We spent a lot of time this weekend getting the first episode of Game On ready, as well as recording this week’s episode of the show on the new audio equipment. Everything sounds great, and that’s awesome. Unfortunately, it meant I didn’t pick up Pokemon Black 2 until yesterday, and the package sat there waiting to be unwrapped until late last night.

Still, I managed to put in a pretty good chunk of time before work today and picked up a couple of gym badges along the way. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to jot down a few quick opinions of the game so far, especially for those who might be on the fence about picking it up.

• I’m impressed with the game’s level of depth — even at these early stages. Yes, the formula is still the same: young kid starts out on adventure, befriends Pokemon, captures eight gym badges, and somehow beats a team of evil grown-ups to save the world. But it’s the little stuff that makes Black 2 tick. For example, a new Pokedex system shows you all the creatures that can be encountered in a given area, then provides a checklist for which ones you’ve already captured. There’s also a set of achievements badges for completing a variety of tasks in the game, such as walking a certain distance or winning X number of battles without taking damage. Simply put, there’s a lot to do.
• The graphics are still mostly the same hybrid 2D/3D look we saw in the first game. Still, the sequel does look a little bit nicer, including sharper menus and an even bigger emphasis on cutscenes.
• I loved the original’s focus on entirely new Pokemon until after you beat the Elite Four, because it recaptured some of the magic of Red/Blue — you had to experiment with attacks to find out what type(s) these strange new creatures had and couldn’t rely on old mainstays to fill out your party. But considering this is a follow-up to that game, it’s nice to be able to pick up a pretty varied party early on. You’re not just stuck with the usual Normal/Flying/Bug junk early on; there’s quite a few other type options available for those who would like a balanced team.
• It seems like this game has the core Pokemon experience down. In the story, there are subtle nods both to the first B/W titles as well as the earlier games. To me, a veteran of the series for a long time now, there was also a perfect timing on certain mechanics that you knew would show up at some point, like the Running Shoes or the Bicycle. Just when you start to think “man, I could really use X item right about now,” it seems like it falls into your lap.
• The second gym cracked me up for some reason. I have to imagine that some folks will find it annoying (because of the…ambiance, let’s call it, not the battles), but I loved it.

I still have a long way to go, obviously, but 5-6 hours in I’m pretty happy with the experience. The biggest test for me is going to be after the main story is over and the new champion has gone down. B/W’s postgame content was so-so, and I’m hoping that what I’ve heard about B2/W2’s options turns out to be true. I’ll probably check in with a full review in a week or two.