Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
In the fabric of space and time...comes an average-at-best remake that really doesn’t live up to the standards Game Freak set more than a decade ago.
Protagonist(s): Lucas Dawn Genre(s): Role-playing Platform(s): Nintendo Switch Release Date: November 19, 2021 Developer(s): ILCA, Inc. Publisher(s): Nintendo The Pokémon Company Country: Japan Series: Pokémon Predecessor: Pokémon Sword and Shield (by release date) Successor: Pokémon Legends: Arceus (by release date)

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are role-playing games developed by ILCA, Inc. (the developers of Pokémon Home) and published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for the Nintendo Switch. The games are remakes of the 2006 Nintendo DS games Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, and the first Pokémon titles to not be developed by Game Freak.

Not Brilliant Nor Shining Qualities

1. Just like Sword and Shield, the game was clearly rushed to meet a November 2021 deadline, leading to several of the problems listed below.
2. To get the Snorlax out of the room: despite both Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl being remakes, they have very few or no changes from the original DS games, given that nearly all of the flaws the originals has are present (including Ponyta being the only Fire-type Pokémon one can catch in the wild outside of Grand Underground areas) while most of the new content is from the Let's Go games and Sword and Shield, which makes these games feel barren compared to previous remakes. They also feel rehashed and almost copy-pasted when compared to every single other previous main series Pokémon game (yes, even Sword and Shield).
   • Because of this, there is no content from Pokémon Platinum such as the Distortion World or Battle Frontier, and the Sinnoh Pokédex only contains the original 151 Pokémon found in Diamond and Pearl.
3. Unimpressive graphics: they look incredibly cheap compared to past remakes, such as Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire or the Let's Go games due to ILCA trying to recreate the original art style but poorly translating the pseudo-3D graphics of the original games to 3D models.
   • The characters' chibi models can look uncanny and sometimes ugly at times, and the cutscenes look awkward with this art style due to the models looking unexpressive while the camera tends to zoom in on them a little too much.
4. There are no post-Gen IV Pokémon in this game at all, since all 493 Pokémon from the original Sinnoh games are the only ones who can be caught here, in an effort to make it more faithful to the originals.
   • Also like Sword and Shield, you can only transfer the aforementioned Pokémon to the game from Pokémon Home.
   • For some strange reason, you are unable to transfer Spinda or Nincada from previous games to this game, the former due to a bug that would indirectly change Spinda's pattern when transferred, and the latter due to the strict anti-cloning methods used here.
5. The new difficulty curve is so inconsistent that it doesn't have a true difficulty or target audience. The game is reletively easy up (suitable for casual players) until you get to the Elite Four, Cynthia, and Gym Leader rematches. They use more competitive teams instead of the more standard RPG teams they originally had, while the Pokémon heavily use their Abilities and have choice items on them. These fights are suitable for experts, not causual players.
   • In fact, they are so hard that some of the strategies they use are banned in official competitive Pokémon, proving ILCA tried way too hard to make these battles challenging.
   • Not to mention you are once again unable to turn off the EXP Share feature, while it is useful for players to not grind or farm more, it seems easier than challenging enough.
   • Don't forget Elite Four and Cynthia even use full restores for Pokémon with less HP or inflicting status effects, which makes the gameplay look worse in comparison to the originals and Platinum.
6. The animations are absolutely lazy, as the characters and Pokémon still move rigidly in battles or competing in Super Contests, and some Pokémon's models don't feature proper attacking animations.
7. While it is nice to have character customization in this game, it is rather limited compared to previous Switch Pokémon games (particularly Sword and Shield), as you buy full outfits rather than individual articles of clothing.
   • It doesn't help one bit that this will continue to be the case in Scarlet and Violet. However, the latter has lots of customizations to use, but the outfits are still limited.
8. The remastered music is inferior to the original DS music, an example being that Cyrus's theme does not sound as threatening as the original, thus making his entrance feel less intimidating and cool.
9. The Underground Wild Areas, while a nice addition, feel more linear and barren compared to Sword and Shield's Wild Area (as well as The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra) because of the slight lack of Pokémon and emptiness found inside of them, and most Pokémon can easily be caught unlike previous Wild Areas.
10. Inconsistent and sometimes buggy frame rate, as the characters move in choppy and erratic manners, while the frame rate can drop from 60 FPS to 30 FPS and cause characters' models to freeze.
11. The Walking Pokémon feature isn't implemented well here, as many Pokémon tend to fall behind whenever the player runs, and also walk rather slowly in comparison to the player, a big example of this being Onix.
    • In additon, they have extremely lazy AI. Rather than using a pathfinding system, they go in the direction the player is. This results in them running into walls if you are walking in something like a maze.
    • Some of the Pokémon (like Ekans or Rayquaza) don't even have proper following animations and instead use their idle animation. While some will say its justifed because they are snakes and they don't have legs, it's not a good argument as snakes do not move like that in real life. The reason for this is probably ILCA cutting corners and rushing the game to release it on time.
      • To add insult to injury, it's not hard to implement the walking/running animations as they already exist in the files of previous games.
12. Just like in the original games, TMs are extremely limited and can only be used once before they break, which is tedious because they are required to use in certain areas such as foggy ones. Couple that with the moves' limited uses, and these sections become more annoying than they already were.
13. This game is a prime example of nostalgia pandering gone wrong, as it shoves a lot of Sinnoh fanservice down players' throats and barely does anything to make them stand out.
    • While it came out 2 months later after these, even Pokémon Masters EX suffers this, starting with the Sinnoh Villain Arc, despite being the 4th chapter, due to how it panders this than Johto, the 2nd chapter after Kanto.
14. Mindy, the "Infamous Joke NPC" returns in Snowpoint City to trade a Medicham for her Haunter holding an Everstone. How is anyone who never played the original DS games supposed to know this?
    • This was thankfully addressed in Scarlet and Violet, where Blossom in Levincia trades a Haunter for a Pincurchin and it actually evolves into Gengar.
15. The Poketch is a massive downgrade compared to the DS games, as instead of using the Touch Screen to display its features, it is a UI option that can feel intrusive when used.
    • Also, you are unable to cycle Poketch apps backwards, unlike Platinum.
16. The Global Wonder Station (GWS) was inaccessible until an update on March 15, 2022, due to the rushed development.
17. The game has a plethora of bugs and glitches that are just as bad as the Gen I games or Scarlet and Violet, with the game tending to softlock the player at certain points when using the Walking Pokémon feature and sound glitches being fairly common as well.
18. Super Contests are reduced to being a boring rhythm minigame with zero replay value, which is a downgrade from Contests in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire where they were modernized for new players in a much better way. Here, however, it serves as unnecessary filler and can be completed in under a minute (something not even the Rhythm Heaven games would be guilty of).
19. Unlike ORAS, which had Pokémon Bank connectivity at launch, connectivity with Pokémon Home was not available until May 18, 2022 (which was approximately six months after the game's launch). Sure, Legends: Arceus had to wait for that day as well, but still.
    • A possible reason for the lengthy wait is that Game Freak implemented a change that would alter Pokémon's move set when they were transferred to and from other games.
20. Overpriced: Each of these games is $60 at launch despite lack of new and/or Platinum-related content in general.
21. Most of the game's code is lazily imported from the DS games without fixing any major problems that they had, and due to these games being made on Unity rather than the original engine, this makes these games come off as more of HD remastered versions of the original games rather than proper remakes, which shows that ILCA cut corners during the already-rushed development.
    • To add insult to injury, Game Freak gave ILCA almost no oversight due to the former company being busy with Legends: Arceus, so The Pokémon Company just gave ILCA the task of remastering Diamond and Pearl with little to no effort, and considering Legends: Arceus was possibly delayed by at least two months, this means these games are simply filler for the Holiday 2021 season and a cash grab that only exists to make money.
22. False advertising for two reasons:
    • Porygon-Z was seen using Hyper Beam in the initial trailer, implying that all Pokémon in the Platinum Dex should appear, but due to its faithfulness, it is limited to 151 in the original Dex.
    • Players could freely move the Poke Capsule for their Poke Ball in the trailer, but it was limited to grids in the game.
23. Overall, it's a massive disappointment and a huge insult to the hundreds of fans who wanted a Sinnoh remake in the style of the previous Pokémon remakes. This makes it a missed opportunity to make a Sinnoh remake in the same style as the previous remakes.

Brilliant and Shining Qualities

1. The slow pacing from the original games is toned down in this one, as the pacing is quicker and battles are shorter than the originals. Surfing speed is also quicker.
2. The Fairy type was added into these games, as well as several Fairy-type moves that weren't in the original games (due to the type being introduced in Generation VI), thus making Pokémon such as Mr. Mime, Togekiss, and Gardevoir more versatile than they originally were.
3. This game also introduces Ramanas Park, where you can obtain Legendary Pokémon from other regions (Kanto, Johto and Hoenn) via special slates that resemble Game Boy and GBA cartridges, which is a nice callback to these eras.
4. Some of the new content is alright, such as the Grand Underground and their Wild Areas.
   • Additionally, some of the original things are still good, such as the characters and story.
5. The DS item allows you to play the original music from the DS games.
6. As of Update 1.3.0., players can catch Arceus with the Azure Flute item when they complete all 22 main missions of Legends: Arceus.
7. This game can be nostalgic for long-time players, especially fans of the original Diamond and Pearl games.
8. The game's box art is extremely realistic and properly detailed when compared to every single other game in the series (before and after it). Rather than using artwork of the Pokémon, 3D models of Dialga and Palkia complete with realistic and detailed textures are used.

Reception

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl received mixed reviews from critics (both scoring 73 on Metacritic), but critical backlash from fans of the Pokémon series (user scores being 5.2 and 5.5 for Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, respectively), with most of the criticism being directed at being almost identical to the original games and making their flaws worse, bad art style and inconsistent difficulty, they are often considered as, hands down, the worst Pokémon game pair in the main series, as well as the series' worst remakes.

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