[DISCUSSION] Why Generation 5 Is Arguably The Best Generation

[Kris]

Hello, Kris here. What's that? Gen 5 isn't the best? Meh, I mean I've seen so much slander on these games and it's honestly ridiculous. Generation 5 is severely under-appreciated, so, of course, I'm here to tell you why it's the best Gen and why you should play it, while also answering the complaints so many people have.

- The Pokemon Designs/Concepts

Honestly, I'm so sick of hearing "Gen V has an Ice Cream Cone Pokemon!" as an example of why it's a bad Gen. A lot of people pick on the designs of the Pokemon, most of the time solely focusing on that and nothing else, and it's quite funny as they seem to forget every Generation of Pokemon has a few less-than-desireable designs. It's to be expected at this point with over 800 Pokemon in the Dex. But what I find really funny is the complaints of specific Pokemon.
 

 
Garbodor is literally trash!

That may be so, but have you considered the following?;

 
Muk is literally a blob of goop with eyes

Or how about these?

• Sawk and Throh are literally just guys
  
• Klinklang is just a Klink and a Klang
  
• Vanilluxe is just two Vanillish
  

When you've got;

• Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, Jynx and Mr. Mime are all literally people
  
• Magneton is literally three Magnemites
  
• Dodrio, Dugtrio, Magneton, Magnezone, the list goes on
  

People all can have differring opinions, yes, but these complaints are so stupid when these designs have been done before. And excuse me, but it takes some creativity to make a Pokemon out of an ice-cream cone.

- The Story / Characters

Generation V is easily the most story-driven Generation of any in the series. You might argue that Generation VII is, and while I can certainly say it's got a great story (Sun and Moon, not Ultra), it lacks replay value with how long the story actually takes to start. Pokemon Black and White's story kicks in alost right away with you, Bianca and Cheren learning the ropes, and Team Plasma and Ghetsis showing up in literally the second town over. The same with Black 2 and White 2, Team Neo Plasma becoming known after Floccessy Town. The story of both games builds up at a decent pace, although it can be a tad bit slow sometimes in B2W2 IMO, but nonetheless, the games are all about story, and if you really want, speaking to the NPCs has never been more of a great thing to do, you can learn so much about the region from the NPCs, as you would with most Pokemon games, but in Generation V, it feels more lively.

Being the only Generation that has sequels, character development is the strongest aspect of Generation V. Every main character goes through changes, big or small, and they really show to be important more often than not.

 
Ghetsis 
Pokemon Black / White (Left) Pokemon Black 2/ White 2 (Right)

Ghetsis goes through one of the biggest changes between the games, not only does his goal change, albeit still plotting world domination, his appearance changes, as well as his battle them and even his Pokemon team slightly changes. In Black 2 / White 2 it's implied that his previous defeat drove him to insanity, and honestly, it fits Ghetsis so well, he's a powerful power-hugry viallain, so of course being defeated would do something to him. And it was honestly a great change from, "you defeated the villain and now you'll never see them again!"

Bianca and Cheren
Pokemon Black / White (Left) Pokemon Black 2/ White 2 (Right)

Bianca and Cheren were your rival/friends of Black and White, and truly set the standard for how friendly rivals should be. Instead of the overused "I'm going to beat everyone and be better than you, M.C.!" we get two characters who are just as clueless as you, but learn along the way about their goals and grow as strong characters beside you. Cheren, at first, is only pursuing power to become stronger and become the Champion, but after the Dragonspiral Tower attack, realizes there's more than just being powerful. Bianca is just excited to go on a journey, and despite being held back by her father, she presses on, coincidentally, also after the Dragonspiral Tower attack, Bianca starts to wonder why she's on this journey, and aafter a battle with the hero, she decides she wants to study Pokemon with Professor Juniper. Skip to Black 2 and White 2 and that's exactly what happens. Bianca is now Professor Juniper's aide, and even gives the heor their starter Pokemon, while Cheren becomes the Gym Leader of Aspertia City, taking over the role of the Basic Badge from Lenora, and even running the Pokemon School.

Iris
Pokemon Black / White (Left, Gym Leader ) Pokemon Black 2/ White 2 (Right, Champion)

Iris, my favorite Pokemon Champion, went throught the largest change in between BW/B2W2. Originally being a Gym Leader in Pokemon White, and not having any major role in Pokemon Black, she shocked many players upon when it was recealed she becomes the Champion in the sequels. With one of the best Champion battle themes, (ok I can understannd why people may not like it, but you gotta admit, it suits her!), and a team that can give you a workout if you arent prepared, Iris gets one of the most deserved changes from BW to B2W2.

- Black 2 / White 2's New Features

Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 added a whole bunch of new features to set it apart from the previous installments, such as the Key System, the Pokemon World Tournament and the Hidden Grottoes.

Let's start with the Key System and Memory Link. The Key system adds a bunch off stuff to the games that can affect the way the game plays entirely. The Difficulty setting is a feature that needs to return in future installments as it was one of the coolest things in B2W2, being able to set the difficulty to your preferred setting, with Easy Mode making Trainers' Pokemon lower levelled and Challenged Mode doing the opposite, (Iris' rematch on Challenge Mode = Nightmare fuel). You can also make a different Golem appear in Twist Mountain depending on which Key you have active, and even change Black City to White Forest, areas that wouldn't normally be available in either game. Memory Link allows you to connect to a Pokemon Black or White Version, and depending on how far you've progressed in BW, you can unlock various cutscenes related to past event from BW, in B2W2, like Elesa and Skyla becoming friends. You also get to capture N's various Pokemon he used throughout Black and White, even including a Sheer Force Darmanitan!

Pokemon World Tournament is the most epic Battle Facility ever, with the ability  to face Gym Leaders and Champions of all previous Pokemon titles, it's challenging, very unforgiving, and even has remixes of all the various Gym Leader / Champion themes.

Hidden Grottoes are a great way to easily find Hidden Ability Pokemon in Gen V, as every HG Pokemo has it's Hidden Ability! These Pokemon include Vulpix, Dragonite, Bagon and Ralts to name a couple. 

- The Music

Now I'd be lying if I said I don't listen to Pokemon music constantly, how can you not? It's awesome! And Black and White / B2W2 does not disappoint. Here's just a few of my favourite themes from Gen V.

Driftveil City
Emotion
Route 10
To Each Future! (BW Ending)
N's Farewell
Decisive Battle! N
Champion Iris
Just go listen to the OST

- Shiny Hunting

It's no surprise I Shiny Hunt, but here's something you may not know, Generation V allows you to hunt some rather unique Pokemon, even including fully evolved Pokemon! Generation V's battle speed is greatly improved from Generation IV, and allows for some of the fastest random encounters ever, averaging from 180-200 per hour (I'm pretty sure, it's close to that) and even offering double battles in certain grass patches for even faster encounters. As I said, BW and B2W2 has some of the rarest shiny hunts in Pokemon, and even if you don't *like* the Shinies, hunting them is still incredible as you can end up with unbelievably rare finds. 

Some of these include;



Now, while these aren't all exactly, "rare", the fact is you can find all of these in the wild as they are, yes, even Dragonite, Tyranitar and Gliscor. If Full Odds isn't your thing, and you can see every National Dex Pokemon in B2W2, you are rewarded with the Shiny Charm to help you out, and if you have an international copy of BW/B2W2 you can use Masuda Method to breed for Shiny Pokemon. 

Now of course, I can't change people's minds, I respect your opinions, even if you're wrong when saying Gen V is the worst, but y'know, Gen V isn't nearly as bad as people say it is. Most people likely gave up after seeing other people's opinions and didn't even give the games a chance, which is sad, because these games are worth a play. Now are they perfect games? Yes No, obviously not, no game can be without it's flaws, but the Pokemon designs aren't one, the few problems I have with Gen V is, lack of pre-gen Pokemon in BW, no difficulty setting in BW and no Gym Leader rematches outside of PWT, but those are very minor. I hope you enjoyed this Discussion Post, feel free to voice your opinions down below, keep it clean and respect everyone's opinions please, and tell me what you think of Generation V.

[PerchPond]

Gen 5 sure is great, especially the rather big post-game and the amount of high-level trainers to battle (B2W2 mostly). One thing that bugs me though is how in B2W2 you get kinda dragged along by Hugh on his rampage 

[Reis]

I would also like to add that gen 5 had one of the best sprites/animations
I think Metagross and Gliscor are one of the best looking. The colors look full, unlike gen 3. You can see the "shine" more on them, unlike 3dgen

[ScottyThunder]

I didn't necessarily hate the games when I played them, but they certainly weren't my favorite. I do agree, now that I've matured enough to understand it, that Black and White's story is the most fleshed out and in depth story we have ever had in a Pokémon game, and probably ever will because of the backlash.

Now, at the time the games had come out, I was 9 years old. I had never played the RPG games that fill my collections today at the age of 17. I didn't care about the story and slipped through most of the dialogue, the characters meant nothing to me, and I just played it like a video game. I also used the internet a lot, so I heard all the hate people had and the problems they cited, so I jumped on that train first chance I got. 

Then I played Black 2, and it was fantastic! By then, I was about 14 since I got the game late, and I could better understand the structure of a game. After completing it I went to play my old copy of White, but the cartridge had died from the long years being lost in the house and was no longer readable. I have never played the original gen V games since they came out, but I hope someday I will.

[AverageJoe]

I am still a lot younger than most people on this cite I presume, but in my opinion, I did not like the gen five games. It was not because the games were bad, it was not because the pokemon were unoriginal, hell Klingklang is one of my favorite pokemon to date. The thing I did not like is, in comparison to heart gold and soul silver, it did not seem as fun. I did not like the way the characters looked, I liked battling all the gym leaders countless times in Heartgold, and despite it being slower it was more fun. I can understand why people like the way the sprites look, but I always liked the battle animations and even the text for abilities from gen four. I also did not like how the sprites moved. (I know it's not a reason to dislike the games, but it's my opinion so shhh) So after I beat Black, I went right back to playing gen four, and I did not really feel the same way most people do. (Generally I don't connect with characters anyways) I never got black 2/white 2 and only barely bought y ( which saved me from leaving pokemon completely) They were a miss for me. Maybe I will play the remakes when I am older and grow to love them. Who knows ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Dova]

Pokemon White was my first game ever and I bought white two the second it entered my local Walmart. If I had to pick my favorite thing though Id say it was Driftveils theme. I listened to that things for hours and I loved it.

[moo311]

I do agree with many points and don't see why people hate the game so much. However, the gen 2 remake, to me, will always be the best pokemon experience I've ever had. Gen 5 would come at a close 2nd or 3rd

[0kamii]

@Kris

I'll be back to comment on this in-full later. I have homework to do first, but sit tight knowing I 100% agree. Gen 5 is one of my favorites, and I'll defend it to the last. Such an underrated generation of Pokémon.

- 0kamii

[Sithogryph]

I orginially didnt play it due to one pokemon off-putting me. Though now I want to go back and give it a try. Though I dont have Pokémon Black or Pokémon White just Pokémon White 2. I will gladly take any suggestions on starters or whatever. I look forward to exploring a new realm. :D

[PerchPond]

As a side-question, is Black and/or White worth getting now? I have B2W2 and getting BW is quite cheap second-hand, but is it worth the buy? I enjoyed B2W2 quite a bit