DIAMOND AND PEARL REMAKE FULL
DIAMOND AND PEARL REMAKE PORTABLE
DIAMOND AND PEARL REMAKE SERIES

Did Diamond and Pearl, and by extension Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, have too many HMs? Oh heavens yes – but the remake cleverly relegates these moves to the smartphone-like Pokétch menu, rather than making you carry a Bidoof in your party at all times to cut down trees for you. These lengthy hikes are made longer and more complex by the ways in which their design incorporates puzzle-solving moves (HMs) like Rock Climb, Surf, Defog, and so forth. Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl seem meatier for it, too, landing at around 40 hours if you’re at least dabbling in everything you come across, and longer if you dig in.

DIAMOND AND PEARL REMAKE SERIES

As an old geezer in Pokémon terms, I’ve missed these gauntlets ever since the series phased them out in favor of shorter stretches, fewer distractions, and more healing breaks.

DIAMOND AND PEARL REMAKE FULL

Its story takes its time in a way the series has largely forgotten, sending you through personable little hamlets with smaller attractions and no gyms, as well as long, winding routes full of trainer battles that will have your Pokémon gulping potion after potion before you reach the next story destination.

The fourth generation of Pokémon is stuffed with things to do, and so too then is Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. That may sound rather disappointing on paper, but in practice it’s just dang nice to revisit a simpler time in the Pokémon world without the 900-something Pokémon to keep track of or a bunch of weird, special mechanics – especially because it turns out that what the original Diamond and Pearl lack in modern complexity, they more than make up for in depth. Read the full Pokemon Diamond & PEarl review.

DIAMOND AND PEARL REMAKE PORTABLE

The gameplay holds up incredibly well a decade later, but we're still looking like a 10-year-old portable game here. 8-bit limitations drove the game's original style, but now that the limits are no longer there it's a little bit of a letdown that Game Freaks played the whole Pokémon production conservatively instead of pushing something more epic. Sure, there are elements going on here that couldn't be done on the Game Boy Advance, but it's hard to argue that the game looks and sounds a heck of a lot like the past portable versions. The developers more capitalize on the system's capabilities in function and interface rather than visual and audio presentation. And the touch screen functions of the Nintendo DS help move things faster and easier with simple navigation menus. What We Said About Pokémon Diamond and PearlĪfter ten years of Game Boy Pokémon catching and battling, the core game mechanic still holds up as an addictive game design - tons of strategic depth and gameplay that's incredibly rewarding it's one of those games that offers an enormous sense of accomplishment for even the littlest things performed.

There are no earth-shattering surprises, even after you beat the Elite Four and unlock the National Dex, and for the time being the Pokémon roster is limited to just the Pokémon that were available in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum back in the day, so don’t expect newer favorites like Corviknight, Wooloo, or Toxtricity. Battling Down Memory Laneīrilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl tell the same story of a kid going on an adventure to catalog monsters before accidentally becoming the strongest fighter in the region and taking down an overt death cult with weird hair – you know, standard Pokémon stuff. Fortunately, Diamond and Pearl were pretty darn good games to begin with. Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are, in almost every respect, meticulously faithful. It’s admittedly hard to look at Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl and not imagine that Game Freak and The Pokémon Company weren’t leaning forward in the back seat, frantically yelling directions. In its marketing materials, we were promised a “faithful remake” of 2006’s Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, and by Arceus, that’s what we got.

Diamond and pearl remake