Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl Reviews
As ILCA’s first project for The Pokémon Company, this is a solid showcase of their skills! The new additions and changes to this version are definite improvements, even if it means a large amount of your journey will be an easy jaunt across the Sinnoh region. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl is a faithful remake of the original game that will surely be a nostalgic trip down memory lane for many of you! So if you’ve either never played the original version or want to relive your time with it, this is an easy recommendation. However, if you’re not a fan of the Pokémon franchise, this game won’t change your outlook, as it plays too safe and doesn’t take too many risks to the established formula.
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl do the bare minimum to justify their current release. No doubt they add some new features and quality of life elements missing from the originals, but some of these are poorly implemented and many of the problems in the base games remain untouched. Without a doubt it's a good game and another good adventure in this ever fascinating universe, but we expected more from the remake of one of the most popular generations of Pokémon.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
It's a 'remake' of the 4th generation Pokémon games - often called the masterpiece of the series. But I think this is more of a 'remaster'. Although graphics and convenience functions were improved, many of problems from the original were intactly ported rather than fixed. Besides, it is a full-price title. I doubt that the developers really loves Pokémon. It was an important moment to build up Pokémon franchise's era to new heights again, but this work was released as a spin-off which even fans of the franchise are hard to like. It's a shame.
Review in Korean | Read full review
Pokémon Shining Pearl was a nice way to revisit the Sinnoh region, and would be a great introduction to anyone new to the Pokémon series. For any returning players, the lack of what could be considered a “Legacy Mode,” letting players turn off the full party XP share, can take away from the “challenge” of the game. All around it was plenty enjoyable and definitely made more for fans who want to continue their adventure post-game and hunt shiny Pokémon.
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.
Pokémon Shining Pearl effortlessly captures the essence of the classic handheld titles. And while there is plenty of new content and Pokémon to discover, it can’t help but seem stuck in the past somewhat. Frequent random encounters, a bland story structure and a low level of difficulty can quickly drag down the experience.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are therefore slightly too faithful to the source remasters/remakes. They bring back the older game’s stories and modernize them for a nostalgic hardcore fanbase.
Although highly requested and competently made, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl prove the franchise is in serious need of a new vision. This faithful remake fails to interest or excite for a majority of the 40-hour campaign.
If you haven’t experienced Pokemon Diamond or Pearl yet and don’t have access to Platinum, then the Gen 4 remakes on Switch might be worth exploring. Sinnoh has its own charm to it, and completionists will likely enjoy the endgame that is Grand Underground collecting. I just hope that when the time comes to remake Black and White, whatever team handles it is a lot less conservative.
What we have here is a very similar, yet different, version of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl in high definition on Switch, but it’s not definitively the best version to play today, as was the case with FireRed/LeafGreen, HeartGold/SoulSilver and Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby when they launched. While it’s not a stunningly brilliant or shining remake, it is a very faithful one that plays it safe and is a welcome return to Sinnoh for those with fond memories of visiting on the DS — but I’m more excited to see what’s new in the region with Pokémon Legends Arceus.
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.
A cheap-looking and unambitious remake of a generic Pokémon entry that seemed bereft of new ideas in 2006, let alone now.
Overall, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are perfectly decent Pokémon games, but feel like a significant step back when compared to newer titles and the quality of previous Pokémon remakes. It relies too heavily on the Pokémon formula always providing a decent game, but doesn't bring much else to the table.
The new remakes of Pokémon's 2007 classics are faithful to a fault, but left us wondering why the creators have seen fit to remake them
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
Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl struggle on both these counts, meaning they can only really be recommended to die-hard fans of the originals. Luckily for any newer fans of the series, there are plenty of other, much better, Pokémon games to dig into.
While some of the slower elements of the original games have been fixed, and The Grand Underground makes up for the comparatively weak Pokédex, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl's new art style and a few other stumbles make this pair of games a somewhat disappointing retread of Generation 4. They're also very clearly in the shadow of Pokemon Legends: Arceus, the upcoming open-world-like Pokemon game that has fans hoping it can take the series in exciting new directions beyond 20-year-old mechanics. If the remit of these remakes was to remain faithful to the original Gen 4 pair, we wish they'd also stuck to the pixel-art aesthetic. Aside from The Grand Underground – and the connectivity with the current games in the series – there's very little reason to play Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl over your original DS copies.
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.
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.