I, like pretty much everyone else my age was a huge fan of Pokemon as a kid. It's hard to describe what a cultural phenomenon it was in the late 90s, and the hype train rode through the 2000s. However, even back then, I smelled something rotten in Pokemon. I didn't notice it until Emerald. I realized that the developers were releasing lower-quality titles at first, then they'd release basically the "full version". It started with Green, Red, and Blue, while Yellow was one with more content; you started with a Pikachu, like Ash from the show, and you could get all the starters over the course of the game. The same thing happened in Gen 2: Gold and Silver were good, but Crystal had the most content. Ruby and Sapphire were followed by Emerald. Diamond and Pearl were followed by Platinum. Now, to be fair, remakes of the games, like Fire Red & Leaf Green and Heart Gold & Soul Silver eschewed this technique.
Nevertheless, making a lousy version of a game only to make fans buy a second "full version" feels slimy, right? Try to wring as much money out of the waiting parents' wallets. I mean, splitting your game into two isn't so bad. It encourages two friends to get the two different versions so they can trade exclusive Pokemon between them. But releasing a third is almost like the modern industry standard, where AAA games get released as unfinished products, only for you to wait for more DLC.
Game Freak threw the formula out of the window with Pokemon Black and White. There's very little you can say objectively about Pokemon. Most of the games are pretty similar, and the Pokemon designs will mostly just come down to preference. Some people swear by the Gen 5 designs, while I don't like most of them. What isn't subjective is the fact that Pokemon Black and White have very little content in them compared to all other main-line Pokemon games (except for maybe Gen 1). I mean, just compare the number of towns. In Sinnoh, there are 13 towns to pass through to get to the Elite 4. In Hoenn, it's 15. Unova is only 10. It's a lack of content.
A year and a half later, out come Black 2 and White 2. And you kind of need to play the first two games to be caught up on the story of the next two. The thing is, Black 2 and White 2 are completely good games. They stand strongly alongside other mainline titles. They add in so much more content that it feels like a full game. Black and White, on the other hand, feel like Pokemon games that are missing 1/3 of the actual game.
You can't really criticize Black and White on the terms of gameplay or story, because it's Pokemon, it's the same as always. But for shear lack of actual game, for lack of content, for such a lackluster and small game, these titles should be considered the black sheep of the Pokemon franchise. These games should be remembered for what they are: Game Freak knew that even if they pushed out a lackluster product, people would not only eat it up anyway but also buy the sequels as proof that the 5th Gen isn't less than any other. This was the game that soured me to Pokemon, and after White 2 I never played another Pokemon again, and I almost certainly never will. Maybe it's for the best. Pokemon is a childhood thing you outgrow. Maybe I should be thankful for this unfinished game, because it finally woke me up and I finally moved on.
