The Black & White Problem

[@FishBola1991]

Cheren is only rival to give his entire team held item. N’s team is always built from local pokemon and YOU CAN FIND AND CATCH THEM AFTERWARDS. Ghetsis’ team is built to counter N’s. N isn’t even angry when he loses, he realizes he was wrong! These little things make Black & White stick in my mind.

[@Mavuika_Gyaru]

How is his team made to counter N?

[@Toad_lol]

​@@Mavuika_GyaruGhetsis' hydreigon counters N's entire team

[@andrezits9723]

@@Mavuika_Gyaru Carracosta is countered by Eelektross, Seismitoad and Bouffalant (with Earthquake and Wild Charge) Vanilluxe is countered by Bisharp and Eelektross (Flamethrower) Archeops is countered by Eelektross and Bouffalant (Wild Charge) Zoroark is countered by Bisharp (X-Scissor) Klinklang is countered by Seismitoad, Eelektross (Flamethrower) and Bouffalant (Earthquake) Reshiram and Zekrom are both countered by Seismitoad And finally, Hydreigon does quite literally counter N's entire team, with Dragon Pulse for the legendary dragon, Fire Blast for Vanilluxe, Surf for Archeops, and Focus Blast for Carracosta, Zoroark and Klinklang (and Vanilluxe again for good measure) Additionally, Ghetsis's Cofagrigus is the only Pokémon in his team that doesn't especifically counter anyone in N's team, although it does have Toxic for everyone but Klinklang and the Mummy ability can disrupt Zoroark.

[@Above_Average_Joe315]

I also love how Ghetsis' hydreigon has a life orb to increase it's damage despite draining hp, because he doesn't care about it's well being. It also uses a max damage frustration, which is a move that increases in damage the more the pokemon hates it's user.

[@mischief5149]

Yeah Ghetsis was a dickhead through and through. Top tier hating you can't help but respect it.

[@zerohcrows]

I think one thing that I loved about gen 5 was the fact that all of the main story pokemon were new. you HAD to only play with new pokemon and couldn't rely on old favorites. Need that again !!

[@yurisei6732]

Yeah I kind of hated that at the time because I considered a lot of them ugly, but in hindsight, having now played a lot more pokemon and found myself always going for the same party members, it's clearly a great thing.

[@courtneylovehandles5198]

too bad theyre uglier than sin

[@meloelebi1996]

It made an entirely different ecosystem and in-game meta that encouraged you to use new things and consider different things as threats. Kind of the current dex limitations done right. Although if you were playing at the time you could bolster your team with dream world mons if you really wanted to.

[@bugjams]

It's strange because people also hate it for the exact reason. I certainly wouldn't have minded a _few_ non-Gen 5 mons appearing before beating the main story. The fact they only show up after feels a bit odd.

[@illseeyaonthedarksideofthemoon]

I always like to use new dex pokemon only, is a good way to experience the new pokemons.

[@swagkirby3449]

I'd honestly rather have Black 3 and White 3 than remakes of the first Black and White

[@probablyjustsnails]

I would agree with you but bro what if they mess up the story 😭😭😭

[@barrybend7189]

Yeah but you try finding a trade between game friendly ROM and a reasonably priced original cartridge used for under 100 dollars. Also other than adding Mega Evolutions ( which can work with the games themes due to certain mechanics and background facts about these evolutions). No story changes either. Also Pokemon World Tournament should have all gimmicks just so we can have an official version of Pokemon Showdown no holds bard mode.

[@fortello7219]

That or a third game style fusion of one and two. Preferably made by a team dedicated for it using the 3D model of gen 9

[@barrybend7189]

@@fortello7219 I'd prefer Gen 8 style but with Gen 9 character customization.

[@SpectreblueLeftTesticle]

BDSP style BW 1 and 2 remakes are fine as long as we get a full on modern BW 3 and Legends Kyurem too

[@FurryFoxFires]

I've played Sword. I've played Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. And yet, when I finally got to play Black 2 for the first time one month ago, I found myself blown away by this game from a past generation, something the previously mentioned games failed to do at any point. Walking into Elesa's Gym to challenge her, my breath was completely taken away by the music, visuals, and overall atmosphere! I've been playing Pokémon games for almost a whole decade now, but I knew from the very beginning when I started to play Black 2, that it was definitely going to become my new all-time favorite. Game Freak needs to learn from what they did right with Gen 5, and what they did wrong with the most recent generations.

[@ThwipThwipBoom]

I ordered a copy of Black 2 a couple days ago off ebay and I can't wait for it to arrive. I'm so excited to play it for the first time!

[@FurryFoxFires]

@@ThwipThwipBoom Eeeee, good luck! It's so amazing and it'll still captivate you even in the postgame! After completing the Gen 8 games' main storylines, I felt like there was nothing left to do except for completing the Pokédex, but Black 2 has so many features packed into it that it'll honestly be a little overwhelming at first, but once you get used to it, you're going to love most if not everything it has to offer!

[@cloutan2746]

GIMME WHAT I NEEEED

[@ccheart8574]

"Pokemon is a game for kids." But it's always been a game for kids. Were we any less kids when we were going through Mout Moon? It's just insulting that they're talking down to kids-of-today compared to our times. Have you even seen a dungeon like Mount Moon, or Coronet, or the Trick House, in any modern Pokemon game? We certainly weren't any less children when we were trecking through Victory Road (RBY), or Cerulean Cave.

[@brunoreis4455]

And me a kid who got stuck in dark cave for a friking week but didn't gave up on the game, seeing the light outside really felt like salvation in a survival exploration setting Now why was it so hard for me? Well english isn't my first language so I only got to know about flash way later when watching let's plays after beating the game, so that cave really brings ptsd LOL

[@toumabyakuya]

*"Were we any less kids when we were going through Mout Moon?"* Different years, different ways to think. Maybe we did enjoy the challenge, but that doesn't deny the possibility that kids from today might as well. Besides, not everybody enjoys a difficult game.

[@qwertyuiopaaaaaaa7]

Also, kids today have the internet. When I first played Pokémon, it took me and my friends several days of drawing paper maps in the playground to figure out how to get through Mount Moon the first time. Now? Kids can google it. Even the old games are easier because of that, so how dumb does Gamefreak think children are these days??

[@greyscaleadaven]

@@qwertyuiopaaaaaaa7 I will say that is true, I ripped up my bw2 guidebook to absolute shreds bc of how much I would read it and absorb the information in it... It made me believe that pokemon had stats that went from 1-10 though so umm that was fun to figure out that this definitely wasn't the case and there were exact numbers for each individual stat after spending years concocting strategies with the idea that 1-10 stat categories was all there ever was in pokemon. I still think that some of the newer entries like gen 7 were a legitimate challenge regardless of info that had me EV training to keep up with the EV trained trainer battles and totems with crazy stats. The Kahunas are the easy part of those games lmao but I do have to limit myself a lot being a casual competitive level player (level caps, no bag items in trainer/major battles, anime rules (one pokemon per opponents in major battles) for easier games like XY especially, going in purposefully blind in new pokemon games I haven't played before, etc.). I think Gen 9 had a lot of challenging endgame fights, and some of the titans and earlier gyms/later star leaders are kinda tricky bc of tera types and multiple phase boss fights, but other than that it wasn't that bad. I do think a lot of the earlier gens get overpraised for bad game design though, like good difficult gameplay /= imbalanced levels on wild pokemon and trainers for grinding or scuffed mechanics that happen to make a game more difficult. Gen 3 and 4 both had pretty genuinely difficult battles at points, but they're more scattered like gen 9 IMO.

[@lisaruhm6681]

Through garbage like TikTok kids there days have an attencion span of like 5 seconds.

[@mylesbrainard8541]

I love the limited 3d they used in this game, it’s so charming

[@kr4t0sg.28]

For me it was confusing.

[@theh3647]

oh my god WHY

[@IloveRoxiesfeet]

OH GOD NO, NOT AGAIN

[@KracklinDark]

I love the limited 3d they used in this game, it’s so charming

[@hellothereworld4401]

SHUT UP, SALTY

[@EdgardoJCruz-dk5kv]

22:55 - 23:08 Actually Bianca was the first to use a starter weak to yours, followed up by Shauna in XY, and THEN it was Hop in SM. Hop was the just first Main Rival to do so.

[@extremefuccboi6point5]

Hau was in SM. They reused his animations lazily as Hop in SS.

[@EdgardoJCruz-dk5kv]

@@extremefuccboi6point5 Sorry meant say Hau. I don't know why I wrote that as Hop.

[@sev1120]

And even then, she's not really at a disadvantage. Because you have two rivals, it's a three-way competition, so you rely more on your non-starter Pokémon and skill than your starter, because of the simple fact that whilst it's stronger than one of your rivals', it's weak to the other

[@EdgardoJCruz-dk5kv]

@@sev1120 Yeah for some reason they chose to give the other rivals different staters in Gens 7 & 8. I mean I get why, but it kinda breaks the usual method I guess. Instead Kukui and Leon, (& Clavel for Gen 9), get the remaining Starters.

[@Mimiyan_or_Pikapikafan]

Hau is the main rival in Alola, and Hop is just better Hau, so I get the confusion lol

[@cubicflan]

Bianca is probably forgettable for most. But I think she's my favorite. She's not much on the surface, but her internal struggle resonated with me a lot. Learning she's not so great at what she dreamed to do, needing to find a plan B, eventually finding her footing with something she basically stumbles into and learns that she loves doing just as much, if not more. While she really doesn't get much attention here, I feel like there's a lot that anyone could take away from her growth and development as a valuable life lesson. It's something that really resonated with me upon revisiting Unova, and something I still think I'm personally trying to figure out.

[@insupportofjunhado]

My favorite thing about Bianca is that she actually steps up her game and tries to beat you, when she learns you've been challenged by King Plasma. My least favorite thing is that they don't tell you that you can only get the final battle against her on weekends. By the time I learned that my team was too over leveled to make battling her any fun without raising an entirely new team. Cheren has no such nonsense, just walk in on him and battle!

[@merriichin]

no cause as a child, Bianca's arc made me sob for the first time in a video game!! Its so powerful, and a beautiful character arc i have yet to see in another pokemon game (done as well).

[@TheAzulmagia]

Bianca is funny to me because I remember having more trouble with her Serperior than I did with Cheren's team.

[@insupportofjunhado]

@@TheAzulmagia That's because Cheren doesn't actually build a good team. He "tries harder" by giving them all items and having them higher level than Bianca's at a couple points in game, but he runs full defensive sets on monsters best suited for offense and doesn't tend to lead with his best hand. So yes, picking Oshawott does result in Bianca having a better team, even though she's under leveled once or twice and uses no items. I really hated it when Bianca showed up after Cheren with a push over team, but that made her more memorable to me when she levels up her team quick after hearing you've been challenged by N to try and become champion and consistently stays around Cheren's level from that point onward. She's still not a particularly good battler, but better than she thought she was, properly motivated, and Cheren's not that good, which he realizes in the post game. I find their career paths in the sequels kind of disappointing for those same reasons though. Bianca realized she was capable of getting better, and then just ditched it. Cheren realized he still needed to improve, and then just ditched it. Like, if they were going to be in a gym or become researchers I figured they'd at least be late game like Blue with powerful teams that resembled the ones they used before.

[@TheAzulmagia]

@@insupportofjunhado From what I understand, they do use stronger versions of their old teams, but only if you use the Memory Link.

[@Nightwalker065]

I feel the exp share in gen 6-7 was perfect. Give players the option to have easy grinding or a traditional grinding session. What I hate about the newer games is that they removed the option for exp share.

[@brunoreis4455]

For real, that felt so unecessary to remove

[@toumabyakuya]

Yeah, just add the option to turn it off. Said Exp. Share was so useful.

[@brunoreis4455]

@@toumabyakuya also shout out to sword and shield candies, WAY better to level up pokemon in the post game

[@JBzucc]

They actually function differently, in gen 7 it has a similar system to how gen 5s exp works, as in if that pokemon is above the level of the opposing pokemon it will gain less exp over all, so its harder to over level your team as it was in gen 6, personally I hate the team wide exp system cause personally I never have a single issue with exp in the older games, in fact I find it hard to not overlevel at times so you can probably guess I hate the argument that's always made towards the older games saying you always have to grind for hours and stuff, I feel like if you're having to do that then you're doing something wrong, gen 6s exp system doesn't work great with the exp share, at least gen 7 helped that a bit but I'd argue it's hard to not over level at times

[@toumabyakuya]

@@JBzucc *"personally I hate the team wide exp system cause personally I never have a single issue with exp in the older games,"* Good for you, however, that you don't have problems with it doesn't meant nobody else will either. Everybody can have different experiences with the game. *"I feel like if you're having to do that then you're doing something wrong,"* Or maybe, just maybe?, you are the exception and the way you play the games skips this problem altogether. Couldn't that be the case?.

[@AtlasAdvice254]

Truth be told I think the black and white remakes will make or break whether a lot of older fans stay with the series

[@Shamii]

To be honest I feel S/V and arguably even Sw/Sh already did that. I'm 27 and only one of my friends got S/V. We all got Sw/Sh.

[@theseb5981]

The 3D Pokemon games already made me give up on Pokemon for good; I really hope they don't remake Gen V This is literally the biggest franchise EVER, they have no excuses

[@sooeycune895]

They said that about Sword and Shield. They then said that about BDSP. They then said it about PLA. They then said it about S/V. See a trend?

[@picleus]

I've already been put off by the newer games, even though I enjoyed every one I played up to SM. But I haven't given up on the series, I still love Pokemon. Still play hacks and stay updated on the competitive scene. I'm more interested to see if Pokemon games with less "magic" will mean younger players are less attached/nostalgic for the series.

[@lukestacey9018]

I stopped caring about the new ones after I got Sun and Moon, only for it to hold my hand for the first several hours. I finished the game, and haven’t gotten any after. The exception was the new Diamond remake, but we know how it turned out…

[@peterrealar2.067]

What I feel will help when we return to Unova, is that we get familiar mons like in Black 2 and White 2 but turn them on their head and add a twist like a slew of variants or new evolutions discovered by a more aged Bianca.

[@codykilgore6937]

“Bianca forms” is not something I would have ever thought of, but the thought itself bring a tear to my eye.

[@mtgstudios1556]

That sounds like a good idea. An idea I had was to just port the old games to the switch with minor updates to add compatibility with newer games and only to remake the region if they are planning on adding significant changes like changing the story.

[@probablyjustsnails]

Wait ok as much as I don’t want them touching the story of black and white/bw2 because I’m scared modern gamefreak would ruin it ,, can you imagine the hype that would come from the trailer for these games opening with Bianca as the main Professor (esp because they’ve done away with tree names as of SV)

[@Joeymanful1]

I would love if Bianca was a pokemon professor working with her own lab.

[@PeterGargan]

Honestly the HD2D style would be perfect for Unova, I can picture the Skyarrow Bridge sequence benefitting greatly from it.

[@grypp5865]

castelia's skyscrapers as well

[@SeanWheeler100]

I would have preferred an improved Scarlet and Violet art style. BDSP's chibi style failed because it looked nothing like Sword and Shield. To ask them bring back sprites in the Black and White remakes would be very hypocritical of us. The Black and White remakes should be in full 3D. They can bring back the battle screen since those real time battles in Paldea is causing a lot of those glitches.

[@nintendonerdjoseph]

​@@SeanWheeler100he chibi style failed because it wasn't implemented well. The HD2D style meshes well with chibi-style pixel art.

[@FAILEDSTANDINGSCHOOL]

Probably difficult to do considering Square Enix literally copyrighted the HD-2D style so no one else can use it

[@SeanWheeler100]

Well, the HD2D style would not work for the X and Y remakes would they? X and Y are fully 3D, so for their remakes to use sprites, that would be a huge downgrade. If the Black and White remakes use the HD2D style, they'd be the only Pokémon games to use that. And when the chibis failed for Brilliant Diamond and Shiny Pearl, I doubt GameFreak would want to do another graphical gimmick for the remakes. They would use the art style of the most recent games for the Unova remakes.

[@Fredwood3000]

If the developers were to treat these games like BDSP, i would simply not be able cope with that.

[@toumabyakuya]

Even when that would meant that the remakes would be just like the originals?.

[@kats1646]

​@@toumabyakuyaI mean, at that point I would just replay the originals. Which I am doing right now, even.

[@OstentatiousGrace]

now could you imagine how us gen4 fans felt

[@toumabyakuya]

@@kats1646 Then what is the point of remakes?. If things are changed then there's an outcry; if things remain the same there's an outcry, GF simply cannot win.

[@kats1646]

@@toumabyakuya The point of a remake is to enhance a game using modern technology and the changes and new mechanics the series has, while also doing away with the things that held the original back. For example, they should absolutely NOT keep the "only Unovan Pokémon" thing in the remakes. As much as I liked it, because of the sense of wonder and discovering new Pokémon, not falling back on old favorites, it's just not somthing that holds water today. Same thing with the weird-ass exp scaling based on level. On the other hand, if the remakes come out during gen 9, I'd love if Terastalization was added, like ORAS had Megas. The only problem is that they would have to re-balance the game around it, and we all know they will not do that.

[@cloudwyrms9752]

Despite pokemon being a “kids” game, it shouldn’t be dumbed down. The moments in playing that I REMEMBER the best are the ones that challenged me to grind and rebuild my team, and the satisfaction after was all worth it. I rarely get those moments from newer games and it all just blurs together when there’s no challenge; for now at least artistic effort like good music or cinematics helps (main reason I want to replay Scarlet, god damn team star has good music lol and the final boss battle just hits different) but it’s still not quite the same as putting in effort and getting past a challenge. Makes me feel much more attached to my team, rather than just a conveyor belt of regional favorites to keep my team from becoming overleveled.

[@RFDN0]

It is easy to not be overleveled in SWSH & SV. I am not even talking about swapping out your pokemon. In general, the game was balanced on the player traveling from one location to another. If you happen to come across a trainer, you can fight them realistically. You are designed to only battle about 10 wild pokemon per checkpoint. Like every pokemon game, there is an answer to win the gym nearby. The biggest issue I have seen and even fell pray to on both generations first runs is the "collector mentality." I want to get everything and battle everyone to one hundred percent the game. That is when we accidently grind without realizing it. Another issue that specifically links to the "games becoming easier" is that we have more than 150 mons for the campaign. Most of the difficulty in gens 1-4 are linked to the scarcity of your options. This is especially true for the first 3-4 gyms, and then we have a wider breath of options for a solid team, and the last gym (not gen 1) normally has an unfair type/mon. Gen 5 even did this in BW 1. Since then, we have been given wider options and are able to build solid teams quickly. To counter that, they made the gym leader teams better in general. Leaders have coverage for common counters and better synergy with their team. It is significantly harder to solo with a single mon a gymleader now then it was in the past.

[@lukebytes5366]

​@@RFDN0it's also realistic to completely skip across the level curve without even realizing it, like i did.

[@RFDN0]

@lukebytes5366 I stated such as well. Specifically on my first playthroughs. That said, it is easy to do so in the past games as well. I can't count the number of times I over leveled my starter in older games trying to find things on the map or looking for every trainer.

[@TheGalaxyWings]

Players should still have the option to make it easier. Not everyone is going to pull through the difficulty spikes you're mentioning, and I think the reason we never hear them is because they never got into the games and the community as a result. 7 years passed between the first time I played a pokemon game and the first time I finished a pre-gen 6 title. And while nowadays, I can appreciate the challenge older games offer, I would've never been able to experience them if there hadn't been easier games to let me get into pokemon (gen 6 and 7).

[@bubalackgaming8892]

​@@TheGalaxyWingsIf you can't pull through difficulty spikes in a POKEMON game, that says more about you than anything else.

[@Exlayer-pk8hy]

The only time i kinda liked the whole "Your rival picked the starter weaker to yours" thing was Nemona in Scarlet and violet. They explain that she already went through the journey before you so she grabbed a starter weaker to yours so she could have a challenge against you, that sounds like an interesting spin on the idea.

[@pocketdog5006]

She still kicked my ass with her Fuecoco's final evo. That mon can be NASTY to deal with, especially without water types. (I didn't have my Quaquaval on me at the time, I switch Pokémon around.)

[@darknessknows1235]

Nemona and Bianca are really the only good versions of it. For one thing, Bianca not being the only rival helped, but it also fits her personality to go for the pokemon that she likes regardless of type weakness

[@RAFMnBgaming]

Honestly, as an adult I wouldn't mind having a game where I get to play as "The Rival" and have that choice of picking options weaker or stronger to the one the "protagonist" chose. That'd be kinda cool.

[@dvillines26]

that, and all of the Paldea starter final evolutions are dangerous, their signature moves are all evil. Quaquaval will quickly become faster than everything, Skeledirge will power up if you let it get hits in, and Meowscarada always crits. monsters, all.

[@ssjbread2803]

​@@darknessknows1235that and she's not just competing with you; she also has to work around Cheren. Hers might be weak to yours, but it's strong against his.

[@Thunder-Sky]

"you know the type: overlevel your starter and refuse to trade them out until absolutely necessary" ah yes, I am quite familiar with the speedrunner

[@Thunder-Sky]

you're a beta male, Sonic

[@HardcoreElimination]

YESSSS!!!! I've been arguing for an Octopath style gen 5 remakes, not the horrible thing we saw with BDSP

[@portwise23]

DUDE I had a whole concept in mind, involving a way to include all 4 gen 5 games in basically a single piece of software, while still keeping them separate. Basically you'd have a free to download (or $30 minimum) software with 4 pieces of DLC. Each individual game from gen 5 would be offered as downloadable content, and would basically be exactly ported from the DS, or have an octopath traveller artstyle with mostly the original sprites and animations. They would all be launched from this "Unova Hub", which itself would have 1 box of simple storage/transfer for just the gen 5 remakes, though all 4 games could individually be connected to Pokemon Home. Owning both Black 2 and White 2 would also unlock all keys in both games, and the hub software would allow you activate keys and get keys from other players. A unique idea I had was that in the hub software, you could transfer Hall of Fame save data from your BW1 games to the sequels, and have a Mt. Silver style battle against yourself in the sequel games. Plus potentially unique dialogue with N about finding the trainer he's been looking for. Finally, I'd bring many additions to the Pokemon World Tournament, including all elite 4's, all previous rivals, player characters (Like Dawn, Brendan, Crys/Lyra), as well as champions, gym leaders, and other notable trainers (Potentially evil team leaders) From gen 6+ games, and at this point it's unlikely, but my wish is that they'd also bring gen 6+ pokemon, mechanics (Like Megas, Z moves, and even Dynamax/Terastalization), in order to really make the PWT into the ultimate challenge, possibly even surpassing the gen 3-4 battle frontiers. If this game especially had a fully unrestricted national pokedex, with all 1010+ pokemon, we'd really be eating as fans. Plus throw in a couple of mechanics related to the Pokemon Dream World, Global link, dream radar, and other gen 5 peripheral things, we'd have possibly the best pokemon experience period.

[@pocketdog5006]

SAME! Whenever me and my friends talked about Gen 5, I always wanted the remakes to be similarly to Octopath Traveler and have said so in discussion!

[@cozarooni1834]

Same here, I think the biggest mistake they made was going full 3D. Sadly they wouldn't ever do an Octopath styled game, think about how many pokemon models alone they would have to make for it let alone the actual world and npcs. Maybe it could be a possibility in the far far future when all the current 3d models are showing their age

[@portwise23]

@@cozarooni1834 I wouldn't say that 3D was wholly a mistake, after all, the gen 6 games are great games, and Legends Arceus is truly incredible, at least to me. But, for this case I'd most definitely argue that maybe a return to 2d would fit best. And if that's not the case, a set of remakes closer to Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire would at least suffice. Keep Ilca out of it, but perhaps Square Enix could be a valuable asset if they do decide to emulate Octopath. I wouldn't say that it's out of the question, more like an exciting but unlikely possibility.

[@MLG35U5]

​@@portwise23i love this idea but we can only dream cuz Nintendo aint like this...

[@maymakesart8300]

It hurts. Honestly, it hurts. It hurts how much we could be getting, but knowing that we’ll just get the bare minimum. It gets worse knowing that when it comes out, everyone will buy it anyway.

[@bubalackgaming8892]

I'm not going to buy it, this "people will buy it anyway" mentality is exactly why it's going to keep getting worse. If it's not gonna get any better from here on out then I'm not gonna have a part in it

[@IOwnKazakhstan]

yeah I kinda get that but it's not really like other series where you could make a big impact.@@bubalackgaming8892 The proportion of people who actually care to braindead children and diehard fans is crazy. It would create virtually no impact.

[@JayceCH.]

Lmao, you people say "it hurts" but like the comment above me says, you encourage the exact opposite of what Gen 5 stands for, aka new Pokemon.

[@thelivinghydraera]

Dude above me talking about an unearned status as if Scarlet and Violet didn’t exist, as well as the Diamond and Pearl remakes, and Sword and Shield wasn’t perceived as pretty mid by a lot of fans (not to mention the whole controversy about GameFreak lying about reusing 3D models). I grew up with 2D and loved the transition into 3D and think it would be stupid for them to go back to 2D, at least in pixel format. But overtime it’s become quite clear that they’re milking the franchise with little to no concern for the quality.

[@bugcatcherjacky1334]

I think GameFreak could still pull out a Masterpiece if they put more time into their works. If you take a look at Scarlet and Violet you can clearly see where their love went. The story is great (debatable, but I love it). There's a lot of great score and amazing pokémon designs. They focused on all the characters, flashed out a decent school system and came up with so many challenges to throw our way... But then ran out of time. This resulted in graphic suffering terribly. The game being too easy and overall it looking like an unfinished game. Give another year or two to polish the graphic and the way the game runs, fix the difficulty and the pokémon following system and you might have one of the best games out there. Just look at the whole map itself. It's clear they tried to make it cool and appealing by adding different places like desert and snowy areas but then they ran out of time and now the world feels... Empty. There's no reason to explore anything out there cuz you're not finding anything. Just compare it to Tears of the Kingdom. You find treasure chests, bosses, enemy camps, shrines, you name it just about everywhere. You encounter travellers and that just makes the whole game feel more alive. They could've easily just hid a bunch of things out in the wild, like maybe some sandwich recipes or new clothing pieces instead of handing it all to you if you talk to the right person. And yes, there are items everywhere but after a while that excitement wears off.... Quickly. So all of this could be prevented if only GameFreak gave their workers enough time. We don't need a game every single year... I honestly lost my hope for pokémon when Sun and Moon came out and didn't regain it until I experienced Scarlet and Violet. Still took me three restarts to actually finish the game but when I did I was glad cuz I could see a potential.

[@vtfan115]

I'm excited for the BW and BW2 remakes but I'm scared about them messing it up. I grew up with gen 5 and I am really looking forward to playing the games I love like new.

[@RainbowGod666]

ME TOO GEN 5 GANG RISE UP

[@llmalex4176]

​dont get your hopes up

[@DebraTripp-y6t]

Same here !

[@sethweinrich9544]

Honestly if they did the Octopath Traveler aesthetic with Gen 5, I would really want to see the game voice acted like they did in Octopath. It seems voice acting, especially in certain sections of the recent 2 generations, was needed but sorely absent. Heck they can just use any of the voice actors from Pokemon Masters Ex, Pokemon Generations, or the anime itself for those voice roles. I think that would enhance the game further and push Pokemon to further normalize voice acting in future mainline games.

[@dvillines26]

if any Pokemon game could benefit from voice acting, it's BW. people would go wild for voice acted N, lmao. money on the table. The gym leaders, E4, the rivals, Alder, all have so much personality. even Professor Juniper and her dad.

[@Vyloka]

They dont wanna hire voice actors to "complicate" game freaks communication. Its why their company is so tiny despite their huge franchise game. They super stubborn so we cant eve get voice actors on

[@SeanWheeler100]

@@Vyloka Not to mention how they are going to refer to the player in the voiced dialogue.

[@trainerbrendan969]

@@SeanWheeler100 Maybe its used sparingly, like only the visual novel-esque moments that or they could also just do the persona route

[@Rodri34451]

​@@SeanWheeler100 They can refer to you by nicknames like "Friend", "Trainer", "Pokemon trainer" or "Kid" depending who is talking to you.

[@adamklaphake5431]

I have to say this love letter brought a tear to my eye and I have to agree that Gen 5 was the best Gen so thanks for this trip back down memory lane.

[@No_Direction-99]

Pokémon gen 5 was mind blowing and stunningly beautiful to me as a kid. I never understood why so many people hated it

[@lucky-lu6tc]

i love gen 4 and grew up with it and i gotta say as much as i respect and even admire the good things about gen 5 (especially the cool moving sprites), i simply cant stand many of the humanoid (the fighting types) and simply "random" (floating pig embryo) designs of many gen 5 pokemon and that so many OP pokemon (lanterus) and abilities (instand sun or rain) are in this gen... yes some pokemon like vulcarona are crazy cool but so many other designs are just... lame and borderline ugly idk i cant bring myself to play it and i probably miss so much it is how it is

[@tomahawkgamesbr6045]

@@lucky-lu6tc This is what saddens me the most about gen 5's failure, people didn't play the game simply because they couldn't use their favorite mons and because they didn't like some of the designs, I mean, considering it is the generation that introduced the most amount of new pokemon, even more than gen 1, it is rather difficult to make amazing designs for everything, you gotta get through your lilipups and patrats before getting to your haxorus and volcaronas, I know it's all opinion, but just brushing a game off simply because you didn't like some of the deigns just makes me ask... why? Did it deserve being the worst selling mainline game because of that?

[@lucky-lu6tc]

@@tomahawkgamesbr6045 I think i will play it... but it will take some time for me to gather the strenght to do it... would you recommend B&W 1 or 2? I know that in 2 there are more mons that are not only gen 5 so it should help me get over the other designs amd feel more at home, right?

[@lucky-lu6tc]

@@tomahawkgamesbr6045 Also you are right, after the "failure" of gen 5 i heard that Gamefreak kinda stopped trying with their main line games

[@Blockistium]

change bad

[@Alex_Barbosa]

Gen 4 is my favorite Gen. Sinnoh was such an awesome historically focused region. I was so upset seeing what they did to it in the remakes.

[@lucky-lu6tc]

Still playing Platinum to this day ❤

[@latinoprophet]

The remakes are so good I just got to 250 hours in brilliant Diamond LMAO

[@compatriot852]

​​@@lucky-lu6tcsame here. It's honestly mind boggling that this game somehow has more content and looks better than the "remakes"

[@illseeyaonthedarksideofthemoon]

What I love about Gen 4 is that deep dive into the mythology of the Pokémon world, you have the archeological legends of D/P, as if the forgotten myths of the past come back to life as you learn more about them, while in HG/SS you see the folkloric and religious part of said mythos, the reverence and traditions people made around these powerful beings of the past.

[@mr.shtinko983]

Was platinum your favorite or Diamond/Pearl?

[@robertbeisert3315]

I started replaying White recently, and I had forgotten just how wonderful the game was. I keep remembering how absolutely astounded I was that the DS could do any of that. And then BW2 happened. There are few rivals on the 3DS.

[@marcobelli6856]

I played only black 1 did I miss out a lot with the 2? Should I buy it?

[@robertbeisert3315]

@marcobelli6856 "missed out," probably not. The story isn't that different, and there aren't so many new mechanics that it justifies what you'll probably have to pay today. It was the most impressive thing I ever saw on a handheld for a good while, and it looked better than X and Y to me.

[@MC_Danger_Noodle]

Excellent video! These were the last Pokemon games I got fully immersed in. To see a remake that enhances that original experience would be amazing.

[@mayayamato7351]

god i've seen it 1 billion times already both in video essays and my own obsessive playthroughs of BW/B2W2 bu going out and seeing that bridge expand out into the horizon still gets me.

[@excalibur493]

If you have USUM, port a pokemon from Gen 5 there and go to the photo booth at Huahua City! ... I forgot the name, its been too long, but you're gonna love it!

[@dessdev8404]

Pokemon white was my first Pokemon Game and an interesting thing is, that I am not really ambitious to win or be the best and never was. So when I played the game, I didn't know what's the main goal. I was excited to experience an adventure with my Pokemon and my Rival. The two Rivals where real friends to me, so when Cheren said he wants to be the champion, I wanted him to be the champion as well, because I wanted to support my friend and the victory didn't meant anything to me. I actually hoped for him to defeat me in the end, and i didn't knew this is just not a possible ending. My focus were team plasma and N. I wanted to find a way to communicate with him and find a good solution. So I was so happy, when all the strong trainers, including Cheren stood up am fight in the end so I could go further an fight with N. My friend supported me in my goals, like I wanted to support him in his. I've never defeated the champion to this day, because even though I know Cheren can't beat the Champion in this game, I just can't bring myself to steal his dream.

[@PixieDiamondDew]

If it helps, Cheren was just confused and trying to prove he’s a good trainer, that’s why he wanted to be a champion. But in the second game, he is a gym leader, one of the hardest ones

[@cannonballking7]

For me Gen 4 and 7 are my personal favourites, Gen 4 felt like the perfect iteration on what gen's 1, 2, and 3 were doing, and finally brought the whole series into focus, and Gen 7 felt like the last time they really tried, and the last hurrah for the franchise (or a more cynical look would say the beginning of the end), with a gen 5 focus on story, an attempt to reinvent what the traditions of the games had to be, and a pokedex which was razor sharp with the newer additions. While I may be a burnt out and disappointed at the state of the franchise, despite it being the most profitable around, I can only hope for a better future, or look to the ever creative fan works and hacks which continue to impress. Keep up the great work, and have a lovely day.

[@RainbowGod666]

Mark my words: unless they basically ripoff Cassette Beasts for the open-world, or they make them in the style of gen 7 (but with HD), they are going to ruin them

[@yurisei6732]

Lmao they didn't try for gen 7. They couldn't even be bothered making branching paths which is really the bare minimum.

[@RainbowGod666]

@@yurisei6732 bruh this is pokemon, not fucking undertale

[@RainbowGod666]

Granted both are my childhood but still.

[@jevonp]

@@RainbowGod666did the old games not have routes with alt paths? Lmao the games have become entirely linear post gen 6. Gen 6 was the beginning of the end with 3d and a lack of post game for ORAS

[@ohmygardner]

How could you not mention diving into a world of all new Pokemon? Black&White was a breath of fresh air. You couldn't rely on your previous knowledge of existing pokemon and it gave me a nostalgic feeling of diving into a new world for the first time since Gen 1

[@Pyco_]

I always thought they could repurpose the Xtranceiver to be able to call rivals and get their thoughts. Something similar to party chat in the Dragon Quest games.

[@insertchannelnamehere7154]

They did that in the sequels. You could check friendship with Bianca, and Cherren could help you check IVs to some extent.

[@alexanderticonuwu7591]

​@@insertchannelnamehere7154 And I think Hugh has different dialogue depending on where you are in the story. He's mostly there to remind you of where to go though.

[@marianoaponte2518]

I remember my first Pokémon Black run. I was 9 years old and I got a flu. I saw an ad in the TV and asked my dad if he could get the game for me, and for the first time in my life I got a "yes" without further questions. It was my first and only original Nintendo DS game, and I remember how I loved every single detail of it. Reshiram is still one of my favourite legendaries (after Rayquaza). It truly is the best Pokémon game.

[@sabrinaghostblade3948]

I’m so happy there’s people that love Gen 5 as much as I did😭 My favorite tune from Gen 5 would be either Entralink or N’s castle

[@yinbecauseidonthaveideas2181]

Here’s my personal issue: I GREW UP with game freak thinking I wasn’t going to be a good player. But I loved Pokemon. My favorite memories were me and my brother grabbing the Pokédex book during the streamed episodes and naming the silhouettes. We got so excited when we guessed correctly, and as Ash & friends traveled the region, we built our dream team with them. That was in the older generations, we stopped after X Y Z. I started playing the older games just to relieve those beautiful memories again, and wow. Those games are H A R D. But I will never forget a single moment of that experience.

[@autusticrat]

No joke, I've been sculpting a team for the black 2 elite 4 for around 20-30 hours now. I've bred Pokemon for egg moves, hunted for shards, and grinded for levels, all because I don't wanna use legendaries. This game is rough and I'm all for it

[@TheZephyExperience]

Ive played well over 1000 hours of gen 5 i genuinely love gen 5 i started playing during gen 4 but ive played every game but the music in gen 5 was by far the best id be jamming to the music

[@coopergreil6235]

Honestly, all I really want from an updated BW visually is exactly the footage you’re showing here: decompressing the textures and using the higher resolution to disable sprite scaling. If they added some modern quality of life features and remove HM’s, that would make the game perfect for me. Also, you’re entirely right that BW is a hard game, especially that Elite Four. I do Nuzlockes a lot, and I have wiped at the Elite Four more times than I’d like to admit.

[@SneakTheOcto]

Looking at the Driftveil Drawbridge cutscene in this video made me immediately know what would happen in the remake. The screen would go black, a sound of a bridge going down would play, and then the bridge would just be down. No cutscene.

[@apokeman1865]

God, I am terrified. As a new pokemon fan I remember being excited for Sword and Sheild, but now those games bore me... I was excited for finally exploring Sinnoh, but it was a let down... even PLA has its problems. I am getting bored of Scarlet and Violet and am waiting impatiently for the DLC. All these mishaps, the mountains in SV, the water textures in PLA, SwSh's lack of being able to fully flesh out and merge seemlessly its bifferent bioms worry me. They worry me that the so-called ''best pokemon game''' will be tarnished, that it will suffer a similar fate to DP... but we must remain hopefull

[@jeremias-serus]

New Pokémon fan? Sorry, but how old are you exactly?

[@gumbitoicic9977]

​@jeremias-serus what does the age have to do with anything?

[@apokeman1865]

@gumbitoicic9977 nothing it's just to clarify I don't have too much experience in the games (well I do have like hundreds of hours playing but you know what I mean lol) so I only have the perspective of the the modern games

[@SSKJ64]

I love the limited 3D they used for this game, it’s so charming.

[@hotgarb5803]

SaltyDkDan fan spotted, termination imminent.

[@SSKJ64]

@@hotgarb5803 ack! I’ve been spotted!

[@HeldLikeAgrudge]

Am I the only one holding out hope for a black 3 and white 3 or has no one else even considered it?

[@sammydray5919]

People have considered it. Just that with how Gamefreak and how Pokemon games are nowadays, people would rather avoid that landmine at all costs. Like just look at poor Sinnoh and what it got for a "remake". Gen 3 fans really lucked out with ORAS despite the lack of Battle Frontier

[@megdegray8295]

This could be me misremembering most of BW & BW2's stories, but I'm confused as to what BW3 could do in terms of story. Ik there are a few loose ends/unanswered questions... but I'm not sure how that would all morph into a continuation of the story (assuming BW3 would be a continuation). I'm sorry if I come across as rude, that isn't my intention,.

[@Zevox144]

@@megdegray8295 I don't think a direct continuation would necessarily be the route, but like a decade later maybe? Enough time to usher in a truly new cast, and maybe some being inspired by or being related to the OG's.

[@averagegorgonenjoyer6876]

I honestly will beg Gamefreak on my hands and knees for 2 things. 1, if they do 3d models for the pokemon, have their idle animations mimic those in b/w or b2/w2, have embaor slam his fists together, scrafty pull up his pants every once in a while, allow dewott to flash his bladed scalops before quickly putting them back. Additionally THEY NEED TO DO THE MUSIC RIGHT! I don't care if they have ti drag a church bell into their orchestra THEY NEED TO REPLICATE NOT ONLY THE HYPE OF THE LAST GYM LEADER POKEMON THEME, BUT ALSO THE INTENSITY. I've noticed that in remakes when they orchestrate the themes they get more chill, less loud, more soft. Don't do that with this remake, keep it intense. It is the finale of a battle after all.

[@Nightmare-we8vm]

I don't necessarily want another game from this region, but I think this hybrid 2d mapping is a much better direction than the open 3d maps we have now.

[@lizardlucius]

I agree with the octopath traveler take! In fact I say it since I have seen OPT that this is what Pokémon should look like nowadays. Good video! Awesome

[@argonhammer9352]

OPT is litterally just pixel art with filters. Why do people like it so much?

[@georgeok4582]

@@argonhammer9352 It isn't just the filters, it's the subtle animations and the way they managed to blend 3d and pixel art together into some of the most stunning visuals i've ever seen. If you compare OPT2 to almost any other new JRPG you will see why it's so popular.

[@JayceCH.]

@@georgeok4582 Absolutely no animations. Its just filtered.

[@jeamsis]

i agree about sun and moon too. I didn’t really care for it when I first played it, and then one day I picked it up again and had a lot of fun playing it. I thought maybe it was just an in the moment thing but to this day I still think it’s better than what people give it credit for. It grew on me for sure

[@KCzz15]

I've played the Pokemon games since literally 9am on the morning that Pokemon Red released in my country, never missed a game up to and including Pokemon Sun & Moon and put multiple thousands of hours into the series as a whole. Never bought another Pokemon game after that, something felt wrong and time only keeps proving me right as the quality keeps dipping further and further. There's bits and pieces there which could be promising, but none of the polish or soul that used to permeate the games is anywhere to be found. Sometimes I miss the series, but then I glance at whatever the latest game is and the feeling fades again. There is no god left is man, or Arceus left in Pokemon.

[@Vyloka]

Id deeply recommend legends arceus as a fire reigniter in that regard. Did wonders for me and Im in a similar boat

[@KCzz15]

@@Vyloka Considering the state of gen 8 and 9, I'm okay letting that fire stay a pile of wet ashes.

[@Vyloka]

@@KCzz15 Cautious of getting your hopes up after playing a game that might raise your expectations to a level you feel is gonna most likely be let down?

[@KCzz15]

@@Vyloka I've watched gameplay of it multiple times, it looks fine enough but not so much that I'd go out of my way to play it when the main gens are in such dire straits. The chain has been broken, it would take something on the level of B&W2 from gen 10 for me to care again, not just a one off side game being decent.

[@urfork1]

After what they did to us gen 4 stans, know that we are praying for you. Hopefully you get the gen 3 treatment, with how amazing ORAS was. I’m also glad to see at least one other person really enjoyed gen 7, SM easily made it into my top 3 games, I really loved a lot of the characters and Pokémon from it, the last game IMO that didn’t feel like it was a digimon clone.

[@bunniebie9269]

i honestly adore SM, they changed it up and they committed to the bit - and hard. the region, the characters. i actually cried at the end on the final image of lily and solgaleo, there is a heartfelt sweetness to those games that i do not really expect out of pokemon bar the mystery dungeon games (especially the time and darkness games). i know some people dislike SM, especially due to hau (who was fine imo), but there is an unmistakable character to it. i wanted sword and shield to carry on from them more than anything, and i was devastated when they didn't.

[@urfork1]

@@bunniebie9269 yeah, swsh fell off so hard it was unreal. i was sorely disappointed by it, if it had kept up with the charm of SM, it would have been great, and they got so close with the gym system, but they made too many poor decisions in the end, and haven't been able to recapture the magic since. hopefully gamefreak will really look inwards and try to fix what they've been doing because i miss having great pokemon games.

[@smhroyal]

Amazing video explaining your love for Black and White! I seriously hope they handle the remakes well, and I'm especially scared for Black 2 and White 2 because those are literally my favorite video games of all time and I'm worried they'll get the BDSP treatment. As much as I would love for them to do a Black 3 and White 3 instead, or even a fully fleshed "legends" style game, I think it's inevitable that the Gen 5 games are still going to get traditional remakes regardless, and hopefully they don't mess them up 🤞

[@Someonewhomightnothave]

Can we please get that short exploration of the difference between the Nemona and Hops character? It’s a really interesting concept that I’d love to explore more through listening to your thoughts.

[@1Skyler0]

Last section of the video hit was surprisingly emotional. I really did play this game while learning how to read.

[@MerkhVision]

I really hope the people at GameFreak watch videos like these and take some of this to heart. But even if not, nothing that happens can take away what these games mean to us and the experiences we had with them. Despite remakes being made, the originals will always still exist.

[@Naruku2121]

The thing about experince share is, I get why they made it, heck I can even get why it's enabled by default. What I don't get is why is it *mandatory* just have an option in settings called 'Classic Mode'. or something. Grind in a Pokemon game in the main portions of the game never bothered me, if anything when getting a new Pokemon it forced me to understand it's moveset, how good it was in battles and created a sense of attachement when it pulls off a win I didn't even think it could. Now you can just stick to one pokemon most of the time, while letting the other members coast off the success of others which makes the pace too much of a breeze. And while that doesn't prevent you from switching and making use of a new Pokemon like my above statement, it makes doing so rather moot.

[@KodexKat]

BW felt special due to having their own never before used sprites and animations and they post game allowing you to battle legendary trainers in the tournament mode. If they remake the game I hope for them to go 3D just to see the world in the best way possible

[@TheDubbedCasual]

This was such a great video. Gen 5 content always makes me tear up

[@cohonkersss]

I haven't played through black&white since I was literally a kid but watching this has made me tempted to replay it, I'm sure it would hit completely different now just being able to appreciate all the different stuff.

[@zt7044]

much like you gen 5 is my favorite followed by the first pne I played (gen 4) and the thing I've been missing the most in new titles is the hard mode you unlock trough wonderlink. it was truly much much harder than the base game while being masterfully balanced and varied

[@mandymagnolia1966]

A friend of mine got me into the Persona series in 2015 (like, I got a Vita just so I could get P3P 😅) I’d love to see a friendship system like the persona games. I know it probably won’t happen, but I’d like to see something where you get to know the characters more

[@thoughtsofaleo2916]

They did something similar with Scarlet and Violet! Even if it doesn't affect the story or anything, the extra cutscenes and dialogue would be fun; heck they can even just borrow/take what they say from Pokémon Masters.

[@chrismcleen1337]

its always the smaller youtubers that make the best content man. this was such a brilliant video and that ending got me man. great video!!

[@havenarmstrong4675]

gen5 is part of my core memories. i remember playing in the car on trips when i was in middle school and the music just gives me such nostalgia

[@Srelathon]

I legitimately believe that one of the biggest problems with modern Pokemon is that it's trying to always be in full 3D and it just doesn't work as well

[@fartface8918]

and the reason it dont work well is because of deadlines for max merch sales

[@ADragonFruit440]

“N actually has the ability to speak to pokemon at the cost of being able to communicate with people” Omg he’s literally m- “Some of you might relate to this, please don’t”

[@truffleknight7260]

I understand liking Gen 5 better than most of the other gens, I didn't play it till high school and still I think I enjoyed it a bit more than all the other Pokémon games that I played, I think I have enjoyed most of the gens that I have played up until sword and shield, I did get a bit annoyed by sun and moon, but that was mostly because we got them twice in a row, and I wanted something different, I do enjoy them now a bit more.

[@hibbs1712]

“I cant believe it’s not Unity!” 😂😭😭😭😭😭

[@allen8959]

Honestly, I'd love for them to introduce a pro-code style difficulty customizing screen in the options. Increase world pokemon level, increase number of pokemon carried by trainers, limit number of items that can be used in battle, even a nuzlocke setting for both fainting pokemon and for Pokemon encounters. The ability to choose just how difficult you want your playthrough to be would be a breath of fresh air.

[@bugcatcherjacky1334]

I think at this point, Pokémon desperately needs a difficulty setting to redeem themselves.

[@vaishnav_mallya]

It's not the fault of games before gen 4. They came way before the upgrades. You can say they walked so gen 5 and above can run. I was disappointed that even remakes of gen 1, 2, 3 and 4 didn't get much upgrades when it comes to the environment. They just made it 3D.

[@oscarbarron3681]

A 2d hd pokemon game is honestly a dream i didnt know i had😂

[@Abod8Bit]

23:36 Even though Pokemon is a children's product, children deserve something of quality. I don't want an insurmountable difficulty or something too complicated like Final Fantasy, but I want something that gives me a challenge that makes the time I spend on Pokemon valuable, and the fact that I finished Generation Nine makes me agree to the difficulty slope. Which I talked about, and also that the game became an open world does not mean that this has benefited it as much as it has harmed it

[@TasosPJ]

This is what you call a video essay! Let's hope someone from Nintendo watches this.

[@chuckydee2951]

Black and white had a freakin' crazy manga too. The ferris wheel scene was sooo creepy and had huge implications on the rest of the story.

[@chuckydee2951]

I read it before I was able to play the game when I was a teenager and that's one of the reasons B&W are my favorite Pokemon games

[@SylviesBadAtNamingStuff]

After Sword and Shield, I didn't even want a Diamond and Pearl remake because I knew that they'd screw it up somehow, and it STILL somehow managed to shock me by how bad it was. After BDSP and Scarlet and Violet, I'm not sure if I even want a new Pokemon game any time soon, let alone a Gen 5 remake.

[@UltraBall23]

Did you like Arceus?

[@SylviesBadAtNamingStuff]

@@UltraBall23 oddly enough I did even if it shares a lot of the same underlying issues. maybe if i replay it i won't have as good of a time, but i had fun with it.

[@Err0_Will]

Never before have i agreed with someone so hard

[@bigtimetimmyjim6486]

I disagree with the assertion that N is a good guy, but that the rest of Team Plasma falls into the evil team trope. Even in BW1, talking to grunts after you battle them and around N's castle shows that while some are just stereotypical thieves using Team Plasma as a guise to abduct pokemon, others are questioning if their actions are actually doing what is best for them and the motives of the team's leadership. It shows something that other "teams" in the franchise lack: that it is comprised of individuals with their own thoughts and beliefs, from N who genuinely wants what is best for pokemon to Ghetsis pulling the strings and seeing them as tools to conquer Unova. But still excellent video, I agree with everything else, especially regarding the challenge aspect of the 5th generation (BW2 is even tougher IMO).

[@dieallgemeinheit2247]

Since he hasn't been mentioned - my favourite rival is from BW2 - pretty much the only one I felt had a really human personality :)

[@marcoasturias8520]

Why did we had to ask 2d game devs to make 3d games? They mastered their craft, to the degree they were confident enough to twist and fumble to make a new experience out of something familiar. Jumping to 3d wasn't the next step, it ws throwing away all the work and experience away. And worst of all, the content. Many devs, GF included, consider 3d as content and leave the game barren. Just read Masuda's interview before and after Gen 6. He liked putting Easter eggs and give legendaries cool areas, nowadays either there's nothing or there's a dump where every post-game prize goes, including legendaries. Gosh, literally raid battles are the end all be all of gen 8 and 9, barring shiny hunting, but that's a different kind of insanity...

[@dextra_24703]

at this point i just want Black and White 1&2 in one package, just the og roms no more

[@elijahkeay3906]

This video voices so many of my gripes with modern Pokémon while also showing love for my favourite in the franchise. Very well done

[@dippin4dots]

Its crazy how just one game could ruin the reputations of remakes. Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were regarded as amazing, but BDSP were so underwhelming that I feel exactly to same for fearing Black and White remakss. And people outside the Pokemon community and die-hard pokemon always bring up "Oh but they are fauthful blahblahblah" but remakes arent supposed to he faithful, theu are supposed to bring the older generation to the modern gen occompanying it. BDSP did none of that. It just boringly just made gen 4 chibified even tho when we originally played them, we didnt see them as chibi. We saw it how it was meant to be portrayed, but due to the the system limitations it couldnt be fully realised. Hoping gen 5 remakes are Open world type games and not like the fuckin Mario Oddyssey sized map that Gen 9 has (note: I know Paldea is probably bigger than some other regions, but it literally feels the smallest to me, maybe only Alola feeling smaller, based on its design and structure. It feels too empty compared to older games, and just having the mindset of "oh we need to add a desert and snow location". Area Zero is pretty cool in terms of actually how its designed), but I kinda wish there was more of an incentive to explore in modern games. There used to be a lot of back tracking, and cave systems being used as short cuts, trains and cable cars for mountains that unlock areas. Like I understand its kinda fun for Pokemon to be Open World, but it kinda doesnt work with how linear its story it. Like even with Paldea having 3 stories you dont really need to travel much and explore for them and they feel more like checkpoints rather than anything. Most open world games either have chronological small missions in a greater larger story that utilizes most regions of its map like GTA, or have a bigger story that you dont necessarily need to follow in a straight linear path in, having side quests found through exploring that actually make you stronger like Skyrim and BOTW/TOTW. I'd like a mixture of old style region making and open world stylings, cause neither of the normal open world styles really fit Pokemon's style of story telling. You'd basically just need to make Gen 6 again but having larger routes, more world building, and random puzzles like the older games. Im rambling but im honestly worried for Black and White 3/ Pitch Black and Blinding White/ Black and White 1+2 (idfk what theyre gonna name em, all I know is theyll probably ignore that the sequels exist like they did with Crystal/Emerald/Platinum for those remakes)

[@eon6274]

When Black and White came out, I was halfway through high school and it was one of the only titles in the series that I didn't play. I bought a DS off ebay with money from my first job and got it with x and y, as well as omega ruby and alpha sapphire. I played each of those thoroughly, never bothering with black and white. After this video I regret not having played them already. The story seems on another level compared to many of the other titles I remember playing.

[@barry1253]

If the modeled 3 dimension is as problematic as it appears please give us Triangle Strategy pokemon version, would love to see an absolutely packed 2D game than more simple and short ones

[@HHGamingOfficial]

Most kids nowadays wouldn't have the patience to grind like we did back then. They had to make it easier.

[@VincentWhite]

there's something so personal, so *satisfying* about beating a hard boss battle. also, if i remember correctly- there's a difficulty switch at the beginning of black n white. If you really think it's too hard, you turned it down and then had an even wilder and harder game to look forward to later!! As someone who learned to read with Crystal, finds RSE to be their "nostalgia generation", and thinks that XY, (although the story was dogwater and missed some REAL opportunities to be as good as BW's story or DPP's bouns events,,,,,) was my personal favorite generation-- i am going to sit and sob loudly into my hands if they heck up gen 5. Oh, also, most of SCVT's graphical issues come from the fact that they rendered too much water and it is rendered even if you cant see it. I cannot find the post at the moment, but the render distance of the water is something stupidly insane like the real-life distance equivalent from where you're sitting, reading this; all the way out to planet f**king Jupiter.

[@Kulkogo]

A video “propelled by vibes alone” is a much-watch for me

[@Tyt3n]

i know gamefreak will NEVER do this but i would want the remake for gen 5 to be a 2 in 1 bundle, like mario 3d allstars was. have one game cost $80-$100 usd but have both black 1 and 2 or white 1 and white 2, it doesnt feel right for them to just remake the original and leave the new players out of the loop on what goes on in b2w2. id pay good money for both versions and i know the community would too

[@Karukami1]

23:54 I am actively sitting here joylessly drinking black coffee and smoking a cigarrette while staring at an excel spreadsheet and watching your video hahaha felt too personal, but your video brings me joy

[@BagelBoi4000]

Black and white was the last time the pokemon looked alive, despite being 3d the pokemon now look more like statues than they did in gen 1. The animations and art style of gen 5 was peak.

[@waltnuclear2944]

This video made me cry cuz black 2 / white 2 were my very last games I played. I’ve been out the loop for a while so that ending took me back to how they were the very last games I actively played a Pokémon game

[@kevinyoung2372]

Your passion for these games is palpable and makes someone like me who wasn’t a fan of them growing up want to boot them up and give them another chance. I hope the remakes can capture that same magic

[@catfluff85]

B/W were my first Pokemon games and although I don't remember much about playing them because I had to borrow my brother's copy, I remember watching the Pokemon anime and absolutely falling in love with the franchise. And I know that when the remakes DO come out, I probably will not be happy with anything other than a 2D HD remake with updated 2D sprites because of Gen 5's notoriously immaculate spritework. But if they HAVE to go 3D, maybe just the battles could be 3D and the overworld is 2D or vice versa? I really just want some of that spritework back for the inevitable B/W remake.

[@jeremyandrews3292]

I grew up with Gen 1 and I'm 35 years old... somehow I've never gotten tired of Pokémon and wound up liking Violet and Scarlet. I know people complain about the framerate, but honestly I'm old enough to remember when a lot of N64 games ran at 20FPS, and so Violet/Scarlet don't look that bad to me, so actually it seems like younger people used to 30FPS/60FPS minimum are more critical of it in that regard. I also kind of liked the cooking and enjoyed the school theme, always kind of wanted to play a Pokémon game centered around a university theme ever since the Pokémon Tech episode way back in the day. I would say that what I miss most from older games is actually the sprite work. 3D models just can't replace good quality sprites for me, and that is one of the things that keeps me going back to Black & White. Do I like the newer 3D games? Yes, and it seems like they are slowly getting better at making 3D games compared with X and Y, but there will always be something special about big, detailed sprites for me... maybe it's just because I grew up with the SNES. So, I do still love Gen 1 and have a lot of nostalgia for it, but I definitely see how the Game Boy limited the creative vision of Game Freak and always got the sense more could have been done. Even as early as Gen 2, you can see how much the Game Boy Color and better compression enabled. And Gen 3? It was the peak of the early games, it felt like a fully fleshed-out vision of what Pokémon was always meant to be in Gen 1, with most of the constraints taken off. Weirdly, I didn't like Gen 4 very much... it felt like it had too many returning Pokémon and just wasn't creative, was a slight graphical upgrade of Gen 3 solely created to showcase what the Nintendo DS could do. I loved Gen 5 and felt like it addressed all my complaints. Gen 6 felt really lackluster again... it was okay, but it just felt like it was showcasing the 3DS the way Gen 4 showcased the DS and wasn't bringing much to the table. Gen 7 was really interesting to me again, and definitely shook up the formula. Gen 8 seemed to have a really nice setting with England, it was okay. Gen 9... well, that one rekindled my interest again. So honestly there doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to which Pokémon games I like, except that I tend to mildly dislike Gen 4 and Gen 6 for being uninspired, and find every other Gen to be at least "okay."

[@kotzer71]

Im 33 and grew up with red and blue the fps thing is not age related more frames always looks smoother and better even going back to games that run at a stable 30 give me motion sickness till im readjusted to it That being said 60 is the standard ill take a stable 30 and if the game cant even do that it needs to go back in the oven Scarlet and violet were a eyesore the game bounceing between 15-30 fps was appalling and gamefreak should be a shamed for releasing that way

[@logandearborn1478]

I really feel like we all need to send this video to Game Freak/The Pokémon Company in hopes that something will resonate with the devs...

[@jaernihiltheus7817]

The arguments for modern exp share gets totally debunked by black & white 2 where not are there walking exp banks called audino available in nearly every route but they also not only give you an exp share but TWO lucky eggs during the main campaign. Ensuring that the level spikes don't require much grinding and the grinding you do do is extremely quick & hassle free.

[@MustacheDLuffy]

Audino aren’t as common to find although I think black and white is better at grinding exp and is closer to the perfect medium most fans want. HGSS/DP were harder than black and white but BW were harder than X and Y

[@batsonstevens4009]

Plus you could rematch against breeders on some routes

[@jaernihiltheus7817]

@@batsonstevens4009 also, also there's the dark grass for high level wild mons & double battles. Good for both leveling up and for collecting pokemon & wild held items (you can give a pokemon an exp share and put it in the back of your party, which gives it half exp from both wild pokemon you battle). There's also generally just a huge amount of optional trainers & areas to gain experience from. Not to mention you have access to infinite rare candies as early as the 5th gym via the world tournament (if you wanna grind *that* way insteat).

[@IMadeUpKear]

One thing that I think is underappreciated about black and white is how it was like a reset. In the original games, you could only catch gen 5 Pokemon (until post-game), and there was about 150 mons. It was like gen 1 all over again, and I loved that.

[@a.x.x8184]

Exactly I loved Gen 5 for that & it was my first pkmn game which I’m thankful for.

[@geebeepman]

including the latest pokemon games, black and white has still got to be the best visually-looking pokemon game that I've actually never played. I didn't own a ds so I never got to play the newer(at the time) ds pokemon games but every single time I've seen footage of black and white, it has always looked so spectacular to me even to this day. pokemon should've stuck to this style instead imo or maybe copy octopath traveler. battle chasers nightwar/the ruined king is nice too and would like at least a spinoff pokemon game in that style.

[@Aka60thChip]

The amount of people who defend the built in ex share… I appreciated your similar opinion on that. I get why game freak needs to make the game child accessible. But can you just simply make it a toggle-able option like set/shift option? Maybe an option at the start to allow smarter ai and level scaling?

[@lil-nicco0610]

It would be cool to see a B&W be like legends arceus. We still dont know what Zekrom, Reshiram and kyruem look like when all 3 are fused.

[@Thunder103093]

no way

[@Drowzee64]

The problem with whole-party Exp. Share is that the games aren't balanced to accommodate the fact that most players will have a well-leveled, balanced party to tackle any challenge with. This same mechanic works great in other RPGs, but not in Pokemon it's way too easy to get overleveled.

[@reddeadspartan]

The worst part is, no matter how the remakes turn out, people are going to buy them anyway and defend them like their life depends on it, calling people who disagree "not true Pokemon fans" until the next game comes out and they do it all again. It happens every time, you can even see examples of it in this videos comments, and it's mostly why I tapped out of the fanbase since actual discussion about a games quality is apparently impossible when it comes to Pokemon, you either have to love it unconditionally or never be able to talk about it otherwise you'll be shouted down by the fanboys (but then they'll turn around and call you toxic for supposedly "not letting them have an opinion"). Sorry for the rant.

[@tacohashi924]

I replayed Pokemon X a lot, but it only felt like something I did to kill time. But the Gen 5 games hit different when I replayed it. Each playthrough felt so different even if you were on the same game. Because of the many version differences, playing White 2 a few months ago felt like a new experience compared to my Black 2 runs. The Gen 5 Elite 4 arguably remains to be the ones that genuinely make me worry whenever I face them, even if I came prepared. My favorite part about the Gen 5 games is the continuity. You see familiar characters age up and see where they are in life, and you can also see what's changed over the course of two years (like Elesa now having her own runway instead of just hanging out in the rollercoasters.). It's interesting, heartwarming, and something that will be a challenge to surpass in another remake.

[@kaskando]

Damn that was a Great video! The end was actually quite emotional....dang

[@hzafary]

I enjoyed Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. It embraced the roots of what made Pokemon games great in the first place. Sure there are things it could improve upon. But I hope that this kind of criticism does not cause Game Freak to shy away from making top down older style Pokemon games. Call me crazy, but I’d love to even see some games with pixel art.

[@barrybend7189]

I'd love Black and white remakes to be more Gen 6 through 8 in style instead of Gen 9. Routes and cities with reletively small wild areas. Also think of the character customization shenanigans that can happen, Roxie fan girling to you wearing a Piers shirt ( as noted by masters EX dialogue), or Elise's second gym has reactions based on what you are wearing. Think of the world building the added mechanics and stuff could do.

[@JinxeBlaq]

I honestly just think BDSP were kinda lazy, as one of the people that grew up with Gen 4, but i get what you’re trying to say, if I’m honest if they just payed more attention to making the game a definitive version with all the best parts of those games, I could’ve forgiving the games. But that on top of the half baked toy box style they were going for that ruins the story’s tension.. And well, removing the good parts of the story, hell, removing most of the good stuff from Platinum, it’s just hard to forgive.. Though I would enjoy a new age pixel art Pokémon game. Something like Octopath Traveler but Pokémon, would be INCREDIBLE. It would” be amazing if the remakes were done in a style like that, but hey, if only.

[@markimarc009]

Talked about the “Growing with your Pokemon” and thought about the that one TGC tepig line. (Guy is a kid with tepig, student with middle evolution, and has his own family with emboar) made me tear up man…

[@andrewcook2625]

Honestly id rather them give the job of making remakes to the team who made the colosseum games ... at least then it would actually improve as a remake cause wed atleast have voice acting

[@UltraBall23]

The people that did Colosseum have been at GameFreak for over a decade. The remaining people make Pokémon Cafe Mix.

[@andrewcook2625]

@@UltraBall23 they may be at game freak but they aren't allowed to shine... give them a seperate office space and leave them alone to make the game

[@UltraBall23]

Some of the GS hires have led teams on several games. Even in the animation and battle mechanics sections.

[@andrewcook2625]

@@UltraBall23 thats cool but not what I'm asking for... I'm specifically saying I want the team to be put back together, told to make the remake with the same level of commitment and freedom they had when making gale of darkness