Black & White; first impressions: Early information points to reinvention

[BulbaBot]

Black & White; first impressions: Early information points to reinvention

It seems Game Freak/Nintendo are finally ready to innovate again. Fortunately, this is coming at a time when the series is it desperate need of a bit of a shake-up.

Read more on Bulbanews

 

[Mitchman]

And here you had me going like news popped up for these games. I can understand editorials for past games or generations, but not the next upcoming games for the next generation, where a new thread in the news section can cause a glitter of hope some random fact popped up outta nowhere. God damn.

 

[Senzura]

Yet another article by the guy who hates everything.

While he did praise the regions, thats all he praise. I think the characters are the best yet, and the starters are quite nice.

 

[Mitchman]

Indeed, it worries me someone could come to hate how the characters look. I'm not hpying it on new generation factors, oh no, this is genuine praise cause they started to do justice for the male.

 

[Regiruler]

So far I'm not seeing that much innovation in terms of battle mechanics, which is where the important changes occur.

 

[Izumoshep]

Written by someone who is not optimistic and is not placing his bets based until he has seen more. And his final comments shows that. I too am cynical of any overhype of a new game and like 'YeOldJacob' I too will make further judgements when more info is revealed.

I don't want to get too pumped for these games, as I've learned my lesson before with this series. It does, however, seem as if novelty may be coming back to this franchise, and that is what it has been sorely missing.

 

[Falconwing]

Did we really need an article on this? Origin of the species is informative, but first impressions? We all have first impressions and we all have likes and dislikes. I mod the forum where people talk about those first impressions. So why did this qualify for an article?

 

[Dorothy LaRouge]

Honestly, YOJ, I think this would be better material for one of your blogs.

 

[boop]

Honestly, YOJ, I think this would be better material for one of your blogs.

I was asked to write op-eds/reviews on recent events about every two months. The biggest development since March has been Black & White. Hence, I write.

 

[Youngster_Joey]

I actually agree with this article to an extent. Overall, the sequals of the Pokemon series weren't really so much separate games, but expansions. The themes, gameplay, and style hasn't changed for these games, instead each game is kind of a refinement of the previous.

Black & White does seem interesting in the sense that it looks like Game Freak is breaking away from the traditional style a little bit, with a more urbanized region and changes in aesthetics for the battle system, but we still have yet to see more info.

The only part about this article that I thought was absolutely idiotic was the author's comment about the starters. When have they not been cutesy?

The whole concept behind the pokemon evolutions anyway is that they start from looking cute and cuddly to dangerous. Also, the style of Pokemon in general is friendly. You wont see something that looks like it was conceived by Blizzard Entertainment in the Pokemon franchise. Ultimately, I didn't think he had a good reason to complain about the starters, or the player characters for that matter, other than that I thought it was insightful.

 

[Falconwing]

I guess that counts as qualification. Shutting up now.

 

[Senzura]

I actually agree with this article to an extent. Overall, the sequals of the Pokemon series weren't really so much separate games, but expansions. The themes, gameplay, and style hasn't changed for these games, instead each game is kind of a refinement of the previous.

Black & White does seem interesting in the sense that it looks like Game Freak is breaking away from the traditional style a little bit, with a more urbanized region and changes in aesthetics for the battle system, but we still have yet to see more info.

The only part about this article that I thought was absolutely idiotic was the author's comment about the starters. When have they not been cutesy?

The whole concept behind the pokemon evolutions anyway is that they start from looking cute and cuddly to dangerous. Also, the style of Pokemon in general is friendly. You wont see something that looks like it was conceived by Blizzard Entertainment in the Pokemon franchise. Ultimately, I didn't think he had a good reason to complain about the starters, or the player characters for that matter, other than that I thought it was insightful.

This. Also, does Smugleaf look that cute and cuddly?

 

[Zesty Cactus]

And here you had me going like news popped up for these games. I can understand editorials for past games or generations, but not the next upcoming games for the next generation, where a new thread in the news section can cause a glitter of hope some random fact popped up outta nowhere. God damn.

I thought the same thing. I was like, "!!? B&W NEW INFO ??!" but it just turned out to be ANOTHER stupid editorial. I am so sick of this. Plz keep off the main news feed plz.

 

[WallflowerCanyon]

I actually agree with this article to an extent. Overall, the sequals of the Pokemon series weren't really so much separate games, but expansions. The themes, gameplay, and style hasn't changed for these games, instead each game is kind of a refinement of the previous.

Black & White does seem interesting in the sense that it looks like Game Freak is breaking away from the traditional style a little bit, with a more urbanized region and changes in aesthetics for the battle system, but we still have yet to see more info.

The only part about this article that I thought was absolutely idiotic was the author's comment about the starters. When have they not been cutesy?

The whole concept behind the pokemon evolutions anyway is that they start from looking cute and cuddly to dangerous. Also, the style of Pokemon in general is friendly. You wont see something that looks like it was conceived by Blizzard Entertainment in the Pokemon franchise. Ultimately, I didn't think he had a good reason to complain about the starters, or the player characters for that matter, other than that I thought it was insightful.

This. I mean, we have hundreds upon hundreds of posts complaining about the starters in various threads on Bulba-G already. So the "complaining" about the starters in the editorial was about enough...

I wasn't too pleased about the judgements being made on the protagonists either... it's like he completely forgot what I think is the most important and most noticable feature of them: their older age. Actually, now that I look back on it, the only thing that was reviewed about the characters was how they were dressed. What he calls "80's clothes from a garbage can" is hardly that at all... especially the girl, she looks like she's from the country, and I think that's pretty cool. If the reviewer happens to hate looking at "country fashion", then maybe it's a good idea for him to stay away from any Western places in the US, like where I live? The fanbase has been dying to play as older characters in the games, and we finally get 'em after gawd knows how many years.

To me, just the concept of older protagonists almost makes you wonder exactly what "bigger" changes that could be going on with these games, besides what we've seen so far. It could mean a "better, more in-depth" storyline for all we know, which is another main feature in these games that most people think needs some sort of overhaul or what-have-you. Before anybody jumps on me, the reason why I mentioned a possible connection between older characters and deeper storyline is because... well, most of the other Pokemon games that we have with older protagonists tend to also have a more complex storyline as compared the main handhelds, like Colosseum and the Ranger games (Michael in XD could be older than 10 also, but if he is, I don't think it's very much anyways).

I was asked to write op-eds/reviews on recent events about every two months. The biggest development since March has been Black & White. Hence, I write.

So yes, it was your obligation... I understand that, and I imagine other people here do to. What the issue is that some of us seem to have is that it almost seems a little unfair to have something like this, that's written by "a guy who hates everything, shows unecessary bias, ect." and then put up on Bulbanews.

I hardly see what you post on here, there, and everywhere, so I can't make that call. But in my opinion, regardless of who it is, I think it's important to have editorials that are up on Bulbanews to be written by somebody who's a little more open-minded and doesn't have an unexplained biased for almost everything that's associated with the franchise. I'm not saying this is you in particular, it's more of an "in general" sort of thing.:-/

 

[V Faction]

I get the feeling people are really hyping up this conception of a rebirth or revitalization for the series, especially after reading that editorial. It's not a tagline that they're flaunting around in huge, neon lights, you know. It's more like... expect some unexpected things -- things a little bit different from what you're used to seeing. I can't fanthom the kind of weird and kooky ideas fans could come up with and slap the word 'Innovation' on 'em, but it doesn't make sense to me to take it so seriously. We are not getting married into the notion of a superly-awesome and totally different Pokemon game.

And this part gets me:

I'm not completely sold on Black & White

Well gee, they aren't done selling yet! Look, we've got some great, great information. The starters, the name of the region, the protagonists... But we're still watching the previews before the movie. To say anything at this point is like picking your favorite ice cream flavor. You like chocolate but all we've seen is vanilla. It's only been about 3 flavors out of 31 (or more) for all we know. I just think such tastes don't need to get put up on Bulbanews before the real news kicks into highgear.

At the very least, a 'first impression' should come after one has played the game. We know how much content gets put into a game, and what, we've seen a little bit of 1 city?

Again, I sincerely hope people aren't preparing for Pokemon: The College Years or Pokemon: Miami. Because things just aren't -- *puts on sunglasses* -- that black and white.

Spoiler

YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!

 

[Synthesis]

Indeed, it worries me someone could come to hate how the characters look. I'm not hpying it on new generation factors, oh no, this is genuine praise cause they started to do justice for the male.

I've never been a fan of the newest player characters of the time. They usually grow on me though.

 

[Faye Scarlet]

Just watch when BW are released in the US, we see YOJ go on about his disappointed he is. D: The second I saw the article mention and compare Pokemon to Sonic, I knew it. Personally, I think Pokemon can only get better and better. RSE and DPPt certainly prove that, being several million notches above RBY and GSC...IMHO.

As long as BW comes with a VS Seeker, I'll be 100% happy. OTL I'm replaying my Emerald version, and it is SO hard to train in this game! it makes me remember why I'm taking a break from HG right now...Otherwise, I'll just be 99% happy. D:

Hehe, "too cutey-poo" starters? Did we also forget about Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Cyndaquil, Torchic, Mudkip, Chimchar, and Turtwig? We've always had cute starters. ._. It's nothing new or to be so "cynic" about.

 

[#Daisuke#]

From the early screen-shots and information we have on BW, it seems asd if they really will be an entire change for the series.

I thought Platinum was the best that GF could do (I honestly loved this game to death) but BW looks like they'll even out do Platinum.

The game looks like it'll have a lot of things that fans have been waiting for. Older protagonists, unique region, etc. I am very excited for these games, no doubt.

And Pokabu is more cutesy-poo than previous starters? Look at Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Torchic, Piplup and pretty much every other starte. Compared to Pokabu and Tsutarja, they are definitely more cutesy-poo.

And the BW protagonists are far more fashionable than the previous ones (Save Dawn), IMO. White just has a certain flair and Black's outfit makes him look like the cool, easygoing type. To each his own, I guess.

But, anyway, I have expectations for these games. Don't disappont us GF!!

 

[boop]

I always feel pretentious when defending myself, but I feel I need to clear these up:

Just watch when BW are released in the US, we see YOJ go on about his disappointed he is. D: The second I saw the article mention and compare Pokemon to Sonic, I knew it.

I didn't compare the games. I said Tony Hawk and the Sonic series are two other favorite franchises that tanked because of an attempt at innovation. I was illustrating how difficult innovation is. I actually said Pokemon is different than Tony Hawk/Sonic:

"I'd hate to see another of my cherished franchises go down the drain, but what differentiates Pokémon from Tony Hawk and Sonic the Hedgehog is the series is in serious need for something new. And I hope Black & White can be the proverbial defibrillators for this series."​

Hehe, "too cutey-poo" starters? Did we also forget about Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Cyndaquil, Torchic, Mudkip, Chimchar, and Turtwig? We've always had cute starters. ._. It's nothing new or to be so "cynic" about.

There is a difference between 'cute' and 'cutesy'. I find two of the three new starters cutesy in their first stages (as in overtly or painfully cute).

Well gee, they aren't done selling yet!

I was making a point about fandoms. There is always that vocal chunk who make their decisions based upon first-wave info. It was a slight against them.