iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Replies

Jason Prime @blazingwaters.northsky.social · 04/09/2026

finally got back to tinkering on my pokemon ranking list which means doing a new rant on BW2, likely my most frustrating and aggressive 5-6/10 games ever made

Unpopularish Opinion: I think this is one of the most underwhelming sequels to anything I've ever experienced, and are INSANE damage controls to a vocal minority that squanders nearly everything that made BW1 so special to begin with.

People didn't like how BW1 was practically nothing but new Pokemon in the main story? No problem, here's some Kantonian and Johtoian natives right when you start the game. Sorry if you happened to like some of those Unovan Mons by the way, we had to place them either way later than they originally were or are now straight up post-game captures because we just had to cater to the oldheads! People didn't like how some of the early gyms - mainly Lenora and Elesa - wall the player? Alright, here's a Riolu and Magnemite within the first two gyms, they not only evolve into some of the most powerful and consistent mainstays in competitive scenes for years, but also crater the balancing of damn near every single Gym Leader to boot! People didn't like the pacing? Welp, we won't improve THAT, we'll instead worsen it by having you do a detour after a gym battle for a side mode you likely won't give a shit about for the entire first half, as well as exacerbate the route->healer->cave->town dilemma the last game had too. People didn't like how introspective and personal the story became? Alright, all of that sappy nonsense is now cut, the story is insanely boilerplate even by series' standards to the point it's an active chore that seems afraid to meaningfully acknowledge its predecessor, and you have the absolute worst rival in the entire series to go alongside this.

I'm not kidding about that last bit. I fucking loathe Hugh, and I genuinely can't see how Hop, Nemona, and Urbain/Taunie are somehow worse. He's the type of kid people spent years meme-hating on Silver for being: a headstrong brat that doesn't think for more than 5 seconds, has a specific goal that everyone else beats him over the head to get over, and a resolution so non-existent that I'm baffled the game treats him as changed after his supposed "climax" regarding the Purrloin that OBVIOUSLY BECAME A LIEPARD DUE TO TIME ADVANCEMENT. I'm sorry to pull this card, but I frankly find it acceptable to think I'm supposed to give this a pass for a "family friendly media" when the aforementioned Silver, Wally, Barry (even discounting his Platinum revamp), and of course, the three rivals in BW1, were able to convey maturity and emotional arcs without feeling like a dumbed-down Moral Lesson you see on a D-List PBS Kids special.

OK, so, that was a strong rant, and yet I still gave the game a 3/5 and a heart. Obviously, that means I still enjoyed it, cause yea, it's still... fine. As much as the dex changes bother the shit out of me, I'd be remiss to not mention the buffs certain Pokemon got, either on movepool changes or through the new move tutors, as well as the fact you get some infamous late-captures like Braviary or Mandibuzz (version exclusives, of course) right around the third gym fight (of course, you have to get them on specific days, but better than nothing I guess), or Volcarona being available after Clay's gym. Plus, it's not like a certain Gen 3 remake where it seems to actively despise the thing it's following up on - I like seeing Cheren do stuff in the plot even if it isn't a whole lot, Bianca's a joy to see as always, Clay continues to be one of the best characters in the franchise, and anything involving the Memory Link stuff is pure aces. Also, it gave us Colress, who's like on my top 5 favorite Human Pokemon characters ever because he genuinely adds a lot to both the world, as well as the ideology Unova presented.

I may hate the fact this is purely catering to a crowd of people that seem to treat BW1 as a freak accident instead of a thoughtful soft-reboot, but it's still Fun To Play... just, not as much as the others are.

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Gogeta the booty warrior @bbblueguy.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

I don't agree but I understand where you're coming from tbh.

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Gogeta the booty warrior @bbblueguy.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

I'm going to be honest a lot of Unova Pokemon just fucking suck tbh. Like battle wise these guys are ASS. So many of them evolve late af, have terrible movepools even by DS era Pokemon standards terrible stats or all three. So then bringing back older Pokemon really doesn't bother me.

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