“When one life meets another, something new is born.” - Sinnoh Champion Cynthia
No matter how long I’ve been doing this, that line has left a large impact on me as a fan. Now that Sinnoh has come back in a big way, let’s take a look at Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl; six months since their initial release.
Before I get too into this, I will address the Donphan in the room right off- I personally am fine with the visual presentation they’ve gone with. Though they easily could have brought these remakes in line with Let’s Go, Sword and Shield and now Legends Arceus, I actually like how they handled the graphic design of these games. I have long advocated for the value of stylized visuals; and it was never going to be a problem for me. After all, Minecraft is the current best-selling single game across all platforms and has deliberately-cartoonish graphics.
On that note, while I’ve often been skeptical of the idea of farming the main series out to other developers (let’s just say for every Sonic Mania that’s come from it, there’s a Rise of Lyric); series newcomers ILCA, inc (Nier: Automata, Yakuza Zero, Metal Gear Rising Revengeance) were definitely able to do a good job all things considered. While Game Freak clearly needed all hands on deck for Legends Arceus and the upcoming Scarlet and Violet, they definitely kept watch over them to make sure of what they could do, so let’s begin.
Following the pattern of other recent titles from Generation VI onward, you get to customize your avatar’s appearance as well as name. I went with my usual hair color, eye color and skin tone on my avatar; who I named Ben in BD and Sean in SP. I named my rival Dan in BD and Mike in SP, and yes, he does still want to fine you and run off everywhere he goes.
Also, I’m going to let you all know something- though I did play the originals when they came out; the only Sinnoh title I owned growing up was Platinum, so most of this is going to be new experiences I’m detailing. Thought that would be important before I continue, and we’ll come back to this over the course of the review.
I started with Turtwig in BD (named him Gamera), and Piplup in SP (named her Elsa). After returning the suitcase to Professor Rowan, you are then assigned to help him in his research alongside his aide Dawn. The following gameplay and story experience is as advertised- a faithful remake of the original Diamond and Pearl.
Before I get into the real meat of this content, I will address the pragmatic changes made to the gameplay due to the different design of the console. I do like how the Hidden Machines are an app in the Pokétch this time (more on that later), and how making Poffins took influence from the curry minigames in Galar. I also reiterate that I don’t mind the XP share being baked into the progression here, much as I didn’t in Generation VIII. As I will get into, it actually doesn’t make the games easier as one might think.
One take I kind of have to scoff at is why these games didn’t include stuff from Platinum. To which I would respond, when was that ever going to be the case? Barring any potential “Glittering Platinum” update, that critique doesn’t make much sense to me.
I will say this: I do like the bonuses I have from the other games I played; along with other ones I claimed before starting to write this review. I got Mew and Jirachi from the other games I played; and I really love how Oak’s Letter was used to claim Shaymin like in the original games.
Passing through Jubilife City, my first gym battle was with Roark in Oreburgh City. A miner using rock-types, his ace is the fossilized Cranidos, and you get the Coal Badge for winning against him. He also grants you access to the Grand Underground after that, and I’ll talk about that more in the gameplay section of the review.
The second gym battle was with Gardenia in Eterna City. She’s every bit as joyfully eccentric as ever, and I had to catch a Houndour in the Grand Underground to help win the battle. Staravia, Dustox and Beautifly also came in handy; and I ended up winning the Forest Badge.
This section also leads to the first encounter with Team Galactic, who still have uniforms that wouldn’t be out of place in old science fiction films.
In their hideout, your first encounter is with their admin Commander Jupiter; and I will talk more about their plan as I go on.
Reaching Veilstone City, one new feature I do like is the Metronome Style Shop. On top of replacing the Game Corner from the originals; the place sells outfits to customize your avatar with. My personal favorites are the Platinum style that I got as a bit of bonus content, and the Cyber Style. I certainly hope this trend of customization continues; since I have mixed feelings to the uniforms in Generation IX.
The third gym battle was with Maylene- she was as tough as I remember; though the actual battle wasn’t the biggest difficulty I faced. That honor goes to solving the door puzzle, especially before the hot fix came out to correct a soft locking problem (I got locked out of the gym, others unfortunately got locked in). Winning against her gets the Cobble Badge in return, and before you leave; you also have to breakup another Team Galactic hideout.
Heading south, the fourth gym is in Pastoria City; where you battle Crasher Wake. I had less trouble in BD than SP, but again; my real challenge was solving the puzzle to reach him. He gives the Fen Badge in return; and there’s the halfway point of the gym challenge!
Hearthome City is not only the home of the fifth gym battle with Fantina, but also the Contest Hall! I was wondering how the Super Contest Show would fare, and I rather like the rhythm-game approach they took. It’s no Guitar Hero or Rock Band; but it reminds me a lot of the Hatsune Miku games if you ever played those. I’ll talk more in the gameplay section of the review.
I also went by the Valley Windworks as one of the other side quests I did before my next gym battle; where I had my first encounter with Commander Mars. I also had missions with Cheryl and Marley, both characters I really like. My personal favorite was with Riley at Iron Island, where I got a Riolu egg for my efforts.
Hatching the eggs took a while, but the Riolu was a major help in the remainder of the game’s main quest. Named mine Sir Aaron in BD and Max in SP. This brings me to the sixth gym battle in Canaleve City against Byron. He is Roark’s father, and a steel-type specialist.
Heading into the mountains, I go to Snowpoint City; which has the location of both my seventh gym battle with ice-type leader Candice and a fight with Galactic admin Saturn. In the case of the former, it was another gym that had to be given a hot fix to prevent soft locking. I was fortunate enough to not encounter that problem; since I mostly used the D-Pad for traversal. With the latter, this is the last major fight before Team Galactic and their leader, Cyrus set their plan in motion.
With the Relic Badge, Mine Badge and Icicle Badge in my possession; there are two remaining challenges before the Sinnoh League- to stop Cyrus at the Spear Pillar and to fight my eighth and final gym battle against Volkner in Sunnyshore City. Let’s talk about the Spear Pillar first.
To get there, Uxie, Azelf and Mespirit are needed to activate the Red Chain. There, you face off against Cyrus and catch the respective legendary of each game: Dialga and Palkia. Even after all these years, the experience of completing those is still satisfying.
Speaking of which, there’s the battle against Volkner. The stairs puzzle is one challenge that is about on par with the final gym battle itself. The battle was a bit easier in BD than SP; but it’s still more than a worthy final battle. It also helps snap Volkner out of his funk, reinvigorating his joy in battle in the process. He gives the eighth and final badge as a reward, the Beacon Badge. There’s even an appearance from Jasmine before you head to the Sinnoh League.
After going through Victory Road, I arrived at the Sinnoh League. My first battle was with Aaron, a bug-type master. He’s never been the most difficult one for me, though I’ll admit the new move pools threw a curveball at me as a longtime fan.
Second on the ladder is the ground-type specialist Bertha. Even with the starters I chose; she’s definitely not to be underestimated. Her Hippowdon is definitely what you want to watch out for.
Third is Flint, who has an afro as red-hot as his mastery of fire-types. His ace is Infernape, but I’d also recommend prepping counters for his Steelix, Lopunny and Drifloon.
Fourth, before the Champion is Lucian, a master of psychic types. Even with the many changes there have been to the core game balance; his Bronzong is not to be underestimated.
After all that, is the final battle against Cynthia. She remains one of the toughest champions of any iteration of the franchise, even with fairy types as a dragon countermeasure. It took me two tries in BD, but I was able to get through on just one in SP. Though I couldn’t quite get 100% completion, I did unlock the National Dex before this review; so now I can wrap up the story section.
Let’s talk about the gameplay now that I’ve covered the story. I can assure you it’s far from a cakewalk. Even with the new types and balance changes made since the original games; the Sinnoh League and Battle Resort still rank among the toughest challenges in the franchise after more than a decade. I talked about this when I addressed Generation VIII, but I still don’t have an issue with XP Share as someone who’s played other RPGs with similar progression systems. It’s also the only time that escort missions were actually worth playing, since the ones I’m escorting can hold their own as opposed to having AI equivalent to a Roomba ridden by a cat. I insinuated the redesigned Poffin mini game would be more like the curry making in Galar; and I wasn’t that far off. Controls and UI are very well-suited to the new console, and I’m also liking the new online systems. Best of all, it no longer takes ages to save the game after using the PC. I personally would have cut the encounter with Mindy (made sure to avoid that), but that’s just me. Time to wrap this up.
That’s Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl- as the latest remakes of previous games in the series; I think they did an overall good job with preserving the experience for people like me who are glad to have any Sinnoh remake at all; and for newcomers who didn’t play the originals.
Though ILCA had quite the task on their hands, I am glad to say they aced the assignment they were handed. They were given a whole lot of recognizable ingredients and made a more than satisfying meal out of it. It’s the difference between preparing the dish with a hint of spice and dousing it in sauce that makes what you’re eating indistinguishable.
Even though these remakes may not have been my favorite games of the last year, they’re definitely on the top 10 list. Thank you for letting me share this with you all, and I will see you in late July when I talk about Pokémon Legends Arceus six months later.
Take care, everyone.
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