more functions in the B/W games, but I just named the really important ones. I hope this article helped you decide whether or not you would like this game enough to purchase it. Thanks for reading!
Tags: Nintendo DS, Pokemon Black & White