10 years ago today, Pokemon Black/White released in North America

[Mekanos]

Didn't see a thread about this, feel free to redirect me if there is one. 10 years ago Americans got introduced to Unova. Although I had already played the Japanese version at the time, I was still excited to revisit the game in a language I understood and explore it in depth. The snappy, fast presentation was welcomed after gen 4 and it really felt like the series had breached new territory.

To this day gen 5 is still somewhat polarizing but has definitely generated a sizable fanbase over the years. Being the first game since the original to feature only new Pokemon was a bold move and made it feel unique alongside the focus on story and characters.

What did you think of these games?

 

[Luigi87]

This was finally the generation that matched, and possibly beat Gen 2 for me.
Absolutely loved playing through Black and having no previous gen Pokemon until the post-game.

Reminds me that I still have yet to play through Black 2...

 

[Metal Gear Miyamoto]

High point of the overal series for me. Black & White did everything I wanted from the series whilst retaining as many things that already made it good.

First time I've heard of these being polarizing. I've always thought that came from the same drive-by "gArBaGe bAg pOkEmoN" bad faith posters.

 

[Poyunch]

Was it polarizing though? Everyone I knew loved it. I was tired of the series by Gen 4 and I was so refreshed to see new Pokemon again.

 

[Zeroro]

This was finally the generation that matched, and possibly beat Gen 2 for me.
Absolutely loved playing through Black and having no previous gen Pokemon until the post-game.

Reminds me that I still have yet to play through Black 2...

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BW2 is even better. It's the first and only time I went out of my way to play a Pokemon game before it officially released in North America.

I remain convinced that nothing will ever top this gen, from the designs, to the style, to the music.

 

[Jencks]

Still haven't played these

 

[Master Chuuster]

The last great Pokemon generation.

 

[mindsale]

This was the first generation I skipped. I've since skipped a few others.

 

[Diarrhea Day-Lewis]

I never gave it a chance because I was all in on 3DS games and was annoyed it wasn't for 3DS. Need to play it but I imagine it's expensive

 

[Spine Crawler]

i kinda liked the story. unusual for pokemon where story is usually by the numbers.

 

[Kewlmyc]

Remember playing the fan translations of the games via my DS at the time. Fun times.

Probably my overall favorite Pokemon games. I liked that you didn't see old pokemon until the game was "beaten".

 

[DreamRunner]

Played Black at launch and was pretty disappointed with it.

 

[Yoshimitsu126]

Only played Black 2, but dang this opening cinematic is so different compared to other Pokemon games lol

 

[Maple]

The last great Pokemon generation.

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Yep.

 

[ERAsaur]

First played these when they launched in Japanese, but it was nice to finally be able to read them. Very solid entries in the series, think the only place they really falter is the same-y sections on the west side of the map (Grassy Route -> Cave -> Gym Town -> Grassy Route -> Cave -> Gym Town) that had a bunch of repeat Pokemon due to them going back to the smaller 150ish Dex size, that and the plot that feels like only 20% of what they wrote for it ended up in the game. They're also unfortunately the games that got hit the hardest (at the time) with the aging fanbase, a trend that only worsened as time went on.

Killer soundtrack, much better use of the DS than the previous generation, and really felt like the first time competitive battling was possible off of a simulator.

 

[Firestorm]

The GOAT generation for competitive Pokémon.

Though ironically 2011 was probably my least favourite format I ever played (aside from maybe 2016), 2012 and 2013 were perfection.

 

[Gay Bowser]

Classics.

 

[Estizzle]

My absolute favorite generation. Second favorite pair of games, only second to Black 2/White 2!

 

[MouldyK]

Time to use this Meme!

 

[Radline]

Close to being my most favorite Pokémon game, just below Black/White 2 and HG/SS. It was a really interesting experiment to just have new Pokémon and nothing else, it made me relive my first time playing Red and figuring which Pokémon are good for what without using old Pokémon as my comfort zone.

I did have some problems with the idea, one being reminiscent of Gen 1 where so many grunts have the Patrat line since the pool to pick "Pokémon bad guys would use" from is so small, and then there are just some Pokémon that tried too hard in being the Unova equivalent to a Kanto Pokémon and only became mediocre design-wise to me as a result. Still, this was a bold thing to do.

Nowadays, I would rather play Black/White 2 since it has so many improvements and available Pokémon, but this game is more memorable to me. It was a great start to what would become my favorite gen.

 

[VZ_Blade]

Favorite gen and possible my favorite pokemon games, period.

 

[SJUG]

Were the first games I followed up to release. I remember watching tons of speculation videos when the starter silhouettes were shown off.

Tied with its sequels as my favorite games in the series. The scene in N's castle with all the gym leaders showing up is still great.

 

[Bitanator]

I loved following the leaks for this game, and loved playing it more. Gen 4 was shit and both black/white and their followups were brilliant

 

[Aero]

My favourite generation in the series.
Because it had all new Pokemon it felt like playing the series for the first time again because you never knew what you were going to run into, unlike every other game where they tend to have a moment on the early route where you encounter a Pidgey or Rattata or some other old Pokemon they brought back.

Even when they dialled this back in the sequels they added so many other great things like the Movie Studio, Join Avenue, and the World Tournament. And the ability of carrying over your save data and having NPCs talk about what your character did in the previous game was a nice feature.

I'm kind of dreading the inevitable Gen 5 remakes because there's no way they will ever do it justice (I imagine they would just skip BW2 and only remake the originals).

 

[Jmdajr]

Pokémon Go is the only Pokémon game I have ever played. Been gaming since the 80s.

I think I was 18 when the first one came out. I just wasn't interested at that point.

But man what a powerhouse in gaming.

 

[Ghostsonplanets]

My favorite Gen in the series and the end of two eras: DS and 2D. Don't think any subsequent Gen ever came to top it based on either exploration, adventure, story. Despite being the start of linear map complaints, it still felt a true to heart OG Pokémon game design. Might be me being old, but newers games in the series haven't been as enticing imo.

 

[entremet]

This was the generation that brought me back.

It was also the last 2D mainline Pokemon. RIP. The animated versions B2W2 are amazing to this day.

 

[Richietto]

The absolute high point of the series and no one can tell me otherwise. I can only hope the day comes where 3D Pokémon can have its BW moment.

 

[Apollo]

They are the best the Pokémon series has to offer as far as I'm concerned (alongside their similarly brilliant sequels, BW2). An absolutely stunning effort by Game Freak, and IMO one of the greatest JRPGs of all time. More than any other Pokémon game, this is the one I recommend.

 

[Aleh]

They're half of a great game, with the other half being in BW2. Too bad they're not a single piece
I like them a lot anyways though

 

[Gay Bowser]

The absolute high point of the series and no one can tell me otherwise.

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Honestly, I'm inclined to agree. So good.

 

[Berordn]

The absolute high point of the series and no one can tell me otherwise. I can only hope the day comes where 3D Pokémon can have its BW moment.

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i would agree if the sequels didn't exist

but the sequels exist and gave us wild stuff like colress and the PWT

 

[Quinton]

Generation Five.

More like Generation Best.

 

[lvl 99 Pixel]

They're fine, but also maybe the most overrated story in a game. BW2 finally added a hard mode of sorts but the way its unlocked and limited between versions is so stupid. Maybe its because I didn't play them at release when everyone must have really been wanting a bit of a shakeup in the games.

 

[Kohlbiri]

Awesome, BW has lots of great memories for me.

I was finally able to experience all that drip feed potato pictures of CoroCoro leaks and fan interpretations of silhouettes since I knew the previous gens from the anime. I also remember being so excited that I played the JP versions without understanding any of it lol.

And yeah, woke up early and dragged my Mom to drive me to Target when these came out in NA!

Started a replay of Black a few years ago with the intention of replaying Black 2 as well but haven't finished it...

 

[Charizard]

I loved it.

Pearl was the only Pokemon game I dropped midway through (finished later in the summer though). Black was soooo much better IMO.

 

[Brazil]

GoaT

Fuck old Pokémon, gimme the new shit

 

[Blackleg-sanji1]

No game has come even close to these two right here man for me. What a generation this was. Some of my favorite Pokémon of all time come outta this gen. Favorite story, best music, fun rivals. Good post game and side content. Challenging (Fuck you elsa, lenora and clay)

 

[Richietto]

i would agree if the sequels didn't exist

but the sequels exist and gave us wild stuff like colress and the PWT

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Definitely understandable. I think their both the best GameFreak has done. BW edges out the sequels for me simply for being the so fresh after so many years. Love BW2 for being an actual sequel though. Again Gen 5 just shows GameFreak at their best.

 

[Jegriva]

And in my mind, the last Pokemon gen to have any lasting impact.

 

[Quinton]

They're fine, but also maybe the most overrated story in a game. BW2 finally added a hard mode of sorts but the way its unlocked and limited between versions is so stupid. Maybe its because I didn't play them at release when everyone must have really been wanting a bit of a shakeup in the games.

Click to shrink...

I find it hilarious how far apart our views are regarding storytelling in this franchise. You loath my favorite arc in the anime and you're nonplussed by my favorite story in a game!

 

[Aleh]

BW2 has great gameplay and a much better region but the main campaign puts me to sleep lol, if we could have BW in the BW2 region it'd be amazing

 

[Ambient]

I remember pretty much being done with my DS at that time so I didn't play them until years later. Solid entries.

 

[NHarmonic.]

Amazing games, amazing generation.

I will admit i was turned off from BW for the pokemon designs, like i still think it's one of the weakest in that department, but hell if everything else was incredible. BW2 was amazing.

 

[Skatterd]

Best generation ever

 

[GuitarGuruu]

My favorite generation, the story, the music, the soft reboot. Everything hit all the right notes.

 

[Blackleg-sanji1]

the amount of rides I took on this thing

 

[Deleted member 79517]

10 years ago today, I bought the game that would top my 3DS playtime chart for my entire time owning a 3DS.

 

[Cjdamon042]

My favourite generation.

Amazing music, with some dynamic elements to it.
A greater extended use of 3D for both the world and technically battles with the moving camera.
Amazing animated sprites for battles.
The largest roster of new Pokémon with great designs, and the fact that no older ones were available until post-game was cool.
A decent story that had some pretty cool moments, especially towards the end.
The overall freshness that it had really stood out to me.
Great sequel.

I need to do another playthrough of them...

 

[blue_phazon]

Easily the best generation and had the most fun online meta