Review of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl: is platinum still missing?

Our Verdict

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl is a fun adventure, and the Grand Underground is bound to keep you busy. However, it fails to reach the heights of Pokémon Platinum, with a limited Pokédex that excludes several great Pokémon unnecessarily

The Sinnoh area is finally revisited for trainers globally in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. Since the games' first announcement earlier this year, we have been counting down the days. I believe I can speak for everyone at SmartRead, maybe even trainers worldwide. When a new Pokémon is in the works, there's always cause for celebration—even if it means doing a remake or going back to the past.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are mostly meticulously designed homages of the original games that Nintendo published in 2006 for the Nintendo DS. But the new art style is what you notice right away as a change. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl use pixelated visuals, as is typical with previous Pokémon games, although the most recent entries in the genre use chibi art.

The new visuals could be pleasing to some. I'm not one of them, however. Admittedly, the games are charming, and there's nothing particularly wrong with the chibi visual style. However, I think the old pixelated design is preferable, but maybe it's just the nostalgic child in me craving something that the new graphics can't satisfy.

It's time to embrace your inner spelunker since The Underground, now known as Grand Underground, had a little makeover as well. It's located under the Sinnoh area, much like the original games, and has a variety of spots and tunnels where you may go mining. Here below are spheres that function as a kind of money. When you have enough, you may exchange them for TMs.

My favorite feature of the Grand Underground, however, is the Pokémon that can be discovered there. No, I'm not referring to the beaver—Bidoof is really a mouse, it turns out. Rather, I am referring to the variety of animals that may be found outside of the Sinnoh Pokédex. To be quite honest, the absence of fire-types in the original Diamond and Pearl is one of my main complaints. Sincerely, you weren't able to get many Pokémon that might blow up the whole planet if you didn't begin the game with Chimchar.

Luckily, the Grand Underground solves that issue, which is fortunate for me since I'm not one to play around. A couple fire-types that aren't in the 2006 games were encountered by me when exploring the Grand Underground, and I think I let out a little shriek when Houndoom crashed into me. It warms my heart to know that one of my favorite hellraisers of all time will be looking out for me in Sinnoh.

However, there are still some problems I'm having with Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl's Pokédex. You may wonder why, and I might mention generation four's lackluster performance at another time, but it sounds like a discussion best had over a game of battle. The lack of the extra monsters from Pokémon Platinum is the real problem I have with this. You know, the two games combined into one enhanced version of Diamond and Pearl that Nintendo published in 2008. Why? Why were certain Pokémon excluded from the next games? As a matter of fact, I would contend that Platinum excels in a number of areas.

First off, Platinum introduces a scientist who works for the organization and a fourth Team Galactic captain, among other story alterations. Not to mention the supplementary sequences that give the plot even more depth. Additionally, it let you to capture Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina, the three eponymous Pokémon. Why can't I have all three in a single game once again in 2021? Granted, this is a little matter, but why was Platinum, its narrative, and its extra Pokémon overlooked when Game Freak executed it so flawlessly? However, I will acknowledge that Shining Pearl benefits from having Zapdos, Moltress, and Articuno included. The same is true with introducing Entei, Suicune, and Raikou to Brilliant Diamond. The masters of the aforementioned legendary trios are also available: Lugia and Ho-oh.

Although it doesn't seem like I'm loving Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl so far, I am. There are many aspects of these games that I find enjoyable. All that keeps them interesting for me is that they need me to battle, evolve, and capture animals.

It's nice to explore Sinnoh once again. Even though I'm not a huge fan of many of the critters in the area, I had forgotten how much I liked it. It's fantastic just to be forming connections with the people I do choose to fight beside. To be quite honest, I was a bit taken aback when Golbat changed to purple, sprouted wings on its feet, and adopted the name Crobat. This was because certain Pokémon need friendship in order to develop.

Not that I was expecting to encounter any performance issues, but the game works without a hitch. Traveling around the globe will be much more enjoyable as a result, and taking in the scenery will be much simpler without having to squint at the screen. Moreover, there has never been a better time to enjoy the Pokémon combat animations. As long as my creature prevails, I like seeing the tiny ones take each other down. If not, I grieve because my imaginary infants suffered harm.

The creation of Ramanas Park is one thing I do have to give Shining Pearl and Brilliant Diamond credit for. This end-game location lets you really test your Pokémon mastery as, as you will discover, it is home to the fabled birds from Shining Pearl and the creatures from Brilliant Diamond. Although I haven't been to this region yet, I will go there as soon as I can to fulfill a boyhood ambition of mine: to be able to control Pokémon like Zapdos, Articuno, Moltres, and Lugia. Thank you, Pokémon 2000.

So, are Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl worth your time investment? It is, of course. The games have everything a creature collecting game could ask for, plus they're enjoyable for taking a trip down memory lane in Sinnoh. It's not the greatest version of this generation, however. Pokémon Platinum still holds that title.