Pokémon White Version 2
Year: 2012
Rating: E
Time Played: 2,857 minutes / 47.61 hours
With the “soft reboot” of the Pokémon franchise in Generation V, a lot had changed about these games. Black and White were harder than before, and a whole new set of 150 Pokémon left some long-time fans (like myself) wondering when any of our favorites would appear in the game. The expectation for “enhanced” versions for each Generation was cemented by Pokémon Yellow, Crystal, Emerald, and Platinum. To then get a two-game split sequel in Pokémon Black and White Version 2 was a bit of a shock.
Released only a year after its predecessor, White 2 learned a bit from the original White. Classic Pokémon had returned to Unova and weren’t locked behind the post-game content. These games still had enhanced features like being able to catch legendaries from previous games—a welcome inclusion that has remained to this day. And while I had just played through White when I started this game, it was just different enough to get me to the battle with fused Kyurem. Unfortunately, that’s when the “grinding” to overcome this challenge made me put it down for a few years.
What eventually motivated me to finish this game was finding out about the DNS Mystery gift exploit. This allowed me to “legitimately” get some of the rare legendary and mythical Pokémon that were released during its original run. With these powerful Pokémon in my party, I easily beat the rest of the game and had more fun in the post-game than if I had suffered through the level grind to get a team powerful enough to do so naturally. Sure, some may consider this “cheating,” but I felt this enhanced my enjoyment of the game. After all, I had already played through White once, so anything to make White 2 more different was a welcome addition.
A lightly enhanced Generation V sequel, I give Pokémon White Version 2 4.0 stars out of 5.
