Nov24

First Impressions: Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl - The less things change, the more they stay the same

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Sinnoh confirmed! So clamoured the memes ever since the release of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, and on February 25th this year the speculation was made a reality with the announcement that Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl (BDSP) were in the works. BDSP were unique from the onset; these are the first main series Pokémon titles to be developed by a studio other than Game Freak, namely ILCA, a distinction that sent fan speculation off the charts regarding not only these games, but the future of the franchise.

Full disclaimer: this short-ish first impressions review was always going to be highly subjective (a full review of any main series title so soon after release would be a Herculean effort), and is heavily predicated on prior experience of the DS titles. By many accounts, those players getting stuck into the Sinnoh region for the first time are having a great time of it, and this should come as little surprise - Pokémon's core gameplay has always been rock-solid and Diamond and Pearl are remembered fondly enough as very typical playthroughs.

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It's hard to discuss BDSP without reference to other remake titles in the series (we've done so already, in fact), and the shrinking visual and gameplay differences between said remakes and the original games. There's a lightyear of distance between Red and its GBA counterpart, a similar gap between Gold and HeartGold, and a smaller leap between Ruby and the Omega remake. With BDSP the difference is the smallest it's ever been, and it's hard to apportion too much blame for this - Gen IV introduced many key battle mechanics that have nary been tweaked since, such as the Physical and Special split between moves of the same type, and also brought items, moves and Abilities that remain popular staples to this day.

One of the most obvious ways in which remakes revamp their predecessor titles is through graphical upgrades. BDSP's stylised chibi art style was the subject of much debate in the game's preceding media campaign, and for the most part it works well enough with a few truly stand-out textures; this is probably the best ocean we've yet seen in a mainstream title. Furthermore, though the toddler-like character models stray headlong into the uncanny valley at a closer distance, for Yours Truly they're reasonably charming when simply navigating the map.

While this lick of paint is pleasant, it's not transformative in the way that FireRed and HeartGold were (though in fairness, this again owes much to the fact that Diamond and Pearl's bright and colourful style was well-realised the first time around). However, where veteran players will notice a significant upgrade is in battle itself. BDSP has a wide variety of attractive backdrops to bring turn-based combat to life and battling Hikers as Mount Coronet looms large in the background proved a surprisingly memorable experience. The Trainers themselves also boast more character during matches, and seeing them flail in response to a loss is endearing every time. Similarly heartwarming are the well-animated follower Pokémon attained after visiting Amity Square in Hearthome City, even if they struggle to keep pace with the player at times.

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In addition, there's a small number of quality-of-life improvements scattered around. Players no longer need to dedicate a swathe of their party's moveslots to HM moves, with wild Pokémon instead answering the call to remove obstacles (admittedly, without any reference to the player's chosen partners at all, this can make progression feel somewhat impersonal at times). It's also much easier to keep track of which trees have been slathered with Honey thanks to a new Town Map function, and as per the other Switch titles, the player can switch up their team from any location without the need for a PC. Much of this is handy, but again, most of it doesn't reflect a significant shake-up of the existing formula; very few of these inclusions solve problems that were truly deal-breakers the first time Gen IV entered the scene.

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Of the handful of outright new features to be introduced in BDSP, the Grand Underground is by some way the most impressive, and certainly lives up to the title; it is huge. It's beautiful, too; many of the new miniature biomes - ranging from bubbling lava pits to toxic swamps to decrepit desert ruins - ooze visual panache. The most notable feature of this teeming subterranean world, though, are the Pokémon that can be found there, granting the player access to a bevy of potential partners far earlier than they can normally be encountered in Sinnoh. Picking up a powerful species ahead of time, including the likes of Houndoom and the Rhyhorn family, can dramatically shift how a player interacts with the challenges presented to them in the course of their playthrough. Though the Grand Underground is not without a handful of irritants, particularly the ease with which the player can blunder into the corners of the scenery as Bidoof bear down upon them at half the speed of sound, it's very clear that swathes of attention and innovation were given over here.

Unfortunately, this does little to change the Pokémon that the player will encounter in the overworld, whether in the wild or on AI teams, and it's here that the game once again suffers from its close relationship to the source material. The inhabitants of the grass in Sinnoh's winding terrain change disappointingly little from route to route, and the player will quickly become familiar with AI teams packed with mild variations on Geodude, Staravia and Ponyta. This is admittedly a subjective gripe, but one that was voiced by many players at the time of Diamond and Pearl's initial release, too - and one that Platinum did much to fix. The lack of the original third version's features more generally have been widely bemoaned, and though the desire to retain a distinction between the two versions is understandable it once again feels a little mean-spirited that the cherished Battle Frontier is absent.

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Much of the above is par for the course - a pleasant new feature here, a missed opportunity there, all fit to be chalked up to the authentic judgement of any team seeking to recreate a much-loved game. So far, so normal. However, if you're exposed to almost any degree of fan reaction to these games, it likely won't have escaped your attention that these are easily the most buggy and unpolished mainline Pokémon titles we've seen in some time. Head over to Twitter and you'll swiftly find videos of players quite accidentally skipping whole Gym challenges or teleporting into different areas of the map. Many of these bugs are so minor and ridiculous in their effects that they verge on being oddly charming, but there's also a handful of credibly feasible softlocks that threaten to end the player's playthrough outright, should they fall foul of the autosave feature (we advise disabling said feature, and/or including a Pokémon with Teleport on your team). Even those with no material impact on gameplay can threaten immersion, yanking the Trainer out of the Pokémon world and reminding them that they're playing a constructed product.

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This lack of polish also re-contextualises those curious decisions that appear to have been made during development - is the exclusion of some of Platinum’s features born of a specific desire to reflect the original Diamond and Pearl experience, or is it because it was simply easier to leave them out? Does the Pokétch screen look distractingly retro out of meaningful intention, or because it would have taken too much effort to give it a lick of paint? As a rule of thumb it's safer to assume deliberate artistic choice when these things crop up, but when a game has this many glitches - a game that's a remake, no less - it's hard not to dwell on other, less generous explanations.

In the final weighting then, it's once again tough to make a single, easy recommendation to a general audience. There is enjoyment to be had here and plenty of it, especially for Sinnoh first-timers. Those who have never set foot on Mt Coronet before will likely find this to be an engaging and satisfying Pokémon adventure, even if some of the species they battle become a little repetitive. For those familiar with Diamond and Pearl, it's a far tougher call; a handful of welcome gameplay additions and visual upgrades may not outweigh the fact that so much of this experience simply is Diamond and Pearl, and a buggy one at that. At a lower price point, BDSP might have been a cheap and cheerful trip down a nostalgic road. At full price for a typical Switch title, you have to be pretty sure you really like Sinnoh before you fork out.
WyndonCalling Written by WyndonCalling

Comments

There Is No Arceus
as someone who no longer has a working copy of the gen 4 games, i feel that this is a welcome return to the sinnoh region, as well as a welcome return to a more simplistic way of telling a story. i should add that i've only just beaten Maylene, so i'm not very far into the game yet. i do miss the platinum additions to the dex and adding them in the underground is not enough imo, but that's not enough to keep me from having a good time.
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