The best in the Pokemon Series, Amazing Storyline and Improvement over past versions! Go get it now!
Genre: RPG
Developer: Nintendo
System: Nintendo DS
Total Score: 98/100
Value Score: 10/10
• Story: 10/10
o The storyline in Pokemon White is like the rest of the series, you start out as a trainer who choose 1 of 3 different types of pokemon and than you go out on a journey to catch more pokemon and to defeat the 8 gym leaders and eventually become the Pokemon League Champion. However to differentiate from the rest of the series, Pokemon White has gone through a evolution in terms of the deeper storyline to the point where the main storyline isn't even about collecting badges or pokemon, but about the evil organization you'll be fighting against in the game. Pretty much majority of the storyline involves this organization, the characters you meet, the actions and decisions you and the group do affect the overall storyline in the game. The game's storyline seems a lot more dramatic than previous games, dwelling into a dark drama involving deception, propaganda and a whole new insight in the world of pokemon.
• Characters: 9/10
o Regardless of the amazing storyline in the game, characters in Pokemon White seem to be a re-hash of previous characters, such as the professor, the main character, gym leaders , elite four, etc. However each of the characters get more of a personality in this generation than in most generations. Infact Nintendo succeeded implementing non-generic personalities to most of the characters in this game than their fail attempt in Pokemon Diamond-Pearl-Platinum. There are some cameos of few characters from different games such as Cynthia from the 4th generation, however some of the most old generation gamers will miss seeing classics such as Professor Oak, Gary or any of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation characters.
• GamePlay: 10/10
o Gameplay in Pokemon white is pretty solid, you have the basic gameplay system that the previous versions had, no new types had been added, however a combination of types for some pokemon, new skills, new abilities and new items make the gameplay appealing. Along with that TM s (Teaching Machines) are now unlimited unlike the past games, players will also have the chance to expand their pokemon boxes to enable them to contain all 600+ pokemon in the entire universe. Players will also be introduced to two new battle modes, Rotation and 3 vs. 3 Pokemon Battles, along with that, Battle Subway similar to the Battle Towers from the previous games have been added. Pretty much everything else in the game retained the original gameplay but have had a serious facelift remake over the mechanics.
• Graphics: 10/10
o The best 2D graphics ever seen, Pokemon white's graphics are a huge improvement over Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, as more 3D models are introduced to the game. Although the game lacks CG, some of the scenes in the game are breathtaking because of the fact 3D models were never really used for Cutscenes until now.
• Sound: 9/10
o The sounds in Pokemon White have barely improved from the previous generation, there's nothing much noting. However I do have to say, Nintendo did make the music and the sound go together well during the environment of the game, the walking through water, sand goes well with the music of the particular area. However the fact that Nintendo recycled the old sounds of pokemon noises from the First and Second generation instead of remaking them was a bit of disappointment.
• Music: 10/10
o Possibly the best OST of the entire series, this game's OST consists of several battle themes, some which contain melodies of previous version battle themes. The town and Route themes were well made, allowing the player to maintain a noticeable balance between the fights between the routes-Gyms and the trainer less forests and Towns. Nintendo also teased players with some remixes of previous games such as the Legendary Team Rocket Theme. Some of the music such as in the Intro music, Legendary Pokemon Battle theme, N's Castle and N's themes (both battle and in game) are well made and are recommended for anyone to get for their own collection.
• Length: 10/10
o The game takes about 35-40 hours at the most to beat the storyline unless you grind to be able to defeat the elite four in the very end. The first half of the game consists of you going through gyms and collecting badges while fighting the main Organization in the game, the 2nd half consists of you backtracking to finding the main members of the Organization named Team Plasma while encountering numerous legendary pokemon and old secret locations. There's also a lot of side quests and locations you can visit to prolong the game clock to your liking, obtaining every single pokemon, leveling them up and trading off previous version pokemon will probably in total overclock your game clock by another 20 hours. Bringing the grand total to about 60-70 hours depending on how long you grinded.
• Replay Value: 10/10
o Even if you finish the game, the game allows you to have rematch with several characters such as Cheren, Bianca, and the elite four. Along with that you'll be able to partake in the Battle subway in which is a challenging tournament for the players. Players will also be able to partake in contests for ribbons, play in the optional extra dungeon/area such as the White Forest which is exclusive to White version contrast to the Black City of the Black version. Players will of course will also be able to partake in Online wifi battles and be able to record them as well using the VS Recorder which is a new feature added to this generation.
• Player Value: 10/10
o Overall, perhaps the best generation up so far, Pokemon White surpasses the previous games and of course fixes the problems that Pokemon Diamond/Pearl had in terms of content, new additions and storyline. A incredible storyline with amazing graphics, sound and music, a lot of side quests which can be done and a long road of a adventure, Pokemon White delivers everything for the Pokemon Fan and of course outperforms as a Portable game. Recommended for all players, old and new to the series.