Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2 make a neatly matched set of entries into one of the most venerable (and most predictable) of game franchises. The pair are direct sequels to the Black and White of 2011. That's a good amount of time to make tweaks to a tried-and-true formula. But are the updates super effective?

There are too many reviews in the world to catch 'em all, but we've rounded up eight below.

GameSpot

The core Pokemon games are notorious for sticking to a tried, tested, and very familiar formula. After all, it's a formula that works, and that people enjoy, and one thing you can never accuse the main entry Pokemon games of is forgetting their roots. Black 2 is pretty much exactly what you'd expect, then. Given that it's the first numbered sequel in the series, it's even less of a version shift than seen in previous games. It's not exactly the same as its predecessor; there have been a number of tweaks, functionally and aesthetically, and the plot's (sort of) new too. The problem is that, despite the additions, a weak plot, poor pacing, and an overabundance of easily-defeated Pokemon mean it's just not as good as the games that came before it.

Polygon

You already know what to expect from Pokemon Black and White 2. Its doesn't buck the formulaic nature of the franchise, which will leave a large part of its audience - a chunk that wants to rekindle their lapsed love of the series with something genuinely new - out in the cold. But that audience is bookended by veterans and newcomers alike, and for those two groups, Black and White 2's improvements make it the franchise's most accessible entry point to date.

GamesRadar

Pokémon Black and White 2 comes as something of a surprise. Not only did Game Freak buck fan expectations by announcing two new titles instead of the expected "Pokémon Gray," it even revealed they'd be genuine sequels to the first Black and White versions and not, as we'd all assumed, a simple repackaging of them. Even more surprising is just how well B&W2 have turned out, considering their new direction, making them the most original pair of Pokémon titles since arguably Gold and Silver.

Joystiq

In the meantime, Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 feel like the "true" versions of Black and White, much as Crystal, Emerald, and Platinum felt like the real versions of their respective generations. It has more Pokémon, better post-game content and, apart from a few added perks like the aforementioned Memory Link, largely renders the original games unnecessary. Whether returning fans should pick up Black and White 2, meanwhile, depends entirely on whether you're burned out on Pokémon yet. The sequel is bigger and better than the original, but it's still Pokémon. In your heart, you already know whether or not you're ready to slog through another eight badges and get back to catching them all.

Official Nintendo Magazine UK

At their core, Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 are the same games we've been playing since 1999 - warts and all. While the law of diminishing returns applies less to this franchise, there's still a sense of deja vu about it. Whether Game Freak will shake things up, or simply replace sprites with polygons, is to be seen, but whatever lies in store, Black 2 and White 2 stand proud as the last and probably best of classic Pokemon.

The Escapist

There are times when Pokemon Black and White Version 2 feel a little too familiar, especially when you're exploring the same towns, roads, and caves from the previous game. Once you assemble a solid team and start earning gym badges, though, you won't care. The series' trademark charm and addictive challenges will make you want to keep playing, and you might have trouble putting down your system as you pursue the next opponent, next gym badge, or next legendary Pokemon. In addition to the 20-or-so-hour campaign, there's plenty of postgame content and extra stuff to do, so you might have this cartridge in your DS or 3DS for a long time. It might just be a holdover until the next generation of Pokemon arrives, but it's still a good way to pass the time.

GameTrailers

Despite throwing in some new bells and whistles, Pokémon Black & White 2 doesn't deviate from established formula. It manages to deliver everything you'd expect out of a Pokémon game, and it's still a decent RPG, but it fails to take any chances or offer real innovation. Considering it's only a DS game rather than a proper sequel that takes advantage of the 3DS, it's hard not to label this as a lazy attempt to make a quick buck. Hopefully the next game brings some much needed reform.

Kotaku

How can a man possibly sleep when he hasn't captured a Koffing in the Virbank Complex? How can I save my game without the completion stamp for Route 20? Where the hell is Dunsparce!? This game has upgraded my mild OCD to flamin' hot Cajun spice OCD.

That obsessive compulsion is what defines the Pokémon series. It's right there in the tagline: "Gotta Catch 'Em All". It kept me playing into the wee hours of the morning when I was a much younger man. It drove me to acquire each iteration of the game since, hoping to rekindle that manic motivation. I've found it again in Pokémon Black and White 2.

There's being funny. And then there's being whatever FIFA-loving YouTube video game commentator JJ "KSIOlajidebt" Olatunji was in the video up top.

When we last covered the exploits of Olatunji, he was encouraging his 600,000 or so YouTube channel subscribers to e-mail Kotaku to help highlight his frustations with Machinima.com, the gaming site and channel partner that he felt wasn't giving its star content creators their fair share of ad revenue generated by popular videos.

Olatunji appears to have successfully broken away from Machinima. He even seems to have hooked up some sort of deal with PC maker Razer to help hype their stuff at the ongoing Eurogamer Expo with official CultofRazer videos like this and this. (I'm not clear on what his deal is with Razer and how official it is; I have a request in with the PC-maker to clarify.)

So, that video above? That's his handiwork, too. 200,000 clicks and counting. And, on Facebook, his fans love it. He's made videos like it before; just man-on-the-street videos of him asking rude sexual questions for comedic effect. I guess it's not that different than Howard Stern's routine, and plenty of people like that. It's not for me and I'm not so sure it was for all the folks interviewed in that video. If this is the direction coverage of video game conventions could be heading, count me out.

Good on Olatunji for being able to attract a half million clicks on a video that just hypes that he got to London to go to the expo, but, come on, really? This new video is a bit much.

In other Eurogamer Expo news, the organizers banned booth babes from next year's show.

UPDATE: A rep for Razer says: "KSIOlajidebt is a pro gamer in the UK that Razer invited to the Eurogamer Expo to shoot some community videos for our site. After KSIOlajidebt was done with his work for Razer, he went on to shoot video on his own for his own channel, outside of Razer's input or approval, during the show. The resulting video was not and is not content with which Razer wishes to be associated."

UPDATE 2: It looks like KSIOlajidebt has been banned from future Eurogamer Expos by the convention's organizer, according to a Tweet from Eurogamer.net operations director Tom Bramwell.

UPDATE 3: The YouTube video this story is about has been set to private, presumably by Olatunji. We swapped in a copy, so readers can understand the context of all of this.

UPDATE 4: Olatunji has apologized, addressing the accusations made by others that he was sexually harassing women in his video:

The blonde spokesmodel who agrees in the video to allow Olatunji to put his face in her chest also took to Twitter to address the theory that he had sexually harassed her:

Of course, reaction to the video hasn't only involved Olatunji's interaction with Brewer. In the video, Brewer is clearly into Olatunji's raunchy approach. The Mountain Dew spokesperson who he laments doesn't have visible enough breasts and the show attendee who cuts off their interview and walks off cursing seem less delighted to be involved in this sort of thing. They may well have been, off-camera, but it's not evident in the clip.

UPDATE 5: The woman who starts and ends the video, a blogger named Zoe, took to Twitter to share her perspective on the video. Olatunji apologized to her directly, as you'll see below.

UPDATE 6: Uncomfortable with the publicity this whole affair was generating, the blogger Zoe deleted the Tweets that were previously in this story. For the record, in response to Olajidebt's apology, she had written: "hahah, it's alright!" But she was also very clear that while she did not feel sexually harassed, she also said, in the context of the entire video and how other people were portrayed in it, "sometimes funny is just too far!"

Maybe it's me. Maybe it's the model's gleeful pose. Or maybe it's the waggling tail. Whatever the case, this hoodie from 80s tees, is kind of weirdly off-putting.

The "racanooki" top is inspired by the classic raccoon-styled Tanooki Suit that Mario can fly around with in Super Mario Bros 3. Wearers can indeed flap their tails, through the attached drawstrings, but sadly, the garment does not bequeath the power of flight. Nor can wearers turn themselves into temporarily invulnerable statues while wearing it. So please: don't step in front of any cars just because you've got your raccoon-eared groove on.

Racanooki Costume Hoodie [80s Tees via Geekologie]

I knew that dance games, like Ubisoft's Just Dance series, took an extraordinary amount of motion capture and choreography. But I admit that I never stopped to think about the costumed characters on-screen. Not only does the team have to capture dancers in motion... they need to outfit the dancers, too.

This behind-the-scenes look at Just Dance 4 gives a glimpse into just how large a role real-world fashion and costume design play in the game's creation. And for the style-minded crew who make it happen, a big payoff: outfits from the game appeared at New York Fashion Week in September. Who knew video games and one of the world's most stylish runways could ever go together so well?

Just Dance® 4: Behind The Scenes [Ubisoft YouTube, via Polygon]

Some of the people in this man-on-street Game Informer video don't know what the Wii U is. Some are pretty sure it's a college thing. You know, like Wii University or something.

Does The Public Know About Wii U? [Game Informer]

When I think about all the role-playing games released in Japan that never make their way to U.S. shores, I like to picture a snarling dragon sitting atop a pile of game cartridges, spitting fire at anyone who comes within breathing distance.

Hey Japan. Time to stop hoarding your gold.

This is not a new phenomenon, of course. American RPG fans will undoubtedly remember all the games we missed in the 90s: Terranigma, Final Fantasy V, Live A Live, and many more. But it's a little nutty that this localization barrier still exists today. If you don't speak Japanese, there's no way to legally play games like Valkyria Chronicles 3, Suikoden PSP, and of course, the infamous Mother 3.

It's too bad. When a Japanese developer announces a new game, my first reaction is not "Awesome!" but "Shit, we're never going to get that, are we?" When Atlus announced yesterday that dungeon crawler Etrian Odyssey IV is coming here next year, I was more relieved than anything. It had been way too long. I was starting to worry.

If you're wondering why Japanese game publishers and developers have been so reluctant to localize their RPGs, the answer is easy. They think it's too much of a risk. They look at games that have failed to take off in the U.S.—RPGs like Brave Story and Half-Minute Hero and quite a few others—and decide it's not worth the time, money, and shame involved in localizing their games for an audience that doesn't seem to want them.

But here's the thing: we do still want JRPGs. There are still plenty of fans who are happy to spend money on great, high-quality games. Don't believe me? Let's look at two big examples.

A few weeks ago, when I interviewed Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime about Wii U, I managed to sneak in a couple of questions about Xenoblade, one of the Wii's biggest RPGs. Released in Japan during 2010, then in Europe a year later, Xenoblade was not confirmed for U.S. localization until December 2011, months after many diehard fans had already imported or pirated it.

So what took so long?

"We needed to make sure that there was really an opportunity for it," Fils-Aime said. "We wanted to see how it would sell in Europe, and based on the performance in Europe, we would look to bring it here to the U.S. It did well in Europe; we decided to bring it in here. We took a very smart approach and we sold it ourselves online in terms of physical goods as well as a focus on GameStop as a retailer, and it was a very good effort for us."

"How'd it sell?" I asked.

"Quite well," he said.

I had already gone over my allotted interview time, so I didn't get a chance to prod him for more numbers, but that "quite well" could mean just about anything, depending on Nintendo's expectations. Could mean 200,000 copies sold; could mean 20,000. (Probably closer to the latter.)

The important takeaway here is that gamers were willing to dish out money for a high-quality, critically-acclaimed JRPG. Didn't matter that it was in standard definition. Didn't matter that a ton of its prospective audience had already bought the European version. RPG fans were hungry for good games, and they proved it with their wallets.

And what of The Last Story, that other big JRPG that came out for the Wii this year? I asked publisher XSEED's Jessica Chavez (who you may remember from her excellent Kotaku Q&A a couple of months ago) how it performed.

"The Last Story has definitely gotten the support of the fans," she told me. "It's doing really well, and we hope word of the game's quality/sexy packaging will continue to entice more to check it out."

Again, no specifics, but my point still stands: U.S. gamers are willing to spend their money on excellent Japanese role-playing games, but with many of them, we're not even getting the chance. Granted, publishers like XSEED, Aksys, Level-5, and Atlus are doing a commendable job of localizing and releasing their Japanese games in the United States. It's the bigger guys—the Squares, the Konamis, the Segas—who need to stop hoarding and mistreating their RPGs.

While chatting with Nintendo's Fils-Aime, I also asked about the next RPG from Monolith Soft, the one they're making for Wii U. Should we expect that same Xenoblade rollercoaster ride all over again?

"We know that they're working on a game," he said. "I personally haven't seen it, but I know there's a lot of excitement in Japan and Kyoto about what they're working on, so I look forward to seeing it. In the end, if it's a game that we decide to publish from... what would be a second-party standpoint, certainly we'd love to bring it here to the US.

"The way we look at the opportunity is, given a level of marketing support, how much are we gonna sell and is it gonna be a profitable venture?"

Fair enough. Presumably that's why Square Enix hasn't released Final Fantasy Type-0 in the U.S. yet; they know the Final Fantasy brand could move copies, but the PSP is dead, and not a lot of people are buying Vitas. Maybe they're waiting to see how a classic role-playing game like Bravely Default: Flying Fairy will do in Japan before they commit to bringing it here. Maybe they think nobody here will care about Slime MoriMori Dragon Quest 3.

That's all well and good. I don't expect any gaming company to operate in a way that won't make it money. But there's an audience for great Japanese RPGs, and the success of games like Xenoblade and The Last Story prove that. Sure, RPGs not named Final Fantasy might not move more than forty or fifty thousand copies without some sort of marketing budget, but a game can still be profitable on that scale. Look at the success of XSEED, of Aksys, of Monkeypaw Games.

And hey, even if a publisher doesn't make money off the Western release of a given game, sometimes building up fan loyalty can be just as beneficial. By localizing a niche RPG—like, say, Mother 3—a company like Nintendo could have turned a cadre of angry fans into some of its biggest supporters. We feel connections to the guys like Atlus and XSEED not only because they talk to us like human beings, but because they rarely hold games back. This summer, Atlus released two niche RPGs on the dying PSP—Gungnir and Growlanser Wayfarer of Time. Both games flew straight under most peoples' radars, but the hardcore Growlanser fans will never stop appreciating Atlus for giving them the opportunity to play that game.

It's depressing that localization has become such a big issue for RPG fans. Fifteen years ago, I never could have imagined that I'd miss out on so many RPGs just because I don't speak Japanese. So listen up, you lovely publishers. We're here, we want to play good games, and we're willing to give you money for them. We just need a chance.

Random Encounters is a weekly column dedicated to all things JRPG. It runs every Friday at 3pm ET.

It's a little bit Pokémon, a dash of Harvest Moon and a small slice of old school Final Fantasy. It's also a bit difficult to navigate and a little buggy, but that shouldn't stop you from giving Mini Heroes a go.

Released today on Facebook, Mini Heroes from Likwid Games aims to please all of the role-playing game fans. It's got monster breeding. It's got growing crops and planting. It's got turn-based role-playing battles and dungeon exploring for up to four players at a time. There's mining and crafting. Hell, you start the game with a pick axe, a shovel and an axe — that certainly sounds familiar.

I've been poking about the game for a little bit, and I'm somewhat lost but hopeful that I can find my way. I've been killed by creatures. I planted some strawberries. I've wandered past other folks playing the game in real time, which is novel enough.

Perhaps a trip through the game's help files will get me going. And hey, as I typed this the server went down to fix an issue, so it's being tended to.

Soon Fahey and his little blue blob Totilo shall be a force to be reckoned with in Mini Heroes. Why not come along for the ride?

Tyler Kirkham already spends lots of time in giant fantasy worlds. The comics illustrator has worked on Green Lantern, Transformers and The Darkness series in recent years, with contributions to game-centric adaptations like Tomb Raider and Legacy of Kain.

But all that drawing was apparently not enough to satiate Kirkham's geeky desires. So he built a real-homage life homage to Bethesda's hit RPG game inside his home, complete with barrels, scrolls and candles that look like the ones all over Skyrim. Kirkham's brother posted a slew of images all over the publisher's forums for all to see and the results of Kirkham's labor—much of it done by hand—are very impressive. All he needs is a dragon, right?

Tour my brother's Skyrim-themed basement! [Bethesda Forums]

And there's an official trailer to go along with it.

If you read Stephen's post showing off the awesome-looking Skyrim mod, you might be pleased to hear that clintmich's mod is now officially available as of last week.

There are still a few known issues, but who wouldn't want to trek through the Mushroom Kingdom, and eventually battle Bowser himself within the world of Skyrim. You'll meet new enemies to be killed with new weapons. Check it all out in the trailer above.

And here are a few screenshots below for you to feast your eyes on:

Skyrim Mod - Super Skyrim Bros. Official Trailer [YouTube via Nexus Mods via Reddit]

I guess it's what all the cool bots are doing these days. That, or they're reenacting Lemmings, as the video's music will imply.

CS:GO Bots are essentially Lemmings. [YouTube via Reddit]