Gotta catch some more.

So, Pokémon Black and White came out in Japan about two weeks ago. And since the a deluge of information has come out about them. I’ve looked into it and tried to decipher what I can.

I’m going to assume that people reading this know the basics behind Pokémon. I don’t feel like explaining it right now, and want to get into the new stuff. I enjoy Pokémon. I do. It’s mix of strategy and hidden mathematics interest me greatly.

This first thing to notice is that the graphics are slightly better. Including some face sprites of certain characters in certain situations, and large detailed environments. Still nothing amazing though. The main changes are a lot more exciting. At the start, and for most of the game, you will only be able to find and catch the newly created Pokemon. None of the old four hundred and sixty odd Pokémon will be found. You’ll have to rely on the new cast. This means a refreshed experience. Having to catch Pokémon to find out their types and moves, rather than falling back on old favourites. Not that you don’t get to find them. Once you obtain the national Pokédex, you’ll be able to find and catch your old favourites, as well as transfer them from previous DS titles through a sort of minigame.

The battles are different as well. There are new triple and rotation battles, where three Pokémon fight at a time. The Pokémon move during battles, bobbing their heads, or moving their tails, no longer the static sprites. TM’s, once a one use item, are now reusable. Whether or not this makes them harder to get, I can’t tell. There are also plenty of new moves and abilities to get to grips with, and when an ability becomes active in battle, a bar appears.

I have been playing it a little, but, it being in Japanese, I have no Idea what’s going on. There’s a new evil organisation to stop, 8 new gyms, and of course, an Elite four, but I’ve not gotten to far due to language barriers. Playing it in Japanese seems to annoy me, so I’ll wait for the English release in Spring.

(Also, the fire starter becomes fire/fighting again. This annoys me.)