This Year in RPGs: October

Pokémon Black 2 & White 2 (released 10/07/2012)

Another game played by millions that I opted to put on the backburner, Pokémon is a juggernaut of a franchise, with Nintendo steadily releasing a pair of handheld titles nearly every year. The naming convention has for years been new colors, first Red and Blue, then Gold and Silver, Ruby and Sapphire, Firered and Leafgreen, Diamond and Pearl, Heartgold and SoulSilver, and then finally last years' Black and White. Now, for the first time, Nintendo is releasing direct sequels to their last games.

Some may signify this as Nintendo running out of ideas, but the formula  for Pokémon has changed so little over the years, and they somehow manage to continue to add new features with every entry. Sure, there are new Pokémon to catch as there is with every release, but there are also new ways to interact with them, trade with other players, and so on.

As far as I understand the plot of Pokémon, B2 and W2 are much the same. You travel to different gyms in the region to defeat trainers in order to earn badges which let you travel to other areas to challenge more difficult Pokémon. At any point on the world map you can get into a random encounter with a wild Pokémon where you can try and trap it in order to add it to your roster.

Combat remains largely unchanged throughout the series, featuring a turn-based system where one player selects what attack they want their Pokémon to use, then the other Pokémon or trainer executes a command before it once again becomes the players' turn. With many other series moving into real-time combat and away from traditional turn-based combat systems, it's that some series have things you can always depend upon, like Pokémon to have turn-based battles.

If you're a fan of Pokémon you've already likely snatched up both these titles. If you're not, I'm not positive Black 2 and White 2 will convert you, but they're just as likely as any of the other entries in the franchise.