Pokemon Black and White to feature entirely new cast

You know, this is the best thing I’ve read all day. All week, even. Pokemon Black and White’s gambit is that every Pokemon you get until you beat the Elite Four (I assume there’ll be an Elite Four) will be completely, utterly new.

As much as the new Pokemon have kind of sucked, I approve of this decision. While I wouldn’t argue games like Pokemon Diamond and Pearl were hurt by having so many Pokemon, they were a very different experience from Red and Blue. Red and Blue were focused mostly on discovery, the novelty of the new Pokemon, while Diamond and Pearl were much more grinding-based experiences. Not that they had more grinding, but that was the focus, as opposed to Red and Blue. And I think when lots of Pokemon veterans say, “I hate this series!”, they mean they hate the grinding, and miss the exploration.

So good on Gamefreak for realizing what the people want, and then delivering it. They may have single handedly made me excited for the direction of the franchise again.

Source: Andriasang