so anyone else getting the Gen V games? i'm picking up version White on monday after work at the EB games. i've seen the roster and there are lots of the new 'mons that seem interesting (both design and usability-wise) at least and several with stats that look just beastly (one that i'm really looking forward to seeing in play is a ridiculously powerful mole, Excadrill, i will be calling Simon, who's drill will pierce the heavens... and everything else).
seriously, that mole is RIDICULOUS. it's got an average-ish speed that is doubled in sandstorm, which is crazy. as in "faster then choice scarf-Jolly-garchomp" crazy with a slightly higher attack bonus.
it's move pool is decent, but it hits like a very fast, very powerful tank.
Dude, the fire starter stole my name.
What, really? Gotta check up Bulbapedia...
...oh, Pignite. That was actually a fan-name for Pokabu before "Tepig" was announced IIRC.
Dewott is probably the best looking 1st starter evolution ever. Too bad Samurott isn't bipedal as well. I think it looks awkward.
the 1st gen games are definitely showing their age, even the task of swapping out 'mons from your team to the box is slowed down by:
loading up the PC
chose to withdraw from box
it saves your game
manually go down the list of mons (or you have to manually go out of that menu, change the box, go down the list again)
etc...
while in heartgold/soulsilver it's all done through the touch screen
load up PC
click on move pokemon
click & drag from box (or click on a < or > arrow to switch boxes on the fly) to your team and back again
still the same gameplay i fell in love with though. the physical/special split in the Gen 4 games gave a much needed boost to some 'mons and the reuseable TMs in Gen 5 has been a long time coming (as well as the ability to trade with mons in the boxes as well as your team).
either way, in 5 hours i should have White in my hands and ready for a review. it's gonna be weird not having my standard issue workhorses like Alakazam or Dragonite on the first playthrough, but i'm hoping the 150+ new 'mons recapture some of that explore/catch'em all i fell in love with years ago.
I've actually considered buying a DS just to play Black/White (as well as HeartGold/SoulSilver)- assuming I still have money left over after GenCon. The older games were awesome (I still play them on occasion- yay for Nostalgia). The Gold & Silver remakes were great, but that might be because it was based on the originals. I played a bit of Diamond/Pearl/Platinum though, and was SERIOUSLY disappointed. The games have come along way, but it seems like it lost its way there for a little while.
I'm anxiously waiting to see opinions from as many sources as possible to see which set the new games are closer to.
So do you get the black dragon thingy in white or black?
while the EB games guy said the game will be available for purchase on sunday at 12pm in the afternoon (i work from 10am to 6:30pm), i didn't realize the EB games store was only open t'ill 5pm.
really EB games? only open for 5 hours on sunday?
either way i'll get me mah pokeymans monday morning.
Black/White (i've got white BTW) starts you off right from the get-go in the world of pokemon. as in: Juniper (this game's Oak/Elm/etc... professor) gives you the "welcome to the world of pokemon" speech, shows us she's got alsheimer's (are you a boy? or a girl?... what's your name again?) then gives us a quick intro on Bianca & Cheren, the only 2 other children in this 3 house town. the game then starts with the 3 of you in your room where you immediately get to pick your starter and battle both of your friends.
bianca will take the one weak against yours while cheren seems to take the one strong against you.
after wrecking your room (yes, you battle in your room. the results aren't pretty), you officially meet with juniper, she gives you your dex, shows you how to catch your first mon and gives you a handful of pokeballs.
i've been playing the game for about 20 minutes and i've already got 2 mons. B/W does not muck about getting you started. i'm still playing as i write this.
also the new badguys are awesome. it's like PETA but with firebreathing bulldogs and like PETA they aren't afraid to make their opinions heard.
GRAPHICS:
lots of little things. B/W has actual in-game seasons. i don't know what manages the actual changes since it's Winter here in PEI but Autumn in Unova (the fictional region the game is set in). upon exiting my house i noticed the grass was dull, the trees were a nice autumn color and when in entered route 1, i was surprised to see leaves blowing about in foreground and cattails alongside route 1 thanks to the wind. it's a nice touch and doesn't get in the way.
the battles are also more dynamic. the camera will pan left and right if you don't touch the game on your turn and will zoom in a bit onto your opponent when your attack hits. you also get to see the full back bodyof your mon, rather then the nape of his neck and back of skull. but what's real nice is that each mon has their own in-battle animations. sure it's nothing too fancy, if you've played the Dragon Warrior games you've probably seen slimes and drakees wobble to and fro (or in Lillipup's case, jump up a bit and shake it's head) but it's a nice addition to pokemon.
i would have prefered they keep the HG/SS interface of keeping your "ITEM/POKEMON/INFO/SAVE/OPTIONS" on the touch screen, rather then have to pull it up with the X button. a nice change is that there is more space in each of the selectable items in the various holding pockets.
i don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing (or if it's even a normal occurance), but i got "call" on my Xtransceiver, your cell phone, and was greeted with animated talking heads of the 3 kids+Juniper. upon getting a call from your unnamed Mom i got greeted with another talking sprite before she snuck up and gave me a pair of running shoes
the 3D elements are also quite nice and Gamefreak seems to be playing a bit with the camera angles, with a topview when your outside but a more 3rd person/over the shoulder view when in the first pokemon center/mart. yes, they merged the mart & center into your one-stop hospital, trading & gift center.
SOUND
it's nice background noise. starter town has a slow calming little tune going on, while TeamBadguy has a slightly mysterious/insidious tone to it. town 2 a bit more chipper then town one, but doesn't grate on your ears
the battle music is a nice remix of the old ones, but still has the familiar fanfare once you win.
also:THE POKEMON IS IN THE RED HP ISN'T 100% PURE EARBUSTING ANNOYANCE! OMG! i kid you not. it's still the blip and bong you remember but when your HP goes critical the game's music & tempo speeds up a bit, with the blips and bongs being more in-line and seems to be part of the beat rather then a "WARNING! WARNING!" type of thing.
BATTLES
it's pokemon, with it's 17 layers of Paper-Scissor-Rock-Lizard-Spock dynamics. everything feels VERY familar. what's nice to note is that all starters seem to have a physical attack + defense debuff, rather then the old attack + defense OR attack debuff.
either way be prepared to leer/tailwhip + STAB attack a bit in the early game.
i've yet to experiment with the early mons too much, but it's nice to be seeing whole new faces rather then "oh look the same rattata i've been mauling since 14 years ago". this time it's a shitshu, a kitty and a marmot. i've yet to meet up with the generic flyer type though.
FINAL THOUGHTS
i'm still working at 'er. game is great and it's doing much to recapture the old feeling of Red/Blue thanks to the whole new roster. yes i've spoiled a bit for myself by looking up a few of the newer ones, but eh... still a LOT of new faces.
well i'm just about ready to challenge the first gym so wish me luck!
also the new badguys are awesome. it's like PETA but with firebreathing bulldogs and like PETA they aren't afraid to make their opinions heard.
If PETA had firebreathing bulldogs I'd join their cause (and name mine Churchill).
Screw pokemon, that would be awesome. : P I'd just release them into the wild, willy-nilly, and wait to hear stories about mutant space deer eating our grizzly bears and cougars to publish my results.
"So, Sheffield, all those mutant deer?! That was you?"
"Yeah, yeah, that was me. But you have to admit, it is cool."
"Yeah, as much as you're in trouble, it is kinda cool. Ah, what the hell, all in favor of letting Shef off the hook on account of coolness? Say 'ay.'"
-And a resounding "ay" echoes through the congressional hearing, and Shef is remembered forever as the scientist that made a breed of bad ass deer that ate bears and cougars.-
I'd like to breed deer for aggression, muscle, and give them both large, sharp, pointy antlers, and tusks (there's actually a tusked deer). I would then like to then genetically alter it to have bioluminscence, like super-bright. If possible, I'd like to give it cnidarian nematocysts (the stinging cells in jellyfish, siphonophorae, sea anemones, and some corals) in its antlers, and possibly tentacles loaded with more nematocysts around its mouth. I'd try to find a way so that it hunted in packs and its natural prey was grizzly bears and mountain lions. Imagine something that glowed in the dark, as big as a bull moose, muscular as an aurochs bull, with the mean streak of a pit bull that hunted in packs like wolves and ate bears and mountain lions.
Screw pokemon, that would be awesome. : P I'd just release them into the wild, willy-nilly, and wait to hear stories about mutant space deer eating our grizzly bears and cougars to publish my results.
"So, Sheffield, all those mutant deer?! That was you?"
"Yeah, yeah, that was me. But you have to admit, it is cool."
"Yeah, as much as you're in trouble, it is kinda cool. Ah, what the hell, all in favor of letting Shef off the hook on account of coolness? Say 'ay.'"
-And a resounding "ay" echoes through the congressional hearing, and Shef is remembered forever as the scientist that made a breed of bad ass deer that ate bears and cougars.-
tentacles you say? ',:]
I'd like to breed deer for aggression, muscle, and give them both large, sharp, pointy antlers, and tusks (there's actually a tusked deer). I would then like to then genetically alter it to have bioluminscence, like super-bright. If possible, I'd like to give it cnidarian nematocysts (the stinging cells in jellyfish, siphonophorae, sea anemones, and some corals) in its antlers, and possibly tentacles loaded with more nematocysts around its mouth. I'd try to find a way so that it hunted in packs and its natural prey was grizzly bears and mountain lions. Imagine something that glowed in the dark, as big as a bull moose, muscular as an aurochs bull, with the mean streak of a pit bull that hunted in packs like wolves and ate bears and mountain lions.
Screw pokemon, that would be awesome. : P I'd just release them into the wild, willy-nilly, and wait to hear stories about mutant space deer eating our grizzly bears and cougars to publish my results.
"So, Sheffield, all those mutant deer?! That was you?"
"Yeah, yeah, that was me. But you have to admit, it is cool."
"Yeah, as much as you're in trouble, it is kinda cool. Ah, what the hell, all in favor of letting Shef off the hook on account of coolness? Say 'ay.'"
-And a resounding "ay" echoes through the congressional hearing, and Shef is remembered forever as the scientist that made a breed of bad ass deer that ate bears and cougars.-
tentacles you say? ',:]
Ay, tentacles, that it would use to bring its bear or mountain lion prey to a painful death before consumption. : P
That, and tentacles around the mouth would just look awesome. : )
I'd like to breed deer for aggression, muscle, and give them both large, sharp, pointy antlers, and tusks (there's actually a tusked deer). I would then like to then genetically alter it to have bioluminscence, like super-bright. If possible, I'd like to give it cnidarian nematocysts (the stinging cells in jellyfish, siphonophorae, sea anemones, and some corals) in its antlers, and possibly tentacles loaded with more nematocysts around its mouth. I'd try to find a way so that it hunted in packs and its natural prey was grizzly bears and mountain lions. Imagine something that glowed in the dark, as big as a bull moose, muscular as an aurochs bull, with the mean streak of a pit bull that hunted in packs like wolves and ate bears and mountain lions.
Screw pokemon, that would be awesome. : P I'd just release them into the wild, willy-nilly, and wait to hear stories about mutant space deer eating our grizzly bears and cougars to publish my results.
"So, Sheffield, all those mutant deer?! That was you?"
"Yeah, yeah, that was me. But you have to admit, it is cool."
"Yeah, as much as you're in trouble, it is kinda cool. Ah, what the hell, all in favor of letting Shef off the hook on account of coolness? Say 'ay.'"
-And a resounding "ay" echoes through the congressional hearing, and Shef is remembered forever as the scientist that made a breed of bad ass deer that ate bears and cougars.-
tentacles you say? ',:]
Ay, tentacles, that it would use to bring its bear or mountain lion prey to a painful death before consumption. : P
That, and tentacles around the mouth would just look awesome. : )
I'd like to breed deer for aggression, muscle, and give them both large, sharp, pointy antlers, and tusks (there's actually a tusked deer). I would then like to then genetically alter it to have bioluminscence, like super-bright. If possible, I'd like to give it cnidarian nematocysts (the stinging cells in jellyfish, siphonophorae, sea anemones, and some corals) in its antlers, and possibly tentacles loaded with more nematocysts around its mouth. I'd try to find a way so that it hunted in packs and its natural prey was grizzly bears and mountain lions. Imagine something that glowed in the dark, as big as a bull moose, muscular as an aurochs bull, with the mean streak of a pit bull that hunted in packs like wolves and ate bears and mountain lions.
Screw pokemon, that would be awesome. : P I'd just release them into the wild, willy-nilly, and wait to hear stories about mutant space deer eating our grizzly bears and cougars to publish my results.
"So, Sheffield, all those mutant deer?! That was you?"
"Yeah, yeah, that was me. But you have to admit, it is cool."
"Yeah, as much as you're in trouble, it is kinda cool. Ah, what the hell, all in favor of letting Shef off the hook on account of coolness? Say 'ay.'"
-And a resounding "ay" echoes through the congressional hearing, and Shef is remembered forever as the scientist that made a breed of bad ass deer that ate bears and cougars.-
tentacles you say? ',:]
Ay, tentacles, that it would use to bring its bear or mountain lion prey to a painful death before consumption. : P
That, and tentacles around the mouth would just look awesome. : )
Actually, it would be more like...
One bad ass breed of deer
I can't believe that mind-numbing kiddie crack is still around. And isn't the whole concept based on animal cruelty? Why didn't Vick's lawyer stock the jury with Pokemon fans? He'd have got probation at best.
I dunno about that. I always thought the Pokeaddicts were fond of their 'mons. I mean, if we look at it Poke-style, Vick didn't heal up his 'mons after they lost a fight. He strangled, drowned, electrocuted and beat them to death. That may rile up the 'mon-sters, I think.
And isn't the whole concept based on animal cruelty?
No, it's based on humans and animals working together as partners and teaching and protecting one another. Duh. Actually, it's funny because the plot of this new one is exactly that there's an organization that wants to take Pokemon away from their trainers exactly because they (wrongly) interpret the relationship between humans and Pokemon as cruelty and slavery. It pretty much gets explained in the game that, if your Pokemon wanted to leave you, they just would. Or it's Stockholm, whatever.
not that i had any teeth left by the end of that fight.
and this is AFTER i thought i had over-prepared.
a level 60, EV trained, modest Chandleur. a 56 Naughty EV trained Shiny Gigalith. a 56 Naughty EV trained Bisharp. i would generally hit like a truck made of smaller trucks made of motorcyles. on fire.
E4+endgame roundup in sblock to not spoil for people
Show
E4 were a cakewalk. Psychic, Ghost, Fighting, Dark in no particular order (you have to beat them all, but at least it's on your terms. sorta). half are weak VS ghost (chandleur), one weak against bug (Bisharp has X-Scissors) & fighting generally has crappy Sp.def and went down fas, barring the Sturdy Throh.
a cut-scene later, i enter the now-emerged Team Plasma base to Chase down N since he beat Alder, he's technically now the Champion and he was a cakewalk. nothing he used stood out as particularly annoying.
before i got to fight him though, i had the chance to catch the game's legendary, Zekrom, which was a breeze thanks to a lucky crit with Hidden Power (ground) bringing him to a sliver of HP & only needing 2 Dusk balls gave me the game's cover 'mon. yes it was luck, but i'll have my cake and eat it too, thank you.
the final boss, the Evil Megalomaniacal mastermind Gestis, though? >_<
ONE of his mons... one of them alone... that darn Hydreigon... nearly swept my whole team. it hits FAST and HARD with wide array of special moves.
Chandleur was hitting for half damage on all attack. Chandleur went down in a few hits. he one-shotted my Gigalith with focus blast(though sturdy left him with 1 HP... not that it helped much. the hail mary Stone Edge Sturdy gave me missed). with my remaining 1 HP i revived Chandleur and rested my hopes on Bisharp. Bisharp got hit pretty badly but survives and brings him to about a third of his HP left.
Bisharp gets killed by the next mon, but Chandleur picks up the slack & finishes him off.
Team Plasma, FYI, are horrible people.
not in the campy "Team Rocket causes generic chaos" evil kind of way or Team Galactic's "we could be big if we weren't so darned disorganized and spread out", but in a "let's use a front of wanting to protect pokemon to get PR & and a widely believed creationist story to sow fear, distrust and manipulate the general populace, get them to release their pokemon and then use our (still captured) 'mons to police them" kind of evil.
we break apart the Evil Organization, scatter their leaders across Unova (which seems to be a post-game mission, to capture the 7 escaped sages of plasma) and save the world. well, the country.
Cue save & (a very nice) credit music.
E4 were a cakewalk. Psychic, Ghost, Fighting, Dark in no particular order (you have to beat them all, but at least it's on your terms. sorta). half are weak VS ghost (chandleur), one weak against bug (Bisharp has X-Scissors) & fighting generally has crappy Sp.def and went down fas, barring the Sturdy Throh.
a cut-scene later, i enter the now-emerged Team Plasma base to Chase down N since he beat Alder, he's technically now the Champion and he was a cakewalk. nothing he used stood out as particularly annoying.
before i got to fight him though, i had the chance to catch the game's legendary, Zekrom, which was a breeze thanks to a lucky crit with Hidden Power (ground) bringing him to a sliver of HP & only needing 2 Dusk balls gave me the game's cover 'mon. yes it was luck, but i'll have my cake and eat it too, thank you.
the final boss, the Evil Megalomaniacal mastermind Gestis, though? >_<
ONE of his mons... one of them alone... that darn Hydreigon... nearly swept my whole team. it hits FAST and HARD with wide array of special moves.
Chandleur was hitting for half damage on all attack. Chandleur went down in a few hits. he one-shotted my Gigalith with focus blast(though sturdy left him with 1 HP... not that it helped much. the hail mary Stone Edge Sturdy gave me missed). with my remaining 1 HP i revived Chandleur and rested my hopes on Bisharp. Bisharp got hit pretty badly but survives and brings him to about a third of his HP left.
Bisharp gets killed by the next mon, but Chandleur picks up the slack & finishes him off.
Team Plasma, FYI, are horrible people.
not in the campy "Team Rocket causes generic chaos" evil kind of way or Team Galactic's "we could be big if we weren't so darned disorganized and spread out", but in a "let's use a front of wanting to protect pokemon to get PR & and a widely believed creationist story to sow fear, distrust and manipulate the general populace, get them to release their pokemon and then use our (still captured) 'mons to police them" kind of evil.
we break apart the Evil Organization, scatter their leaders across Unova (which seems to be a post-game mission, to capture the 7 escaped sages of plasma) and save the world. well, the country.
Cue save & (a very nice) credit music.
It was actually pretty hilarious.