Thank you to Nintendo UK for providing one of these games for review!
15 years ago, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl changed the Pokémon series for the better with its new mechanics for every single move, the largest amount of legendary encounters in any Pokémon game at that point, and probably the highest stakes in the series in villains that want to destroy the universe with new Pokémon that can control reality itself. This is where I really began playing Pokémon. I’ve replayed Pokémon Pearl so many different ways and at so many different points of my life. I know it all: where the hidden items are, which Pokémon are on each route, and what every trainer uses. Every time I play, I get chills when the piano starts and Palkia rushes into view from the left…
I don’t think these were really the best Pokémon games though. I don’t think I replayed them for their difficulty, their Pokémon, or their story. I think I kept coming back for the memories I connected these games to: the nostalgia and emotion those memories control in me.
But I’m here to talk about the games that just came out, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl. I think remaking any game is always a difficult situation because there’s never a way to really replicate the same feelings of the original game without just… playing the original game. Can a remake exist without the original though? There has to be improvement somewhere, and I can say for sure that these games improve on what the original games offered. When it comes to their existence as new games in general though, they excel and fail in almost all the same areas as the originals.
STORY
It’s Pokémon, so you kinda know what to expect here. Get a Pokémon from a Professor, go on a journey for 8 badges while defeating an evil organization, then fight the 5 super bosses at the end of it all. These games stick to that, they’re just like the originals there.
Something feels a little more interesting about it this time, though. Maybe I’ve been thinking about it too hard, but I think the game’s new chibi aesthetic emphasizes the negativity that the big bad of the game, Cyrus, radiates, and it makes the story hit a little harder. Like, this guy exists in a happy-go-lucky chibi world and he wants to tear it all down to destroy its emotion. That hits me harder in a remake that rides on memories of emotions and nostalgia.
Aside from that, it’s really all over the place like the originals. The first revision of Diamond and Pearl, Pokémon Platinum, tried to make this story more cohesive with additions like meeting Cyrus at the beginning of the game, detective Looker guiding you through Team Galactic’s operations, and more, but none of that is here. The story feels pretty bare-bones until it picks up between the 6th and 8th gyms. This is a strategy most Pokémon games follow, but that doesn’t mean it’s really a great way to tell a story, and that’s not even mentioning the characters that barely have any development throughout.
GRADE: C+
The story and characters are bare. The main conflict doesn’t really make itself known until near the end of the games, like the original Diamond and Pearl. Cyrus’s desire to destroy emotion feels more impactful because this is a remake that was built for people’s emotions… but I’m not sure if that was something on the developers’ minds so much as replicating the original games’ story.
PRESENTATION
This is where these games take the largest leap from the originals: the graphics, gameplay, and music are all faithful recreations that work better than the originals in a lot of areas, but they have hiccups way more often. I’ll give you two examples I found. When I lost battles at two different parts of the game, the camera would get stuck on parts of the Pokémon Center before snapping into the right place when my Pokémon were healed. I tried it a couple more times to check if it kept happening and it just always looks like this, but I don’t think that’s what the intention was. And when the camera zooms in for certain scenes, a player can move after the scene while the camera is still zooming out, so you’ll start moving, then the camera snaps over to you. You can do this after winning a gym battle and after other scenes that do this. These are small problems, but they made me question why the games use these kinds of graphics if the developers won’t check over these things.
There are some genuinely nice looking moments though. I love all the animations for trainers in battle! The original games were limited there, even in Pokémon Platinum, but these new games make old characters feel way more lively and animated than they ever have with very fluid and snappy movements. I think the only thing I really didn’t like were the blank expressions from trainers while they spoke in battles. My rival would say all this determined stuff with the most average look on his face!
Battles themselves have their issues too , like with Pokémon moves. When I used Rock Climb, the UI didn’t show the health bar when my opponents took damage. Another UI problem with battles was during Pokémon changing. The UI stutters in and out for a few frames while the Pokémon come on screen. It’s really jarring to look at every time. But, one thing I really did like about the UI in and outside of battle was how it looked like the original games! You can argue that the text boxes are plain or that the battle UI and Pokémon summary screens have too many colors everywhere, but I couldn’t help but appreciate them out of nostalgia!
Returning to the overworld though, the animations there were pretty lacking in comparison to the battles. Your rival “runs” by just speeding up his walk cycle like in the original games, but why would they not just make him his own running animation in an improved game like this? These kinds of missing movements for different moments like that each make the overworld feel plastic, empty, and a little more hastily assembled compared to the lively battles.
When it comes to the music, I think it was really well done. Nostalgia aside, these are some really memorable tracks, whether you’ve played the originals or not. The route themes might honestly be some of the best in the series! All of that said, that’s coming from someone who’s super nostalgic for the originals though, so who am I to judge? If I did compare them to the original tracks, I can’t help but feel like some of the originals lost background instruments and deeper bass sounds in their transitions to these newer versions.
GRADE: B+
Overall, the music is awesome. The graphics have problems here and there with UI issues, strange movements, and a few broken cameras though. Battles look great with nice trainer animations despite blank expressions during dialogue.
GAMEPLAY
Let’s start with the battles first. It’s pretty difficult for me to criticize Pokémon battles because the formula for them has always been pretty fun with a lot of depth to explore. I’ve been playing these games competitively for most of my life, so this is mainly what I come back to Pokémon for.
I know a lot of people are divided on sharing experience gained for winning battles, but despite that being enabled, I still faced challenges and didn’t have to fight every single trainer for experience on the way, so I’m completely fine with that. I’m not sure why it isn’t optional like in the 3DS Pokémon games, though.
The same goes for the affection mechanics, which allow Pokémon to do special things in battles if they’re happier like avoid attacks or do extra damage. These mechanics were something from past games based around playing with Pokémon in modes like Pokémon Refresh or Pokémon Amie. In these new games, affection happens naturally as you use Pokémon in each battle. These mechanics helped me get out of tough spots, so I don’t mind them, but I don’t see why they couldn’t be optional like they were in past games. I saw some people complaining that accessing the PC anywhere makes the games less difficult too, but you can’t actually do that in gyms or at the Elite Four anyways, so I can’t see how someone could dislike that feature.
I’ve said a few times that the difficulty is challenging or tough already, but why? For the first time, this game utilizes a Pokémon mechanic in its main story that’s been neglected by designers for too long: items. And it uses them very effectively in addition to the level curve of Diamond and Pearl, which gets harsh for bosses, especially at the end. At most, Pokémon had health restoring berries in the original games, but now, they have items that boost signature moves, some that nullify weaknesses, and some that amplify abilities. It’s such a simple touch that makes these games’ trainers actually feel like a challenge you might find fighting opponents online! It’s really great in terms of game design too because it actually trains players to start noticing all these items and how they help each Pokémon.
The overworld layout is very similar to Pokémon Red and Blue with a large amount of the region opening up with each HM you gain access to, especially after the 2nd gym once you also have access to the new Grand Underground to explore! You can choose which gym to do 3rd between two different routes, which is at least a little freedom that returns from the originals. I really enjoy when any overworld gives you some options or choices to explore, so I liked that!
What’s not so great is the lack of any real changes to how you explore the overworld, though. Hidden moves that Pokémon can use in the overworld are back, but, as usual, they’re mostly just simple “A” button interactions with rocks, trees, or waterfalls that remove or traverse them. At least, in the originals, there was some sacrifice and strategy with what move you wanted to sacrifice for an HM. This is what the original games were designed around, so there are areas on the map in these new games that don’t really make sense being there now. It seems like they just exist to be faithful to the original games. There’s no kind of challenge to you encountering a rock or a tree on a route that you just need to press “A” on. This time, I think they should’ve at least added some kind of minigame or more exciting button inputs to call a wild Pokémon for an HM as a challenge to take the place of sacrificing a Pokémon’s move, or something like that. It would’ve definitely made it more interesting to explore than just mashing “A” through textboxes.
GRADE: A
Battles are more challenging than the original games thanks to the developers utilizing usually overlooked parts of the battle system! The choice of instant HMs in the overworld is probably better than sacrificing Pokémon moves for them, but it needed something else to make exploring more fun than just pressing “A” without any other challenge.
VERDICT
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl were built on nostalgia, but I’m not sure their new additions to the original Diamond and Pearl really offset the problems they inherited from those original games. The area they do improve the most, the graphics, also suffer from problems that make things feel strange sometimes.
To sum these games up, they were another way for me to watch Palkia rush in from the left and hear that piano play. The memories I connect with that are nice… but it feels kind of cynical now. It feels cynical that these new games didn’t have a single story moment unique to themselves and didn’t add any significant, new moments for its characters (or any development at all really) like the past couple Pokémon remakes have at least attempted to do. They feel like they exist just for the sake of filling some kind of “remake” gap with how little they change. I love good memories and nostalgia, but what good is a new game about my favorite moments if there aren’t many differences or improvements to flesh out the original experience? Maybe I was expecting too much? Or maybe I was too fond of something that wasn’t all that amazing to begin with?
If you haven’t played the original games before, these are probably worth playing because they’re an accessible way to experience what Diamond and Pearl offered. Otherwise, I’m not sure I can recommend them if you have an easy way to play the original games or Pokémon Platinum, which actually did improve a lot of the things that these remakes don’t bother with. I would say that these are the definitive Diamond and Pearl experiences, but when they don’t really do much to improve those original games, they’re not ahead by very much. You could play the originals and probably have a similar experience. I’d say that’s a first for Pokémon remakes because even games like Omega Ruby or SoulSilver really did feel distinct from the games they were each based on.
Though the gameplay has improved from Diamond and Pearl with an effective use of items, the overworld has problems with its gameplay and its graphics. It seems like it’s trying to get by on nostalgia alone with how little it tried to change the original games, which just comes off as cynically trying to fill a “remake” quota to me. That isn’t necessarily bad, but it feels strange that these games are trying to masquerade as the originals most of the time instead of trying to distinguish themselves by improving more of what the originals offered.
I’d rate Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl as a B+
I love translation, writing, and talking about video games. MOTHER has been the series that's inspired me the most - from Itoi's writing to the MOTHER 3 fan translation. I research gaming translations and storytelling through games. I'm also making a game called GNOMONIC. I appreciate any constructive comments to help me improve.
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