Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions, The Generation II Remakes!

A certain special box has arrived in the mail.



You know what that means:



I get to tease you with what most of you have to wait for! The knife is my letter opener.



See the unexpected black wrapper? Let's open that first.



It's a Lugia figure! I honestly wasn't expecting it. Bonus!



Inside the big SoulSilver box is the standard case for the game itself, and the packaging for the PokeWalk.



The Pokewalk comes with a manual for it. It also comes with two backs, which can be removed with a small screwdriver. The smooth one is pre-installed, the other one has a clip. I'm opting for the clip.



Opening the game case...



...And there it is! Barely the size of a postage stamp, it contains an infinite adventure.



Here's all the manuals and propaganda. Nothing earth-shattering like Platinum's Rotom announcement.



Here's the curtain call.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do.

I've never understood the purpose of getting a plot-based game in another language, but good on you Rai!

I'm thinking cause of all the promotional goodies it came with.

I'm thinking cause of all the promotional goodies it came with.

I think the English version has them, too.

I'm going to cast my vote and say the purpose is to rub it in the faces of the Americans who don't get to play it until next Spring.

I highly doubt that it does. Even through pre-ordering games in the US, the best thing I've gotten with it was a plushie. I've never seen anything like that come with a game.

I mean look at the box, if we went out and bought the game, we'd just be picking up the DS case all by itself, no?

And honestly if it's just for the reason to play it before anyone else, well, that's just silly. How will you know a word of what it's saying? Which is especially crucial in a game such as Pokemon. It's all text based.

Edit: Actually, I take that back. Looking more at the pics I'm thinking the items might actually come with the American version when it comes out... it just seems very unlikely to me though.

This post has been edited by Dragon on Sep 18 2009, 10:23 PM

My Japanese still isn't very good, so buying something like this in another language has several benefits. Among them is forcing myself to pick up on the language through total immersion into a text-heavy game, and that I get to play something like this months before anyone else here does. Also, I get to show it off, both here, and when I next attend Pokemon TCG League.

I've gotten seven badges. Here's my impression of the game so far:
I have only one complaint to this game, and it's the same I've had with the original GSC: It's a little too easy. Once you have several badges, the level of your opponents doesn't dramatically rise, so you'll breeze through that part of the game. Of course, you can take on the challenge of raising another pokemon in the meantime to challenge yourself, so it's not that big of a deal. I'm still enjoying myself.

Now for the good, and there's plenty of it. I enjoy how atmospheric this game is. Listen closely, and you can hear your footsteps, and running water if that's nearby. That's a nice touch. What I liked about Johto in GSC is it's rich sense of oriental history, and that's definitely true of this updated version. There are a few changes in the Menu interface that takes getting used to, but using the touch screen makes it all easier. The Itemfinder in this game is easily the best Itemfinder in a Pokemon game yet, and I think you'd agree after using it yourself.

I've done the Arceus event, and it involves a hyper-awesome cutscene involving photographs of stars, nebulae, scenery, and the like. Check out a YouTube if you're curious.

The PokeWalk was challenging to use at first with the language barrier, but I've gotten the hang of it, and I'm using it to train a Zubat. Every few steps nets an exp. point, so you can level up a pokemon pretty fast. However, it seems like you can only gain one level per transfer, so you have to maintain consistent interaction with your game. I've used Wi-fi to unlock Yellow Forest, and used it to get several Pikachu. However, none of them knew Fly so far. For some reason, some of them did know different moves.

I couldn't wait til next spring. But if you can, I think you'll enjoy it. I'll give my full impression of the game once I finish it.

According to the latest issue of Nintendo Power magazine, Arceus will be distributed to players owning copies of Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum at Toys R Us locations from November 7 through 15.

This Arceus, when traded over to HeartGold or SoulSilver, gives the player access to the Shinto Ruins area, where the player will recieve their choice from Dialga, Palkia, or Giratina, each at level one.

I intend to amass a small army of them.