If you've noticed that all the Pokemon Black and White screens released so far only have new Pokemon in them, there's a reason for that. On his Japaneseblog, Game Freak board of directors member Junichi Masuda posted that in Pokemon Black and White, only new Pokemon will be available in the main game until you beat the story. His reasoning behind this is to bring back the feeling of newness and discoveryPokemon fans had when playing the original Red and Blue (or Green, in Japan).
So, that means no more caves filled with nothing but Geodudes and Zubats! For most Pokemon fans this is truly excellent news. We're assuming you can still bring in new Pokemon via trading with someone who's already beaten the main game, but at least at first you'll probably only have new Pokemon to work with. From a super cynical perspective, we couldspeculate that this might just be a desperate ploy to get people to use the new Pokemon more, since Game Freak knows that people will default to the older Pokemon if given a choice, but overall this seems like a good move toward making Black and White feel fresh.
Pokemon fans, what do you think? Do you think having only new Pokemon in Black and White until you beat the game is a good idea, or would you rather your old favorites were featured more prominently?
Aug 4, 2010
