In the Pokémon community, it isn’t a secret that Black and White were not the most widely accepted entries in the long-running franchise. They took some bold steps to shake up the formula, and those changes weren’t appreciated by everyone. Alongside this, a normal game developer would never consider releasing a brand new flagship video game on the Nintendo DS when its successor system, the 3DS, has already been out for nearly a year and a half.
Well, apparently Nintendo and GameFreak disagreed on both of those points, as they went on to release the first ever direct-sequel Pokémon game, Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, on the DS in 2012. And, in doing so, they gave consumers and franchise fans the best Pokémon game released at the time, and still the pinnacle of the series to this day.
In basically every single sense, Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 are complete and utter anomalies, but I think they’re all the more special for it. There aren’t any other games in the series like them. Yellow, Crystal, Emerald, and Platinum are re-tellings of the duos that came before them, and Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are an alternate universe (don’t ask). Black 2 and White 2 are the same Unova region you know and love, but set a few years later after the original game’s crazy events.
And, like any good sequels, Black 2 and White 2 make sure to really make this return trip worthwhile. It’s a blast to explore familiar cities and towns to see how the denizens of the world have changed and grown in the years that have passed. The Normal gym leader gave her position to none other than your rival from the first game, and has turned her full attention to the local history museum. The Ice gym leader retired from battling and is now a famous movie star. The precocious Dragon trainer-in-training is now the indomitable champion of the entire region!
But it isn’t so trite nostalgia bait slapped together to make a quick buck (like so many modern-day sequels). There’s a crazy amount of new content in this world too, and portrayed in realistic ways with respective to the time gap. A town that was being built in the first game is now fully explorable. The mountain that blew up in the previous finale has opened up a whole new network of caves to delve into. A random ghost house has apparated into the middle of the desert!
(Okay, that last one isn’t exactly relevant, but it’s definitely a really cool optional set piece in the mid-game.)
That’s the biggest thing for me, I think, about Pokémon Black 2 and White 2. There’s just so much love and care poured into every last crevice of the gameplay design. The developers could’ve taken so many shortcuts, and instead they produced the most masterfully crafted, content-packed experience in franchise history.
If you’ll allow me, I’m going to go into some detail about the absurdly varied and feature-filled things you can do in this game.
Have you ever wanted to star in a blockbuster movie alongside your trusted Pokémon partner? Well, in this game, you can! Through the use of the Pokéstar Studios, you and your allies can don all sorts of costumes, act out all sorts of scripts, and give rise to your own cinema stardom. First, you head backstage and act out the details of the script, which involves standing on a greenscreen stage and battling a motion-capture dummy. “CGI” effects are then added, and you get to watch your finished product on the big screen with an audience that gives you feedback based on how well you performed.
But it doesn’t stop there. Following the script leads to creating a good film, and messing up your lines leads to a bad film…but if you manage to strike the perfect balance of improvisation, you end up with a cult classic instead. The more cult classics you film, the more your stardom will rise in uniqueness, and your Pokémon partner can become a cultural icon (complete with special fanfare every time you use them in battle). You can even get a sculpture made of yourself. With over 20 scripts to act out and watch (each with three variations for good, bad, and cult classic status), there’s fun for everyone at Pokéstar Studios!
Maybe movies aren’t really your thing, though. Perhaps, you’ve always been one for drama and theatrics, and would like to try your hand at a Pokémon Musical instead! You can dress your Pokémon to impress, coach them through their techniques, and then enter them into various musical pageants to try to win the hearts of the judges and the crowds. The more appeal factor you get, the more you can (literally) steal the spotlight from the other contestants. Winning awards you even more props and costume pieces to accessorize your favorite mons.
Okay, okay, maybe performance mechanics just aren’t your cup of tea. Well, how about property management and real estate ownership? The Join Avenue feature allows you to dip your toes into that market by granting you ownership of an entire upbeat strip mall. For flimsy, questionable reasons, you’re given complete control over this empty strip mall, and you can populate it with vendors and different storefronts that offer unique services not found elsewhere.
You can install shops that sell rare items, cafes that allow you to bond with your Pokémon, a lottery shop that can be spun daily for a chance at an incredible item (including a master ball!), and even a gym that lets you train a Pokémon’s stats and even buy level-ups for them! The bigger your Join Avenue becomes, the more people visit each day to give you money and rewards. You can also visit the Join Avenues of your friends, and doing so helps you rank up and unlock new shops and rewards.
If Join Avenue wasn’t evidence enough, Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 certainly know how to keep you coming back for more, because there are loads of people and places to interact with on a daily resetting basis. Join Avenue brings in more visitors each day (and allows another jackpot attempt), but there are also two places called the Big Stadium and Small Court that have trainers who can be re-fought each day for lots of EXP, and those trainers even change teams based on the season of the year. The entire world changes based on the season, actually, opening up all sorts of new goodies! A fun little Ferris Wheel can be ridden daily for special scenes with NPCs. Your rival can be re-fought each day as well.
This game released in 2012, after all, so it’d be strange to not include any sort of wi-fi bonuses and shenanigans. Well, Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 certainly deliver on that front through the Entralink mechanic. By connecting your DS to the internet, you can complete a series of minigames and trials solo or with friends. The rewards for beating these missions unlock Pass Powers, limited-time abilities with powerful effects like increasing Pokémon catch rate, or generating discounts from shops.
And don’t think you’re going to be left out if you’ve played the original Black and White and are expecting some sort of special reward, because that’s what Memory Link is for! By scanning your DS system’s save data, you can unlock an entire library of bonus cutscenes that shed light on key figures from the first installment and what they got up to between games. On top of this, using Memory Link also unlocks a bonus showdown with the rivals from the original game, using their exact same teams as last time!
And speaking of battling, who could forget this game’s most note-worthy feature? The Pokémon World Tournament, or PWT. As divisive as the opinions can be around this game from time-to-time, there’s not a single person who doesn’t love the PWT. Fans across the world have been begging GameFreak and Nintendo to include the PWT in the newer era of Pokémon games, to no avail.
The PWT is a relatively simple concept that, like most of the mechanics included in Black 2 and White 2, was pushed to absurd levels of complexity and dedication by the developers. Using a simple bracket-elimination tournament style, you fight through waves of trainers to become the champion of the tournament. What elevates this feature, however, is that your opponents are comprised of all of the famous trainers, gym leaders, elite four members, and champions of the previous entries in the Pokémon franchise.
It’s one thing to be hit with a nostalgia-punch to the face as you go toe-to-toe with Sabrina’s Alakazam and Whitney’s Miltank (since everyone is using their original classic teams). It’s another thing for your eardrums to burst from overstimulation at the fact that every single classic music track is back and fully remixed into a modern style. Taking into account the gym leaders, elite four, and champion for each region, that’s a total of 12 brand-new remixes, all contained within this optional game mode. Suffice to say, the PWT is awesome!
Now, I know what you’re thinking. You’re wondering when Pokémon will finally introduce an optional romance subplot. Well, wonder no longer! For reasons clearly beyond my mortal comprehension, Black 2 and White 2 introduce Yancy and Curtis (who you meet depends on your player avatar’s gender). After finding Yancy/Curtis’ dropped cell phone, you can communicate with them through fifty unique conversations all across the region, eventually being able to face-time them as well. It culminates in a Ferris Wheel ride and Yancy/Curtis admitting they have feelings for you. They even will trade you rare Pokémon not obtainable anywhere else!
It’s a wacky and surprising inclusion, but very cute, wholesome, and worthwhile!
One of my personal favorite things in this entire game is the mindbogglingly expansive post-game. Coming from Pokémon Diamond (my first game in the series, spin-offs notwithstanding), I wasn’t expecting much. However, nearly half of my total playtime came from after the credits rolled! Whether it was exploring the gargantuan chunks of routes/towns/cities blocked until the post-game, tackling the extensive Black City Tower dungeon, re-matching old friends, chasing down a few escaping villains from the main story, or catching legendary Pokémon, there was always some reason to keep playing!
And if you’re someone who likes tracking down achievements and trying to 100% every game you play, then that’s what the Badge system is for. Everything from checking 10 trash cans for lost items or battling 100 trainers on the Battle Subway (which, oh yeah, is it’s own whole game mode) nets you a new medal. Do these medals do anything? Not particularly, save from earning enough to challenge a secret boss. But there’s just something addicting about collecting these little shiny trinkets. It’s nice to feel rewarded for your efforts!
Had enough of me praising the endless gameplay systems and content of Pokémon Black 2 and White 2? Fair enough, but rest assured I could keep talking for a while longer yet! However, let me now pivot to two areas I haven’t really touched on yet, that being the Pokémon themselves, and the central storyline/experience.
These two games exist within “Gen V” of the Pokémon franchise, but even over ten years in, some of my favorite Pokémon designs of all time come from this generation. There’s Leavanny and Zoroark (who both made it onto my article of favorite Pokémon a few weeks ago), but there’s tons more aside from them. I’ll post pictures of a few of my favorites down below. Plenty of old favorites return as well, including a boatload of old legendaries to hunt down. Hope you packed your Ultra Balls and are praying for good luck!
What’s the story? Well, in typical Pokémon games, it’s usually nothing to write home about, but these are the sequels to Black and White, two games notorious for elevating the franchise’s storytelling potential. Thankfully, Black 2 and White 2 don’t disappoint either.
Whereas the first installment dealt with the moral ambiguity of forcing Pokémon to act against their will (the villains being, essentially, PETA), Black 2 and White 2 focus on the ideals of individual trainers, and how their Pokémon and the world around them shape those ideals. While still ostensibly being a kid’s game, there’s some heavy thematic stuff in this game that probably goes over most younger players’ heads.
And, I’ve talked at length already about how fulfilling this entire journey through the Unova Pokémon League is, especially when it comes to the unforgettable battle against the champion at the end of the road. She might not be as terrifying as Cynthia, but Champion Iris is easily my favorite final climactic bout in a Pokémon game.
This wouldn’t be a Contrarian Corner article if I didn’t mention the soundtrack at least once, and rest assured it’s not falling at the bottom of this article because it’s bad. The Gen V Pokémon games are known for their amazing soundtracks, and Black 2 and White 2 specifically are home to some of the best musical selections in the series. If you’ve got a few minutes, go ahead and take a listen to ASPERTIA CITY, GHETSIS BATTLE, and CHAMPION IRIS.
To conclude, it should be patently obvious by now that Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 are my favorite games in the entire series. However, I hope it’s equally obvious where I’m coming from when I argue that these games are the pinnacle of the franchise. Through incredible and lovingly crafted gameplay, more content and mechanics than you could shake a Pokéball at, and constantly engrossing characters and music, Black 2 and White 2 stand proudly atop the Pokémon franchise mountain, and may do so for eternity to come.
But hey, that’s just my opinion!
The Contrarian Corner 