Alright so I'm just about done with my Pokemon Black 2 playthrough and I figured I'd drop by and tell you what I think of it.

Well if you know me I am by far not one of those Gen 1 fanboys. I never quite got them and why they hold these older generations of Pokemon in such high regard. I guess its a nostalgia thing. I always hear that each new generation is exactly the same as the last, but worse in some way whether its the legendaries or design of each new Pokemon. I hear a lot that the new Pokemon are ugly, well though we have our own opinions on beauty I feel the older generation Pokemon are designed too simple at times and I'm glad that the newer generations have different complex designs.

But alas fanning the flames of the Gen War is something to do some other time. For now let's just focus on Gen 5... or is it Gen 5.5 now or something... I don't know.

Now if you know Pokemon you know that usually a year or so after release they release a "final" version of the game that basically combines the better elements of both versions, fixes some issues, and adds new content. I've always found Pokemon's release structure to be a bit... well let's just say unconventional. The two initial versions are made to get people to want to trade exclusive Pokemon which is alright I guess if you have a friend who gets the other version, but the 3rd version release later always bothered me. You could argue that it takes a new spin on the game a little while later, but it usually just cuts out that whole purpose of the first two anyway.

...Luckily with Gen 5 they opted not to make a Pokemon Gray version, but something different, a direct sequel to Black and White. Black and White 2 are essentially twin Gray versions that differ so you are still encouraged to trade exclusive stuff between friends and whatnot. Also instead of literally being a re release this time the games have an original storyline.

The BW2 storyline though I will say is rather disappointing. It seems oddly reminiscent of Gen 2's story line where a broken up Team Plasma tries to pull themselves together much like Team Rocket before them. And I guess that's pretty cool except Team Plasma lost what made them unique from the other villainous teams before hand and that was their false sense of morality.

In BW1 they acted under the facade that they were liberators of Pokemon, and most team members even the elite sages and their king N believed they were these white knights, but really they were all puppets of an evil mastermind which is REALLY freaking cool and original as far as a Pokemon storyline goes.

But in BW2 its just fragments of the old team getting back together to take over the land by force using the power of a legendary Pokemon. Where have I heard this before?? Ahh... yes Generation 3 and 4! This made Team Plasma seem REALLY generic and just uninteresting. Aside from a few elements of characters from BW1 the whole storyline of BW2 is a HUGE let down and otherwise really boring.

Ironically, the game that tries to be original by being the first direct sequel, falls back to be more like previous generations than its predecessor BW1. Actually I hardly see this as a sequel aside from story elements, but rather BW2 is what BW1 would be if they decided to use no originality in the first place. Essentially this game breaks the entire purpose that Generation 5 was supposed to have and that is have a more original storyline focus.

I will admit that there are elements about BW2 I still rather like. They added in tons of older Pokemon to the Unova region where BW1 chose to be more Gen 5 pure. This allowed for more diverse teams to be made. This time around I got the Gen 5 Pokemon I adore so much, but I also got to add in some older favorites. My team as of now stands as Serperior, Arcanine, Azumaril, Crobat, Zoroark, and Black Kyurem. This is how BW1 should've been in the first place!

In the end you make your call on whether this half Gen is worth your money. I'd only recommend it to more hardcore fans of Pokemon. If you usually go out and buy the 3rd version of the games then by all means go for it, but if you're the type who would rather wait for the next real installment then give this one a pass, unless you are really interested to see where the story goes.

For me personally the storyline was what I was looking forward to the most, but as you can see I was really disappointed in how it was handled. I guess it did fill some of the plot leftover after the conclusion of Black and White, but it just felt like I'd rather have those plot points shrouded in mystery and left up for interpretation.

Guess I'll just await Generation 6 and see where they take the series from there. Until then I guess I'm pretty done with Pokemon hype for the time being until I decide to get back into competitive battling.