The backgrounds used in the Pokestar studios minigames should have been used in the actual battle system.
Pokemon White Version 2 Review
Despite being plenty of fun and sporting a few new tweaks, Pokemon White 2 fails to outshine its predecessors.
The Good
- Training and battling are as enjoyable as always
- Fun optional activities
- Plenty of in-game Pokemon to catch spanning all gens.
The Bad
- An incredibly weak plot, even for Pokemon
- Some of the layout changes are for the worse
- You've played better versions of this before
- An overabundance of low-level Pokemon make the game too easy.
The core Pokemon games are notorious for sticking to a tried, tested, and very familiar formula. After all, it's a formula that works, and that people enjoy, and one thing you can never accuse the main entry Pokemon games of is forgetting their roots. White 2 is pretty much exactly what you'd expect, then. Given that it's the first numbered sequel in the series, it's even less of a version shift than seen in previous games. It's not exactly the same as its predecessor; there have been a number of tweaks, functionally and aesthetically, and the plot's (sort of) new too. The problem is that, despite the additions, a weak plot, poor pacing, and an overabundance of easily-defeated Pokemon mean it's just not as good as the games that came before it.
Most of the initial changes you notice are far from revolutionary. You start in a large city, rather than a small town. You're given a Pokemon by Black/White's Bianca, rather than by a professor. You're given 10 Pokeballs instead of five. For the Pokemon fan, there are plenty of neat little variations to the tried-and-tested formula, and it's pretty clear that for the most part this is who White 2 is aimed at: Pokemon fans who want another Gen 5 game really quickly.
Other changes include new areas that weren't accessible in the game's predecessors, including a few new towns and cities, as well as redesigned routes, and a few all-new dungeons. The gyms have all been changed, with a few past gym leaders making way for new challengers (including previous pal Cheren). Unfortunately, with the gym redesign the excellent room-spanning puzzles found in Black/White have been scaled back and replaced with unchallenging puzzles that can be solved with minimal effort. Even the most challenging of the gyms are still incredibly simple compared to their previous counterparts, which is disappointing.
The difficulty curve is off too, and it takes a long time before you reach an area where you can catch any decent Pokemon. It's entirely possible to blitz the first few gyms using just Oshawott, Snivy, or Tepig, something the previous games didn't allow, which encouraged better team building. Then, toward the end of the story, there's a vast section spanning a couple of gyms and a couple of plot-related dungeons in which the levels of your opponents' Pokemon barely increase at all. Unless you're training up loads of Pokemon at once, this means that by the time you face your most fearsome foes, you're almost guaranteed to have a few team members that can wipe the floor with them without breaking a sweat.
It's hard to shake the feeling that White 2 is simply going through the motions. The plot's a direct continuation of the Team Plasma/N storyline, although rather than expanding on any of the concepts, it retreads them. Team Plasma blathers on about liberating Pokemon again, only this time there's no moral debate whatsoever; you and everyone else know they're plain evil, and it feels like they're simply shouting into the wind. At no point does the plot reach the heights it did in Black/White, and it often feels like a postgame quest strung out over an entire adventure. For those who charged through the originals, there's an odd sense of inconsistency as the characters wonder about the existence of legendary dragon Kyurem, a Pokemon that you very likely already caught in the previous game. You can transfer or trade your Black/White team directly into White 2 from very early on too, so it's entirely possible to defeat Kyurem with Kyurem, which is amusing in the context of the narrative.
388 comments
This review is more bass ackwards than.. Well.. I don't have any western phrases.. But still, saying this game as a weak story? I wanna know what these people are on, because I need to go burn it in a fire, it's just too dangerous. This game has the strongest story of the handheld games, as far as I can remember at the very least.
And I personally found the difficulty to be just fine, not to mention there is indeed a way to raise the difficulty.
And if you want to talk disappointing, then look at pokemon black and white. They added what they should've had in the last two games here, and I liked that. If you want to say you've seen this before, as it is pokemon, then you can do that. But that shouldn't affect the score.
4 Like Sorry, but this is just a bad review.
The reviewer wastes too much time on non-essential stuff (the epilogue is practically two paragraphs, and an item tweak -repel- takes as much as half a paragraph).
Also, mr Raze mysteriously fails to mention at all Pokemon Dream Radar, a 3DS spinoff game, which is deeply intertwined to White2/Black2, and, actually, could be considered an add-on (as many pokemon must be obtained through this app in order for pokedex to be completed).
Elsewhere, while the low difficulty is mentioned, the reviewer chooses not to mention the ability to change the difficulty later in the game, which is a first in the franchise. Unova Link as a feature is generally not mentioned (which is really weird, as it contains the biggest change since BW), and Memory Link, which is also a first, is also missing.
Don't get me wrong, I don't care about the score, the pluses or the minuses, this is just a badly written review.
This may seem too much of a rant, especially considering the type of the game reviewed, but I typed gamespot on my browser expecting a high quality text, and this is worse than a kid typing in a blog.
I like the Game. It has a good number of upgrades and new features to it and I think Game Freak did a good job once again.
1 Like A awesome game, I was actually scared about this one because of the "2".
It's the first time a Pokemon game is a actual sequel, unless you count silver and gold, but those were different, they just din't want to destroy the story from previous games.
I had the feeling they kept this region just to have less work :), but when I saw all the new places and remodeled places, I could't really say anything.
I also like the fact for wilds Pokemon are hiding near the first town, making me able to create a powerful team at the beginning.
I'm glad I din't waste my money on this game, good purchase, good game of course, a good childhood memory for me :D
-Good day!
I haven't played it yet, but I know these games have easy, normal and hard modes, something new to the series. I wonder if the reviewer tried all of them? Or even if he knew they existed, since he didn't even mention it. Well, about the plot, it's no surprise: it's always been shallow in the series. Now I wonder if I should try it or not. I think I'll save the money for a 3ds game.
@hunner676 He said: "There's also an adjustable difficulty level, accessible only after you become a champion, which is a pointless inclusion so late in the game."
Now that I played Pokemon Black Version 2 all I can say its deja vu all over again. This should have been downloadable content when you play the first Black or White all over again. It does deserve a 6.0 rating.
@snake63 Are you really bashing this game for that reason? Don't you know the DS games don't have DLC? You sicken me, get outta here.
2 Like I like GS way of reviewing games. I find other website to be very kind to many games.
GS always give a lower score when they just reskin a game ... if they at least do something new or modify the menu to make them better, well they will have a good score. If they put many bugs and just reskin or do something not that great ... don't expect a very high score even if the game is fun... the score never show how fun the game is ... it just tells it technical aspect.
Seriously I don't know, they may think there is enough new stuff like new menu, sharper control to worth a good score. But if you look it up, many game in the same franchise that is essentially the same, with the same menu the same everything, just get a worst score. This is how they do it.
@Vince21C @ratchet200 @Coco_pierrot
I just realized that they gave black ops a 9/10 and this game a 6.5/10.. Seriously what the hell are they on?
I really don't give a fuck about score. I prefer to read or hear what they have to say and judge by myself after renting the game ( unless I think it will be great ). It is just a score ... also GS said it a few years ago that they do their score that way. It may ahve changed since then but still it is just a score ... do you have that Pokémon game ? If so, do you played it ? Did you enjoyed i ? Did that score spoiled the fun of that game for you ? If you said yes to the last question then you put to much emphasis on the score
1 Like Pokemon fans going into full defensive mode is the most amusing thing so far today, just face the fact that you keep paying for the same game a hundred times and don't blame the reviewer. Not his fault you don't want to hear the truth.
4 Like @Xeronus5824 yeah but why wont gamespot call out CoD for rereleasing even more identical games no bad reviews there, huh?
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1 Like @Gelugon_baat "Come on, die-hard Pokemon fanboys/fangirls" So if your not a Pokemon fan then why have you been coming here since last night talking all over the comments section? Sounds to me like we have a secret pokemon fan over here. Or your just that big of a loser you gotta come on here and talk trash and not even be good at it :)
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4 Like dont base it just on this review, IGN gave it a 9.6!!! look at metacritic for a better overall understanding!
1 Like I haven't listened to GameSpot ever since Soul Silver. That is my favorite Pokemon game to date, and they gave it an 8!
They also graded Soul Silver and beyond rather harshly.
I enjoyed Soul Silver a lot. (GS: 8)
I enjoyed White a lot. (GS: 7.5)
Hell, I even enjoyed Pokemon Conquest! (GS: 6.5)
I logged in well over 100 hours on each game (especially the first two).
Also, every critic on Metacritic has a higher rating for this game than GameSpot... Still getting this game for sure!
1 Like @tuffj68 What's wrong with a 6.5 or an 8? Those are perfectly good scores. If the world is filled with games that all earn a 9+ then why even have reviews. I would liken this game to be an 8, but since the reviewer STRESSED the fact that nothing is new in this it got points taken away. I would say 4/5 people who come on to post dont even read the review as to why it got the score that it did. I havent bought a pokemon game since yellow, but I am comfortable enough with this and IGNs review to make this my next purchase.
2 Like @tuffj68 You don't listen to Gamespot but you keep showing up here to read their reviews? You want gamespot to be nice? Sissy, beat it! I love the honest, well written, non biased, accurate reviews on this site.
@Infinite_713 Lol I just don't take their reviews to heart. I still respect their opinion, which is why I read the reviews. I know that the franchise needs to be reinvented, and they are definitely right for pointing that out. Should I be called a sissy if I believe what you believe? Takes one to know one.
I never said Gamespot needed to be nice; they did what they were supposed to do. They graded three recent Pokemon games (Soul Silver, White, and this) with honest analysis and opinion. However, the first two are also some of my favorite games, and are apparently worth more to me than the reviewer(s). By grading harshly, I meant in comparison to me.
Also, one review doesn't speak for the whole gamer population. If that is the case, then people are sheep.
P.S. Your comment tone makes it more obvious to see that you only like this review because you agree with it.
2 Like last time i cared for pokemon there were just 150. i guess now there's like a million
2 Like And here we have the deluge of the blind otaku fandom ready to back up all of the stale, non-innovative, well-worn copy/paste efforts by developers who know they'll do exactly that.
Good job, guys. Way to prove to Japanese developers that the best thing they can do is release the same exact crap year after year. Even Madden NFL gets more work than this, and Madden is the picture-perfect example of phoning it in.
Come ON.
>Doesnt play the game.
>Still comes here for some reason to bash the game and people who play it.
Thats the definition of a "loser".
@misternathan Says a person that hasn't actually played Pokemon since Red and Blue.
I'm curious, why do some people bother to give their opinions about games they haven't even played? Your opinion is invalid.
1 Like This review comes from a real gammer... Pokemon is repetative, money hungry bullcrap of a game... You would think people would boycott them to at least make them put both games into one game... If it wasnt for the fan support it would prob get a score of less than 6.5
@Stealth_Knight_ Well this certainly doesn't tell me that you're underaged and don't have a job; otherwise, you wouldn't be saying such a thing as that.
And over a review you don't agree with. Jesus, dude. Get your priorities straightened out.
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@Gelugon_baat will you stop white knighting these reviews when we all know they are craP?
2 Like @Gelugon_baat @Stealth_Knight_ I love pokemon but frankly this review isn't biased or unfair most of the gameplay 'innovations' of black and white were gimmicks or moves in the wrong direction and black and white 2 actually seems to have made them worse. Pokemon fans should be up in arms about the devs feeding us this low quality reskin instead of a true sequel (coloured rather than numbered) instead you're all bludgeoning a reviewer for telling you the truth you'd rather not hear.
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@Gelugon_baat I know, gotta feel bad for gamespot right? Also your sadness really knows no bounds O_o
@Gelugon_baat AHAHA, so you are basically telling this guy to shutup and stop bashing a reviewer..but you are not willing to shutup yourself..ok 15 year old.
1 Like @Gelugon_baat @dwdwdw6 Dude shutup your annoying, you bashing on a dude for bashing a reviewer???? Just shutup
1 Like this suppose to be the game to beat all pokemon games. the developers at gamefreak just want this game to please fans. meaning updated fighting system new challenges new features and for the real fans a more in depth story. gamefreak knows no pokemon game can surpass red blue yellow gold and silver. btw adding a difficulty setting automatically makes these 2 games top in the series. 1blue 2sapphire 3white2 4silver 5platinum
2 Like Aw, this is disappointing. I liked the story in Black and White, it had depth and had the main character very involved. I thought they would do better this time around.
1 Like @ProdjectAUSM Instead of expanding the game they just changed the story for the worse and changed a few locations. Very dissapointing. When the news came out i was so excited because i thought to myself " Hey since it's the second game of the black/white series maybe they will make it with 16 gyms again." I was very dissapointed when i saw there were barely any changes.
2 Like Well i wouldn't expect much from this game since the whole formula is the same. Get starter pokemon, work your way through gyms, become Champion, side quest stuff and legendaries. I just play pokemon for the competitive online, there's not much other than catching all pokemon.
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Game Emblems
The Good
The Bad
Pokemon White 2 adds a lot of new elements to the Pokemon scene, and with each addition Pokemon just gets better.
Almost but not quite as good as the first but still a great addition to the Pokemon Series and Universe.
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Pokemon White Version 2
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- Publisher(s): Nintendo
- Developer(s): Game Freak
- Genre: Role-Playing
- Release:
- ESRB: E
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