As some might have noticed, I've been absent from GS a good while now. Between graduation, summer job, and a bunch of other stuff, I actually was busy for the past couple of months for once in my life. Now all of that is over, I'm comfortably back to wasting my life away in front of my computer and TV. Hence I'm here writing a blog.

But who cares about me anyway, the important subject here is Pokemon White.

I imported this game and it arrived last Tuesday. Over the past couple of days I played it like there was no tommorow, and beat it last night (also known as early this morning, 3 AM).

When the credits started rolling, I had tears streaming down my eyes. No kidding.

There was a few reasons for this. First the story was the best out of any Pokemon game to date (which isn't saying much), and it was the first game in the franchise to have seriously examined the relationship between humans and Pokemon, and although the message conveyed was your run-of-the-mill relativism speech, the well-written and presented dialogue had some really touching moments. The tone of the game was much darker as well, with believable characters for the first time.

Which brings me to the next point. The characters stood out more than the past games as well. The leader of Team Plasma was perhaps interesting, making you really feel sorry for him by the end of the game. Plasma Team was a better organization as a whole, coming off as a extremist Pokemon rights organization (somewhat reminiscent of the animal rights organization PETA), rather than a generic "evil organization."

The gym leaders had more to do with the story this time around, and were all strange but likable cast. The main character's two friends, Cheren and Bell, that you meet over and over again throughout your journey were both well developed. Cheren's quest for strength and Bell's search for what she as a unique individual can do, were both riveting and heartrending.

But all of that aside, what really made me cry upon beating the game was the experience it gave me. It was simular to when I played the original on the Game Boy for the very first time, many years ago. It was an immersive adventure in a strange world filled with strange creatures. I thought I would never be able to experience the same excitement again. Pokemon White delivered that, and reminded me why I love Pokemon so much to begin with.

So I guess it was nostalgia after all, but don't get me wrong, this is an amazing game, that gave the franchise a much needed reboot.

The gameplay remains much of the same, but there have been some nice additions that make battles smoother, and the graphics have improved significantly with awesome fully-rendered 3D cutscenes. The numerous areas in the Ish region is quite a spectacle in itself, ranging from quite towns in the country to a giant city.

Some of the improvements include:

Infinite use of TMs: No more having to save up BP at the battle tower to get another Earthquake TM. You can teach it to as many Pokemon as you desire, from one TM.

No need for HM slaves: Remember that one Pokemon in your party that was about 30 levels behind the rest, and was just in there to use Cut, Flash, Strength, and Rock Smash? Yeah, you don't need that anymore, because HM powers are needed so scarcely. I think you can beat the game without using any of them. Rather, they are used for finding secret areas or traveling to side locations. This is great because I used to hate it when you would be half-way through a dungeon only to find out you don't have the HM move you need, and although you have the HM, none of your party Pokemon can learn it. Not to mention dark caves were a pain in the but.

The merge of the Pokemon Center with the Friendly Mart, and making it all one floor instead of three: Yup, it's pretty convenient.

I've heard some people complain about the Pokemon design, but other than the not-so-original looking starters, I enjoyed all of them. They take a more realistic approach, causing some Pokemon to look quite grotesque, but alot of the Pokemon in the original Red/Blue versions are looked quite strange as well, so I didn't mind that. It seemed to me that this generation's Pokemon exhibited the most creativity since the first generation of Pokemon. In fact, I probably have the most favorite Pokemon from this generation than any other. I won't be posting any pics though, just cuz I don't want to spoil it for those who want to keep it a surprise. I'm guessing most people who care already have spoiled the entire Pokedex for themselves, but if you are like me, who purposely didn't spoil it on the internet so he could experience meeting new Pokemon for the first time in-game, I wouldn't want to be the one who spoils all the cool new Pokemon.

But I will post one:

Maggyo, the first Ground/Electric Pokemon. This is probably my favorite pokemon in all of Black/White:lol: It's so stupid looking it looks cool.

Anyway, I'm gonna start breeding for competitive play now, so I'll be back in a week or so with a report on how the metagame is going in the Japanese battlefield for all those who care.