xSilentOmenx
Venom seeps from the soul.
I noticed a request to do a comparitive review of DS Pokemon Games. In truth, sort of surprised there aren't any reviews as the topic isn't that strange. I hope to review the games based on a few aspects. Sound, Graphics, Game Mechanics, Plot and Replay Value.
The focus of this review will be Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Heart Gold, Soul Silver, Black and White. Because of the general specifics, Diamond, Pearl and Platinum (DPPT) will often be lumped together. Likewise Heart Gold and Soul Silver (HGSS) along with Black and White (BW) will find themselves in similar lumping. Platinum may find itself separated though since it has elements Diamond and Pearl don't.
Sound
The focus of this review will be Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Heart Gold, Soul Silver, Black and White. Because of the general specifics, Diamond, Pearl and Platinum (DPPT) will often be lumped together. Likewise Heart Gold and Soul Silver (HGSS) along with Black and White (BW) will find themselves in similar lumping. Platinum may find itself separated though since it has elements Diamond and Pearl don't.
Sound
DPPT 8/10 HGSS 7.5/10 BW 8.5/10
Pokemon has always had a strange effect on people with the sound bytes it has used. In it's early days, we were creeped out by the Lavender Town music. Today, Gamefreak keeps that tradition going. Though it's only gotten better, the games do have their faults. I'll be focusing mostly on the music since complaining about how "similar" the cries of all 649 pokemon are is really too time consuming and really... get over the fact they don't say their names like in the anime. I think it's stupid personally that the anime Pokemon can fully speak their own name in human language but can't speak the human language. Really? At least the game makes them sound like creatures (albeit digital).
DPPT: Sinnoh in all context is a very naturally focused region. From it's meadow in Florama to the beach resort outside Sunnyshore and even to the snowy north of Snowpoint. The music deepens this sense as you venture into the areas. Meadows have a peaceful soothing vibe. Snowpoint has a very slow, bordering lifeless sensation. It all sounds good until you realize how some of the combat music plays into this.
You go from this peaceful meadow to an outer space vibe in an instant as you battle the evil organization known as Team Galactic. Legendary Pokemon encounters don't really better the sensation from where I stand. Even the Champion music has a very intense vibe. By no means are the musical scores bad. They've inspired many a great remix. I've always just felt they clash with the natural environment so to speak.
HGSS: You are going to find it's very hard to fairly compare these to the others. Namely, much of the music is a throwback to the original Gold and Silver but with highly upgraded texture to the music. It plays more smoothly and there is more depth to the notes in the music. It really offers a great sense of pride to the fan base who stuck the gaming out since day one. But at the end of the day, the music doesn't win this generation any identity points. When you fairly look to the music, it doesn't truly set itself too far apart from the original games it's based off of besides being polished up with modern tech. A theme in the game for the music was always a life and emotion. I believe the idea was to have a sense of thrill in the Game Corner and to have a sense of malice when you faced Team Rocket. I suppose you can judge the music on it's core value if anything.
BW: This is a generation of gaming that it's key difference is the difference Black and White have with each other. Opelucid, Black City and White Forest. Much of this game was designed to differentiate itself from itself. You often had a sense of environmental change with this music. You go from the rustic "island" where you start and move to the "big city" of Castelia. Every step of the way you notice the change. You enter the relic castle and sort of hear the ring of time in the theme. You find Opelucid in White version to hear a more peaceful theme reaching out to a proud past. You find Opelucid in Black version and have the high energy of the future. The greatest thing is that in certain areas the music can be tampered with by interaction to add more texture. You can talk to people often with instruments in the cities to get additional musical renditions and play around with the sound until you have something you prefer. However, this is also the let down. In order to gain the better quality in music in some areas, you have to interact with it. Considering that you often go in and out of the towns and routes, you seldom stick around to enjoy the full extent of how beautiful the music can be. I often sit in wonder at Village Bridge wasting time just listening to the awe inspiring theme. They even go as far as adding in the closest thing to vocals they've had in a Pokemon Game musically speaking (I know Pikachu in Yellow version says it's name). Again, it's a shame you have to explore and talk to people for what amounts to a 40 second tune in.
Comparison: Though the music is generally okay, it takes a dip in HGSS simply because it's meant to be a nostalgia game. BW is further advanced with it's sound bytes and as such, is an improvement.
Graphics
Pokemon has always had a strange effect on people with the sound bytes it has used. In it's early days, we were creeped out by the Lavender Town music. Today, Gamefreak keeps that tradition going. Though it's only gotten better, the games do have their faults. I'll be focusing mostly on the music since complaining about how "similar" the cries of all 649 pokemon are is really too time consuming and really... get over the fact they don't say their names like in the anime. I think it's stupid personally that the anime Pokemon can fully speak their own name in human language but can't speak the human language. Really? At least the game makes them sound like creatures (albeit digital).
DPPT: Sinnoh in all context is a very naturally focused region. From it's meadow in Florama to the beach resort outside Sunnyshore and even to the snowy north of Snowpoint. The music deepens this sense as you venture into the areas. Meadows have a peaceful soothing vibe. Snowpoint has a very slow, bordering lifeless sensation. It all sounds good until you realize how some of the combat music plays into this.
You go from this peaceful meadow to an outer space vibe in an instant as you battle the evil organization known as Team Galactic. Legendary Pokemon encounters don't really better the sensation from where I stand. Even the Champion music has a very intense vibe. By no means are the musical scores bad. They've inspired many a great remix. I've always just felt they clash with the natural environment so to speak.
HGSS: You are going to find it's very hard to fairly compare these to the others. Namely, much of the music is a throwback to the original Gold and Silver but with highly upgraded texture to the music. It plays more smoothly and there is more depth to the notes in the music. It really offers a great sense of pride to the fan base who stuck the gaming out since day one. But at the end of the day, the music doesn't win this generation any identity points. When you fairly look to the music, it doesn't truly set itself too far apart from the original games it's based off of besides being polished up with modern tech. A theme in the game for the music was always a life and emotion. I believe the idea was to have a sense of thrill in the Game Corner and to have a sense of malice when you faced Team Rocket. I suppose you can judge the music on it's core value if anything.
BW: This is a generation of gaming that it's key difference is the difference Black and White have with each other. Opelucid, Black City and White Forest. Much of this game was designed to differentiate itself from itself. You often had a sense of environmental change with this music. You go from the rustic "island" where you start and move to the "big city" of Castelia. Every step of the way you notice the change. You enter the relic castle and sort of hear the ring of time in the theme. You find Opelucid in White version to hear a more peaceful theme reaching out to a proud past. You find Opelucid in Black version and have the high energy of the future. The greatest thing is that in certain areas the music can be tampered with by interaction to add more texture. You can talk to people often with instruments in the cities to get additional musical renditions and play around with the sound until you have something you prefer. However, this is also the let down. In order to gain the better quality in music in some areas, you have to interact with it. Considering that you often go in and out of the towns and routes, you seldom stick around to enjoy the full extent of how beautiful the music can be. I often sit in wonder at Village Bridge wasting time just listening to the awe inspiring theme. They even go as far as adding in the closest thing to vocals they've had in a Pokemon Game musically speaking (I know Pikachu in Yellow version says it's name). Again, it's a shame you have to explore and talk to people for what amounts to a 40 second tune in.
Comparison: Though the music is generally okay, it takes a dip in HGSS simply because it's meant to be a nostalgia game. BW is further advanced with it's sound bytes and as such, is an improvement.
Graphics
DPPT 7/10 HGSS 7.5/10 BW 8.5/10
Lets get this out of the way. Pokemon has always used sprite art and has expressed that they have no desire to change that. So true to form, it's not ever going to do anyone any good to compare the graphical content of Pokemon to the gaming world of other RPGs that have moved on to other art forms to obtain "higher quality graphics". That said, lets try to evaluate this based on it's respective art form.
DPPT: Simply put, this gaming generation took greater pains than most to upgrade gaming texture. They took much of the work from earlier games and made the artwork consistently better. The environment only grew into a more lush and beautiful world as well. The colour and texture of the gaming world was much more impressive. This is likely why the music was designed to emphasize the natural element of this gaming world. You'd find yourself sinking in marsh land and snow much like you find yourself stuck in the mud are a deep snow pocket in real life. Much of the sprite art remained similar to the previous generation, but it was refined with brief animations. It was a great first step in advanced sprite art movement that noteably becomes a theme in later generations to follow.
HGSS: The graphical component of this game had little difference to Diamond, Pearl and even Platinum. The two main components that were different were namely the nostalgia of having a second generation game revamped and modernized with newer tech. The second one was pretty big. Pokemon followed you. This was an art that was explored in first generation with Yellow version, but it was limited to only Pikachu. In this game, the first member of your party follows you around in the world. This concept is further encouraged by the fact the first pokemon in battle doesn't come out of a pokeball to start the match. Over all, little difference besides that.
BW: Again, things only really got better. Besides the heart break of losing our overworld companion, we all opened the crisp graphic change with open arms once we saw how it translated. Many people felt it was ripping off other games, but then we remember that Gamefreak is keeping it in the sprite art and figure to let it go. We feel even more involved in a closer to 3 dimensional world with the current overworld design. There are some rather glitchy looking parts in the game. Off hand, as you reach Castelia from Skyarrow Bridge it sort of looks cheated. But this is the cost of Gamefreak testing new graphic designs and art mediums and we often forgive them for it. We are also heavily rewarded in a continued animation with Pokemon sprites. Unlike the short animation clip at the start of battle in previous games, this generation of gaming has pokemon animations on a steady loop throughout the battle. This was furthered by the concept of back facing sprite movement. This alone really enriched the gaming environment. We were also teased with version exclusives. This element of certain areas looking different in each individual version really made it essential to have both copies of the game to enjoy the diversity of the games.
Comparison: Again, the graphical component only gets better. HGSS got a little hand up on DPPT for overworld pokemon companions and the "wow" it inspired in bringing Generation 2 back to life. BW just gained a huge hand up simply with the graphical inovations available despite some choppy segments it's overall fairly sound.
Game Mechanics
Lets get this out of the way. Pokemon has always used sprite art and has expressed that they have no desire to change that. So true to form, it's not ever going to do anyone any good to compare the graphical content of Pokemon to the gaming world of other RPGs that have moved on to other art forms to obtain "higher quality graphics". That said, lets try to evaluate this based on it's respective art form.
DPPT: Simply put, this gaming generation took greater pains than most to upgrade gaming texture. They took much of the work from earlier games and made the artwork consistently better. The environment only grew into a more lush and beautiful world as well. The colour and texture of the gaming world was much more impressive. This is likely why the music was designed to emphasize the natural element of this gaming world. You'd find yourself sinking in marsh land and snow much like you find yourself stuck in the mud are a deep snow pocket in real life. Much of the sprite art remained similar to the previous generation, but it was refined with brief animations. It was a great first step in advanced sprite art movement that noteably becomes a theme in later generations to follow.
HGSS: The graphical component of this game had little difference to Diamond, Pearl and even Platinum. The two main components that were different were namely the nostalgia of having a second generation game revamped and modernized with newer tech. The second one was pretty big. Pokemon followed you. This was an art that was explored in first generation with Yellow version, but it was limited to only Pikachu. In this game, the first member of your party follows you around in the world. This concept is further encouraged by the fact the first pokemon in battle doesn't come out of a pokeball to start the match. Over all, little difference besides that.
BW: Again, things only really got better. Besides the heart break of losing our overworld companion, we all opened the crisp graphic change with open arms once we saw how it translated. Many people felt it was ripping off other games, but then we remember that Gamefreak is keeping it in the sprite art and figure to let it go. We feel even more involved in a closer to 3 dimensional world with the current overworld design. There are some rather glitchy looking parts in the game. Off hand, as you reach Castelia from Skyarrow Bridge it sort of looks cheated. But this is the cost of Gamefreak testing new graphic designs and art mediums and we often forgive them for it. We are also heavily rewarded in a continued animation with Pokemon sprites. Unlike the short animation clip at the start of battle in previous games, this generation of gaming has pokemon animations on a steady loop throughout the battle. This was furthered by the concept of back facing sprite movement. This alone really enriched the gaming environment. We were also teased with version exclusives. This element of certain areas looking different in each individual version really made it essential to have both copies of the game to enjoy the diversity of the games.
Comparison: Again, the graphical component only gets better. HGSS got a little hand up on DPPT for overworld pokemon companions and the "wow" it inspired in bringing Generation 2 back to life. BW just gained a huge hand up simply with the graphical inovations available despite some choppy segments it's overall fairly sound.
Game Mechanics
DPPT 7/10 HGSS 8/10 BW 9/10
Lets get one thing out of the way. Very little has ever really changed in pokemon combat mechanics. You have 4 attacks, you select one. You have type advantages and disadvantages. You have power scales for attacks. You have items to equip and use throughout the game to give you an edge. There is a player versus player element to the games. Trading has always been an available component. All that said, if you don't know these core elements of the game then you really shouldn't be judging until you do. It can be a stale mechanic as it's been used since day one, but it's true to it's nature. "Don't fix what isn't really broken".
DPPT: The real start to the change in gameplay came in generation three when the EV and IV system was more defined and many of the attacks being upgraded and defined came to be. However, generation four brought with it something important. We gained the physical and special split. Before this generation, all types were either physical or special. Now, the combat style is based on the attack, not the type of the attack. Example, water used to be a special type. Now, Surf is a special attack where Waterfall is a physical attack. This was a welcome change since many pokemon did not excel in the element they were confined to (Sneasle, Gyarados, Feraligatr,etc.). We were also given a means to trade and communicate with others over a wifi connection. This vastly changed the trading community opening trade up globally. We were even given the Global Trade Station (GTS) to help encourage this. Unfortunately, many people took to this more as a means to showcase rather than actually trade (lv. 9 and under Legendary trades?). The game itself was reasonably extended by the addition of new pokemon. Unfortunately, not many "ground breaking" pokemon were really introduced and several people decided to put off their pokedex simply because they didn't feel the new pokemon were all that innovative. Another plus side is the addition of better breeding mechanic in that the everstone trick was created in that a nature could be passed down if the mother (or ditto) held an everstone. The chance of it occurring was 50%. Also, shiny breeding odds were increased, though not to a huge impact.
HGSS: In essence, this game was Gold and Silver all over again. However, the gameplay is pretty much copy and paste of DPPT. The only difference is that we encountered the pokemon who grew on us. This made the play through a little more enjoyable. Must of us went along simply for Nostalgia sake. We were actually reasonable rewarded. The gameplay was consistent and reasonably balanced. It also helped to highlight the physical special split because we were given a chance to reuse many of the pokemon we once felt sorry for because they just couldn't make the cut with previous mechanics. Breeding was further simplified in that IVs were passed down more simply and specific IVs could be forced down thanks to Power items (Power Weight, Power Band, etc.) We also got a blessing in that the everstone breeding trick could be done with both parents.
BW: In essence, this game really threw curve balls at us. The experience mechanic went from set values to level multipliers. This drastically changed the rate of level up (and sort of broke the game in some regards). We were also given a clean slate. No throw backs to previous generations. All the pokemon are brand new. It was more difficult to feel like you've "done this thing before" with this game. There was also more interaction in this game in that you could change your environment (namely sound) by interacting with the in game characters. The main drawback is the amount of Pokemon added with the "little to no reward" for "catching them all". I mean, 649 is a lot of work to find for a professor to say "Oh look at that, good work". A few things happened to breeding. Hidden abilities were created and the rate it could be passed down was 40%. We were also given the Masuda method to help with shiny breeding. This was a mechanic that allowed better odds to breed a shiny pokemon when breeding pokemon from different language regions (French France and English America as an example).
Comparison: DPPT improved the gameplay but the game was generally pretty stale. Many of the pokemon weren't entirely fun to use and it was reasonably easy to lose interest if you weren't dedicated. HGSS brought most people back to generation four. Whether you played for nostalgia or you jumped on the popularity bandwagon, you weren't disappointed. This was simply a game that highlighted the updated gameplay mechanics better. BW is by far an innovation. A sign that Gamefreak is listening when people voiced the pain of level up. They gave us a fresh game with completely new pokemon in a new world with all the bells and whistles mentioned before. The drawback of tedium does keep it from climbing as far as 9. Well, nothing's perfect, right?
Plot
Lets get one thing out of the way. Very little has ever really changed in pokemon combat mechanics. You have 4 attacks, you select one. You have type advantages and disadvantages. You have power scales for attacks. You have items to equip and use throughout the game to give you an edge. There is a player versus player element to the games. Trading has always been an available component. All that said, if you don't know these core elements of the game then you really shouldn't be judging until you do. It can be a stale mechanic as it's been used since day one, but it's true to it's nature. "Don't fix what isn't really broken".
DPPT: The real start to the change in gameplay came in generation three when the EV and IV system was more defined and many of the attacks being upgraded and defined came to be. However, generation four brought with it something important. We gained the physical and special split. Before this generation, all types were either physical or special. Now, the combat style is based on the attack, not the type of the attack. Example, water used to be a special type. Now, Surf is a special attack where Waterfall is a physical attack. This was a welcome change since many pokemon did not excel in the element they were confined to (Sneasle, Gyarados, Feraligatr,etc.). We were also given a means to trade and communicate with others over a wifi connection. This vastly changed the trading community opening trade up globally. We were even given the Global Trade Station (GTS) to help encourage this. Unfortunately, many people took to this more as a means to showcase rather than actually trade (lv. 9 and under Legendary trades?). The game itself was reasonably extended by the addition of new pokemon. Unfortunately, not many "ground breaking" pokemon were really introduced and several people decided to put off their pokedex simply because they didn't feel the new pokemon were all that innovative. Another plus side is the addition of better breeding mechanic in that the everstone trick was created in that a nature could be passed down if the mother (or ditto) held an everstone. The chance of it occurring was 50%. Also, shiny breeding odds were increased, though not to a huge impact.
HGSS: In essence, this game was Gold and Silver all over again. However, the gameplay is pretty much copy and paste of DPPT. The only difference is that we encountered the pokemon who grew on us. This made the play through a little more enjoyable. Must of us went along simply for Nostalgia sake. We were actually reasonable rewarded. The gameplay was consistent and reasonably balanced. It also helped to highlight the physical special split because we were given a chance to reuse many of the pokemon we once felt sorry for because they just couldn't make the cut with previous mechanics. Breeding was further simplified in that IVs were passed down more simply and specific IVs could be forced down thanks to Power items (Power Weight, Power Band, etc.) We also got a blessing in that the everstone breeding trick could be done with both parents.
BW: In essence, this game really threw curve balls at us. The experience mechanic went from set values to level multipliers. This drastically changed the rate of level up (and sort of broke the game in some regards). We were also given a clean slate. No throw backs to previous generations. All the pokemon are brand new. It was more difficult to feel like you've "done this thing before" with this game. There was also more interaction in this game in that you could change your environment (namely sound) by interacting with the in game characters. The main drawback is the amount of Pokemon added with the "little to no reward" for "catching them all". I mean, 649 is a lot of work to find for a professor to say "Oh look at that, good work". A few things happened to breeding. Hidden abilities were created and the rate it could be passed down was 40%. We were also given the Masuda method to help with shiny breeding. This was a mechanic that allowed better odds to breed a shiny pokemon when breeding pokemon from different language regions (French France and English America as an example).
Comparison: DPPT improved the gameplay but the game was generally pretty stale. Many of the pokemon weren't entirely fun to use and it was reasonably easy to lose interest if you weren't dedicated. HGSS brought most people back to generation four. Whether you played for nostalgia or you jumped on the popularity bandwagon, you weren't disappointed. This was simply a game that highlighted the updated gameplay mechanics better. BW is by far an innovation. A sign that Gamefreak is listening when people voiced the pain of level up. They gave us a fresh game with completely new pokemon in a new world with all the bells and whistles mentioned before. The drawback of tedium does keep it from climbing as far as 9. Well, nothing's perfect, right?
Plot
DPPT 5.5/10 HGSS 5/10 BW 7/10
For the longest time, plot has always been the weaker point in the pokemon games. It really doesn't improve to the standard a lot of gamers have wanted it to. However, it has improved. Plot usually involves the main storyline as well as the character development within the story.
DPPT: The general goal of the story is to pretty much do what Professor Rowan tells you. No, I'm serious. Try and say no to him. You encounter the bad guys, beat the bad guys, challenge the Sinnoh League and all that good stuff. It does have slight points considering some of the stuff that goes on with Team Galactic is pretty intense. Too bad it ultimately doesn't matter save to capture the Legendary pokemon of the Sinnoh region. The only real character development we see is the rival. In this, we only really see the rival going from an obnoxious self centered brat into a more realistic crybaby who apparently has some daddy issues. Oh, there is a nice Giratina plot to some degree to in which you go into the Distortion World to face it. Oh, but that's only in Platinum. Also, Looker and some weird scientist was added to the plot. Again, only in Platinum.
HGSS: This is pretty much a copy and paste of the Gold and Silver plot. In that, there's no real plot outside the standard beat the bad guys and take on the League. The rival does have some level of growth but not enough to deem it integral to the plot. He only really goes from being a complete jerk to a complete jerk who thinks you may have a point about his attitude problem. They attempted to add in a time travel event to see his troubled past with his daddy issues (real Gen IV theme here). Sadly, the event made you want to punch him in the face more than feel compassionate towards him. Even challenging the Kanto Gym Leaders was a cut and paste tactic. Facing Red was just as epic as it was before though. I guess there were SOME good points.
BW: Certainly the best game as far as plot goes. Still a stone throw away from a deep plot, but so close that just one or two more elements would have made it something. We have the standard beat the bad guys and take on the league. But wait... the bad guys believe they are the good guys? Many of the members of Team Plasma honestly believe they are doing the right thing for Pokemon. The leader, N, has some pretty deep development as he faces his confliction with his own moral beliefs. We even get a pretty sad look into his past at some point. Even the league challenge is more enlightening as the Gym Leaders are more involved with the plot. They don't just chill inside their Gym and serve as a one point plot device. Even the rivals Bianca and Cheren seem to have some very inspiring development. Bianca coming to terms with what direction she wants to take in life. Cheren coming to terms that power isn't everything. Even after the end game, you feel like there's more of a plot.
Comparison: An up and down spiral for plot. However the games are improving in this field. Granted, the lack in plot can often be the best thing about these games. The story is open for you to imagine it how you want it to be. Do you have a sad tale from a Nuzlocke challenge? Do you have a happy and uplifting journey where you meet new friends and run through fields? Or do you secretly only thwart the evil organisations to open your own evil agenda? I'd go through why each game set is where it is, but fact is there is little difference between DPPT and HGSS beyond the Giratina plot in Platinum and to attempt to compare plot to Black and White is like comparing flip flops to Nike brand Sneakers.
Replay Value
For the longest time, plot has always been the weaker point in the pokemon games. It really doesn't improve to the standard a lot of gamers have wanted it to. However, it has improved. Plot usually involves the main storyline as well as the character development within the story.
DPPT: The general goal of the story is to pretty much do what Professor Rowan tells you. No, I'm serious. Try and say no to him. You encounter the bad guys, beat the bad guys, challenge the Sinnoh League and all that good stuff. It does have slight points considering some of the stuff that goes on with Team Galactic is pretty intense. Too bad it ultimately doesn't matter save to capture the Legendary pokemon of the Sinnoh region. The only real character development we see is the rival. In this, we only really see the rival going from an obnoxious self centered brat into a more realistic crybaby who apparently has some daddy issues. Oh, there is a nice Giratina plot to some degree to in which you go into the Distortion World to face it. Oh, but that's only in Platinum. Also, Looker and some weird scientist was added to the plot. Again, only in Platinum.
HGSS: This is pretty much a copy and paste of the Gold and Silver plot. In that, there's no real plot outside the standard beat the bad guys and take on the League. The rival does have some level of growth but not enough to deem it integral to the plot. He only really goes from being a complete jerk to a complete jerk who thinks you may have a point about his attitude problem. They attempted to add in a time travel event to see his troubled past with his daddy issues (real Gen IV theme here). Sadly, the event made you want to punch him in the face more than feel compassionate towards him. Even challenging the Kanto Gym Leaders was a cut and paste tactic. Facing Red was just as epic as it was before though. I guess there were SOME good points.
BW: Certainly the best game as far as plot goes. Still a stone throw away from a deep plot, but so close that just one or two more elements would have made it something. We have the standard beat the bad guys and take on the league. But wait... the bad guys believe they are the good guys? Many of the members of Team Plasma honestly believe they are doing the right thing for Pokemon. The leader, N, has some pretty deep development as he faces his confliction with his own moral beliefs. We even get a pretty sad look into his past at some point. Even the league challenge is more enlightening as the Gym Leaders are more involved with the plot. They don't just chill inside their Gym and serve as a one point plot device. Even the rivals Bianca and Cheren seem to have some very inspiring development. Bianca coming to terms with what direction she wants to take in life. Cheren coming to terms that power isn't everything. Even after the end game, you feel like there's more of a plot.
Comparison: An up and down spiral for plot. However the games are improving in this field. Granted, the lack in plot can often be the best thing about these games. The story is open for you to imagine it how you want it to be. Do you have a sad tale from a Nuzlocke challenge? Do you have a happy and uplifting journey where you meet new friends and run through fields? Or do you secretly only thwart the evil organisations to open your own evil agenda? I'd go through why each game set is where it is, but fact is there is little difference between DPPT and HGSS beyond the Giratina plot in Platinum and to attempt to compare plot to Black and White is like comparing flip flops to Nike brand Sneakers.
Replay Value
DPPT 6/10 HGSS 8/10 BW 7/10
Whether we admit it or not, the thing that makes a great game is if you feel good playing it again. If a game is diverse enough to make you feel like you missed something, it's good. Pokemon has replay value, but not always in a traditional sense. Often times, you don't stop playing through the first time.
DPPT: This series sort of missed the mark. Though Platinum brought it up from a stalemate, the general game play was tedious. You really didn't feel to play through again because there weren't that many pokemon you really wanted to play through with the first time. Namely, this generation faced the problem of being overshadowed by HGSS. The only reason you really finished this game and replayed it was so you could catch everything for your Johto game. There were contests I suppose. Sadly, a concept that grew stale the first time around. I suppose Platinum had a niche having the Battle Frontier. Granted, that's a small note considering HGSS also had it.
HGSS: Replay was higher in this game. This was namely due to the nostalgia people had for it and the genuinely good variety of pokemon options you had. There was also a lot to do in the games. Bug Catching Contests. Safari Zone (though DPPT also had the Great Marsh), Pokeathalon (we really need these minigames back) and the Battle Frontier. We are also put in a position where we sort of have to replay a generation four game in order to get certain tutor moves. That said, many people select this segment as their go to.
BW: This is the one time BW falls short of a past generation. It is a fun game and something a little new with a fun story. Sadly, it doesn't have nostalgia going for it. It also doesn't have a whole heck of a lot outside of the main plot. There are the musicals but most fans have dismissed this as the worst side mechanic introduced in Pokemon. Yes, it ranked much lower than Pokemon Contests did. The fact is, if you got bored with your original playthrough, the cure wasn't starting a new game unless it was a Nuzlocke challenge. A fact to keep in mind is that the gameplay value is fairly high. That said, the replay value may simply be an invalid point since it takes a long time to generally get that bored of the first play through.
Comparison: At the end of the day, Nostalgia came in and won the cup. Literally everyone playing HGSS is already doing a second play through if they played Gold and Silver. That being said, it was easy to accept that it had higher replay value. DPPT fell short on a lot of aspects and relied too much on Platinum to pick up the slack and that really didn't work. Black and White is still a newer game and it's hard to say it doesn't have replay value. At present, it doesn't have a lot of reason to pick back up without something more. It's just lacking something that makes you want to try the game again.
Final Score
DPPT 33.5/50
HGSS 36/50
BW 40/50
Opinion: DPPT overall seemed to drag. You'd start off playing the game having a sense of wonder at the improved graphics and change in combat mechanics. The new Pokemon seemed interesting until you found they had little competetive value at all and really found your options were more limited than they first appeared. HGSS had some heavy points for having nostalgia, but at the end of the day it had a hard time finding it's own unique identity. Really, all it did was ride the coat tails of Gold and Silver and showcased the generation improvements. IT DID showcase the new mechanics better than DPPT though. BW is still fresh and still iconic to people. It's not really fair to compare it to the other versions. It should be safe to assume that the newer game generations SHOULD be better all around. The biggest drawback to BW is that it's not a game you are really going to look back on and want to pick it up again in the next season of pokemon gaming (ie B2W2 or Black 2 and White 2).
The final score, believe it or not, doesn't reflect the whole of my opinion. If you were to ask me which games I prefered to play, I'd say Soul Silver. I'm big on Nostalgia. I just felt it would be silly to let my nostalgia get in the way of reviewing it fairly with the other games.
I am authentically sorry to those who disagree with my review. Some people may feel I poorly rated them. I'm a huge Pokemon fan. A lot of people will likely read this and feel I should have marked certain aspects as a 10/10. At the end of the day, Pokemon has flaws in all it's fields. It has a lot of good, but it does have a lot of room for improvement. You are more than welcome to express your opinions. I'd love to hear them. I don't profess to being an amazing reviewer / rater. But I'd like to think I did a pretty good job of this tall order request for a review. Sorry for any spelling / grammar errors. Would you REALLY want to edit and proof read this text wall? Didn't think so lol!
Whether we admit it or not, the thing that makes a great game is if you feel good playing it again. If a game is diverse enough to make you feel like you missed something, it's good. Pokemon has replay value, but not always in a traditional sense. Often times, you don't stop playing through the first time.
DPPT: This series sort of missed the mark. Though Platinum brought it up from a stalemate, the general game play was tedious. You really didn't feel to play through again because there weren't that many pokemon you really wanted to play through with the first time. Namely, this generation faced the problem of being overshadowed by HGSS. The only reason you really finished this game and replayed it was so you could catch everything for your Johto game. There were contests I suppose. Sadly, a concept that grew stale the first time around. I suppose Platinum had a niche having the Battle Frontier. Granted, that's a small note considering HGSS also had it.
HGSS: Replay was higher in this game. This was namely due to the nostalgia people had for it and the genuinely good variety of pokemon options you had. There was also a lot to do in the games. Bug Catching Contests. Safari Zone (though DPPT also had the Great Marsh), Pokeathalon (we really need these minigames back) and the Battle Frontier. We are also put in a position where we sort of have to replay a generation four game in order to get certain tutor moves. That said, many people select this segment as their go to.
BW: This is the one time BW falls short of a past generation. It is a fun game and something a little new with a fun story. Sadly, it doesn't have nostalgia going for it. It also doesn't have a whole heck of a lot outside of the main plot. There are the musicals but most fans have dismissed this as the worst side mechanic introduced in Pokemon. Yes, it ranked much lower than Pokemon Contests did. The fact is, if you got bored with your original playthrough, the cure wasn't starting a new game unless it was a Nuzlocke challenge. A fact to keep in mind is that the gameplay value is fairly high. That said, the replay value may simply be an invalid point since it takes a long time to generally get that bored of the first play through.
Comparison: At the end of the day, Nostalgia came in and won the cup. Literally everyone playing HGSS is already doing a second play through if they played Gold and Silver. That being said, it was easy to accept that it had higher replay value. DPPT fell short on a lot of aspects and relied too much on Platinum to pick up the slack and that really didn't work. Black and White is still a newer game and it's hard to say it doesn't have replay value. At present, it doesn't have a lot of reason to pick back up without something more. It's just lacking something that makes you want to try the game again.
Final Score
DPPT 33.5/50
HGSS 36/50
BW 40/50
Opinion: DPPT overall seemed to drag. You'd start off playing the game having a sense of wonder at the improved graphics and change in combat mechanics. The new Pokemon seemed interesting until you found they had little competetive value at all and really found your options were more limited than they first appeared. HGSS had some heavy points for having nostalgia, but at the end of the day it had a hard time finding it's own unique identity. Really, all it did was ride the coat tails of Gold and Silver and showcased the generation improvements. IT DID showcase the new mechanics better than DPPT though. BW is still fresh and still iconic to people. It's not really fair to compare it to the other versions. It should be safe to assume that the newer game generations SHOULD be better all around. The biggest drawback to BW is that it's not a game you are really going to look back on and want to pick it up again in the next season of pokemon gaming (ie B2W2 or Black 2 and White 2).
The final score, believe it or not, doesn't reflect the whole of my opinion. If you were to ask me which games I prefered to play, I'd say Soul Silver. I'm big on Nostalgia. I just felt it would be silly to let my nostalgia get in the way of reviewing it fairly with the other games.
I am authentically sorry to those who disagree with my review. Some people may feel I poorly rated them. I'm a huge Pokemon fan. A lot of people will likely read this and feel I should have marked certain aspects as a 10/10. At the end of the day, Pokemon has flaws in all it's fields. It has a lot of good, but it does have a lot of room for improvement. You are more than welcome to express your opinions. I'd love to hear them. I don't profess to being an amazing reviewer / rater. But I'd like to think I did a pretty good job of this tall order request for a review. Sorry for any spelling / grammar errors. Would you REALLY want to edit and proof read this text wall? Didn't think so lol!
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