Pokemon

[Utsuho Lazy]

Spoiler for BW2 has begun to surface, including major story spoilers. Please tread carefully.

[Nash]

Story spoilers in a 'mon game...

[Mystic]

The story is basically always the same with Pokemon games. I'll admit more recent games are getting a bit more complex, but they're still the same.

A trainer out to become the best...oh geez. I've been playing that for over 12 years of my life? It's like the anime except I've aged and became Pokemon Champion from Red through White.

[Utsuho Lazy]

As usual, we've already got ROM leaks, threads regarding the ROMs reaching 100 pages in a day, over 9000 noobs asking for download link even though none of them can read Japanese, and the combination of HGSS AP (random freezing) and BW AP (no Exp obtained from battles).

[Nash]

AP? Ability Points?

Considering how there's little change from BW1... I doubt reading is even required.

[Utsuho Lazy]

AP? Ability Points?

Anti-Piracy.

EDIT: I got the game. BRB away from life for awhile.

[Nash]

I finally caved in and got Conquest. Guess I'm in the late crowd now...

I should have known they'd make a Pokemon SRPG grindy... dammit.

[Utsuho Lazy]

Unsurprisingly, the old Gyms have all been revamped.

Unexpectedly, though, each Gym now has a different arrange of the standard Gym BGM theme we've all known. For example, Homika's Gym features an upbeat remix of the theme, with Homika and her band singing in the background, while Arty/Bugsy's Gym has a theme that feels cold and mysterious, which goes with his Gym's new design created from hollow cocoons.

[Nash]

Conquest gets no love... now that BW2 steals all the spotlight.

[Utsuho Lazy]

Conquest gets no love... now that BW2 steals all the spotlight.

Well, Conquest was out in Japan ages ago so people have had a lot of time with it, while BW2 was just out shyly a few days.

[Nash]

How many of us are actually in Japan?

[Utsuho Lazy]

How many of us are actually in Japan?

Well none, but many of us can (or don't mind) playing games in Japanese. Not to mention there are countless methods to get the games for free...

EDIT: Kamiture/Elesa's Gym can be summed up in three words: what the eff.

EDIT2: just made it to the brand-new area to the west of Sazanami/Undella town, where is a desert town named Yamazi. The music sounds Hispanic inside the town and Arabic outside.

EDIT3: if you think the scene where N's Castle surrounds the Pokémon League in BW1 was epic, then wait until you beat Souryou/Opelucid Gym, for an equally shocking scene.

[Mystic]

Spoiler for BW2 has begun to surface, including major story spoilers. Please tread carefully.

Woo, I just tread some spoilers... I was quite shocked to say the least.
Iwantthisgamesobadnowohmanohmanohman.

This isn't exactly a spoiler, but I'm putting it in tags to be safe because I am rambling about Black/White 2 a bit.

Spoiler:  [ Open ]

I wonder what happened to the previous player character of the first Black/White game. Will we get another "Red" scenario or will we ever see them again? That character does have the other dragon after all.

I finally caved in and got Conquest. Guess I'm in the late crowd now...

I should have known they'd make a Pokemon SRPG grindy... dammit.

My resistance is waning as well... The curiosity is becoming too much. This is exactly how I fell victim to ponies. Oh cruel irony thou hast dealt me a troll hand.

[Utsuho Lazy]

Aaaaaaaaand... as of 15 minutes ago, I've officially beaten the main story of White 2.

Compared to BW1, which I find to be focusing on the "Nostalgic" theme, BW2 was more on the "Epic" theme. Sure, the first two badges might not be very impressive, and between the third and the six badges more than once will you have a feeling that you're just playing a remixed "Gray" title, but from that point onward, everything is new and refreshing. Almost every new thing that they added to the game leaves you shocked at how seemingly simple yet awesome they are. The plot moves quickly once you start getting to Eastern Issyu (and, surprisingly, you don't walk there), with the showdown against Team Plasma being longer and more deadly than the other evil teams before. The Elite Four and Champion are not challenging difficulty-wise, but the way they are introduced to you is downright cool - especially the Champion who looks like she's the best of the world and not just Issyu's Champion (the battle against her takes place in space, so to speak).

That being said, Famitu's 36/40 rating for BW2 is exact - in my opinion, it is incredible, but still lacks a tiny little bit to be a perfect title on every aspect. What it lacks might be characters with vivid emotions like Cheren and Bel (they both appear in BW2, but their personalities feel kind of bland and ordinary, while your rival, Hyuu, is kind of stereotype despite his involvements in the plot). It also lacks Route 10 theme, a track that had stricken straight into my heart and became one of the most beautiful, albeit short, piece of music I've ever heard.

But well, I can guarantee that as long as you loved BW1 (and I assume we all do), BW2 will be almost equally as good, one of those titles you just have to play no matter what.

Now I'll be moving to post-game. Looking forward to even more awesomeness.

[Nash]

I missed a permanent missable in Conquest...

Looks like a restart is my only salvation...

[ArcadiaLegend]

Sounds good to me, Lazy Looking forward to October 7th when it's released here~

Also, looks like Black 2 unlocks Challenge Mode when you defeat the champion and White 2 unlocks Assist Mode. I'm happy to see new difficulty settings pop up in these games finally. One thing I've always wanted. Though it kinda stinks that they made them version exclusive to where you have to trade to get the other. Meaning you either have to know someone else locally who plays or have both games. The first one is kind of an impossibility here. I was already going to get Black 2 but this nailed it down even more for me. I want the harder difficulty.

[Nash]

Players can trade game modes now?
(I'm probably the only one who thought the main games are already difficult enough without grinding? And now they make them more difficult? Noooooooooooooooooo)

Still can't decide whether to reset Conquest...

[ArcadiaLegend]

Players can trade game modes now?
(I'm probably the only one who thought the main games are already difficult enough without grinding? And now they make them more difficult? Noooooooooooooooooo)

Still can't decide whether to reset Conquest...

Yep, from what I'm seeing on Serebii. Assist Mode is an even easier difficulty so maybe you'd like that one I always thought they were pretty easy to an extent. Challenging at times, yes. More so in the beginning when you're just getting started. And then end game before the Elite 4 which is where it gets really grindy. Course the Elite 4 aren't no slouches either. But if you're high leveled everything is easy obviously.

What did you miss in Conquest?

[Utsuho Lazy]

Yacon/Clay, the Ground Gym leader, is the only hard boss in BW2, he gave me like 5 game overs before I managed to get in a lucky win.

Other than that, they nerfed the AI, so bosses will only be using item once per battle.

The E4 and Champion are also rather easy, I didn't grind at all, just beating every possible trainer, and still managed to 1-shot almost all of their 'Mons.

Anyway, something really random.

Team Plasma Boss Battle Theme - incredibly funky, nobody would have believed that this came from a Pokémon game.
Champion Battle Theme - this sums up BW2 pretty nicely: light-hearted yet still epic. I swear it sometimes sounds like instrumental version of an érogé OP.

[ArcadiaLegend]

Hm, I see~ There's always one gym leader who proves to be more of a challenge than everyone else it seems.
And I like what I'm hearing about not grindy at the end because that's always something I don't like. Can't wait for October~