Pokémon Black 2 and White 2

Direct sequels set two years after the original Black and White.

Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 are 2012 role-playing games for the Nintendo DS, developed by Game Freak and published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo. As direct sequels to Black and White, they were the first in the series to follow this pattern. Revealed in February 2012, they launched in Japan that June and worldwide in October, marking the last first-party titles for the system.

Quick Facts

Developer

Game Freak

Publisher

The Pokémon Company (JP); Nintendo (WW)

Director

Takao Unno

Producer

Junichi Masuda
Hitoshi Yamagami
Shusaku Egami

Designer

Teruyuki Shimoyamada
Suguru Nakatsui
Toshinobu Matsumiya

Programmer

Akito Mori

Writer

Toshinobu Matsumiya

Composer

Go Ichinose, Hitomi Sato

Facts from the source article.

Plot

The story of Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 takes place two years after Black and White, in new locations such as Virbank City, Flocessy Town, Lentimas Town, and Humilau City, along with Hidden Grottoes. The player begins in Aspertia City, a new city in southwest Unova, and receives a starter Pokémon from Bianca, a former rival. Cheren, another former rival, now serves as a Gym Leader in Aspertia City. The player travels the region, earning eight Gym Badges before challenging the Elite Four and the Unova League Champion.

The primary antagonistic force is Neo Team Plasma, which the player first encounters while running an errand. Later, Neo Team Plasma announces plans to take over the world and steal Pokémon in front of the player, the rival, and Gym Leader Roxie. At Iris's request, the player helps Burgh track Neo Team Plasma in Castelia City's sewers, meeting Colress, who claims to research Pokémon strength. Neo Team Plasma steals a Purrloin the rival planned to give his sister, angering the rival.

The player learns that Neo Team Plasma intends to use the legendary Pokémon Kyurem to freeze parts of Unova, including Opelucid City.

Development

During development, Takao Unno raised the theme of resonance, leading to the idea of 100 players playing together through the Entralink. A Pokémon Center was added to the first city for smoother gameplay, a first for the series. Unno wanted players of Black and White to see Unova from a different perspective, and executive director Junichi Masuda hoped starting in a new city would make the gameworld look new to returning players. Masuda also aimed to make the games easily understandable for newcomers.

The games were released alongside the premiere of Pokémon the Movie: Kyurem vs. The Sword of Justice, with certain Japanese theaters offering in-game Pokémon to viewers. The background music includes tracks from Black and White, new tracks, and arrangements of most Black and White tracks. The official soundtrack was released in Japan on July 25, 2012, with its fourth disc including music from Black and White, Pokémon Emerald, and Pokémon Platinum.

Reception

Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 received generally favorable reviews, with a Metacritic aggregate score of 80. Famitsu gave a score of 36/40. IGN's Audrey Drake awarded 9.6/10, praising the overall changes. Game Informer's Kyle Hilliard praised new features but noted a lack of innovation. Nintendo Life gave 9/10, calling the games the best in the series to date. GamesRadar+ gave 4/5, praising the storyline extension and new areas but noting heavy reliance on Black and White. The games sold over 1.6 million copies in the first two days and over 2 million in two weeks. By January 2013, combined sales reached 7.81 million worldwide, and by 2020, 8.52 million copies.