These items range from TMs that can teach your Pokémon new moves to modifiers for your team members’ stats. The amazing thing about Pokémon White 2 is the way the game never stops layering levels of complexity into the core gameplay by giving you items which change your strategy on a regular basis. It’s honestly somewhat overwhelming if you are new to the series: these new and unfamiliar creatures have advantages that change over time, and you must decide which moves you want your Pokémon to learn and forget. With that in mind, Pokémon White 2 serves its purpose wonderfully, giving you endless ways to form teams of little creatures to fight on your behalf, with over 300 Pokémon to capture and train. The main difference between versions, as I understand it, is merely your options for team members, and the trappings of story motivating and informing your decisions.

The core experience of Pokémon, regardless of the version you play, is a game of team building and combat. Pokémon White Version 2 caters to the Pokémon fan while making few concessions to newcomers, but the core game is simple enough that most gamers can pick up on the basics without too much trouble. I found a game showing signs of refinement while remaining dated, and deepness while remaining accessible.

I’d certainly read a great deal about these games, and had dabbled just a bit in the series with the release of Pokémon Pearl in 2006, but for the most part I went in blind. As a newcomer to the Pokémon franchise, I had little context for the events unfolding as I began Pokémon White Version 2, the latest in a long series of role-playing games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo.

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