Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl Reviews

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl is ranked in the 60th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
4.3 / 5.0
Dec 8, 2021

Pokemon fun for younger and older fans. A remake that gives the old game a fresh feel for veterans and a great way to jump into the world for younger fans.

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Dec 7, 2021

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl straddle the line between old and new by giving two beloved heirlooms a polish that avoids tarnishing treasured memories. These are buoyant, accessible RPGs for fans and newcomers alike.

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Dec 7, 2021

"Better to be safe than something else."

Review in Finnish | Read full review

8 / 10
Dec 7, 2021

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl brings back the simpler times of the series and reminds us of how significant this installment was. It has been executed well with minor bugs, but lacks any challenge as it adapts many choices newer installments made.

Review in Czech | Read full review

8.5 / 10.0
Dec 7, 2021

Well-polished remakes of games from a different time in the Pokemon franchise. + Faithful recreation of the originals that draws out their best aspects + Incredibly satisfying difficulty throughout, especially for the Elite 4 - Some bizarre decisions to bring back previously removed features

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Will Greenwald
Top Critic
Dec 7, 2021

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl remake the original Diamond and Pearl for the Nintendo Switch. They're still lengthy, fun Pokemon adventures, but not much has been added, and even the remade graphics are showing their age.

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Dec 6, 2021

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are exactly what you think of what a remake to a Pokémon game. Story unchanged, newer assets and more quality of life upgrades that make it fit in the modern era of gaming. It is still very much Pokémon.

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6.5 / 10.0
Dec 6, 2021

There was once a time where you would never struggle in your quest to be the ultimate Pokemon trainer. These feelings were often fueled by the fact that you were currently playing the biggest and boldest adventure so far. A lot has changed in 15 years that has this title feeling a little too lacklustre. The relentless pokemon battles try to distract you from the fact that the region map is rather small and offers very little to do outside of grinding up Pokemon levels. Diamond and Shining Pearl may have been great in their day but after the release of Sword and Shield and the prospect of what is to come with Arceus, this title just feels too dated outside of being a nostalgia trip for some, it falls far too short of what a fun pokemon adventure is these days.

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7 / 10
Dec 6, 2021

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl do a very good job at fulfilling their primary mission: to bring the fourth generation of Pokémon to the contemporary age. They should have gone further, though, as the lack of creative freedom and clinging to the original formulae happen at the expense of adding new elements. This is not to say that this effort is not a great addition to the Nintendo Switch catalogue, far from that - what made the original games fantastic is still here and there are indeed improvements to some of the original mechanics, but the approach followed was perhaps a tad too conservative for what's expected of a Pokémon remake.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

7 / 10.0
Dec 4, 2021

In the end, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl are remakes which are bound to pass without impact. They do a fine job at bringing the fourth generation of Pokémon into a new era, but fall short when it comes to being the definitive version of Sinnoh. It's fine that it's a faithful recreation, but I wish ILCA had gone the extra mile by daring to add things we saw in Platinum. After all, it's not a good thing that a remake leave us yearning for things that a 2009 game did.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

GameMAG
Top Critic
6 / 10
Dec 3, 2021

With Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Pokémon Shining Pearl the fourth generation of pocket monsters received the most boring and uninspired remake in the history of Pokémon franchise. And this is a big shame given the cult status of Sinnoh region.

Review in Russian | Read full review

Dec 2, 2021

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are remakes of good games, with some excellent quality of life changes. But Nintendo has applied those changes inconsistently throughout.

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7 / 10.0
Dec 2, 2021

When those bugs end up being the best way to prepare for the aforementioned battle tower and make up for the lack of QOL features, that’s even more silly, and sadly, does ultimately lead to these remakes not feeling nearly as Shining as they could have been, despite the amount of love and polish in other areas of the game that’ll definitely make these my preferred method of replaying Sinnoh for years to come. Still, I couldn’t help but also wish these just got the extra polish they desperately needed.

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7.5 / 10.0
Dec 2, 2021

These remakes of DS-era classics offer another round of Pok'mon catching, but its gameplays feels a bit burned out.

Review in Slovak | Read full review

7.8 / 10.0
Dec 1, 2021

The only real downside to these remakes is that anything that used the touch screen in the originals feels like an afterthought here. They're still the same amazing, if a little formulaic, Pokémon games they were back in the day. And we may not be the same people we were back then, but we can at least remember how it felt when we first visited Sinnoh as we make our return today.

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No Recommendation / Blank
Nov 30, 2021

For all the flack Game Freak gets nowadays, it’s hard not to say that ILCA’s Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl can feel like a plunge backward when compared to the franchise’s prior nostalgic re-outings.

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4 / 5.0
Nov 30, 2021

Pokémon Shining Pearl may not be the perfect remake, but it does a pretty good job of bringing the Sinnoh region to a new generation. The variety of content and postgame experience go a long way in making this feel like a fully-fleshed out game, even with the missing content. Whether you’re new to Sinnoh or a returning Trainer, I’d say you shouldn’t hesitate to check out Shining Pearl.

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7.5 / 10.0
Nov 30, 2021
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl Review video thumbnail
8 / 10.0
Nov 30, 2021

Pokémon Shiny Diamond and Shimmering Pearl has its flaws, but also its improvements. It doesn't contain much innovation, but that wasn't its intention either. It's a nostalgia trip, for better and for worse.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

70%
Nov 30, 2021

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl are extremely faithful remakes that provide a great entry point to the Sinnoh region for new players and a trip down memory lane for established fans, but a lack of new features or content will leave some players wanting more.

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