Sidequests And Sodas
Game: Pokemon Black, Gamefreak, Nintendo DSi, 2010
Soda: Dr. Pepper
# of sodas consumed during play: uh
Level Reached: Awesome Credits Song, Level 50 Reshiram
Level of Sweetness: Just Right
Introduction
So, I bet you’re wondering what this is. What’s with this format? Where’s the beer? Allow me to explain:
Hi! I am not the author of this blog, but rather his daughter, Alex. Similarly to my eloquently spoken father, I have also loved video games ever since I could hold a controller, and I have plenty of fond memories of watching him sneak through Shadow Moses or fight off the horrible Twilight Monsters in Zelda. For his birthday, I wanted to write something to show my appreciation to him for a myriad of years of fun gaming memories, and I thought the best way would be with a little fun side story inspired by his blog, with my own little spin on it. So instead of beer and reviews, this installment will be dedicated to analyzing aesthetics or specific parts of games and praising their good parts, along with analyzing various sodas instead of beers.
Now, while I could’ve shared a game we both share in common, I felt like I have already thoroughly discussed Twilight Princess with him to the point of boredom, and I felt like I wanted to share a new experience with everyone rather than something we both know with such familiarity. So instead of discussing my top favorite game of all time, I will discuss my runner up, Pokemon Black.
Game
Despite the infamy Game Freak has garnered with its past few main title releases, some of the older generations of its main line series, Pokemon, have often received much critical acclaim. The series is known for not exactly being very story driven, as it was made for children, however with the previous generation of the series dipping its toes into the waters of a darker story, it set up the curtain for Generation 5 to blossom. The series up until very recently existed solely on handheld consoles, and at its peak Game Freak was constantly finding ways to push it, with its use of limited 3d graphics on every cutscene and environment it could get its artistic gloves on. Coming off the high of Pokemon Platinum and the second remakes of the series, Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver, the next Generation had a lot to live up to, and became quite the controversial title until recent years.
Gameplay
To be quite frank, the Pokemon formula has not changed for the most part in the entirety of its existence, and these titles were for the most part no different. There is nothing wrong with that of course, however it makes reviewing these games a bit monotonous from time to time when the gameplay has stayed consistent from even before I was a thought. Even so, this game brought a bit of freshness to the series with some small changes and experimentations that I and most likely others have been vying to return to later entries for years.
The main attraction of this game is collecting pokemon of course, and having your cute or monstrous little pets viciously battle someone else’s collection until one team stands victoriously over the other. If you lose a battle, you have to pay out all the money you stole from other people and rush to the nearest town to heal your fainted team at the Pokemon Center. You can have up to six pokemon in your traveling party at a time, and the rest will stay in boxes inside a PC you can access at a Pokemon Center. NPC’s and myself have often wondered how pokemon feel trapped inside these cyberspace contaminants, but the games have never explained it so we all assume it’s quite cozy here. If this doesn’t sound wild enough, having these battles with your beloved pets is encouraged, and there are actually gym battles and championships where you can earn badges and become the strongest Pokemon Trainer in the entire region.
It’s actually quite fun, and your pokemon enjoy it, so the entire journey is quite wholesome despite it sounding gruesome out of context! Part of this is why the series has stuck with so many people for so long, especially those with pets. I speak from experience of course, writing as my own pokemon takes up half of my bed with full intent to wake me up at 3 am wanting more food in his bowl. Damn cats…
Outside of battles, typically you travel from one city to another on foot. Let me tell you, as someone who recently got her license, the upgrade to traveling from city to city in the newest games on motorcycles is just such a step up. I feel awful for my trainer knowing I have to make her run for half a day with maybe sometimes a flight from one city to the next or a trip somewhere on bike. Oh wait, you can’t even run until you make it past the second town in the game! So, trips between cities take awhile, especially when having to avoid trainers staring at you awaiting a battle, or walking through various terrains encountering wild pokemon.
When you do reach a city, you can relax and explore. Running inside any building you see and barging into strangers homes to steal their items or Technical Machines, with them never commenting on the matter at all, like most RPGs. Some cities will have Gyms, which as mentioned before become your main challenge within the game. Beating one will give you a badge, which not only looks cool, but also allows you to train pokemon of higher levels and is a show of just how strong you are in the game. Gyms are no cakewalk however, as each one is full of trainers you have to fight, topped with a Gym Leader who is as difficult as they come. I still struggle with some of the Gym Leaders to this day, though that might simply be due to my bias towards choosing Snivy rather than the other two starter pokemon. Burgh specifically grinds my gears, and has inspired my long standing hatred of bug type pokemon in general.
Once you have eight badges, you can challenge the Elite Four of the region, and subsequently the Champion. These are the five strongest trainers in the region, and they pack a serious iron spiked punch. If your pokemon are too under-leveled you’ll be sent home crying with no money and a welt on your face from how difficult these trainers can be. Win however, and you’ll be the god of the region, and all will bow to your unbridled strength and power. Or, that’s at least how I like to think of it.
You might be asking yourself, what are some of the experimentations that were mentioned earlier? Well that requires a bit of explanation. The series as a whole has always released multiple versions of the "same" game with minor lore differences as well as different available pokemon in each installment. This is why many fans refer to a set of games as ‘Generations’ rather than their titles, since most of the games involved are practically the same despite a few minor differences. Pokemon Black and White took these differences to a whole new level, and while some of these will be discussed later, a sizable part of this was in fact vast gameplay differences. In this specific version, Black, there is a specific battle mode that is more prevalent than its counterpart: Rotation Battles. (Shoutout to Heartbreaker Charles) These battles are unique, in that you send out three pokemon instead of one, but only the one in front will attack, and you can rotate between the other two behind you. This requires a bit more strategy than White’s Triple Battle, where all three pokemon on a team can attack at the same time akin to that of a Double Battle. Rotate your pokemon at the wrong time and a super effective move will wipe them out, but do it at the right time and you can easily take out your opponent.
The second largest change comes with area differences, one city only available in the postgame has major mechanical differences between games. In Black, this city allows you to fight strong trainers and purchase many rare goods and stones to evolve your pokemon, if at steep prices. In White, this city allows you to instead be able to catch many previous generation pokemon, with a few fights here and there. There is more to these cities as well as their functionalities are increasingly complex, but I have neither the time nor patience to explore them fully. Even so, the fact this difference exists is pretty cool.
Other version differences include different Gym Leaders for the final Gym, different dialogue and lore discussions in the story, and version exclusive pokemon for you to be able to obtain and catch.
The aforementioned formula is pretty cut and dry. I haven’t even touched on pokemon types and differences, however the semantics of that can be so complex to discuss as well as items, battle items, Technical Machines, hidden moves, and more that I can’t exactly remember right now, so I’ll fire off some quick facts so you my lovely reader can keep track if you are new to the series. Veterans will most likely understand what I mean when mentioning these terms.
TMs: Technical Machines, a disc that teaches your pokemon a specific move, can only be used once.
HMs: Hidden Machines, similar to TMs but they can be used multiple times, and are important for bypassing environmental hazards like trees and boulders.
Pokemon Types: The type a pokemon has. Is typically weak to another type and strong against another. Some pokemon can have two types (called Dual Types), and there are 17 in this game alone. A good way to explain this is Fire is strong against Grass, Grass is strong against Water, and Water is strong against Fire.
Items: There are a lot of these, honestly too many to explain. These can range from story items, to healing items, to even steroids for your pokemon. Battle Items are broken and can make under-leveled pokemon look like gods if given the chance.
Even with all this out of the way, there are plenty more mechanics in the game that are better explained through experiencing it rather than reading 3 pages of writing dedicated to explaining it as a whole. At the very least, I’m not writing this review on Persona 5, whose mechanics could take an entire novel and then some to explain all alone.
Graphics/Sound
Now there’s something extremely special about Pokemon Black that has never been captured in any other Pokemon game since. The graphics are glorious. Sprite work previously in these games was always a big part of the game, visually showing which pokemon you had sent out and how detailed they were. In this game however, each and every pokemon and trainer sprite in battle is animated in some way and form. You could see this emerging in previous titles in Generation 4, however Black and White take it to the next level. Your pokemon constantly moves in battle, closing its eyes when asleep, moving slower if paralyzed or low on HP, even going so far as to do a little taunt or move a paw. Not only that, but each attack’s animation is fluid and smooth too, and it connects well causing the enemy pokemon’s sprite to react in some way. The same cannot be said for current generation Pokemon games whose 3d models are desaturated at best and janky at worst.
Walking around the world, you really start to get a feel for the Unova region as well. It’s no secret that this game was based off of America, and it really shows the grandness of the cities and how they look. The game used limited 3d to help buildings and various other props pop off the screen more, and it hardly stands out with the style Game Freak uses within. It’s like the perfect amount of spice in a bowl of cozy ramen. Sure you wouldn’t mind it being spicier, but the hint of heat at the end of each sip of broth is fulfilling enough. Instead of intentionally trying to make the models stand out like other games of its time did, they wonderfully blend and accentuate the world rather than detract from it. In certain cutscenes specifically, Reshiram and Zekrom look absolutely stunning and you can’t help but stare in wonder as they show off their strength for you to see. These specific models in my personal opinion are the best models these two pokemon have ever had in the entire series, and it’s a downright crime that Reshiram hasn’t been modeled the same since Pokemon X and Y.
Some of my personal favorite parts are when you get to see a new Gym, or a more story driven place that is more intricate in design. The game always has a way of showing enough of an area where you want to spend all your time in it, but never overwhelm you with it. Unless it’s Burgh’s gym of course. The honey walls and clowns are unsettling.
Additionally the music lends beautifully to the visuals, helping bring more of Unova’s culture and inspiration into the game. Though it’s not orchestrated or complex, the music has a timeless blend of sampled parts and synthetic instruments to weave one of the most stunning soundtracks the series has ever been part of. Dragonspiral Tower is one of the most ambient tracks in the entire series, and if you haven’t had the chance to partake in the glory that is Driftveil City’s theme then stop reading immediately and put it on. Seriously, it will enhance the rest of this review.
Even the battle music is exciting and fun to listen to, especially against the gym leaders who have a “final pokemon theme” to hype you up for the end of the battle, only to get a sting of defeat from Haxorus’s Outrage attack taking out your last pokemon and subsequently having to shell out all your money to Drayden in the process. The small use of dynamic music in this game just adds more to the entire world of Pokemon and it immerses you deeply into the game. I remember genuinely being creeped out when I first descended down a cave in the game only to have the music lower an octave. Not many parts of these games tend to be creepy, but it says alot when all it takes is a quick and subtle shift in musical tone to scare a player that easily.
Story
Now, Pokemon games aren't exactly known for having the best story (taking a long look at you Sword and Shield.) However this one shines with beautifully merging the usual Gym Trek we know and love and adding the lore into it at a wonderful pace.
Starting out in your room with your friends Cheren and Bianca, you receive your first pokemon from Professor Juniper and subsequently battle your friends with your newly acquired companion. After which your mom sends you to see Professor Juniper who sends you on the typical quest of catching all the pokemon in the region, and to eventually become the champion via the Gym Challenge. The game has its usual evil pokemon team, this time being Team Plasma, a group of people who say they want to liberate pokemon from nasty humans. Yep, you’re probably thinking of the same joke I am.
However, instead of just the usual song and dance, this game has a multitude of hidden moments that cater to more mature audiences, and I think that’s part of the reason I still enjoy it to this day. You can find complexities of the themes in hidden areas, like missing Bianca arguing with her father over going on a journey or how the main antagonist is a horrible father to his adopted son N. Its themes like these that haven't appeared since that really help this game overcome the hindrances of new and old Pokemon games alike due to how wonderfully interwoven the story is. The legendary pokemon even influence the region vastly depending on what version you chose. In Black, Zekrom’s influence caused the region to be more technologically advanced and futuristic, whereas in White, Reshiram’s influence caused the region to be more traditional. It’s even more telling when you obtain the opposite legendary in the game (Reshiram in Black) and challenge the ideas and beliefs of N and his chosen Dragon, which therefore challenges the ideas of the region due to that dragon’s influence.
I could dedicate an entire section to the nuances of N’s character and subsequently the two dragons alone, and I will. N very quickly becomes your rival in a sense that your two best friends cannot fulfill. He is a strange boy who talks quicker than anyone else, and is driven in his motivations to free pokemon from humans. It's revealed that he was raised by these pokemon, and he can talk to them showing just how close of a bond they have. He is so motivated in fact, that one of the two legendary dragons of the region recognizes him as a hero and sides with him to help realize his dream world. It's no little secret that legendary pokemon are MUCH stronger than others, so after obtaining Zekrom, N practically puts the champion in a chokehold until he is declared victor. Even other people comment on how the only way to beat him is by awakening the other dragon.
Only after beating him with the aid of Reshiram are you able to find out that N was being manipulated by the antagonist the entire time, who cared little about him and only about taking over the region. Ghetsis admits aloud that he only took N in to morph him into a hero to obtain Zekrom, and control the region, after which he would discard him. It’s not unknown to the player that Ghetsis is evil, as it’s cheesily revealed in his dialogue, but this level of complexity to his plan comes out of left field and really shocks the player. Everything N worked hard to achieve was all a lie, and is shattered in that very moment. But, the best part of this is that he still has Zekrom, showing his beliefs and convictions were real, showing he is as much a hero as you are. So after a short speech, he leaves to rediscover himself, and the credits roll in his wake. It’s rare for Pokemon games to have such dark undertones, but the few moments it does really show how lovely the games can be.
Finally there is the matter of postgame. While most games have a lack of content, Black and White delivers tenfold where Sword and Shield could not. You get new pokemon, new areas, and even lore for specific places. Lacunosa Town is one of my favorite places to visit simply because the locals all hide inside at night due to the fear of a legendary pokemon literally eating them. How wonderfully morbid is that?! And if you really want a challenge you can battle the notorious Cynthia of Sinnoh and piano playing fame. You can explore undersea ruins, or desert ruins flooded with sand, battle stronger trainers, or take a train ride to a calm town. It wonderfully wraps up the game and allows you to take a victory lap with your newly earned dragon. While I did not talk about the entirety of the game’s story, I hope the tidbits I did discuss were enough to interest you into at least giving it a try for yourself!
Soda
Whether you prefer Mr. Pibb, or one of the other multitudes of knock off brands of this drink, it’s no little known fact that Dr. Pepper is a popular choice of drink that boasts 23 different flavors that reside within its dark waves. If you haven’t heard of it, I would think you were my best friend who actively dislikes soda, or has been living under a rock like Patrick Star for the past 20 or so years.
Dr. Pepper was birthed out of Texas in 1880, but was not officially given its first proper serving until making its debut five years later. The founding father of this hallowed drink was none other than Charles Alderton, who realized the customer base for soda grew tired of the same old flavors, and hand crafted a mix of 23 flavors that ended with a tang of phosphoric acid. This mix gave the drink its stand out and signature flavor, differing greatly from the typical sarsaparilla and vanilla the time came to know and love. While it had its humble beginnings, I’m sure many readers can recognize how popular the brand has become either from commercials or the missing spot on grocery shelves that happens every time the Super Bowl rolls around. Shout out to you sports fans.
The museum for this canned refreshment was erected in Waco back in 1991, just roughly a year after Pokemon made its own debut as an anime. Despite our timelines not coinciding, this wonderfully simple yet complex drink does nothing short but please. I have a fond affinity for this drink, as like my bias for Pokemon I was raised on it from the day I could practically walk. There are a few different flavors this brand has, however I find the base one is a treat that cannot be beat. I greatly dislike the taste of more popular brands like Pepsi and the devil himself Coke, so I find a bit of solace in the younger sibling of the modern soda age that still packs a punch without melting a battery due to its own acidic content.
Smell
Now I’m not typically one to smell my drinks, unless it’s something I’m tasting for the first time. It’s not a conscious thing I typically do when I grab a can or bottle from the fridge and go to study or draw. However, to keep in line with my father’s structure, I decided to try it, because part of really experiencing a drink is to try and use all your senses to consume it. Or at least, that’s what I see Joe Bastianich do on Master Chef before he throws a plate in a bin.
The smell of this soda is wonderfully light, with a note of sweetness that lingers in the air like a butterfly’s kiss. While one would think 23 flavors would make something smell like vomit, here it is the complete opposite. When chilled, the smell reminds me faintly of a rainy day at the beginning of fall, slightly spicy but overall very cozy! Three words I’d have to describe this with are sweet, spiced, and breezy. There is a hint of floral as well, and a faint bitterness that lingers. Overall very pleasant compared to some of the more artificial syrup smells you might find in other sodas.
Taste
This, as many other sodas are wont to do, of course varies depending on where you drink this from. Make sure if you get this from a machine, that the syrup has not run out or your day will be effectively ruined by a bitter carbonated mess. However the overall taste is pleasantly sweet, not overly like some sodas tend to be. The tang of this drink doesn’t punch you in the face like a citric bomb, but is rather an understated aftertaste that leaves you wanting more. There is a slight bitterness, and there is no spicy note to it as previously described in its smell. Sometimes in my experience I’ve found it to taste a bit fruitier, but that is to be expected with a rather large ingredient list. Curiously enough, while popular mythology will correct me that this soda is made with prune juice, a quick search will reveal this is all fake. Prune is not even mentioned in the recipe or 23 flavors, but its cousin the plum is. So perhaps that’s it, but with such a large array of flavors it hardly matters in the long run. What does matter is that it tastes downright lovely. With the right amount of syrup it can fuel a full art piece to be done in one sitting, or any kind of work that the audience may do.
Sweetness
Have you ever gotten a super sweet soda from a fast food place that has alotta syrup in it? Well this isn’t that. That sickening sweetness isn’t present in this soda unless you get one of the other flavors, which all are fairly tame compared to restaurant standards. On a good day, even a room temperature Dr. Pepper can feel like a soft and warm blanket that’s been wrapped around you straight from the dryer. It lovingly coats your tongue and mouth without screaming sugar, which is much appreciated after a bitter storyline or salty meal. Even on a freezing cold winter day I find myself reaching for this rather than a mug of hot chocolate despite the threat of losing another finger from frostbite, just because the taste is so much nicer than something with tiny chalky marshmallows in it.
Feel
Like most sodas and carbonated drinks, the prickles and bite of the air will likely hit you first, but once used to it, this drink is rather satisfactory. It’s not thick and doesn’t coat your mouth, but is instead rather thin, sliding down easily like butter in a hot pan. Though because of this you might be having to go to the bathroom sooner than anticipated as I oft have during a particularly long study session. It’s rather light for a soda, not coming close to the healing properties of the revered Sprite, but not being overly thick either. It is rather filling despite this, and can quickly become an afternoon lunch if you are addicted enough. No one would blame you for skipping a meal though, as this soda’s allure is just that powerful.
Matchup
With all the praise given, it’s no surprise this pair works together wonderfully well. Accented by sweet and bitter story beats and notes of vanilla and ginger, these are a match made in heaven. The fact that Unova is based off of America, means that it’s all the more likely the trainers you meet will be chugging one of these red delights as well, which I think is a bit poetic in and of itself. Dr. Pepper does well to get you through the electrifying caves and grind fests Unova has to offer, while not distracting from the game's wonderful visuals and story. While I obviously have a deep appreciation for these, I hope it encourages dear readers to try and experience this combo for themselves and embark on their own adventure.
Cheers, and Game on!