Go ahead, laugh. Fill the comments with your guffaws, chortles and giggles. There might be a metric crap-ton of great games coming out, but Pokémon Black and White 2 is definitely at the top of my list. It’s the first direct sequel to a game in the core franchise, and it’s looking to break some new ground, especially in the terrain of hidden stats that only the most hardest of core fans ever paid attention to.
Speaking to Siliconera, Nintendo’s Seth McMahil explained that alongside developer Gamefreak, Nintendo was looking to sort out an issue that had long plagued the game, as massive grinding was needed once the end game was reached, usually, in order to compete further.
“Pokémon fans, in the past, always had to deal with what we call ‘grinding the grass,’ where after you get around to beating the Elite 4, it’s like, ‘What we do now? Keep going through that, or go fight in the grass where characters are 20 levels below?’” McMahil said.
And to avoid that, step one was to make hidden stats such as EVs and IVs, more visible than a panty line under some tight pants.
And all the core fans knew about [EVs and IVs] already. They’ve been talking about it constantly, and it was a big part of Pokémon. And although it was in the undercurrent before, this time we decided, let’s bring it out into the open. Let’s open up the complexity of Pokémon for people who want it.
One other new feature also making an appearance, will be Join Avenue and the Unlimited Dungeon, which will also provide some fan service for long time players;
If you look also at all the Pokémon that are included, like non-Unova Pokémon – Mareep’s in there, one of my favourites from Gold/Silver – they really kind of made this one the Pokémon player’s game.
Look at Join Avenue, an area where shops open up the more you communicate with other players. There’s the World Tournament, where you can fight old Gym Leaders. Misty’s in there. That takes me back to the Blue version, before I even worked at Nintendo.
When I first picked it up and started playing it, I was absolutely blown away. I was like, ‘This game is made for the fans.’ Anybody can play it, but a fan is going to love it, because they’ve opened up all those things.
Pokémon Black and White 2 is due on DS in next month, and I’m pretty psyched for it. After all, the first Black/White game brought a level of exploration and mystery back to the franchise that previous instalments had been lacking in, and I’m hoping that continues here in the sequel.
Ok, you can carry on laughing now.
Last Updated: September 28, 2012
