What do you think of the plot of Pokemon Black & White?

[shoz999]

So we've had great storytelling in the past like spin-offs or the Pokemon Adventures series and although past games had great environmental storytelling, Black & White was the first real title of the main series to actually put a big focus on the central plot where the Pokemon League was more than just a sport but also a necessity where the fate of the Unova region hinged on. It's nothing really complex but it was compelling enough for a lot players that people actually want to see how the Pokemon League ends and in turn, there were a lot of surprises in store for them.

With that being said, what do you think of the plot of Pokemon Black & White?

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

I think that the Gen V games had the best storytelling out of all of the games in the main series. The games that come closest to them are Sword and Shield, USUM, And Platinum. HGSS weren’t bad but they weren’t mind blowing either. ORAS was okay but didn’t get really good until the Delta Episode. Gen V had a story that remained consistently compelling and made you feel invested in the plot.

 

[Leonhart]

I thought that the plot of Black and White was innovative at the time, but now that almost a decade has passed since those games were released, I only really like the conclusion of the Plasma-dan subplot at N's Castle, not so much the other events that unfolded in the main storyline.

 

[Emboar_Rulez]

Best story of the series hands down try and change my mind

 

[Redstar45]

It is okay i like it but whole n thing is not best part of it ironic eh ? I love him in bw2 and anime ?

 

[Emboar_Rulez]

Im still waiting for N to appear in later games also disappointed that Coltress wasn't in Sword and Shield.

 

[shoz999]

Im still waiting for N to appear in later games also disappointed that Coltress wasn't in Sword and Shield.

I'm disappointed not a single returning trainer made a return. If we get a BW3, I hope it puts Ghetsis as the final villain of Team Plasma.

 

[RedBlastoise]

Liked almost everything about the story arc in Black and White including Team Plasma and the side characters. My only real gripe is that I didn't like how useless Anthea and Concordia were in the end of the original games.

 

[Leonhart]

Liked almost everything about the story arc in Black and White including Team Plasma and the side characters. My only real gripe is that I didn't like how useless Anthea and Concordia were in the end of the original games.

I remember thinking that they were going to be like the Ginga-dan (Team Galactic) Commanders when I saw them in the games' opening, but they ended up being nothing but two rather pointless NPCs. At least they got a slightly more significant role in the anime.

 

[TwilightBlade]

Great plot over all. I really liked how linear the region was and how there were no confusing areas to pass through. The characters were interesting, especially N. Team Plasma had the best villainous team climax out of the core games.

 

[Ignition]

Rant below:

Spoiler: My Gripes with BW’s story

I like the story but I don’t think it’s as good as people make it out to be. A lot of people give praise to things like the Gym Leaders showing up at N’s Castle to stop the 7 Sages and N’s character arc which, while great, weren’t that revolutionary in retrospect. I also heavily dislike Ghetsis being the big bad. Not only is his role obvious in the literal first hour of playing, but I feel like it takes away the impact of N. Him influencing N to have this warped set is fine as a plot thread, but I wish N would’ve been the final boss after taking this perspective to a point where even Ghetsis wouldn’t have expected. I just hate villans who are evil because???? (also why I hate Giovanni)

Another thing I heavily dislike is how preachy the game feels. Obviously a Pokémon game is going to let you know that the power of friendship triumphs all so this type of message sending shouldn’t be anything new but it felt way too repetitive here. Around every corner is something along the lines of realizing that there are multiple outlooks of a situation. Only scenario where I enjoy this is N’s speech at the end because you saw his growth in views and just experienced so many life changing moments in rapid succession so it makes sense for him to want to think like that.

TL; DR: Story is ok but has a lot that keeps me from liking it. SM’s story did it better

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

The plot was my favorite, with its sequels and the original Sun and Moon plots being a close second. I like when the games have a npc as a deuteragonist (except for Hop) thats involved with the games plot.

 

[Leonhart]

Rant below:

Spoiler: My Gripes with BW’s story

I like the story but I don’t think it’s as good as people make it out to be. A lot of people give praise to things like the Gym Leaders showing up at N’s Castle to stop the 7 Sages and N’s character arc which, while great, weren’t that revolutionary in retrospect. I also heavily dislike Ghetsis being the big bad. Not only is his role obvious in the literal first hour of playing, but I feel like it takes away the impact of N. Him influencing N to have this warped set is fine as a plot thread, but I wish N would’ve been the final boss after taking this perspective to a point where even Ghetsis wouldn’t have expected. I just hate villans who are evil because???? (also why I hate Giovanni)

Another thing I heavily dislike is how preachy the game feels. Obviously a Pokémon game is going to let you know that the power of friendship triumphs all so this type of message sending shouldn’t be anything new but it felt way too repetitive here. Around every corner is something along the lines of realizing that there are multiple outlooks of a situation. Only scenario where I enjoy this is N’s speech at the end because you saw his growth in views and just experienced so many life changing moments in rapid succession so it makes sense for him to want to think like that.

TL; DR: Story is ok but has a lot that keeps me from liking it. SM’s story did it better

I did find a lot of things in B/W to be very repetitive and not just the constant friendship speeches, but also little things like Cheren's angst and his desire to get stronger but not knowing how to do so. I will say that out of the two rivals, at least Bel (Bianca) had a good character arc even if it was resolved rather suddenly by Kamitsure's (Elesa's) intervention.

 

[Monozu]

I couldn't agree with @Ignition more. BW didn't handle the morality and ethics side of the plot very well; it kept skirting around the question of whether or not battling is detrimental to Pokemon overall, and preaching friendship at every moment possible. It didn't help that Team Plasma and Ghetsis were very obviously evil - remember the scene were some grunts kicked a Munna early in the game? It would have been nice to see Team Plasma shown in a more ambiguous light, like N was. That would have made the "plot twist" that Ghetsis was the evil one much more interesting.

The high points of BW's plot are definitely its characters - and the ending, despite what I said before. The sequence where Plasma takes over the league and the final showdown with N are still amazing to play through today, even if - now that I've grown up - the rest of the story isn't that great. Seeing how N's life changes for the better, and his reflections on his journey, was surprisingly moving. Cheren, Bianca, the gym leaders, the elite four, and the professors were also fleshed out much better than those of past generations, with several of them getting backstories and development. While the execution of their character arcs was nowhere near perfect, it was a first for the series and better than nothing.

(The exceptions to "BW has well-written characters" are Anthea, Concordia, and the Seven Sages... but I think the rest of the cast makes up for that.)

 

[NeganTheSavior]

It's...okay. I never really go into Pokemon games expecting a phenomenal storyline (let's face it, that's probably not what y'all came for anyway) but for what it's worth, this one makes an effort to give the storyline a little substance. Especially with N, Cheren and Bianca.

It bothers me that I never had a chance to battle the seven sages in the original (besides Ghetsis). It makes me question what the point of including them was.

 

[TwilightBlade]

It bothers me that I never had a chance to battle the seven sages in the original (besides Ghetsis). It makes me question what the point of including them was.

Yeah they didn't do that much in the first BW games and even in the sequels only a couple of them had major parts in the story.

 

[jaden767]

The plot was okay. The Team Plasma stuff was the highlight of these games even though the lack of N for most of BW2 was saddening. Ghetsis and Colress were good villains and they made up for N's absense at least.

 

[KyogreThunder]

I liked the idea of focusing more on the plot, but in practice, it resulted in the region becoming much more linear than it ever was, something that has yet to be fixed in all subsequent generations. To me, the Generation III - IV games had the best balance of exploration and storyline. I still liked the plot twist in the end and N awakening Reshiram/Zekrom, though.

 

[Sakuyamon]

The originals had the best plot out of all the games and the sequels were good too but not as original. My favorite thing about Black and White was the emphasis on a fresh start and also the duality theme.