So I played Pokemon White for 200+ hours... (AKA I've been holding this off for awhile)

I have a feeling that I am late for this. About a year, was it?  Indeed, it was about one year ago that Pokemon Black and White was released. It seems odd to do a review about a game a year after it's released. But there's something about a game that has a large amount of replay value like Pokemon, that it would need a different type of review. Especially when someone like me, who has only played Generations I-V. Let's start, shall we?

Part One: The Story

The last time I played Pokemon as I did was when I was about 10 or so; I honestly didn't pay attention to the story of R/S/E. Blah, blah, blah, flooding the world, drying the oceans, blah, blah, world domination, legendary Pokemon.  That's all I remember, so I couldn't understand any more underlying themes and super-deep analysts. (I also was paying more attention on how to get up that tower so I can get Rayquaza, which I still haven't done.)

This time, it was different. This time, I wanted to actually pay attention to the story; see if there was any deep meaning. Yes, I know this might sound like I'm overdoing it, but I've noticed something that has happened was Pokemon games go on. They slowly and gradually got darker. I know that "releasing your Pokemon" doesn't sound that evil, but when you think of that emotional attachment people have with Pokemon (ingame and in real life, sometimes) releasing your best buds, it's greater than any evil. I'll stop being cheesy, I promise. Lots of themes are around the game, from innocence and ignorance (N, obviously), true power (Cheren/Bianca/Alder), and other themes that Pokemon games usually have, like determination and being nice to people..

Part Two: Main Gameplay/Graphics

You surely know how Pokemon works: Get Pokemon, fight gym leaders, get caught somewhere near the 7th/8th gym, grind endlessly, completely steamroll them over, get to Elite Four, fight Champion, hooray! Well, that has obviously has not changed one bit. The graphics, however, have changed from since when I played it. Pokemon have moving sprites now, which I thought was a nice addition to the game, at least making it more life-like instead of watching cardboard  figures stand there and pretty effects shoot at them. Although, any Pokemon from Gen I-IV have animations that seem cluttered. The menu seems very smooth, and very modern feeling, which is different than a regular RPG-esque menu with bland text and a colored box. At least we get shapes that aren't rounded squares! When I was in-game playing, the graphics made you really feel that you were in your adventure, from the camera changes in Skyarrow Bridge, to the 3D cinematics in certain events. They made things seem more epic, instead of just having sprites talking to each other. Although, because of this, there is one problem of because of it: whenever a character's portrait appears (N talking to you, that one Xtranceiver conversation between all the characters, etc.) it feels like you're suddenly in a dating simulator (although I doubt some girls would not like a dating sim with N in it). The bust portraits seem very bland and simple, N's hair is almost pastel green, which seems wrong. But thanks to the wonders of Pixiv, that's been corrected.

Part Three: The Pokemon

Now, there's a problem with this. I can't really judge the Pokemon, saying that they lack "creativeness" or anything from the last several Generations of Pokemon. An electric zebra? A metal durian? Gears? A cactus? And that somehow beats an electric mouse, a flaming horse, and a reversed PokeBall.

Please, judge them for yourself.

Liberate your Pokemon!

-N Karen