Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl Reviews
Brilliant Diamond lacks ambition and will frustrate fans of Pokémon Platinum more than it pleases. Still, an extremely faithful classic Pokémon remake might be just what we need before Game Freak wildly changes up the formula with 2022’s Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl honor the roots of the source material and elevate it in many ways. Marking a very welcome return to top-down aesthetics, the remakes rescue some of what made Pokémon special a few years ago. Problems that can already be considered structural in the series continue to exist, but hinder them in a less glaring way than in other more recent titles. It's worth remembering Sinnoh on Nintendo Switch and trying to catch all the little monsters again.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl refreshes the setting, eliminates some of the tiring elements, expands well-known systems, but... The time will come for revolutions. It's a nice, though far too easy, production.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Pokémon brilliant diamond and shining pearl presented a wonderful and beautiful improved version with a wonderful world with a three-dimensional drawing style. It was a very beautiful addition to the game. Its biggest drawback was the presence of technical problems in it, but this did not prevent me from enjoying it. It gave me a very nice experience being a fan of Pokémon games and the JRPG genre
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Pokémon is back with two fantastic remakes that are sure to act as comfort food for newer and older fans alike.
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are fine enough remakes for reliving some memories and sharing them with the next generation. But beneath the glow of nostalgia, there's a carelessness about their build that makes them fall short of expectations.
Pokemon: Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl bring Generation IV to Switch, warts and all - along with a new set of strengths and weaknesses.
Nintendo, Game Freak, and The Pokemon Company have made some odd decisions with pricing their products lately. Unfortunately, for many fans, these remakes were a bad omen that these trends will continue. The series has been criticized as being stagnate, and even going backward with things like Dexit. New and casual players likely won’t notice or care that the quality of the games has gone down with the last couple of releases. However, longtime fans are feeling increasingly disappointed, and Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have done nothing to assuage that.
Pokemon Shining Pearl and Brilliant Diamond, despite ignoring some of the original's issues, is a great remake that runs remarkably well and sports excellent visuals.
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearle are a remake of the DS games from 2006. The game has had a major visual upgrade and feels like new. The controls are still simple and self-explanatory. It is also wonderfully nostalgic for the old fan and it will also know how to entertain the newcomers. There is certainly no lack of fun. Diamond & Pearle only differ in a few exclusively findable Pokémon and does exactly what you can expect from a Pokémon game.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are no revolutions, nor do they alter the idea behind the originals. They, however, have managed to give me lots of fun. Maybe it’s the sentiment, or, maybe, this old-school DS gameplay is just better for me? I recommend Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl to all newcomers wanting to start their adventure in this vast world.
Review in Polish | Read full review
As it stands, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are faithful remakes in terms of storyline and post-content material. However, there are real issues here with the game’s level balancing, pared down content and overall user experience that does not go unnoticed. There’s no denying that these games are still enjoyable, especially for youngsters that haven’t experienced the originals. But for veterans yearning for a polished remake, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are a beautiful disaster.
Really, that’s the question at the core of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl’s identity. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a necessary game, as it doesn’t change things up in a meaningful way. With Legends on the horizon, it might be tempting to skip it all together. What it is is a very familiar and self contained game. With all the interconnectedness of Pokémon GO, Sword and Shield, and Pokémon Home; it’s nice to have something that feels removed and “complete” on its own. That might take a little cognitive adjustment on what “complete” means when it comes to Pokémon, but for me personally I never felt like BDSP was missing anything essential.
15 years later the remake of Diamond e Pearl are good entries for a new generation of players, but it lacks important features to most dedicated players of the franchise.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
If you’re a newcomer or an existing Gen 4 fan, you’ll still have plenty of fun with Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. There are noticeable quality-of-life improvements, the Grand Underground is enjoyable, battling against friends is always a joy and there remains an entertaining story. Personally, I just think there’s room for improvement.
As far as what a remake/remaster should accomplish, it's hard to view Brilliant Diamond as anything short of an absolute failure.
Despite some rough edges, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are the best of modern and classic Pokemon.
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.
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