Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl - Release 19th Nov 2021

[Siggu]

I'm still going to say that DP is underrated as a base. Just a couple of minor tweaks (that were already done in Platinum, mind you) and we're getting a Top 5 Mainline game.

Dex Expansion + Mid-Game Level Curve fix and we good. Straight up.

Out of all the issues DP had, these are the only ones with a chance of showing up again. Sure, the story would be inferior to that of Platinum, but it's still not an issue.

The rest of things (such as the gam speed) are mostly minor matters in terms of effort, and since we already know diagonal movement is present, one can't take them for granted.

 

[Nokocchi]

I like how people are already doomsaying about the remakes when we barely got a minute of footage or any confirmation on what changes there will be. There are some locations that will obviously have to be changed up somehow(Pal Park and Game Corner, both for very different reasons), and find ways to integrate features that worked on the DS but not on the Switch(dualslot wild encounters, poketch, ect).

I will not form any sort of solid opinion on the games when we barely know anything about them(especially mechanically).

 

[thelandlordsmm]

A lot of thoughts are going through my mind. First, gen 4 was my favorite gen (having played since gen 1) so I'm excited for these remakes! But I'm wondering how this affects the in-game competitive landscape... Does Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl become the new official competitive meta? It probably does considering they usually do that for new games, but since it would seem like Dynamaxing is gone, does that mean we are in for a gimmickless battle spot/VGC meta? And with a limited dex again? It sure does shake things up and it would be refreshing to play without Dynamax... just a bit concerned about the Pokemon selection, I guess, but I imagine it would end up being about the same number of Pokemon we started Sword/Shield with.

 

[Volt-Ikazuchi]

Current Experience Share is not the problem, the problem is it doesn't synergize at all with the game's lack of level cap. It makes sense from both, a design perspective and a ingame narrative perspective, that a Pokémon can't pass a certain level if its trainer isn't strong enough. Levels don't exist in Pokémon, there's no such thing from the ingame inhabitants as a level 72 Alakazam. The level is an abstract representation of a Pokémon strength, and so, a trainer with 2 medals shouldn't be allowed to have a level 92 in their party.

It also makes one of the worst artifacts in the franchise history stick out like a sore thumb.

Exp. Groups are bad, were bad, and will always be bad. Why they still exist is beyond me. It's sickening to see how disgusting that mechanic is.

Actual Experience Share is not bad at all because it allows you to change your party at any time. Anyone who keeps replaying the old games knows how boring is to add a new Pokémon to your team, because by the time you find a couple of level 13 interestings mons, your team is around level 30, and here it comes the classic grinding of "i start the battle with the Pokémon i want to train first, then change it to my killing mom and win the battle until it levels up and reaches the rest of the team". Just active the exp share and add every Pokémon you like to your team in a matter of minutes (a few battles), but don't allow the player to surpass level 20 before they win their second badge, for example.

Old. Exp Share was excellent. Does a mon need catching up to be able to be trained by itself? Stick that to it and boom.

Doing so, you keep the good things of both worlds. You'll never be overleved and you won't have to impose upon yourself extraofficial rules to make the games more enjoyable, because the game wont allow you to overlevel your team, and at the same time, you can change any member of your team at any time with ease, without the tedious old school level grinding

Exp. Candies are a pretty nice solution. Sure, you can as a player just dump 100 candies on your starter and roflstomp the game, but that says more about the player than the game.

What we really needed was a challenge mode, but guess that's not coming back until BW2 remakes.

 

[pharaohcalvin]

I HAVE AWAKENED FROM MY LONG SLUMBER!

So after the shitstorm that is Sword and Shield here is hoping for a miracle and D/P remakes turn out to be amazing. Gen 4 has always been tied with Gen 1 for my favorite gen, so this if done right could get me back into mons. Wish they gave us a bit more information on it..like is it jsut going to be the D/P mons...are we getting the PL Dex or are we getting the full 493 national dex of the time frame. (Because honestly I have almost no hope for a full national dex again..sadly.)

 

[earl]

I cant imagine anyone believing these remakes will be anything more or less than on-par with the originals except without the slow health bars

 

[Lucario]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is how HMs will act in the games. Will they be entirely the same as DPP? Will there be a Pager like SM? Or will they just not exist? They will have to change a lot in regards to the locations that require HMs.
If the game is truly one-to-one, then it will be a huge letdown and I cannot see GF allowing the most beloved region be known as having a terrible remake.

 

[Solemn6]

Oh yeah if they don’t buff regigigas I’ll be low key pissed

 

[Volt-Ikazuchi]

Oh yeah if they don’t buff regigigas I’ll be low key pissed

Just give it Mold Breaker as a HA! It doesn't even need to be a good ability!

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is how HMs will act in the games. Will they be entirely the same as DPP? Will there be a Pager like SM? Or will they just not exist? They will have to change a lot in regards to the locations that require HMs.
If the game is truly one-to-one, then it will be a huge letdown and I cannot see GF allowing the most beloved region be known as having a terrible remake.

Either HMs are coming back, or they're circumventing it with items or ride pagers. Field Moves are just impossible to replace in Sinnoh.

On the other hand, it definitely won't be as bad if the "PC anywhere" function is added. Just get Bibarel in and out real quick. No need to save a lot of data either.

 

[Kurona]

It ain’t a week on orange islands without a huge argument about HGSS

 

[Worldie]

I cannot see GF allowing the most beloved region be known as having a terrible remake.

Gamer, i'm unsure what you're saying, Kanto is already at 3 remakes and they were all decent.

Oh yeah if they don’t buff regigigas I’ll be low key pissed

Why would they buff one of the best pokemon in the last couple VGC seasons again?

 

[TURBODERP]

If this is just going to be a visual upgrade with very minor QOL improvements, that's a a shame and wasted opportunity (from my POV as a player). Hope they change up some stuff with Pokemon typing, etc. (at this stage new megas seem out of the picture sadly).

 

[Siggu]

Honestly, even if it were just a visual upgrade, I'd buy it anyways.

I only played the originals through emulators. I didn't have a DS when they were released, and it was already kind of pointless to find a Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum cartridge for my 3DS (and even moreso now that its battery is inflated and I cannot find a replacement).

So it's my opportunity to have them.

 

[CTNC]

No matter what was done with Diamond/Pearl remakes, I couldn't see people not complaining. (And by that, I mean more than usual. :P) I didn't see a way to stay faithful without keeping the grid and I didn't see how they'd keep the grid with high quality graphics. Apparently, neither did Game Freak. I don't mean that in a bad way though, I like it.

The other major thing is the Sinnoh Dex. They could do the unextended Dex to avoid complaints about being "unfaithful" to the original games, but sticking to that and not using the much better Platinum Dex would suck. Seriously, they need the Platinum Dex and when I say "need" I mean, "I'm the kind of fan that goes with whatever and throws my money at Game Freak, but not doing the Platinum Dex would make me not buy Brilliant Diamond." I don't need to explain it because everyone knows about the joke that is Flint the Fire type Elite Four, but I'm still going to say it just for the sake of someone saying how bad it is. The Ice Gym Leader has 4 Pokemon. Only 3 are Ice types and she's only able to use 3 because she uses both Snover and Abomasnow. Literally every trainer in the gym either has just a a Snover or at least one Pokemon that isn't an Ice type. There's one trainer that even uses a team of Pelipper, Golduck, and Steelix! The Electric Gym Leader uses 2 Non-Electric types and Flint of the Elite Four uses every Fire type in the region, Infernape and Rapidash. That's it. Two. Including the starter. The rest of his team is Steelix because of Fire Fang, Drifblim because of Will-O-Wisp, and Lopunny because of Fire Punch.

Thankfully, Porygon-Z hints that they're using the Platinum Dex. I'm optimistic about these games even though it only took a few seconds for my first complaint, (Aww... People still have oversized heads.) but then again, I'm not asking for much. My main complaint so far that the names are kind of... boring. It's just describing the gems, not the box Pokemon. (que more arguments about HGSS about if Heart and Soul describe Ho-oh and Lugia...)


Side notes: Palkia and Dialga don't have new form, but they didn't need them unless Game Freak likes breaking Ubers.
Between no Dynamax and the art style, I think SwSh will stay the "main" games. It's going to be nice to not have to transfer all my Pokemon to a new main game.

 

[thelandlordsmm]

Between no Dynamax and the art style, I think SwSh will stay the "main" games. It's going to be nice to not have to transfer all my Pokemon to a new main game.

This is an interesting thought. I can definitely see that with how much GF and players have invested into Sword/Shield (DLCs, gameplay time, competitive metagame, Dynamax) with Sword/Shield also probably getting an update to include Pokemon from Brilliant Diamond's/Shining Pearl's dex. But I wonder if Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl will also have some sort of online competitive landscape if you'd prefer a meta without Dynamax?

 

[DragonMasterX34]

Looks like the chibi version of Let's go visually. I'm not sure why this is the route they went though in terms of visuals. I feel like if they polished SWSH's look more or just copied the look of Legends it would've been fine. Hope that Diamond & Pearl receive various upgrades like ORAS did. The Sinnoh dex is pretty bare so I hope more pokemon are obtainable in the post game just like in ORAS after you beat Groudon/Kyogre. If Dialga, Palkia, Arceus & Unown get expanded upon like the Weather Trio did in ORAS with Primal Reversions/Mega Evolution then that would heavily upgrade the games while keeping a similar experience to the originals. I don't think Giratina would get anything new since it already has an alternate form with it's Griseous Orb.

 

[Ironmage]

This is an interesting thought. I can definitely see that with how much GF and players have invested into Sword/Shield (DLCs, gameplay time, competitive metagame, Dynamax) with Sword/Shield also probably getting an update to include Pokemon from Brilliant Diamond's/Shining Pearl's dex. But I wonder if Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl will also have some sort of online competitive landscape if you'd prefer a meta without Dynamax?

If they have PvP functionality, there's going to be at least an unofficial competitive community. Would be entertaining if the removal of Dmax and tweaks to the battle timer makes it significantly better for 6v6 singles.

 

[Mega-Pokebattlerz]

I'm just glad we got Sinnoh remakes at all, tbh.

 

[Feaniix]

this game looks like fucking animal crossing or habbo

 

[Kurona]

Some have noted this NPC in the trailer -- in Gen 4 she was the NPC who gave the Gracidea to Shaymin, and was exclusive to Platinum. If not a hint at Platinum content being in in general, this at least confirms the Platinum forms are in the game.

Hide

 

[pokemon4eva]

These games suck because they forced me to change my pfp okay byeeeeeeeeee jk

First impressions, I am not sold yet. The chibi artstlye looks very cute, the characters models and the overworld gave it a very cozy retro feeling.........UNTIL you switch to the battles where it looks like 2013 all over again. Going back from an overworld to the grid system also doesn't work any favors for me, once again like Let's Go. I don't see any point in buying the game if it's going to play like the same game from 2007, but with 3DS looking battles. I don't see any improvements or new ideas in this announcement, I feel they're playing it way too safe to appeal with nostalgia, which has become a red flag lately for me with other franchises (looking at you Star Wars), including Pokemon.

Again, these are first impressions. There's much we don't know about these game yet: which mons are being programmed? is it introducing another mechanic or not? is there going to be a change in the story? is the exp share still on always? so I'll be waiting for further news and see if I can change my mind.

 

[ScraftyIsTheBest]

You know there's something that hasn't been talked about, but one thing I'm absolutely looking forward to with these remakes is the return of Contests.

I love love LOVE contests and I am eagerly ready to spend time partaking in them in these games, dressing up my Pokemon, feeding them Poffins to up their condition, and having them perform in the contests (the dancing, the showing off of moves, you know the drill). Contests are always such a treat and a fun feature to have around and they were one of my favorite parts of ORAS when I played them, so you bet I'm spending time at Hearthome for Contest performances when I do get to play BDSP. All the way to Master Rank we go! I do kind of hope we get the Platinum dance themes though, the Cool Contest Platinum theme is super cool and insane.

With the Wi-Fi of the DS being long since dead these remakes will be the main way to play Sinnoh with online interactivity now and the Underground will of course be a hell of a lot of fun like it was back then, and I am here for it.

There's so much I'm looking forward to doing here. Of course, beating Cynthia and becoming Champion prime of all, but also filling that dex, becoming Top Coordinator and achieving Master Rank in all five contests, getting that Platinum flag in the underground, and maybe trying out that Battle Tower and battling there, ofc. I'll definitely be sinking lots of time in these games when I do get them!

 

[SidTheShuckle]

Assume it right now. There's no intention of doing anything. Cero. Nothing. Nada. And they have been proving this to you for the past 7-8 years. It just hurts me to see some people blinded by Game Freak absolute lack of ambition, either because they are too young to identify or live what Pokémon was and how much potential it had, or because complaining (and with a reason) or critizing them is seeing as a hating attitude. That's why we are here. We should be expecting, at minimum, something like HG/SS. This is Pokémon, this is Switch. POKÉMON. It's not a minor franchise without resources. It's not about being a graphicwhore. It's just about having a minimal knowledge of what Pokémon should be or what you should expect from a company like Game Freak.

Oh dont get me wrong, I'm still morbid about Gamefreak's laziness. I'm no Gamefreak Apologist! I do wish they put in everything in the DP remakes if they are going to be "faithful" to the original games, and I did say I am scared that they will ruin the games just like they ruined Sword and Shield. All I'm doing is expecting for the worst and hoping for the best. Maybe I didn't elaborate on the Distortion World thing. I want it to be just like the ORAS Delta Episode but due to it being Gamefreak, I'm assuming they are going to make it DLC, since it has become a thing nowadays. Same for the Battle Frontier. In ORAS, Gamefreak did say Battle Frontier was coming, but it didn't come, which kinda made me sad. It's really now or never that they start packing content into the Sinnoh Remakes or I'm gonna be disappointed again. Sinnoh has been my favorite region and all of this news I am prepared for, so I could definitely become disappointed anyways if Gamefreak doesn't deliver. But thanks for reminding me the reality of the situation. When in doubt, I could always settle for Pokemon Legends: Arceus, but then again they would have to fix the frame-rate which is my peev.

Going back from an overworld to the grid system also doesn't work any favors for me, once again like Let's Go.

Tbf, their grid system is higher quality than their overworld system, so I'm kinda glad Gamefreak didn't butcher Diamond and Pearl with the Overworld system. Gamefreak sucks at that.

 

[TheMantyke]

Very excited! Gen 4 is the second most sentimental gen I have a tie to. Gen 2 were the first games I sunk tons of time in, but Gen 4 was what indoctrinated me into the internet at large and is a defining feature of my growing up in back high school. Spent way too much time here trading Pokemon with bad pre-RNG IVs. So happy to see a remake! Got embarrassingly excited at its reveal, even though I figured it was happening.

The art style is a bit back and forth with me, but I'm sure it'll grow on me. I really don't think they could have done something like a LGPE level aesthetic dress up with Sinnoh's way larger map on a short time frame for a 2022 release. A more economic chibi style trying to emulate the pre gen 6 look is a good solution for HD development. A little remiss it isn't as flashy as the look of all the recent games and how nice they look when they want to, but I guess that's what the entire other game is for.

I have a lot of faith in this new developer; Pokemon HOME has received so many nice QoL updates for a program that must be a nightmare to manage. They've also apparently worked on parts of or ports of a few large games, so this bodes pretty well! It doesn't seem like it's that hard to make a Pokemon game, so hopefully they put in the work and restore all of Sinnoh's niceties.

That said, a lot of Gen 4's impact at the time is kind of gone now. Back then, trading pokemon anywhere with anyone felt like a miracle to a middle schooler like me. Now, it's beyond common place. I can't help but imagine the younger kids who don't have giant nostalgic eyes for this might find things a little underwhelming if they don't toss in some more interesting flair. I'd be surprised if we don't see a few cherries added to the mix; new forms of the legendary pokemon or sinnoh formes seem pretty likely.

Very much sympathize with people a little underwhelmed with aspects of this all, but I'm super excited. Can't wait to send over a Pokemon from my OG Pearl save file to have in my team for my Shining Pearl playthrough.

 

[Scorpio]

You know there's something that hasn't been talked about, but one thing I'm absolutely looking forward to with these remakes is the return of Contests.

I love love LOVE contests and I am eagerly ready to spend time partaking in them in these games, dressing up my Pokemon, feeding them Poffins to up their condition, and having them perform in the contests (the dancing, the showing off of moves, you know the drill). Contests are always such a treat and a fun feature to have around and they were one of my favorite parts of ORAS when I played them, so you bet I'm spending time at Hearthome for Contest performances when I do get to play BDSP. All the way to Master Rank we go! I do kind of hope we get the Platinum dance themes though, the Cool Contest Platinum theme is super cool and insane.

Also, we get to see what contest categories all the new moves are. Hopefully Cute doesn’t get shafted like they did in ORAS.

For my overall opinions, I’m cautiously optimistic here. Porygon-Z is hinting at the inclusion of the Plat Dex, which is the biggest thing I was hoping for out of these.

Honestly, I mainly wanted these so I could make a couple new Sinnoh teams without wiping my DS carts.