Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl Reviews
As far as what a remake/remaster should accomplish, it's hard to view Brilliant Diamond as anything short of an absolute failure.
After twenty-five years, Pokémon needs to innovate a lot more, even if it is a remake.
None of the balancing issues are fixed, the backtracking is still as much of a slog as ever, and the roster of Pokémon is far from impressive.
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.
"Better to be safe than something else."
Review in Finnish | Read full review
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond works better as a reminder of how far Pokemon games have come.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
A cheap-looking and unambitious remake of a generic Pokémon entry that seemed bereft of new ideas in 2006, let alone now.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.