Pokemon Black and White 2 Released in the U.S.

[mr_pikachu]

We've been waiting for months, and this week, they've finally been released! Has anyone picked up a copy of Black 2 or White 2 yet, or even taken advantage of the limited-time Genesect promotion (http://videogamewriters.com/genesect-available-for-limited-time-to-celebrate-pokemon-blackwhite-2-launch-55523) (through November 12th)?

Personally, I'll probably be waiting until Christmas to (hopefully) receive a copy of White 2. Maybe there will be a bunch of extra Genesect on the GTS at that point...?

As for what the new games have to offer, I think the most attractive new feature is the World Tournament. I'm all about nostalgia in the Pokemon games, which is part of why I loved the second generation so much. This seems like a great way to get that nostalgia, while also adding some of the thrills we enjoyed in Emerald's Battle Frontier. Maybe I'm getting my hopes too high for that particular post-game feature, but it does seem like a great addition.

So, how do you feel about the new games?

[CaptainJigglypuff]

Got it yesterday and I thought it seemed too easy so far. I only had trouble with Clay Gym Leader wise and Drayden a little bit but not as much as Clay. On my first try I got a female Oshawott. Also the part where you had to fight Black Kyurem, I defeated it with only two hits from Lucario's Aura Sphere. I'm on Victory Road now. But I DO like the game though!

[Jeff]

I have the day off tomorrow and have two paychecks to deposit, so I'll probably be picking up my copy then. I'll probably get White 2 and start with Oshawott, considering my strong tradition of picking the water starter going all the way back to Red.

[Lady Vulpix]

I would like to get one, but importing stuff into my country is hard these days. Maybe next July I can fly to the USA and get it myself. Unless anyone comes this way before then.

It's nice to see you post, by the way. :)

[ChobiChibi]

I preordered, but its not out until Friday in Europe. So I will let you know my thoughts when it arrives.

Don't forget to get Genesect everyone! Should be available on the WiFi now.

Gabi, I was gonna suggest naming this forum gen 5 and splitting it into black/white and black/white 2, but I forgot to say earlier ^^;

[Rossymore]

I'm getting Black 2 on Friday and am looking forward to playing it very much, especially now that I will be able to understand what's being said/done. It's a very good game, brings a lot of good additions to the series and is a solid entry to the series.

Now then... what's next for the series?

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

What are the differences between the versions? If the Pokemon obtained in wild are the same as in the previous installments, shouldn't one pick Black 2 if he bought White in the first place?

[DarkestLight]

No. They swapped it up more. Genesect though, I gotta get on that. My busted black sprung to life so im hurredly transferring.

[ChobiChibi]

I went for White 2 because I played White. I don't think it makes too much of a difference. But I am so excited.

[CaptainJigglypuff]

Personally, I'll probably be waiting until Christmas to (hopefully) receive a copy of White 2. Maybe there will be a bunch of extra Genesect on the GTS at that point...?



Sorry. The Wifi Genesect can't be traded on the GTS.

[BTPoke]

I got both the day they came out. I'm just that fan-crazy that I got both.

And I also bought the collector's edition Strategy guide! I got a discount from buying BW2 (an even bigger discount, considering I bought both). I think I'll supply a few pics later, because the cover just looks so awesome! :D

[Rossymore]

Well I've preordered Black 2, so I'll get that on Friday and maybe sometime in the next few weeks I'll get White 2, but it's not a priority. B/W are the first paired games ever since Gen II where I've obtained both versions. Strange, eh?

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

And I also bought the collector's edition Strategy guide! I got a discount from buying BW2 (an even bigger discount, considering I bought both). I think I'll supply a few pics later, because the cover just looks so awesome! :D

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z83/Mikayuta/img45.jpg

Which one will win, BTPoke's book or my book?

[BTPoke]

You want pictures? I Got Pictures

Here's the first cover: http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h360/BTPoke/IMG_0214_zps4179adc1.jpg
That's just the cover that they slap on, though

Here's the actual inner hard cover
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h360/BTPoke/IMG_0212_zps9687e1a9.jpg
^Front cover

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h360/BTPoke/IMG_0213_zpse35ace50.jpg
^Back Cover

Sorry for incredibly-overlarge images xD
This was all done with my Ipod Touch, so the image quality is rather low, but you get the idea.

[Jeff]

Got it yesterday and got 3 badges. Elesa's freaking level 30 Zebstrika keeps wasting my entire team and thanks to Volt Switch, I'm not getting any experience from the battle because she manages to keep all 3 alive. Doing some training now and will take another whack at it.

[BTPoke]

^I got a sandslash that managed to make short work out of all her pokemon. Magnitude does A LOT if you get lucky xD

I must say, though, that the gyms in these games look pretty cool.

actually using wind in a flying type gym. ABOUT TIME!

[Jeff]

I used Sandile. The little guy was still too weak to stand up to Zebstrika, but I got lucky with a confuse ray off of, of all things, my freshly evolved Crobat. That opened up the rest of her team to Magnemite and Sandile. Now I'm in Driftveil. Hopefully Magnemite evolves soon so I don't have to backtrack too much to get it to evolve again. (FYI, the rest of my team is Dewott, Lucario, and Leavanny)

Also, I have to say I'm loving the habitat list feature of the Pokedex. It's something I've been wanting for a while now.

[BTPoke]

I say we all post our teams, alright? :D

I'm currently in Opelucid City, and my team is:

Samurott
Ampharos
Lucario
Arcanine
Sandslash
Flygon

I'm also loving the habitat feature. Now, if I ever want to catch all the Unova pokemon, I can check to see what ones I missed xD

[DivineAll]

Yeesh, BT, you get like 2 badges per day or something like that right? Anyhow, today I beat Roxie's Gym, which I will admit has the nice touch of stopping the music once you beat her, and am now currently training in Castelia for badge #3. Chose Tepig as my Starter, again, but I'm going to to go with a different team route now that I've tried out various 5th gen Pokémon.

Here's my team so far:
Pignite
Purrloin
Sewaddle
Marill
Koffing
Magnemite

Only 2 out of 6 Pokémon of this team are going to be permanent members until the end of this game and until then I'm training them until I get their proper replacements or until I get something that will give me a Type advantage for certain Gyms. Either or.

[BTPoke]

Yeesh, BT, you get like 2 badges per day or something like that right?

...actually, now that I think about it, yes xD

I literally got the last 2 badges yesterday

[Jeff]

So, I was limping out of Victory Road and Hugh's all like "lolz let's fight!". Dick.

Reminds me of that time in Emerald when the same thing happened to me with the two trainers under the bridge. Luckily, just like back then, I had enough healing items to open my own Pokemon Center, so I made it through. Would have been nice if he had stopped and given me the opportunity to heal up before the battle, but ah, oh well.

[CaptainJigglypuff]

The graphics are good and I like the storyline but game play was TOO easy on normal mode. I beat the first half in a day and a half and my total play time at that point was only 15 hours. I mean the trainers seemed to have no chance against me and I beat the Elite Four AND Iris with the event Mewtwo as my only Pokemon and won on my first try. I OKOd most of their Pokemon except for Sawk which had Sturdy and Haxorus. Haxorus barely survive my Lucario's first Ice Punch and Iris didn't even heal it at that point. This was B2. And the whole boss battle with Black Kyurem lasted only thirty seconds literally. Two Aura Spheres and it was done.

[Knight of Time]

I pre-ordered the two games, putting a $5 deposit on each of them last month at the local EB Games (much like I did with the original B/W games)...but at this rate, I don't know when I'll get around to getting them, but one thing's for sure, I am crossing my fingers that I don't miss out on the Genesect event (considering that I bought a Kirby game for the Wii a couple of weeks ago, it's hard to say when I'll get the chance to get B2/W2, or if I'll end up getting them for Christmas instead)...to me, it's definitely about the timing of when I get the two games.

[BTPoke]

I beat the Elite Four AND Iris with the event Mewtwo as my only Pokemon and won on my first try.

Yes, yes, using an overpowered legendary to take down the elite four, like we haven't seen that before xD
Seriously, though, in Emerald, i did that with Rayquaza. Didn't break a sweat. Was just way too easy.

Personally, i don't care if the gameplay is easy or not. I like to think that they make it easy for you on purpose, to make you feel like the hero of the series that can REALLY take down any trainer easily, and that your bond with your pokemon is so great that you can take down anyone. It makes me feel like "Hey, maybe it's not that my opponents are weak at all. Maybe this game only seems easy, all because my pokemon are truly powerful."

Also, EVs. You have them, and your opponents don't. kiiind of gives you an "unfair" advantage over the AI xD

[CaptainJigglypuff]

I only used Mewtwo to get the One and Only and Psychic Medals.

[BTPoke]

Oh wow, I didn't realize you could get medals for that. Awesome! xD

[CaptainJigglypuff]

Oh wow, I didn't realize you could get medals for that. Awesome! xD

You get medals for beating the Elite Four and Iris by using only one Type of Pokemon (e.g. all Psychic, Dark, or Bug Pokemon) or using only one Pokemon. I planned on using Mewtwo to get the one medal for beating the Elite Four and Champion and entering the Hall of Fame with only one Pokemon. The Psychic Master Medal was just a bonus as whatever Pokemon you use solo for the medal, you'll get at least TWO medals. Three if it's a dual Type.

[Rossymore]

As far as difficulty goes, if you get Challenge Mode, then the levels ramp up quite a bit by the seventh Gym onwards. My team is currently five levels behind even the normal trainers. However, it's annoying to get these modes on certain games, but the team additions to the Gym Leaders are nice, if a bit underused.

At least I finally get my copy of Black 2 today. Been waiting all week.

[DarkestLight]

So in essence there's 18 metals? One for beating the "end game" with Each Poketype and if ya do it with one Pokemon only? So I'd hafta beat the game with Arceus 17 times, each holding one Plate. Eaaasssyyyy :/

[CaptainJigglypuff]

So in essence there's 18 metals? One for beating the "end game" with Each Poketype and if ya do it with one Pokemon only? So I'd hafta beat the game with Arceus 17 times, each holding one Plate. Eaaasssyyyy :/

You HAVE to battle each of the five trainers using only ONE Pokemon and it has to be the only one in your party when you fight the Elite Four and Iris. And you get the One And Only medal once. The other sixteen Pokemon type based medals occurs when you have 6 Pokemon sharing one single Type. So you could do Arceus holding a Fist Plate, Sawk, Poliwrath, Lucario, Blaziken, and Virizion and get the Fighting Champ medal as all six are Fighting Pokemon.

[DarkestLight]

OH OK. That's a little easier.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

LOL. MOAR. N.

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z83/Mikayuta/Near.png

[DarkestLight]

Ok. After two playthroughs (2nd not compete, I saved at the E4 just now cause I'm horridly underleveled for them) I've come to post my pros and cons for the game

Starting with Pros:
1) So much post game content. I'm super excited to really work on Pokestar Studios. It really grew on me alot.
2) The Medals are pretty nifty...but this is also a con as shall be explained later.
3) Then general update to the game's locales are great. I HATE Victory road still, but it was good to see just what caved in, and what paths were still the same, and what had changed.
4) ROAMING RANDOM LEGENDARY TRIO SQUEE!!
5) "Good" continuation of the storyline
6) The "move" option for held-item shuffling in the menu. Bout damn time.
7) Riolu on Route 2. Seriously, smartest choice ever after picking grass starter. Nothing beats the dream team of Serperior and Lucario.



Now Cons:
1) As been stated before. Screw roamers. Tired of the noise.
2) Looking for N's Pokemon can't be any more annoying :/
3) Medals. Ok look, some are fun to get. Some you get just from diligence and playing the game. In fact, most of them are. Even the E4 ones add some spice. But some of them completely do not interest me. Case in point, anything to do with musicals makes me wanna retch. So I feel I'm not gonna get those medals, cause I HATE MUSICALS
4) Marlon. Crappiest Gym Leader after Brock. Seriously.
5) NINTENDO!!!!! LAST. TIME.

MAKE. A. BLOODY. MASS. TRANSFER. FILE. DEVICE. SO. I. DUN.HAFTA.TRADE.ALL 646. FRICKING. POKEMON. OVER! I'm not retraining my crews and what not. I'll retool a bit, but for the most part, movesets are good and I can run with that.
6) NOT. one good water type. Golduck was the ehhh HM slave choice I ended up with. NO real candidates for a sixth man. Going in 5 deep


Alright. That over with, anyone done all the Entralink missions and what not? I better finish this league so I can whip on on the Gym Leaders in the Tourneys to come.

[Cynder]

I completed my copy of Black 2 the other day, but Nintendo was a massive dick putting Hugh at the end of the Victory Road :/ Seriously, I had like 1 Pokemon left and it was in the orange range of heath, and BAM had to waste all of those lovely Max Revives to beat him :/ I was very lucky too, if it weren't for a lucky crit with Arcanine's Extremespeed I'd have lost! He was on red so I was stupidly greatful for that being the last battle I had to face before the next Pokemon Centre. The rest of the game was far too easy, though, I'm just glad I chose to play Black 2 so I could unlock challenge mode for White 2, which I'm currently playing through. The only challenging gym on normal mode was the electric one!

Dang, that first gym's HARD when it's on challenge mode! I had to use it o grind, I must have beaten that damn Patrat about 6 times before I could even touch the Lillipup, but the Pidove was easy after that. (I didn't wanna use Riolu because I used it for a lot of the first playthrough before I dumped it :U)

Final Black 2 Team:
Kaine the Terrakion lvl 57
Fuego the Magnezone lvl 58
Aspen the Serperior lvl 57
Dame B. (Boogaloo, cause that's all I hear when I hear her cry lol) the Jellicent lvl 58
Cujo the Arcanine lvl 61
N's Zoroark lvl 64

Current White 2 Team:
Genesect lvl 19
Jackson the Elekid lvl 19
Aster the Dewott lvl 20
Jade the (shiny!) Zubat lvl 19
Shade the Purrloin lvl 19

I'm just about to give Burgh a run for him money (or grind, depending on how that turns out lol)

[Dark Sage]

Uh, Cynder, it's a tradition in most Pokemon games for you to have to defeat a powerful trainer at the end of Victory Road. Oftentimes, it is your Rival.

I should point out that there is a Trainer on Victory Road who is a Doctor. Speak to him at any time after defeating him (he's not hard to beat) and he'll completely heal your Pokemon. You can do this as often as you like.

[Cynder]

Yeah, I know all that, but it's difficult to trek all the way back through Victory road when your Pokemon are low on HP (and lacking in Potions due to little preparation) and you're pretty sure that there aren't going to be any more trainers. I actually hadn't even thought about Hugh appearing so when he did it took me off guard, especially considering the only Pokemon I had left was my Serperior and the first Pokemon on his team was the Tranquill. I'd used the doctor a LOT of times prior to that because I was grinding as I went and I was determined to battle every single trainer on the road, making doing so nigh impossible without battling the doctor.

[Rossymore]

For such a staple of the series, it has only happened three times. Gen II and its remakes, then R/S. Then, B2/W2. In all other cases, it has been just before (Gen I and remakes, B/W, Emerald) or just after (D/P/P).

The more you knoooooow!

Also, I don't tend to use the doctors more than once as I'm usually too far away and a Revive + MooMoo Milk usually fully heals up any member by that point anyway.

[Dark Sage]

Okay, fine.

In the future, buy as many potions and revives as you can afford before taking on Victory Road for the first time. Max Repels would be a good idea too, because messing with wild Pokemon here isn't the brightest idea (unless you're trying to hunt for them, something you should not be doing on the first trip). Don't worry about spending all your money, because you'll earn a LOT of it by battling trainers.

And heal after every battle, because you never know what's waiting for you in the next cave.

Don't forget, once you make it to the Pokemon League, you can use Fly to leave and then come back at any time, so once you get there, there's no problem if you want to leave to train somewhere else.

[DarkestLight]

For such a staple of the series, it has only happened three times. Gen II and its remakes, then R/S. Then, B2/W2. In all other cases, it has been just before (Gen I and remakes, B/W, Emerald) or just after (D/P/P).

What are you referring too? Rival battles? Cause if so, your last comment about D/P/P would make it not the minority, but the majority...

[Rossymore]

For D/P/P, you face Barry literally seconds before the E4, as he comes up to you before you talk to the badge checker guy inside the building. So in that case, he's unique. The closest to that would be Silver, who fights you at the end of an empty Victory Road, but in Barry's case, you can heal up at the PokeCenter then fight him.

And as far as money goes, especially in Gen V, I have never been low on money, except for the start, obviously. Towards the end, I get 100,000 without even trying along with a good stock of items, which consist of Revives, Super Potions and MooMoo Milks, maybe Hyper Potions if my Pokemon get high in level and Revival Herbs if I remember. Full Heals round it off and anything else, I really don't need.

[Chris 2.1]

Thoroughly enjoying B2. I feel though, like the first part of the game (up to Castelia) tries so hard to be a different game than B/W, only for gyms 4, 5 and 6 (and the routes) to feel like carbon copies. Then after that it gets a bit interesting, but still.

So I have 7 badges, just got to Humilau.

Emboar (Mars) Lv 46
Magnezone (Zaap) Lv 47
Starmie (Hitomi) Lv 45
Roserade (Cardamom) Lv 49
Lucario (Bruno) Lv 44
Crobat (Sharpe) Lv 44

Team all came together randomly tbh, Magnemite was amazing vs Roxie, caught Roselia in Lostlorn forest and she was a total star. Crobat is great too, considering teaching him loads of the new move tutor moves to surprise people. He has cross poison/bite/acrobatics/return but I figure we might switch it up and give him heat wave, u-turn etc.

I also wanted to have a Zoroark on the team but didn't really like him off the bat so boxed him.

[Cynder]

Unimpressed by Zoroark? Aww, shame D: I love using it, it's so fun to troll the E4! Caitlin was so easy to beat it wasn't even funny xD She just kept spamming Dream Eater on my sleeping Zoroark (disguised as Terrakion) and he didn't take any damage at all from it, maintaining the illusion and letting me boost Special Attack with Nasty Plot until I could just OHKO the rest of her team. That was fun. :3

[Dark Sage]

Yes, Zoroark is fun. So fun that I used its pre-evolution in my fanfic in a chapter where the hero is challenged by a villain to a Little Cup battle. The whole "trying to use a Psychic attack on a Pokemon that you don't know is Dark" worked there too.

As for me, my current goal is catching the three Mirages of Sinnoh. I just "released" them, and I'm waiting for night to fall before going after them so I can use Dusk Balls.

[ChobiChibi]

... How do you know if you've caught one of N's pokemon? I just caught a Braviary on route 4, sat there flapping its wings, clearly not meant to be there... Level 25 too. Mine now >>

[BTPoke]

if you find one of N's pokemon, a little effect goes on when they appear (that I can't seem to remember the details of right now, but you'll know it when you see it). When you catch it, the game will "notice" that the pokemon has a different OT.

[ChobiChibi]

Yeah, I just read up on it, turns out Braviary isn't one of N's pokemon you can catch. Still doesn't explain why I found it just flapping away >>

Especially as it's only level 25 and it doesn't evolve from Rufflet til level 54 wtf.

EDIT: One appears on Mondays on Route 4 in White 2 only. Solution found XD

[Dark Sage]

if you find one of N's pokemon, a little effect goes on when they appear (that I can't seem to remember the details of right now, but you'll know it when you see it). When you catch it, the game will "notice" that the pokemon has a different OT.

The first clue that you've met one of N's Pokemon is that it appears to be a Shiny. (They aren't real Shinies, however) Then the message at the bottom of the screen has both a ! and a ?, suggesting that the Pokemon isn't wild at all.

When you actually catch it, you won't be allowed to nickname it, and a message will say, "It appears [Pokemon's name] had a different OC!"

If you need more proof, check the Pokemon's summary in your box. N will clearly be listed as the original trainer.

[BTPoke]

yeah, I was incredibly confused when I first encountered one of N's pokemon. I was all like "OH MY GOD! A SHINY!?" Then I looked up the pokemon's shiny sprite to be sure, and it wasn't. So yeah, that made me really confused until I looked this stuff up.

[CaptainJigglypuff]

Yeah, I just read up on it, turns out Braviary isn't one of N's pokemon you can catch. Still doesn't explain why I found it just flapping away >>

Especially as it's only level 25 and it doesn't evolve from Rufflet til level 54 wtf.

EDIT: One appears on Mondays on Route 4 in White 2 only. Solution found XD

You can get a Volcorna at level 37 before you face the Elite Four and Iris. And it evolves from Larvesta at level 59. The Pokemon games do this type of thing all the time. You have to remember in RBY, you could get a level 9 Pidgeotto in Viridian Forest.

[Dark Sage]

Btw, the Braviary you find on Route 4 is only in White 2.

In Black 2, you can find a Mandibuzz in the same location (more or less, seeing as Route 4 is different depending on the game) on Thursdays. It is also Lvl 25.

And by the way, the computer tends to cheat with Pokemon that are lower Level than they should be all the time. Roxy has a Lvl 18 Whilipede, and Venipede don't evolve until Lvl 22. A far more serious violation occurs with Ghetsis, whose Hydreigon is underevolved (but not quite as much as it was in the previous game, thank goodness).

[ChobiChibi]

Considering I just said I was on route 4, you guys are all assholes. Thanks for the spoilers :P