The Foogle
Gone For Good
- 279
- Posts
- 7
- Years
- New Foog
- Seen Oct 18, 2022
I'm a HUGE Gen V enthusiast, and naturally, Black 2 is my favorite Pokemon game of all time. Is it perfect? Not quite. Is it close? Absolutely. But two absolute legends came even closer. AphexCubed, the creator of the project, and Drayano, famous for his other (mostly) incredible ROM hacks, like Renegade Platinum and Rising Ruby, put their heads together and created the true definitive way to play Gen V. The name? Blaze Black 2 Redux, building off of Drayano's original Blaze Black 2.
So what did this hack do to increase the experience? Quite a lot of things, actually. Every single Pokemon up until XY, that is, 649 in all, from Bulbasaur all the way to Genesect, is catchable in this game. Teambuilding is better than ever due to the increased options of potential encounters. Speaking of teambuilding and increased options, most Pokemon have recieved a buff of some kind, whether that be a new type, stat increases, new learned moves, or even access to a new or hidden ability. Take my all time favorite starter, Serperior, for example. It SUCKED in Vanilla BW without Contrary. But, thanks to Redux, Serperior got access to Contrary, a Dragon Typing, new stat increases, and Draco Meteor to round it all out. The regal grass snake went from being the worst Gen V starter to being a potential sweeping powerhouse with +2 from Leaf Storm AND Draco Meteor upon use. Starters aren't the only ones who received a buff, either. A lot of bad or even unviable Pokemon got something, too. Say hello to Beedrill with Sniper, everyone! And with a new attack stat of 105? Yes please! The list goes on and on, with pretty cool stuff like Electric/Dark Luxray to Ice/Fairy Vanilluxe… Wait, Ice/FAIRY?
That's right, Redux also added Fairy types to Gen V after a lot of trials, tribulations, and tears. Lots and lots of tears, I suspect. Also relating to Pokemon combat, moves have received buffs and nerfs in line with modern Gen 8 mechanics, not to mention a few moves from said games being brought into Redux. Psyshield Bash on Metagross, anyone? If you aren't so much into that, shiny hunting could be right up your alley. Shiny odds are increased to 1/512 to match Dray's Platinum ROM hack, so you'll most likely run into one eventually. But enough about the Pokemon, what about the trainers?
Indeed, Blaze Black 2 Redux also harbors a new challenge for anyone who wishes to see Unova in a new light. Every trainer, from little Timmy on Route 20 up until Iris and beyond have been reworked to be more challenging, and on top of that, an even harder Challenge Mode. May Arceus have mercy on your soul. But, it's not just the Vanilla trainers who appear. Brand new battles are implemented, like the appearance of every single Hoenn Gym leader in a major location. They give out prizes if you beat them as of 1.2.1, so it's well worth seeking them out. Expect some familiar faces to appear much sooner than expected as well, like skipping the dreaded Pokeshit Studios tutorial in favor of a brawl with Brycen. Be careful when exiting Join Avenue, too. Lenora is known to ambush poor trainers who first enter Nimbasa. When you reach the end of your journey, what happens after you've completed your conquest of Unova and the Elite Four? Well, there's an all new postgame to experience, too! I'll not spoil it here, but it involves several important legendaries, a cinematic icon from Sinnoh, and the potential fate of the universe hanging in the balance above it all. Oh, and Cynthia shoves herself into the story, too. Because of course she does.
In short, Blaze Black 2 Redux is an amazing hack of Gen 5 that will likely never be topped as the finest BW2 experience in all the land. I give it a solid 9/10 for that reason alone.
(EDIT: Feel free to discuss what you feel about BB2 Redux in this thread, too! It would be great to hear from other people about this game!)
So what did this hack do to increase the experience? Quite a lot of things, actually. Every single Pokemon up until XY, that is, 649 in all, from Bulbasaur all the way to Genesect, is catchable in this game. Teambuilding is better than ever due to the increased options of potential encounters. Speaking of teambuilding and increased options, most Pokemon have recieved a buff of some kind, whether that be a new type, stat increases, new learned moves, or even access to a new or hidden ability. Take my all time favorite starter, Serperior, for example. It SUCKED in Vanilla BW without Contrary. But, thanks to Redux, Serperior got access to Contrary, a Dragon Typing, new stat increases, and Draco Meteor to round it all out. The regal grass snake went from being the worst Gen V starter to being a potential sweeping powerhouse with +2 from Leaf Storm AND Draco Meteor upon use. Starters aren't the only ones who received a buff, either. A lot of bad or even unviable Pokemon got something, too. Say hello to Beedrill with Sniper, everyone! And with a new attack stat of 105? Yes please! The list goes on and on, with pretty cool stuff like Electric/Dark Luxray to Ice/Fairy Vanilluxe… Wait, Ice/FAIRY?
That's right, Redux also added Fairy types to Gen V after a lot of trials, tribulations, and tears. Lots and lots of tears, I suspect. Also relating to Pokemon combat, moves have received buffs and nerfs in line with modern Gen 8 mechanics, not to mention a few moves from said games being brought into Redux. Psyshield Bash on Metagross, anyone? If you aren't so much into that, shiny hunting could be right up your alley. Shiny odds are increased to 1/512 to match Dray's Platinum ROM hack, so you'll most likely run into one eventually. But enough about the Pokemon, what about the trainers?
Indeed, Blaze Black 2 Redux also harbors a new challenge for anyone who wishes to see Unova in a new light. Every trainer, from little Timmy on Route 20 up until Iris and beyond have been reworked to be more challenging, and on top of that, an even harder Challenge Mode. May Arceus have mercy on your soul. But, it's not just the Vanilla trainers who appear. Brand new battles are implemented, like the appearance of every single Hoenn Gym leader in a major location. They give out prizes if you beat them as of 1.2.1, so it's well worth seeking them out. Expect some familiar faces to appear much sooner than expected as well, like skipping the dreaded Pokeshit Studios tutorial in favor of a brawl with Brycen. Be careful when exiting Join Avenue, too. Lenora is known to ambush poor trainers who first enter Nimbasa. When you reach the end of your journey, what happens after you've completed your conquest of Unova and the Elite Four? Well, there's an all new postgame to experience, too! I'll not spoil it here, but it involves several important legendaries, a cinematic icon from Sinnoh, and the potential fate of the universe hanging in the balance above it all. Oh, and Cynthia shoves herself into the story, too. Because of course she does.
In short, Blaze Black 2 Redux is an amazing hack of Gen 5 that will likely never be topped as the finest BW2 experience in all the land. I give it a solid 9/10 for that reason alone.
(EDIT: Feel free to discuss what you feel about BB2 Redux in this thread, too! It would be great to hear from other people about this game!)
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