Pokemon Blaze Black 2 Redux

Pokemon Blaze Black 2 Redux is the modern remake of Drayano's older Blaze Black 2 hack, built mainly by AphexCubed over roughly two years and released in March 2022. Drayano joined when the project was already well underway, rewrote most of the in-game text and helped with feedback, while AphexCubed handled the scripting, balancing and new events. The result plays far closer to Renegade Platinum than to the original Blaze Black 2: it is a full rebalance of Black 2, not just a harder trainer list.

Every one of the 649 Pokemon from Generations 1 to 5 can be caught without trading. Base stats and abilities were brought in line with Sword and Shield, Hidden Abilities from the Dream World were moved into normal ability slots, and learnsets were expanded with egg moves, event moves and moves from later games. Old, weak attacks were swapped for newer ones — Power-Up Punch replaces Comet Punch and Dual Wingbeat replaces Vice Grip, for example.

The Fairy type is in the game too, with the Gen 6 Steel changes. Anything that is Fairy in X and Y is Fairy here, and the Complete version gives the type to extra Pokemon such as Altaria, Audino and Vanilluxe. The project's own wiki warns that the Fairy implementation can misbehave on original hardware, so an emulator is the safer way to play.

The hack is split into two patches. The Complete patch adds the creators' own type, ability and movepool rework — Serperior becomes Grass/Dragon, Weavile gets Technician, Butterfree gets better stats. The Classic patch drops those extras and keeps Pokemon as they appear in Gen 8. The latest version is v1.4.1 from June 2023; it is considered finished, and Volt White 2 Redux is the same project patched onto White 2.

• All 649 Pokemon catchable in one cartridge — no trading needed
• Three difficulty modes: Easy, Normal and Challenge
• Complete and Classic patches, depending on whether you want the extra type and ability changes
• Fairy type added, with Gen 6 type chart changes
• Base stats and abilities updated to Sword and Shield values
• Trade evolutions replaced by a Link Cable item; held-item trade evolutions work like evolution stones
• Reworked legendary encounters: Mew on a new Faraway Island, Celebi at the Entralink, Suicune with Morty
• Expanded post-game around Unity Tower with Dialga, Palkia, Giratina and Arceus
• Shiny rate raised to 1/512
• Fewer HM roadblocks, guaranteed fishing encounters, EV trainer and Audino nurses for easy training

The mode is the biggest decision you make, so it is worth knowing what changes.

• Normal is the intended way to play and sits roughly at Renegade Platinum level. Gym Leaders start with smaller teams and grow to six over the course of the game.
• Easy uses the same trainer teams as Normal, but with lower levels and weaker AI — good if you want the new Pokemon and story touches without the pressure.
• Challenge gives Gym Leaders six Pokemon from the very start and turns important fights into doubles and triples (Burgh battles in doubles, Elesa in triples). Regular trainers scale up to seven levels higher depending on your badges, and the BP exchange is locked until the post-game.

Version 1.4.0 made the early part of Challenge noticeably gentler so the difficulty ramps up over time, while leaving the mid and late game untouched. If you have struggled with old builds, the current one is fairer.

Blaze Black 2 Redux is a great fit for anyone who liked Renegade Platinum and wants the same treatment for Unova. On Normal it rewards a balanced team rather than a single overleveled carry; on Challenge it becomes a genuine Nuzlocke test, with many fights requiring a plan for multi-battles.

It is also a strong pick for players who never enjoyed Gen 5 because of its limited early Pokedex. Here you can build a team from any generation almost from the beginning, which makes the first hours far more varied.

• Patch a clean Black 2 ROM — the Redux patch will not apply to an old Blaze Black 2 file.
• Grab the Muscle Band before the first gym; it is placed early on purpose.
• Use the Audino nurses in Castelia Gardens and Victory Road for quick experience.
• Evolution stones are sold in Driftveil, and EV-reducing berries in Castelia City.
• Keep the project's wiki open: it lists every trainer team, encounter table and item location for v1.4.1.

Version 1.4.1 (June 2023) is a small balance and bug-fix release: Spheal now evolves at level 16, Burgh's Masquerain was toned down on Normal, Eevee and Snorunt evolve correctly into Glaceon and Glalie, and the Hall of Fame shows the version number.

The bigger update before it, v1.4.0 (May 2023), reworked the Challenge mode early game, nerfed several important trainers such as Roxie and the Ranch Grunt, and redid the Eevee family learnsets so each evolution gets strong moves of its own type earlier.