Who else is playing pokemon black and or white?

[armeck]

yep. i bought it the morning it came out, and i haven't played it obsessively but i have got 5 gym badges so far XD i was wondering if anyone else is playing, where they have made it, what their party is ect. i know a lot of people don't like them adding new pokemon, or they don't like one thing or another about the game but please, lets keep the hate comments to ourselves.

[TopazRaven]

I'm still playing Soul Silver at the moment. xD I'm going to wait for awhile so I can buy a used version of Black from GameStop.

[armeck]

i played heart gold, it was an awesome game! the original gold was really good so i was friggin pumped when i found out they were updating it

[Peanut]

I'm Nuzlocking it...blind. And I've lost almost half of the Pokemon I've caught...but hey, at least I'm being legitimately challenged.

[armeck]

what does nuzlocking it mean?

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

You can only capture the first Pokemon you meet out of each region, and if a Pokemon faints, you have to release it after the battle.

[ShiroiHikari]

It don't matter if you're black or white.

[Peanut]

You can only capture the first Pokemon you meet out of each region, and if a Pokemon faints, you have to release it after the battle.

Yep. Though I've modified the rules for myself on this run a bit. Instead of releasing the Pokemon after they faint, I'm putting them in a "Death Box" and just letting them sit until after I've beaten it. Then I'll actually use them and catch the various Pokemon I missed and stuff.

While I'm at it, I might as well plug the Nuzlocke run I've done and the one I am currently doing on this site.

[armeck]

that sounds pretty hard. i'm a good trainer don't get me wrong. but i wouldn't have the patience to do that lol. usually i beat them game, then i use an action replay to give myself a bunch of level 100's XD

[Garland]

I also decided to do a Nuzlocke run, but I can catch any number of pokemon I want. However, I can only use the first one encountered if it isn't a repeat, and the rest sit in my box.

[Fish and Chips]

[TopazRaven]

Aww. Which Pokemon is that? I'm not familer with any of the new ones yet.

[Garland]

And... I just got wasted by the second Gym leader. There went that Nuzlocke run...

[Peanut]

And... I just got wasted by the second Gym leader. There went that Nuzlocke run...

Yeah...blind Nuzlocke runs are...well...they're tough. I'm surprised I've made it as far as I have...

[Synthbent715]

Im playing white but i only have two badges so far. Been playing the new golden sun too much.

[Nate]

I don't know anything about these new Pokemon and everything is confusing and new and weird to me. D: Also I've never played a Pokemon game where I didn't have at LEAST one Pokemon evolve before I got to the second gym. All my Pokemon are level 13 and up and not a single one has evolved. Unova Pokemon are late evolvers I guess. Must be something in the water.

Anyway I'm at the second gym and I was gonna go ahead and challenge it but I went to Pinwheel Forest because the guy who always helps you at every gym said there were Fighting types there. So I have managed to catch a thing with a 2x4 and a weird blue thing. Man I don't know.

I realize that people will say I'm just being overly nostalgic but none of these new Pokemon really are interesting to me. They just seem uninspired and kind of meh. And this is coming from a guy who thought that the Pokemon in Diamond/Pearl were totally fine, so it can't all be nostalgia. I mean...I like the whole mindset behind Team Plasma, it's really cool, but...I don't know. The game itself just seems dull. It doesn't help that everything is BROWN TOTALLY BROWN HEY HOPE YOU LIKE BROWN BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS BROWN AS BROWN CAN BE. I mean the other games had color! This game is just BROWN FOREVER. It doesn't help, it just makes the game world seem ugly and lifeless.

I had such high hopes for this game but...I think this may be the worst in the series. And again, this is from a person who felt each previous generation of games were better than the last. Diamond and Pearl were the height of awesomeness for the series. And then...just...this.

[Peanut]

I don't know anything about these new Pokemon and everything is confusing and new and weird to me. D: Also I've never played a Pokemon game where I didn't have at LEAST one Pokemon evolve before I got to the second gym. All my Pokemon are level 13 and up and not a single one has evolved. Unova Pokemon are late evolvers I guess. Must be something in the water.

I think this might have to do with the distinct lack of Caterpie/Weedle-esque Pokemon on the first few routes...actually at all come to think of it. That's kind of a weird move the more I consider it...

As for your complaints...well...I'm trying to with hold my judgment until I beat the game, but this game really reminds me of Generation III (Ruby/Saphire/Emerald)...and that's not good. Basically I agree with your sentiment about how a lot of the Pokemon seem uninspired. There are some that I like (Victini comes to mind) but the starters, which always seem to set the tone for me, just seem dull. On top of that, if they make my life a painful when I go to the Elite Four...well...then yeah, I'll probably say this is on the same level in my book as Generation III. I like the story for this game (even though it can be cheesy) and I love some of the gameplay changes they made (no more limits on how many times you can use a TM!!!!!!). But...yeah, if the Pokemon were a little more imaginative I'd say it would beat the 4th Gen as the best in the series. So far...not quite. But who knows, maybe the ending will blow my mind and make me change my opinion. I'm glad I Nuzlocked this game because its made the entire process more interesting...

Anyway, time to grind to beat the last Gym Leader and his awesome beard.

[Nate]

The funny thing is I liked Generation III. The only problem I had with it was too many dang water routes. I hate water routes, mostly because there's no "safe" areas since any square can produce an encounter, the Surf speed is fixed and doesn't allow for bikes/running shoes to increase how fast you can move on the water (admittedly, Surf moves pretty fast, but still), and finally because Swimmers give horribly low payouts when you beat them.

I think another big problem is that Generation V doesn't have a big change like the previous games had to the battling. What I mean is this. Generation II introduced the concept of held items...this changed the game pretty significantly with the ability to immediately cure status effects, heal up automatically, increase the power of moves, etc. Generation II also introduced the EV system of stat increases, as well as gender and breeding. And although Generation I technically introduced the concept of Pokemon friendship (with Yellow version), Generation II extended it and based events (like Togepi's evolution) on it. Plus Generation II allowed you to delete HM moves, a significant and huge change from the first game which made a big deal of "When you give a Pokemon an HM move, IT'S THERE FOREVER."

Let's also not forget that Generation II introduced TWO new types, the Steel and Dark types (both of which being strong counters to Psychic types which were ridiculously overpowered and godlike in Generation I, bringing a greater balance to the gameplay).

In other words, Generation II made some big changes to the formula. HUGE changes. Generation III did likewise, introducing Abilities and Natures. Abilities made a huge impact on the battle system and how Pokemon worked, and Natures (while not making THAT big of an impact) helped by giving bonuses to certain stats...again, not HUGE, but significant enough. It also introduced Contests, which while I didn't care for them, a lot of people do, and it provided a different thing to do than just run around and beat up other Pokemon physically.

Generation IV introduced another massive change: the Physical/Special split. Before Generation IV, every move either worked off Attack or Special Attack depending on its type. Poison always used Attack, Psychic always used Special Attack. This made certain Pokemon like Hitmonchan near useless because while it learned neat moves like Ice Punch and Fire Punch, those were moves that worked off Special Attack which meant that Hitmonchan couldn't do anything with them. Generation IV changed all that by giving each move a designation of it being Special or Physical...meaning Ice Punch and Fire Punch were now Physical moves and worked off Attack, instantly making Hitmonchan more viable as a Pokemon (but screwing over Pokemon like Alakazam who could learn Ice Punch and Thunder Punch to deadly effect in Generation III because they worked off its Special Attack, but now made those moves useless for it).

The Physical/Special split was a bigger change than anything Generation III did, even bigger than Abilities. It changed the game by making previously useless Pokemon useful or even new powerhouses, and likewise taking previously devastating Pokemon and depowering them.

But Generation V doesn't have anything that new. The biggest change is, as you said, making TMs able to be used repeatedly. Which is nice, and definitely a good change...but not hugely significant. Also apparently there's something called a "Wonder Launcher" that lets you use items in battles with human opponents, something that couldn't be done in previous games. I actually think that's a very, VERY bad change, though I'm sure tournaments and "Official Rules" will prohibit the use of items during battles (and I fully support that).

But really, outside of repeated TM use and the ability to use items in battles with other players...what else is there? Seasons. Okay, that's...something I guess, but not anything big. I find it even less interesting or significant than the introduction of day/night and days of the week in Generation II, and I didn't even mention that as significant when I was talking about the changes Generation II made (because it honestly really wasn't that significant). Oh, and TRIPLE battles! It's like double battles BUT WITH ONE MORE. The excitement is almost TOO MUCH TO BEAR.

So yeah. Generation V hasn't significantly improved on the core gameplay like every previous generation has, and I think that's a big part of why it suffers. To me though, the new Pokemon being just kind of bland (in my opinion) doesn't help either. Maybe in a few years I'll hold them in as high a regard as I do many of the Generation IV and III Pokemon. Actually I already think a couple of them are really freaking awesome. It's just the ones that I think have great designs and look sweet are fairly late game Pokemon (like Cofagrigus, Golurk, Bisharp, and Genesect). But the rest are just...bleh.

I suppose it doesn't help that most of them just seem like inferior substitutes for previous gen Pokemon. Which admittedly, a lot of previous generations are guilty of too. Patrat is just another Ratatta clone like Bidoof. Pidove is just another Pidgey/Starly. Rogganroll is just another Geodude. Woobat is just another Zubat...heck, even the names are practically the same. Sure, the typing may be different, but they fill the same role. Woobat isn't a Poison/Flying, it's a Psychic/Flying, but it's still "the bat thing that annoys you in caves."

Eh. I'm getting too involved in this. I'm still having fun with it. I just wish there was something, anything to make it stand out from previous generations. The setting isn't doing it (whose bright idea was it to make fall the first season in the game anyway, shouldn't they have made it oh I don't know, SPRING?), the Pokemon designs aren't doing it, and...there isn't any significant change to the gameplay to make it unique and interesting.

[Peanut]

But really, outside of repeated TM use and the ability to use items in battles with other players...what else is there? Seasons. Okay, that's...something I guess, but not anything big. I find it even less interesting or significant than the introduction of day/night and days of the week in Generation II, and I didn't even mention that as significant when I was talking about the changes Generation II made (because it honestly really wasn't that significant). Oh, and TRIPLE battles! It's like double battles BUT WITH ONE MORE. The excitement is almost TOO MUCH TO BEAR.

Yeah, I wouldn't say its a big change, but I have found that its changed how I play the game. Before I would horde TMs because I didn't want to waste them. The fact that once you use them they're gone forever and the fact that I didn't want to basically loose access to those moves forever made it so I almost never used TMs from Gen II and onward (Gen I had the duplication trick so...yeah...used them plenty then...). This change, I've found, has switched around my thinking and has made me more readily willing to use TMs on my Pokemon simply because if a better move comes up and I have to delete the move the TM taught, I don't loose that move forever. Triple Battles I don't really care much for so yeah...

Actually, the biggest change I can think of is the C-Gear. Of course, in America this probably isn't a big deal, but the ability to literally link up with people instantly at all times is pretty unique.

I suppose it doesn't help that most of them just seem like inferior substitutes for previous gen Pokemon. Which admittedly, a lot of previous generations are guilty of too. Patrat is just another Ratatta clone like Bidoof. Pidove is just another Pidgey/Starly. Rogganroll is just another Geodude. Woobat is just another Zubat...heck, even the names are practically the same. Sure, the typing may be different, but they fill the same role. Woobat isn't a Poison/Flying, it's a Psychic/Flying, but it's still "the bat thing that annoys you in caves."

Actually, no, I wouldn't put Woobat in the same category as a Zubat. I've barely run into any Woobat's where as Zubat's were an every other step occurrence in the earlier games (inside caves at least). Patrat is the Ratatta of this generation but, frankly, I've found it's later form to be more like Zubat then like Raticate. It's got a similar set of annoying moves and speed and in one area you run into them all the time. This might also have to do with the ongoing blood feud I have against the Patrat Pokemon.

Eh. I'm getting too involved in this. I'm still having fun with it. I just wish there was something, anything to make it stand out from previous generations. The setting isn't doing it (whose bright idea was it to make fall the first season in the game anyway, shouldn't they have made it oh I don't know, SPRING?), the Pokemon designs aren't doing it, and...there isn't any significant change to the gameplay to make it unique and interesting.

I looked into the seasons thing, and it has to do with the month you start playing. March, July and November are the Autumn months so that's why everyone is starting in Autumn. When it was released in Japan, the season would have been Spring. Really, I'm holding my judgment off on the seasons thing until I've actually gotten a chance to work through all of them. I know Deerling is supposed to change with the seasons so that's something to keep an eye on.

Anyway, I do have a new complaint. It's a minor one because I already have a work around (thank you cheating) but its still a complaint because the intent behind this decision is not in the spirit of Pokemon even though Nintendo probably will claim it is. Whose bright idea was it to make it so that only 2 of the legendary Dragon Pokemon are available to be caught in each version of the game? I understand the idea behind version exclusive Pokemon, namely to encourage kids to trade between games and forge friendships, but legendaries should never fall into this category. I know this because I've been a kid before. A kid who loved Pokemon. And I can tell you that I would never, ever trade away one of my legendary Pokemon unless the trade was just for Pokedex completion or I had a way to get another one very quickly (via cheating or another version of the game). Legendary Pokemon are like family treasures, you don't let them go. Instead you display them and brag about them to your friends. So, making two of these legendaries version exclusive is not going to encourage friendship and trading of powerful legendaries because no kid is going to want to get rid of their version exclusive, legendary Pokemon. The only thing this does is make kids go out and spend more money to buy the other version so they can catch both Pokemon and have them on one card. So, basically this move is a money ploy...way to go Nintendo.

[Rocketshipper]

I'm playing it! I'm right before the 5th gym leader. So far I'm enjoying it, I think I like this gen a lot more than Gen 3 at least, and the pokemon I've caught/plan to catch for my team are all pretty cool I think. I like the designs for the gym leaders and E4 this time. I have noticed that the game so far seems to be faster paced and more linear than previous games. I don't remember getting to the 5th gym this fast in older generations, and the routes/areas this time seem to be shorter and have less exploration to them, at least for the moment (I've noticed some surf/waterfall type areas that I can;t get to yet) Storywise, I'm not really sure yet...The opening was pretty intriguing, and the idea behind team plasma is a cool idea that I'm surprised they havn;t done sooner, but the execution so far doesn't seem much better than previous game stories yet. I do love that we can use TMs over and over now. thats so great. I wish they had brought back the poketch from gen 4, that thing was super cool with all its apps.

Right now my team is Dewott, Victini, Whirlipede, Herderrier, Maractus, and Swoobat. I'm planning to catch a Joltik and Ferroseed in the next cave though, those two are super cool!!

[Nate]

I'm slowly warming up to it, and the new Pokemon seem pretty okay at this point. But yeah, the whole badge thing seems to be flying by. I've only visited half the towns at this point and already have five.

I think Team Plasma is done a bit poorly now that I'm further into the game. It would have been a lot more interesting if they were good people who were misguided rather than evil people. I'm talking about stuff like when they were beating the Munna in Dreamyard, stuff that's clearly evil. The stealing Pokemon thing actually makes sense, and so does what they were doing in Victory Garden, but the Munna thing bugs me, and I feel like it's not the only time they've done something unambiguously evil which lessens their impact to me.

[Rocketshipper]

Have to say that I love the gym designs this time around. I know in the past they've had gimmicks in each gym and themes, but this is the first time its really felt like challenging the gym *as a whole* was a unique experience in each one, and not just "blow through a bunch of random trainers and beat the leader" everytime. I especially liked gym 2, with the whole "read books to find clues" thing. (FYI, the anime actually adapted that aspect somewhat, which I thought was awesome.)

totally random comment not really related to the games, but in the anime the 3rd gym leader Arty/Burgh is played by Amuro Ray's VA in Japan.

[Peanut]

I think Team Plasma is done a bit poorly now that I'm further into the game. It would have been a lot more interesting if they were good people who were misguided rather than evil people. I'm talking about stuff like when they were beating the Munna in Dreamyard, stuff that's clearly evil. The stealing Pokemon thing actually makes sense, and so does what they were doing in Victory Garden, but the Munna thing bugs me, and I feel like it's not the only time they've done something unambiguously evil which lessens their impact to me.

Eh, I'm not sure mugging people for Pokemon was much better, especially when you consider Ghetsis message and repeated claims that suggest Team Plasma wants people to willingly give up their Pokemon. But I'm just nitpicking now when I agree with you and Rocketshipper.

[spoiler]Really, the only character in Team Plasma that I think works and is interesting is N, whose exactly what all of Team Plasma should have been. He's a good guy whose been misguided.[/spoiler]

Other then that, Team Plasma really hasn't been that interesting. I mean, they're sort of like a cult mixed with PETA but the writers didn't go far enough with that so they're just like normal thugs...yeah, it should have been better.

I stand behind my earlier comments though. I mean, I like this generation, but I just feel that it should have been much, much better. Oh and I'm at the Elite Four...with only 6 Pokemon left alive...yeah, Nuzlocking this game has been pretty difficult and I've finally given into leaning heavily on Bulbapedia for information so my Pokemon don't die because I haven't leveled up enough.

[Rocketshipper]

I'm looking forward to seeing how this story is handled in Pokemon Special. I'm sure I probably won;t be dissapointed, since that manga is pure condensed awesome

[UniqueAngelStar]

Yes! I'm playing Pokemon White!
Out of the 5 generations, I'm really impressed with this game!
It really have a good and deeper storyline than I thought it typically would be.
The ending was surprisingly unexpected.

Myself, I still like Jotho(generation II) more as Kanto.
But Unova tops Hoenn and Shinnoh for me!

[firestorm]

I know I'm late to the party (missed the Victini event by days ) But I've now got pokemon white! Luckily, I'm getting to the 2nd badge now but gonna go to pinwheel forest to catch a fighting type.

I only have2 gripes with the game:
first is how the pokemon were distributed between all the routes. There is only like 2 new pokemon per route at this point in my game, and seeing the same ones over is getting annoying. Patrat is more annoying that rattata ever was. And seeing him over and over just cheeses me off a bit.

2: like nate said, the character designs
Seriously? a flying cottonball with a heartshaped-pig snout? Is that the best you can do gamefreak? Even the pokedex entry sounded stupid for woobat. Now not all the designs I think are stupid (I like blitZle and timbur, but that's because I think him using a stump for a weapon is cool XD) but some are just rip off of actual animals. Pidove looks like an actual dove. eh..

[Nate]

I just got to Village Bridge.

...okay Pokemon Black, you've got me. I didn't think anything could top Driftveil City's music, but you have proven me wrong.

[Rocketshipper]

I beat the E4 finally. Now Im taking a break before I start the *second* half of the game, lol. My E4 beating team consisted of Samurrott, ferrothorn, Galvantula, Druddigon, Swoobat, and Boufallan.

I am kind of shocked at the existence of the moves "acrobatic" and "retaliate" in this game. There almost game breakers, at least in my experience. Acrobatic is a flying type move with base 110!!! damage when the user doesn't have a held item. Meanwhile, Retaliate becomes a base 140move (O_O!!!!!) for the one turn after one of your other pokemon has been KOed. and you get it from gym 2!!! I think its kind of telling that the pokemon that learn the move *naturally* don;t learn it till they are in the 40s or higher. I also love the Ferroseed/Ferrothorn line; it is awesomely insane, and probably my favorite new pokemon from a battling perspective. Excellent defenses, a type combination with many resistances and only two weaknesses (fire and fighting), and they come ready equipped with Gyro Ball and Curse, which are awesome together (give it something like an Iron ball to power it up even more) During the E4, it was probably my most usefull pokemon just because it could Wall anything that didn;t use fire or fighting.

I really wish that the game would just let us copy over HM moves already. I don;t really get why they still have that restriction, especially since now even TMs can be used over and over. I guess they're still worried about some dumb player surfing into some other area and then pasting over surf with something else, and not having the HM on them to re-teach the move, but really, who stores items anymore, especially TM/HMs? inventory is pretty much unlimited, I can hardly think of any reason why anyone would store a TM or HM in the box instead of keeping it with them.

[Nate]

who stores items anymore

You can't store items anymore, actually. Your PC is only for mail/letters, you cannot store items in the PC. They made the bag a bag of infinite holding in response to that.

I'm actually a bit annoyed about this, honestly. I want to be able to store items in my PC, because there's items that don't have a purpose while I'm out walking around. Like the Beauty Scale, for example. I don't have a Feebas at the moment, and probably won't for a while. Until then, there's no reason for me to carry it around in my bag and take up space. I really wish I could store it in the PC so it's one less item I'd have to scroll past in the list.

As for HM moves, the Move Deleter has been able to delete them since the original Gold/Silver way back when, so it really doesn't seem like a problem to me. *shrug*

[Peanut]

I beat the Elite 4 awhile ago and have been getting my revenge against Nintendo by cheating to get Zekrom as well as a bunch of other Pokemon. Yeah, that's about it...