Black 2 and White 2 General Impressions Thread

[Guested]

As people have started to play through the games now, let's use this thread to discuss your impressions of Black 2 and White 2.

How does it compare to Black and White?
How does it compare to second games of previous generations?
What do you think about the new Unova Dex?
What do you think about the new move tutors, the Pokemon World Tournament, or the numerous newly available Hidden Abilities?

However, please try to post something more detailed than a single-sentence post.

Please keep the conversation civil. Let others state their opinions.

[CharlemagneXVI]

Despite the fact that I haven't been able to play it much, I really like it.

I think it's pretty cool to have direct sequels this time, instead of a mix-up of the first two games. It's nice to see what's become of the characters from the first games, and to see how the Unova region has changed.

I like the new towns, especially the new starter town, Aspertia. After so many years of starting off in these little villages with seven inhabitants, it's refreshing to see an actual city as your home.

Also, I'm very glad some of the older Pokémon were added in this time. The Gen V Pokémon were so ugly, and they used to be the only ones I could look at.

My one complaint involves the one thing I have to look at through the entire game: the player's avatar. The avatars this time around both look horrible.

[questioner]

I'd agree there, except I like the gen5 pokemon....

It is an excellent sequel, even half in japanese.

[Triston1zn]

Well, I havn't played through much of the game yet, but it definately feels like the original game so far. To me this feels more like "added content" then an entirely new game.....sort of like those WWE games where they release DLC every month or so...it's the same core game and gameplay just with added tit bits. Now, I know that every pokemon game has a similar core game, but I guess it's just the fact that this is the first time I'm playing through a proper pokemon sequel, based in the same world as it's predecessor, that I feel this way.

This isn't a bad thing though, and I'm definately enjoying the availability of more pokemon from the get go, rather than having to stare at the weird and downright crappy looking pokemon from Gen V. I never downloaded the Japanese games nor the patches for them, so the USA release was my first experience with the game, and let me tell you, I got the shock of my life when I caught a RIOLU so early on in the game LOL. The Kanto and JoHto Pokemon are the best in my opinion and being able to access some of them so early on in the game is one way to hook me lol.

Pokestudios has also been a highlight for me, mainly because I get really tired of the endless grinding at some point and just want to do something fun in the game that is immediate and can be accomplished in a short time, if that makes sense?

Anyways, I'm going to conclude this long winded post and say that I look forward to whatever surprises are heading my way in this game. Also, I feel like this game, even though it is fantastic, is sort of a stall tactic by the company, until the next generation of pokemon (if there is one) comes out. I mean look at the evidence.....normally there are a boat load of new pokemon with each game (not counting remakes), and even though this is a sequel set in the same place, if it were NOT just a game made to capitalize on our wallets or stall, then we would have been introduced to a whole bunch of new pokemon that could have come from the new/Far regions of Unova, but all we got was an alternate form for kyurem and genesect....sooo safe to say, this is either the end or theres a new generation right around the corner...time will tell...

[PokePoindexter]

I know this is a slight bump, but I thought I'd go ahead and share some of my opinions of the game thus far. At this point, I'm a bit too lazy to do much else besides review the six Pokemon that are part of my team and how good I think they are in-game (in general, that is, not the specific versions of these Pokemon I have):

Spoiler

Spoiler

Level 54
Nature: Lonely
*Surf
*Megahorn
*Ice Beam
*Revenge

Opinion of the Pokemon:
Samurott really doesn't seem too different from what he was in BW, so I generally don't have much to say about him. I actually think he's more useful in this game than he was in the last game however, as there are more times you'll need someone who can Surf, and he can, for instance, completely sweep Clay's entire Gym just with Razor Shell (or Water Pulse). But since Surf is an HM you absolutely have to have if you want to complete the main part of the game (B1W1, oddly enough, did not require this HM), that actually gives an extra incentive to have a Water-type on your team. Now I personally think something like Starmie or Jellicent would be better (who wouldn't?), but since Samurott can serve double purposes very well (as an HM slave and an attacker), AND he's a starter, he's consistently more reliable than either of the other Pokemon mentioned. Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Spoiler

Level 56
Nature: Jolly
*Swords Dance
*Close Combat
*Rock Slide
*Return

Opinion of the Pokemon:
Holy crap! If you have the patience to train a Riolu to Level 15 (so it learns Force Palm), you will absolutely annihilate Cheren's gym. And BTW, I wholeheartedly believe that Lucario is far better in-game with a nature that prefers Physical attacking rather than Special attacking, as Lucario can quickly take advantage of moves like...well, the moves you see on my Lucario. One thing of note, it doesn't learn Close Combat until level 55, so you'll be stuck with Force Palm until then. Oh well, at least FP can paralyze. Overall: 5/5

Spoiler

Level 56
Nature: Serious
*Work Up
*Moonlight
*Payback
*Psychic

Opinion of the Pokemon:
Anyone who knows me knows how much a fan of Umbreon I am, and so it only makes sense that I use one on my team. It's too bad Umbreon can't learn Curse except through breeding, as that would make Umbreon absolutely deadly. But as it is, I think spamming Work Up is by far the best option for Umbreon in-game. Moonlight provides some recovery, Payback gets STAB and inflicts double damage if it attacks after its target does (Hint: make it hold a Macho Brace or Lagging Tail to help achieve this effect), and then Psychic for coverage and because Work Up also boosts Special Attack. This actually does work, and pretty well too. Can't wait for the E4, when he'll be able to use those moves to hit for weakness. It may just be my personal bias towards Umbreon, but I think he's pretty decent in B2W2. Overall: 4/5

Spoiler

Level 54
Nature: Jolly
*Icicle Crash
*Aqua Jet
*Superpower
*Rest

Opinion of the Pokemon:
If it's at a high enough level (~45-50 should be sufficient), Beartic can singlehandedly wipe the floor with Drayden's entire gym just by using Icicle Crash. Basically, Beartic is a bulky Ice-type that is 100% outclassed by Mamoswine, but comes at a time when you can use it to counter Drayden's team (and hopefully also do a number on Iris's). Beartic also now gets Aqua Jet, which makes him slightly more useful when you are just a sliver away from a KO against a faster opponent. I'm not fully convinced that Mr. Klondike is completely over the hill yet, but he's starting to show his age; I've been using him a lot less recently than when I first caught him as a Cubchoo. On the other hand, he looks awesome when dressed up in pirate garb in a Pokemon Musical. Overall: 2/5

Spoiler

Lv. 55
Nature: Timid
*Fly
*Will-O-Wisp
*Thunder
*Shadow Ball

Opinion of the Pokemon:
Drifblim is one of those Pokemon that I've been intending to use for years now, and you might as well get used to their existence, because they're all over Reverse Mountain's exterior and other parts of Eastern Unova. Drifblim has a strange movepool, as my current set shows, but it's pretty good at what it does, and it's had its moments of usefulness (Fly is only there because the Zeppelin is my Fly slave. And to KO Heracrosses). I really wish I could get ThunderBOLT by this point, but alas, he's stuck with a 70% accuracy move for right now. Oh, well. Perhaps the one thing that would diminish his score is how much training you need to do with it; it takes 1.64 million Exp. Points to get a Drifblim to Level 100. Overall: 3/5

Spoiler

Lv. 56
Nature: Rash
*Magic Coat
*Energy Ball
*Power Gem
*Psyshock

Opinion of the Pokemon:
So I was training outside Reverse Mountain when I first noticed that yes, Grumpig is in this game. This Pokemon was something I had completely forgotten about despite being one of the most memorable Pokemon I used on my first ever playthrough of any Hoenn game (Sapphire in '03). This "memorability", by the way, was being the only Pokemon in those games who could learn Magic Coat or Bounce, and I remember him using both on that team. So I decided to see if it had gotten any better or more interesting since, and frankly, I was not the least bit disappointed. While it's not Reuniclus, Metagross or even Gothitelle in terms of offensive prowess, it at least has coverage (it can also learn Charge Beam, but I chose not to teach that). Bottom line: it has enough Special Attack to hurt things it hits super-effectively and it's a Pokemon I remember fondly as one of my favorites from way back when, and that's at least good enough for me on in-game teams. It gets minus points for being a version-exclusive, though; it's only available in Black 2 (in White 2 you find Camerupt instead). Overall: 2.5/5

[Karzahni]

I love how quickly and smoothly the game works, and the PWT is just too cool. : D

Also, the forum description says "upcoming". These have been released for a while. Just pointing that out incase someone missed it.