Pokémon: White Version 2

Pokémon: White Version 2 picks up the events of the first game two years later and brings the player back to the Unova region, this time expanded with new locations and a redesigned map. The game keeps the basic formula of collecting badges and battling, but introduces novelties such as the Pokémon World Tournament, a tournament that lets players face gym leaders as well as rivals from previous generations, which was appreciated especially by longtime fans reminiscing about older installments. The character N and the organization Team Plasma return in the story in an altered form, this time split into two rival factions with different goals and methods.

Instead of the White Forest and Black City locations from the first game, the sequel offers the different areas Black Tower and White Treehollow, which work on a similar principle of gradually unlocking content. The graphical presentation builds on the first game with minor improvements, and the game continues to make use of the season-changing mechanic, which affects both the appearance of the environment and the appearance of some Pokémon. Since it was one of the last main installments of the series on the Nintendo DS, White Version 2 contains a number of small balance and quality-of-life adjustments that responded to feedback on the previous game and generally sped up the pace of play.

The combination of a continuing story, new characters and institutions such as the Pokémon World Tournament makes White Version 2 one of the most well-rounded installments of the generation, and many fans view it as a fitting farewell of the main series to the Nintendo DS before the arrival of the stereoscopic 3DS. Additional content for advanced players and a more elaborate endgame also gave the game significantly longer lasting appeal than the original installment had, thanks in part to the ability to face opponents and their Pokémon from previous generations within the tournament mode. In the end, White Version 2 sums up everything that had proven successful for the series during the Nintendo DS era and sends it off into the next generation with an honest, well-balanced farewell.