By Nicholas Alves
As in every five years or so since its release, Pokemon has released another new generation. As with all new generations we are brought a new Region, a new professor and a surplus of never before seen Pokemon. As the fifth generation is brought upon us we find the new region is known as Unova and there are 156 never before seen Pokemon. As for the professor we are brought the first women professor known as Professor Juniper. Unlike in most previous generations, none of the Pokemon from any other generation will evolve from or into any of the fifth generation Pokemon. We are also brought the normal fire, water and grass starters. The Pokemon go by the name of Snivy (grass) Tepig (fire) Oshawott (water). The Fifth generation has also brought us a brand new breed of criminal, Team Plasma! This team maybe more devious then Team Rocket themselves, they want to separate the world of Pokemon and Humans alike. The Region of Unova has several similarities and is most likely based on New York City.
How Has It Affected The Video Games?
The fifth generation of Pokemon has brought us two new games, Pokemon Black and White. On the cover of Pokemon White is the legendary Zekrom the black colored and fire type Pokemon. On the cover of Pokemon Black is the legendary Pokemon Reshiram the white colored and electric type Pokemon. As an amazing turn of events these games were not released on a new console and were put on the Nintendo DS. In these games you choose a male or female character and travel the region of Unova and defeat Team Plasma with one of the starters mentioned before. These games have brought us many new features such as the Dream World where a player can send their Pokemon to gain normally impossible features in the game. Also we have been brought triple battles, a battle where you send out three Pokemon and use them all at once. Much like triple battles there are also rotation battles where you send out three Pokemon but only use one at once and the strategy is based on choosing which Pokemon your opponent will send out next. There are also changes to the amount of moves and the numbers of the HM’s. As in previous generations there are eight gyms and an Elite Four. Also a fun fact, the ??? move type known for the attack curse has been changed to ghost type. These games have received a 40/40 (a perfect score) from a very reputable magazine a title that is nothing to laugh at.
How Has It Affected The Card Game?
While not much is known about the changes to the Pokemon card game we know that the previous Pokemon Powers and Pokemon Body’s has been changed to simply Pokemon Abilities. Also instead of the old rarity symbols the letters C, U and R are now used. Overall these games have brought many new mechanics to Pokemon which are sure to add fun and diversity to Pokemon which is something to be excited about.
I am undecided about this region. I love Pokemon and have done for years now- not from the start- but I seriously considering not getting this game.
I love all the advances in game play that this game has made, apart from the new types of battle. And I love the concept of almost restarting Pokemon, wiping the slate clean and creating a region that has no Pokemon from previous regions, but after 4 generations, the ideas are starting to run low and 156 pokemon is too many for Nintendo to cope. There are lots of real gems in this generation which I loved at first sight, there are a few that have grown on me, but there are too many which I think don’t look very good. Apart from the polar bears, for example, the ice types look awful. They don’t look like real animals, machines, or one of them, anything.
The region doesn’t seem to have a theme, unlike the others. Kanto is warm and sort of like Africa whereas Johto is more like Europe and has been changed by people. Hoenn is a tropical paradise and Sinnoh has a cold climate. But what’s with Unova? First it looks sort of Europey with grass snakes, boars and otters and suddenly there’s a desert! There are bits like Kanto where buffalos, eagles and vultures live and yet the region is populated by polar bears! Make up your mind, please!
I don’t know. Maybe I’m just not coping that well with a new generation: it took me a while to warm to the fourth, but I just wish that the generation could have been more consistant. There are excellent bits, but the not-so-good bits let it down. If it would have been better by abandoning the totally new idea, then so should have been it.