Pokémon Black 2 and White 2

Pokémon Black and White
Two powers combine... A new legend arises!
Protagonist(s): Nate Rosa Genre(s): RPG Rating(s): ESRB: E Platform(s): Nintendo DS Release Date: JP: June 2012 WW: October 2012 Developer(s): Game Freak Publisher(s): Nintendo The Pokémon Company Country: Japan Series: Pokémon Predecessor: Pokémon Black and White Successor: Pokémon X and Y

Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 are a pair of games the in series of Pokémon RPG games. They are part of Generation V of Pokémon. They're a sequel pair to Pokémon Black and White.

They are games for the Nintendo DS, but they have additional features when played on a DSi or a 3DS.

Why It Makes You Gotta Catch 'Em All In Unova, Again

1. It is the very first time (and currently only time) in the entire franchise where the second pair of games in a Generation of Pokémon are proper sequels to the first pair rather than just updated versions with minor changes.
2. The Unova region is expanded with new areas while previous areas are changed to reflect that two years have passed since Black/White.
   • The player travels the region in a different order from Black/White.
   • Pokémon that aren't from Unova are now available from the start of the game.
3. Hugh managed to become a popular rival within the Pokémon community, not just because of his fierce determination and goal, but also because he challenges the player's strength as well as aiding them against Team Plasma.
4. The soundtrack, while it reuses tracks from Black and White, not only gives Gyms personality via the Gym themes, but it also updates some of the tracks to match it's updated soundfont.
5. Aspertia City, the player's hometown, not only gives you your first starter, but in a unique twist: unlike other starting cities in other mainline games, it has its very own Pokémon Gym!
6. The Memory Link function activates multiple features such as flashbacks from the previous game, special fights, and even difficulty settings.
7. Even without difficulty settings, the main story is quite challenging with enemy Trainers have noticeably higher leveled Pokémon compared to other games.
8. Team Plasma makes a resurgence as full-time terrorists, rather than frauds claiming to represent Pokémon freedom, and it even goes the extra mile of redeeming many members via Ex-Team Plasma in Driftveil City.
9. Bianca, Cheren, and N make a return, each having grown from their experiences in the last 2 years.
10. The Pokémon World Tournament is one the best post-game features in the series, as it not only allows you to battle Unovan Gym Leaders and Trainers, it also allows you to fight Gym Leaders and Champions from different regions.
11. The Pokéstar Studios allows you to record films, whether it'd be for fun or to 100% the game.
12. Beginning with this game, now you have the option to spray another repel should one wear off. A QoL feature to be remembered, indeed.
13. The Shiny Charm is introduced in these games, which is obtainable after acquiring all the Pokémon (with the exception of the mythicals) from the National Pokédex and with it, you will have better chance of finding Shiny Pokémon.
    • The Oval Charm is also introduced in these games, which is obtainable after acquiring (seeing starting with X and Y) all the Pokémon in the game's regional Pokédex and with it, an egg is more likely to produce when breeding.
14. With or without the difficulty settings, due to the level of Pokémon later-game trainers have reached, it can become one of the most difficult Pokémon games to date.
    • And with Challenge Mode available, you are able to amp up the intensity of the battles.
15. The pacing is very clean and smooth, since the game runs at a solid 60 FPS with no framerate drops at all, and the game engine runs at a nice pace that isn't too slow or fast and is manageable enough that it doesn't ruin the entire game and is very easy to tolerate with.
16. Both Nate and Rosa are solid replacements for both Hilbert and Hilda since they have the same likable charm as the previous aforementioned protagonists but have a few improvements about them that gives them a lot more depth than both of them combined such as their more anime-esque designs being very cute and remarkable, and the purpose in the story that they have being more satisfying here than in both Black and White since they do tend to interact more and some parts of the game are only focused on them and their rivalry with each other.
17. The Legendary Pokémon, Kyurem, is given a lot more importance in the story than previous legendary Pokémon, since they have two new forms and have been given a cool backstory with both Reshiram and Zekrom that explores their origins a bit more, and how they came to be nowadays, giving the series a bit more lore to it which hasn't been seen in other games in the series before and is rather unique in general.
18. The graphics still look generally nice to this day, despite being almost identical to the previous games, with pretty colors, nice textures, decently-rendered places and backgrounds, and amazing sprite work thanks to the wonderful game engine that Game Freak provided for this game.
19. They improve upon everything from the original Black and White games, while still keeping the core charm of what made those games enjoyable in the first place with more challenging gameplay and the core mechanics being a bit more refined than earlier instalments in the series such as the battle system and level design of the region itself.
20. The games are packed with a lot of amazing content outside of the traditional story-driven RPG gameplay, such as Pokéstar Studios, and the already aforementioned Pokémon World Tournament, and once players sees every Pokémon in the Unova dex, players can receive a Permit by Professor Juniper that can enter Nature Preserve, which can catch a level 1-100 Gyarados and a Shiny Haxorus (which can respawn after the player rematches Iris and enters the hall of fame again), all three of which give the games a lot more to do in the post-game and make them a lot more enjoyable as a result of their inclusion to the overall package.

Bad Qualities

1. As Neo Team Plasma have openly become terrorists, they became somewhat one-note compared to how they were in Black and White.
2. The difficulty setting only activates by communicating with other Black 2/White 2 games, otherwise it won't be available until after completing the main story by which point all the important battles already ended.
3. Breeding isn't accessible until completion of the main storyline.
4. The previous protagonists of Black and White (Hilbert/Hilda) are absent from this game, and are barely mentioned unless you activate Memory Link.
5. Getting the Alternative ending in some Pokéstar movies can be quite frustrating to do, because this is a perfect example of RNG in a game, a good example is getting the Amorfus's 2nd Part Alternative Ending, where you need to survive 15 exact scenes, while this can be easy to do, you might get into a horrible Iron Head spam from Morfobot, and be aware, crits are the worst offenders here, because your opponent getting a lucky Crit + the Iron Head move's flinch status, it's an outrageously overpowered combo. To add salt to the wound, your opponent gets an unlimited amount of move uses, so good luck trying to get the Alternative ending.

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