Pokemon Brilliant Diamond

 Switch
User Score
5.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 917 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 322 out of 917
  2. Mixed: 214 out of 917
  3. Negative: 381 out of 917
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  1. katieelizabeth
    Nov 20, 2021
    5
    Pokemon BDSP are not bad games, but overall I'd say this is a pretty unambitious and mediocre remake of an average game for its time that is frankly too faithful for its own good.

    In terms of graphics, the game looks completely outdated. The chibi art style is not endearing, nor does it look very good. Fortunately, the character models and pokemon look much better in battle, but all    Pokemon BDSP are not bad games, but overall I'd say this is a pretty unambitious and mediocre remake of an average game for its time that is frankly too faithful for its own good.

    In terms of graphics, the game looks completely outdated. The chibi art style is not endearing, nor does it look very good. Fortunately, the character models and pokemon look much better in battle, but all this does is make me wish they were used throughout the entire game. The in-battle models frankly look so much better than the chibi stuff.

    The environments look bland and look worse than the original pixel graphics from 2006. I wish they didn't maintain the 2D tile aesthetic - it just looks fake/outdated to me. How do several indie games manage to look better than a game produced by a 105 billion dollar company?

    While the soundtrack is an improvement over the original version on the DS, it still falls way short of the live orchestrated soundtrack from Sword and Shield. Unfortunately, it sounds like this soundtrack is entirely midi-based, lacking any real recorded instruments of any kind.

    The story isn't all that interesting either. The original script came out around the same time as Mass Effect. The script wasn't good for its time, let alone holding up in 2021. It is a missed opportunity that the developers didn't modernize/reimagine the script to become more engaging and in line with modern RPGs or the very best of its anime. I wish the gym leaders were more fleshed out and part of the story. I wish team Galactic was given a lot more depth.

    The pacing of BDSP is incredibly slow, and the game finds ways to waste your time repeatedly. Random battles are extremely outdated and are annoying, especially in caves. I am so disappointed the game did not choose to have pokemon in the overworld like the modern games.

    Eggs take forever to hatch in BDSP and do not benefit from the increased hatching time found in Sword and Shield. I spent over 9000 steps to hatch the egg given to me in Hearthome City and it just wouldn't hatch for me. I got better things to do than rotate my L-stick riding a bike until it hatches. This is such an outdated game mechanic that did not need to be implemented "faithfully" in BDSP.

    Battles are also super slow to the point of them becoming grating. Essentially, Pokemon battles aren't "show don't tell" - BDSP verbosely tells yous everything in nauseating detail. When I faint a pokemon, it should fall immediately when I hit it - it should be obvious to anyone what has happened to that Pokemon by just looking at the animation and the health bar going to 0. Instead, the game's faint animation happens many seconds after the hit, and BDSP still insists on telling you the pokemon fainted with an additional textbox too. Even FF7 did this properly on the Playstation 1! Why is everything so verbose with text dialog boxes for?

    Before each combat round, BDSP also shows a textbox saying, "Your pokemon is awaiting directions." No kidding! Does anyone seriously need this textbox??? Stuff like "It's Raining" is also equally redundant - we can see it raining on the screen! And when using a move, there's no reason its name can't be displayed at the same time as the animation too. The amount of verbose and completely unnecessary text in this game is beyond ridiculous.

    And when a battle starts, can we finally have an option to remove the Pokeball fanfare and just have all pokemon come out immediately to save time? Why does starting every random battle have to be padded with 10 seconds of animations? Can the Switch not load these battles faster?

    Then there are weird control issues in BDSP, such as the L and R buttons not working in the menus like every other modern game, which tripped me up quite a bit. The d-pad is also unfortunately assigned to walking when it should have been assigned to your 4 registered items. Why did none of the QA staff say anything?

    Ultimately, BDSP needed to completely reimagine modern Sinnoh in full 3D (similar to Sword and Shield), modernize and polish the script, and increase the quality of life and production values across the board to justify its AAA price tag. Barring that, BDSP needed to be sold for $29.99 given what we got. Essentially, BDSP is a low-budget cash grab and it should not be praised or endorsed in any way. Pokemon fans need to be vocal and reject these cash grabs. Pokemon fans need to demand better for their hard-earned money because BDSP is an embarrassment for a full AAA-priced game, and is simply not competitive with other AAA games on the market.

    If you want to go back to the past - for all its problems - then you might enjoy BDSP. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this game. BDSP's archaic and overly-verbose design just doesn't interest me anymore. I would have much rather had a modern reimagining of modern Sinnoh with immersive 3D environments, a modern engaging story, and high production values. Modern Sinnoh deserved better.    … Expand
  2. Williamey
    Nov 21, 2021
    5
    The art style looks awful, going chibi was a bad choice.
    The biggest problem with the art style is that the Pokemon isn't chibi, so they look very out of place when they follow you around or exist in the overworld. Not only do they look incredible out of place, but they are also scaled down to the size of the Player, causing a Gyarados to look like a tiny blue worm.
    The animations have    The art style looks awful, going chibi was a bad choice.
    The biggest problem with the art style is that the Pokemon isn't chibi, so they look very out of place when they follow you around or exist in the overworld. Not only do they look incredible out of place, but they are also scaled down to the size of the Player, causing a Gyarados to look like a tiny blue worm.
    The animations have no improvements, and they didn't even bother adding a jumping animation to the Pokemon, so they just go back into their Pokéball every time you jump off a ledge etc.
    The XP share can't be turned off, so your pokemon are always way too overpowered, completely removing any challenge that you might have had.
    I have played through a decent amount of the game now, and it feels to me like they have cut every corner that they could. The game feels like a lazy cash grab, and nothing more. I would rather just have the Original Platinum be re-released on the Switch, that what we got.    … Expand
  3. bulba2020think
    Jan 9, 2022
    5
    There's really not much to say about this, it's just Diamond and Pearl to a T without any of the QOF improvements added in Platinum, not much good but nothing so bad to complain about.
  4. serphim7
    Jan 16, 2022
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I didn't play the original but the game is really kind of **** Yeah, the usual Pokemon mechanics are ok but it's way too easy (except for Cynthia). Also, the rest of the game is lacklustre, garbage story (even worse than usual), crappy mechanics (HMs) and way too many Geodudes, like WTF!?

    Edit: Had an insane last battle with Cynthia. Staraptor pulled it out of the bag when all seemed lost. That is the magic of Pokemon. Game is still the works Pokemon game I ever played    … Expand
  5. SplitMind
    Nov 26, 2021
    6
    Brilliant Diamond teeters the line between yet another lazy remaster and a breath of fresh air. For me, I find that the remaster does improve the game quite a bit but is still undermined by decades old mechanics and lacking in innovation.

    The graphics are the most noticeable difference here. They may even be divisive as the heads of the characters are absurdly enlarged compared to their    Brilliant Diamond teeters the line between yet another lazy remaster and a breath of fresh air. For me, I find that the remaster does improve the game quite a bit but is still undermined by decades old mechanics and lacking in innovation.

    The graphics are the most noticeable difference here. They may even be divisive as the heads of the characters are absurdly enlarged compared to their bodies. This was jarring at first for me but I got used to it. What made me sceptical was the similarities to the models in Miitopia. Anyway, it is quite nice seeing the game on a TV screen, but where the graphics do quite suffer is in the simplicity of the designs as some pokemon such as Scyther are mostly one block of colour. Having said that, the vivid colours in some areas do stand out and the game is still immediately recognisable as Pokemon.

    The gameplay is where Pokemon struggles/refuses to innovate. The core mechanics we all know and love are here, although many grow tired of them by now, myself included. They tried with Sun and Moon to shake up the formula a bit, with S+S attempting and failing at the open-world approach. BD reverts back to the tried-and-tested linear approach, for better or worse.

    What stands out to me are the gym battles and Elite 4, in that these were often quite a difficulty spike. I remember this always being the case with Pokemon but it's a flaw of the game to find you have been raising the 'wrong' Pokemon for the Elite 4 and a real faff to raise the one you need at the last hurdle. Having said that, I give kudos because the gym leaders and Elite 4 go outside the box from the usual rock-paper-scissors elemental approach Pokemon has always taken.

    The Underground is a new addition, and a peculiar one at that. The digging for treasure aspect resembles lootboxes too much for my liking, while the overall tunnels were a bit vacant and the rooms where you meet Pokemon I always found to contain the same handfuls I've already encountered.

    The game does seem to have some end-game content, however after 20+ hours and beating the Champion I had had enough and switched off at this point, but hardcore fans could spend dozens of hours here.

    The story of BD is probably Pokemon at its weakest and most formulaic. Obviously a remaster isn't a remake, but it really does show the aging concepts as the same story format is woven throughout the entire series. You won't be surprised by what you find here.

    It may be that Pokemon is in a strange epoch. I grew up with it and the simplicity was appropriate as a child, but now I'm older it feels like the games have aged too but not developed. Perhaps Pokemon is caught in a bind between appealing to children vs long-time followers like me, so I can appreciate that but perhaps a simple solution is to release two very different games instead of almost identical ones. This is an amazing con and I don't understand how Nintendo still get away with it, so I deduct points for that always.

    Overall, this is merely yet another Pokemon experience. It's nice to dive into for nostalgia but really they could have remade the first three generations instead as they are far more memorable for me. This game does show potential for when the effort is actually put it and makes me curious if Arceus will try stepping outside the box a bit. I'd recommend waiting for that rather than buying this.    … Expand
  6. m0th
    Nov 28, 2021
    5
    I'm not writing this to contribute to review bombing, but because the game feels rushed and lacks soul. Half these reviews are about how these games are horrible and irredeemable while the other half is mindlessly praising them for the bare minimum.

    No they aren't the worst games ever but they are unfinished. After FRLG, HGSS, and ORAS, the playerbase expected more content and can you    I'm not writing this to contribute to review bombing, but because the game feels rushed and lacks soul. Half these reviews are about how these games are horrible and irredeemable while the other half is mindlessly praising them for the bare minimum.

    No they aren't the worst games ever but they are unfinished. After FRLG, HGSS, and ORAS, the playerbase expected more content and can you blame them for that? Other than nostalgia what exactly makes these remakes anything more/less than average?

    The problem is The Pokemon Company no longer prioritizes the games. Being a multimedia franchise that earns the most profit from merchandise, the games are now pumped out every three years to match up with the anime. They're now side dishes to the main course rather than the other way around.
    Add in juggling so much work they decide upon outsourcing one of the most popular generations to a company that's only used to assisting game development, and this is what happens. I don't think devs are lazy. They're all working hard and clearly trying the best they can to salvage this. It's the higher ups who are to blame for the series decline in quality.

    If these games did not have "Pokemon" attached to them they most certainly would not be reviewed this high when other monster collecting games have surpassed the minuscule amount of content, and been scored lower.    … Expand
  7. Tubey
    Nov 24, 2021
    5
    Unlike most, I don't have a problem with the chibi art style, nor do I find it particularly strange when it swaps over during battle animations to more 'normal' anime sprites. This is fairly standard fare in Japanese animation, even in gaming (Link's Awakening, Animal Crossing etc. etc.) and I think the game looks pretty good overall.

    As a faithful remaster (which it is, rather than a    Unlike most, I don't have a problem with the chibi art style, nor do I find it particularly strange when it swaps over during battle animations to more 'normal' anime sprites. This is fairly standard fare in Japanese animation, even in gaming (Link's Awakening, Animal Crossing etc. etc.) and I think the game looks pretty good overall.

    As a faithful remaster (which it is, rather than a remake in many ways), Brilliant Diamond is largely fine. Takes basically no risks, it's just the original with a coat of paint on. However, there are several glaring problems with it.

    First is the decision not to use Pokémon Platinum as the basis for this remaster - this was done for greed so they could release two versions in Diamond/Pearl instead of one, but Platinum is a series highpoint; arguably it's their greatest ever title, so to see it ignored is irritating.

    From a series veteran perspective, the second major drawback is just how much a fairly simple game in the first instance has been mechanically dumbed down. Specifically, the Experience Share system. This means every Pokémon in your party gains experience from every battle, even if they're not used. Which as an ease of use feature for younger players or those new to the series it would be fine... but it can't be turned off. At all. So if you play this 'normally', you'll be incredibly overlevelled, and you can wave goodbye to things like EV training with more than one Pokémon in your party.

    So it's just too easy throughout, and that kills the title for me. It's not a terrible game, but nor is it a masterpiece - in fact, it's bang average, hence the score. I hope Arceus is better than it, or at least more ambitious... and has a toggle switch for any Exp Share!    … Expand
  8. uhohreviewalert
    Nov 28, 2021
    5
    i love the fourth generation of pokemon. since i started with sapphire, diamond and pearl were the first new generation i was able to experience. despite the negativity within the community regarding brilliant diamond and shining pearl, i was still excited. i generally don’t care about graphics, but i thought it looked okay enough, and i would pay $100 dollars for diamond and pearl to bei love the fourth generation of pokemon. since i started with sapphire, diamond and pearl were the first new generation i was able to experience. despite the negativity within the community regarding brilliant diamond and shining pearl, i was still excited. i generally don’t care about graphics, but i thought it looked okay enough, and i would pay $100 dollars for diamond and pearl to be relevant again..

    ..but not like this.

    on some level (a really high one because always on exp share is back), i appreciate that ILCA changed basically nothing about the games. i can’t stand the terrible pokemon story and dialogue game freak always wants to shoehorn into the games, and the only thing that really bugs me about the originals (besides wasting a move slot on defog) is the slow performance, and they certainly are more optimized on switch. i’m not really sure if that’s a compliment or more like “well duh,” but beyond that not much is different. maybe even too much.

    for starters, the poketch is back and, while a little clunky to use, works well for the most part. however, it’s back down to one button for switching through apps. platinum added a back button so you didn’t have to flip through, like, thirty freaking apps just to get back to the one you accidentally skipped over. how could those drooling mobile developers nobody’s ever heard of not include such a simple and useful feature?

    the games struggle to decide between a grid based and full 360* control scheme, and they suffer a little for it. never before have i described a mainline pokemon game with the phrase “this controls bad,” but here we are. it really isn’t a big problem, but it may irk you from time to time, especially when using the bicycle.

    a few more quick positives! the updated soundtrack sounds quite nice. nothing is really re-imagined akin to what heartgold and soulsilver did for their base games, but diamond and pearl had great music to begin with and they’re done justice here. with Masuda in charge of the score, though, that isn’t really a surprise. the only track that’s seemingly missing is the wifi connection theme which, to me, is just tragic. also, the underground is pretty okay. it gets kinda old kinda fast, but it does allow you to capture pokemon outside of the sinnoh dex before you finish the game. now you can actually choose between more than, like, three fire types.

    a few quality of life improvements really help mitigate some old annoyances. HMs are, in modern pokemon fashion, no longer a problem. you can open the map and choose where to fly, talk to rocks and trees to remove them from your reality, and even defog need only be selected in the poketch. you can access your PC box from the menu, ball capsules and mystery gift are also both in the start menu, and battle screens display type effectiveness to assist new players. i realize these improvements are subjective, but they do help the games feel a bit more modern, i suppose.

    now for the big one. i can deal with all the other minor gripes, but the difficulty has been absolutely tanked. it’s that god. damn. exp share.

    game freak, and now ILCA, are hellbent on making you play the game the way they think is right. you can never disable it, so every pokemon in your party gains exp from every battle (unless they’re fainted). while this does mean you can switch up your party frequently without worrying about wasting too much exp, once you have your final team they will be overleveled so quickly you just press A to win for the rest of the game. and that’s the biggest shame, because the originals could be one of the tougher games in the series, even if you used strong pokemon.

    ultimately, the difficulty is where this game fails. this isn’t diamond and pearl anymore simply because you **** Cynthia without even looking at the screen. play platinum instead.    … Expand
  9. EasyGamerBoi
    Dec 4, 2021
    5
    These games (& Platinum) were such MASSIVE parts of my childhood that I still love Pokémon to this day, but that’s not to say they don’t try EXTREMELY hard to shake that love out of me with nearly every release this decade. These aren’t trainwrecks like Sword & Shield or LGPE, they’re quite literally the same games we played almost 20 years ago with a new coat of paint which is fine.. ButThese games (& Platinum) were such MASSIVE parts of my childhood that I still love Pokémon to this day, but that’s not to say they don’t try EXTREMELY hard to shake that love out of me with nearly every release this decade. These aren’t trainwrecks like Sword & Shield or LGPE, they’re quite literally the same games we played almost 20 years ago with a new coat of paint which is fine.. But to call these games remakes is a borderline insult, REMASTER is much more fitting but even then they really didn’t deliver in the way TPC has with the previous remakes. This is such a disappointment guys, my favorite Gen feels so.. hollow & soulless. The sad part is we all saw it coming since that abysmal reveal trailer back in February followed by a suspiciously long amount of radio silence on the game, what’s sadder is by being Gen 4 remasters they’re kinda the best Pokémon games to come out since the end of Gen 5 by default, remnants of a bygone era when TPC cared about their games. I can try to find positives.. if you liked Sinnoh then nothing changed, you’re still gonna love the region & all the Pokémon in it even though you’ll see the same ones 10 million times in the campaign. Things in Sinnoh don’t fully open up until the Post Game which is still one of the best in the series. The new OST is mostly good, a lot of hit or miss tracks thanks to a lower budget but the remixes that they got right, they KNOCKED out of the park (ex. Cynthia, Giratina, etc). Speaking of Cynthia, she’s as brutal as ever! I never had issues with her as a kid somehow (had a lot of trouble with Lucian instead) but this time she was on my NECK, I was genuinely shaking & sweating for my Pokémon’s lives. I literally can’t remember the last time I lost against an in-game trainer, it was EXHILARATING. For as heavily Pokémon uses nostalgia as a crutch for their stupid design choices, keeping everything the same here had me remembering things from playing these games in 2007 somehow! I would remember a different way to proceed through a route or a hidden item laying somewhere, all just coming to me naturally while exploring the world, I thought that was really neat. The graphics being at a smaller scale also look a lot better than they did in the sometimes hideous Sword & Shield. But for negatives we have a lot to unpack here. Firstly, this game is BUGGY as hell. It was very obviously rushed, the day 1 patch was over half the game but the level of bugginess is INEXCUSABLE from a billion dollar franchise like Pokémon. I’m talking over half the time you try to start the game from the Switch menu, you’ll get a “something went wrong” error & restart the very long wait time to get to the title screen, should I mention how many times this game has just randomly crashed in gameplay too? Despite an auto-save system, it can be wonky & not save for long stretches for some reason, leading to lost progress & anger. The chibi art style is lame too, I don’t care if that’s how it was in the original games, it was left in the past for a reason. It’s a bad sign when Cyrus is trying to destroy the universe & your immersion is shattered as it shows his tiny chibi model, expected to take any of this semi-seriously is impossible. Yes the game is still fun to play & I’d rather play it over the originals, but the general consensus around this game is that it should’ve been a PLATINUM remake, or at least have the enhancements brought by the Platinum re-release. This game is horribly unbalanced & retains so many of the asinine gameplay decisions that were weird & stupid even in 2006-7. BDSP REEKS of a lack of effort & passion, which is a blow to the gut for people like me who just watched their favorite Gen get the “who cares it’ll print money anyway” treatment that is indicative of every modern Pokémon release of the last 10 years, & I’d still defend Sun & Moon most days of the week! At this point I can’t be convinced otherwise that Pokémon is headed for a major crash, they’ll sell well regardless, but it will be tossed in with the likes of Call of Duty & other milked to the max franchises that even the developers don’t care about anymore, being crunched beyond what should be legal to deliver passionless projects year after year, & looking at Legends Arceus coming in the dump month of January… I doubt that can save it unless it completely reinvents the franchise, which we know Nintendo & TPC will probably never do until their wallets start to hurt. It’s a shame, compared to every remake we got from Pokémon before excluding LGPE, these remakes COULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH MORE like ORAS was, & we shouldn’t feel bad demanding more from a franchise that is comfortable doing less than the bare minimum. This isn’t “ungrateful” behavior, these games are not gifts. They are products. We deserve better.… Expand
  10. CloudXz
    Nov 24, 2021
    5
    This Game had good Moments but i don't know somehow i was bored a lot. I never played Gen 4 and was curious because some Peoble called it the best Generation ever. After playing it: Not even close to Gen 2.
  11. DSBM
    Dec 3, 2021
    5
    This game has huge issues.
    1. Content: The game locks content present in the original game behind a paywall in form of the GWS that you have to use GameFreak's subscription service Pokémon Home for(+Nintendo Switch Online for a total of $40/year).
    2. Far too slow: A Trainer's or wild Pokémon's introduction before battle takes about ten seconds. Every textbox in battle stops you for a    This game has huge issues.
    1. Content: The game locks content present in the original game behind a paywall in form of the GWS that you have to use GameFreak's subscription service Pokémon Home for(+Nintendo Switch Online for a total of $40/year).

    2. Far too slow: A Trainer's or wild Pokémon's introduction before battle takes about ten seconds. Every textbox in battle stops you for a whole second before you can proceed and literally every little change gets a textbox, some even get repeated (like when you use rain dance, or confuse an opponent).
    This, coupled with a way too low difficulty curve made me dread running into opponents.

    3. Difficulty: The game is so easy that I was always two levels ahead of trainers I used to be two levels under in the original, because you can't turn off the EXP-Share. I often started mashing A and looking on my phone, also because the game's so slow.
    But worst of all, it is so easy that you stop giving a sh*t about your own Pokémon and their attacks because the only thing that matters is the A-button.    … Expand
  12. Tabh88
    Nov 30, 2021
    6
    Graphics are mediocre. Not a fan of the chibi style. No major updates to the game, layout, style, mechanics. Feels a bit lacklustre. Literally hate the exp share being permanently on - cannot fathom why they didn’t make this optional, a simple on / off function would have saved this game for me. Now it feels like a drag to play as I am constantly trying keep my team under levelled to getGraphics are mediocre. Not a fan of the chibi style. No major updates to the game, layout, style, mechanics. Feels a bit lacklustre. Literally hate the exp share being permanently on - cannot fathom why they didn’t make this optional, a simple on / off function would have saved this game for me. Now it feels like a drag to play as I am constantly trying keep my team under levelled to get some challenge out of this. Pros are music is great, some gyms are still challenging and quite like the underground (however all the Pokemon are overlevelled and catch rate is really high depending on number of gym badges so can’t even get a lot of the good ones at present).

    Overall would not rush out to buy this feels like a bit of a con.    … Expand
  13. Dej_9621
    Nov 27, 2021
    5
    Es un remake que no aporta nada nuevo o innovador desde los juegos originales, además que no agregan mecánicas, objetos u otras cosas que provienen de Pokémon Platinum y que facilmente pudieron haber agregado
  14. Porter333
    Nov 26, 2021
    7
    Good Game, the collision boxes when running around are frustrating but okay once you get used to it, a good remake of the original games, plenty of Pokémon to catch, the underground is a good highlight
  15. Koulapic
    Nov 26, 2021
    7
    as a remake it is good, but it just does not live up to the standards of this gen's Pokémon
  16. OctaneNitro
    Nov 25, 2021
    5
    Diamond & Pearl were the first Pokémon games I ever played, and yet these remakes sadly left me disappointed compared to both the originals, and the even better Pokémon Platinum.

    Before discussing the pros/cons of BDSP, let's compare them to previous remakes in the franchise: Firered/Leafgreen took graphically dated GB games and gave them an appealing GBA artstyle.    Diamond & Pearl were the first Pokémon games I ever played, and yet these remakes sadly left me disappointed compared to both the originals, and the even better Pokémon Platinum.

    Before discussing the pros/cons of BDSP, let's compare them to previous remakes in the franchise:

    Firered/Leafgreen took graphically dated GB games and gave them an appealing GBA artstyle. Heartgold/Soulsilver were also visual upgrades, fixing issues in the originals (such as fleshing out Kanto), and were arguably the most packed Pokémon games ever. Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire weren't AS content rich, but still gave their originals a brand new 3D perspective and reimagining.

    Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, in contrast, do none of the above, with an incredibly strict approach that harms the games overall.

    BDSP's graphics are a prime example of this. Technically, they do an ok job of translating the look of the originals to the Switch, yet still offer no significant utilisation of the platform's capabilities whatsoever. All hopes for a reimagined, fleshed out Sinnoh were immediately killed by the artstyle, with several fanmade mockups (e.g. Millenniumloops' on Youtube) showcasing this missed potential.

    Unfortunately, this general lack of ambition extends to the rest of these games.

    Pokémon Platinum, released twelve years ago, added an expanded post-game, a wider variety of Pokémon, and countless graphical details to Sinnoh. Meanwhile, BDSP leave out almost all of these objective enhancements in the name of "faithfulness". Diamond/Pearl are hardly the most gruelling, tricky games to remake today, yet ILCA couldn't even add back content from a decade old DS game.

    I'd be willing to forgive this approach, however, if BDSP were genuinely faithful remakes... but in line with Gamefreak's modern design philosophy (favouring simplicity), countless tweaks were made to the original games. BDSP, for example, work in Sword/Shield's EXP Share: an item you cannot turn off, despite being able to do so in the originals. Additionally, Sword/Shield's affection system is present, allowing Pokémon to cheat battles (e.g. by dodging attacks) if they have a high affection stat. Together, these features practically erase challenge.

    Even more bafflingly, many welcome quality of life changes WERE removed. Reusable TMs? Gone. The Underground and contests? Simplified. The Frontier Brain theme? Gone. ILCA were perfectly happy adding in unfaithful features to classic experiences, yet also cut modernisations that might've improved the games overall.

    Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl simply don't live up to their originals, Platinum, or previous Pokémon remakes. Other than overworld Pokémon, recreating Gen 4's mythical events, and the rework of HMs, I struggle to find even the slightest hint of ambition in these games.

    BDSP aren't terrible games, but they ultimately deliver the bare minimum overall    … Expand
  17. LCBane
    Nov 22, 2021
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A safe recreation of the base games without addressing the real issues of the originals and the implementations Platinum put in order to combat them and create something special. BD struggles to find a foothold in the shadow of the incoming release of Legends: Arceus and is a disappointment compared to previous remakes.

    Gameplay:
    The game replicates all the nostalgia of the originals without including many of the quality of life changes that have been implemented in recent generations. Whether that be unlimited-use TM's
    mega evolutions, limited pokedex etc. The game also takes much the difficulty away as less and less trainers have the reinvigorated rosters they included in Platinum. Spare Cynthia and the EF who actually have properly spec'd teams EVs maxed and all. With a mandatory exp share your levels soon far exceed those you face as the Pokémon in your party passively gain more exp than ever before and this cannot be turned off. Without going into too much detail there are still many many glaring issues in the games code letting you surf across trainers and dry land, soft lock in unprecedented areas such as gym puzzles and even completing the game and becoming champion with 6 or 7 gym badges only. Many more issues come from not being able to pick up items, losing items or even the strange clerical issues like frame rate changes when you turn off all sounds the game just runs better.

    The return of older mechanics that were not properly updated sees many disappointed in this title as well. Honey trees having a small chance of any pokemon at all when activated and the rates on those pokemon are low already. The changes to the great marsh are also present with atrocious rates as well. All of the date and time mechanics are blocked behind a 24 hour cd if the system changes time when the game is started. Meaning if you got the game on friday and were looking to get your drifloon you would have to wait an entire week after you defeated team galactic. You could change the date and time to carry over to next week but still have a 24 hour cooldown in order to get your pokemon encounter.

    Story:
    The pacing of the story is still at a standstill removing even more of the difficulty from the originals with bugged/broken friendship and affection systems that multiplicatively stack granting your pokemon higher crit rates, first move regardless of being outsped, living on 1 hp over and over, even getting rid of status effects on a whim. Pair this with the omission of the changes platinum took to keep you moving and involved in the story it slugs on with its main story at a snails pace with zero post game offered.

    Graphics:
    Returning to something reminiscent of the original games was a good approach however the chibi art style does not mesh with the blocky tile system of old well. However the graphics in battles are some of the best we have seen of any switch title. Despite the lack of improvements in battle animations and move animations the overall feel and look of the pokemon, characters, and backgrounds is great in battle. A sharp contrast to the plastic, dead world outside of combat. Sadly however the rest of the game looks like a reskinned DS and the technologies age shows in the tile systems movement and feel around the world.

    Music:
    The music is a fresh take on the originals and brings life to where the graphics aren't to scratch. The new renditions are great reimagining's of their inspirations and provide a great feel when playing. The overall level of quality to the sound design and music is great but lacks some of the spark a full orchestra had with the music of sword and shield and other recent titles.

    Overall:
    Much more can be said about what I enjoyed or disliked about this game however the main points are clear. These games are simply a time sink for fans and the pokemon company and nintendo wanted a free money grab with zero effort and left it to a subsidiary licensed company. little to no imagination was brought to reinvigorate and improve these games from the original. including the bare minimum to keep the masses buying, Sitting in the shadow of what's to come with half baked Legends: Arceus, BDSP fails to create a rendition of the originals that stands up to previous remakes such as HGSS and ORAS let alone what Platinum accomplished to improve the generation.    … Expand
  18. SushiMess
    Nov 23, 2021
    6
    I honestly think the graphics and style looks great. The main issue with faithful remakes is that there isn't much new content that makes it really worth your money if you have already played the original. I really wish they added more platinum content and actual post game content. Great game if you never played the original but bad if you have already played it.
  19. imoviesreview
    Nov 24, 2021
    7
    This is nice, but feels somewhat lackluster as a remake. Pearl was the first Pokemon game I played. So it was kind of sad to see that a lot of the core design remains unchanged and somewhat outdated. Like online trading is exactly the same. None of the improvements brought by later games are here. At least shared EXP introduced in X and Y is here. That is nice at least. Core issues likeThis is nice, but feels somewhat lackluster as a remake. Pearl was the first Pokemon game I played. So it was kind of sad to see that a lot of the core design remains unchanged and somewhat outdated. Like online trading is exactly the same. None of the improvements brought by later games are here. At least shared EXP introduced in X and Y is here. That is nice at least. Core issues like slow battles and HM's were fixed. But they cheated to fix it. Like with HM's, they didn't redesign the game or add any major new features. It just simply allows you to use HM's without needing you to assign them to a Pokemon. It honestly just seems like the same game just in 3D. I'm okay with the graphics, there sort of doing it like in Link's Awakening. But what ultimately disappoints me is how this compares to Ruby and Sapphire Remake. I had no love for the original games since I didn't grow up with them. But I love the remakes of those games. Now 7 years later I finally get a remake of my first Pokemon game and, it feels lazy. With that said, there is plenty of enjoyment to be found here. But I won't expect something on par with Omega Ruby.… Expand
  20. domskoy88
    Nov 20, 2021
    6
    We deserve better.
    First of all, the game is fine, just fine. It's ok if it was yet another indie title, but it is not what the pokemon community and especially gen 4 kids deserve. It's rather baffling how the pokemon company, gamefreak and associates think it's alright to just give us mediocrity. What's even more mysterious is how the fandom is willing to pay a whole 60 bucks for    We deserve better.
    First of all, the game is fine, just fine. It's ok if it was yet another indie title, but it is not what the pokemon community and especially gen 4 kids deserve. It's rather baffling how the pokemon company, gamefreak and associates think it's alright to just give us mediocrity. What's even more mysterious is how the fandom is willing to pay a whole 60 bucks for mediocrity. Pokemon D&P was basically my first conscious entry to the pokemon universe, It was the last game I have played with my elementary school friends, before we parted ways. So after hearing news of a remake, I was thrilled. Just to be let down by some android mobile game looking reskin. I wanted to get the ORAS treatment, which by far wasn't the best remake either, but it elevated the game onto a new level. They went the easy route. Gamefreak is too ambitious for their own good. They need to outsource projects, because they cannot handle them with their own resources. I honestly even doubt their resources are enough to handle the upcoming Legends Arceus title.
    It saddens me to know, that this one chance for a remake has been wasted so effortlessly. Now to add a few words towards the end: Please stop the review bombing, Your 10s and 0s don't help anyone. Give criticism, give your opinion, but please do not get irrational. The game is just ok, but "just ok" just isn't enough    … Expand
  21. ZeoN
    Feb 15, 2022
    7
    Nos encontramos ante un remake muy fiel al original y aunque es precioso y tiene un agradable diseño artístico unido a una buena banda sonora al igual que su entrega original se siente algo vago y sin aspiraciones. Es muy divertido y recomendable tanto para los fans clásicos como los nuevos jugadores, sin embargo su falta de ambición no lo puede llevar a cotas más altas
  22. Balearikus
    Nov 22, 2021
    7
    After being in the middle of the game, I dare to make a review of this game.
    The beginning of the game well, like any other adventure, except that you level up too fast, my choice was to chimchar and not once weakened to the 3 medal, I did not need to go to a pokemon center, I did not have the need to change pokemon is It can only handle everything without any problem, also the graphic    After being in the middle of the game, I dare to make a review of this game.
    The beginning of the game well, like any other adventure, except that you level up too fast, my choice was to chimchar and not once weakened to the 3 medal, I did not need to go to a pokemon center, I did not have the need to change pokemon is It can only handle everything without any problem, also the graphic section has shocked me, being pleasant in some details and horrible in others, the worst thing is that on the way to my 2 medal with just over two hours, some npcs give me MEW AND JIRACHI as a gift as if they were pidgeys or caterpies or something simple, breaking all the initial immersion ... The next thing are Legendary initials? ... Many visual and programming errors, it looks like a 3DS game, very poor and pixelated textures, in tv many pixels are appreciated and it does not look like HD, chibi models look pixelated, eyes, eyebrows, mouth, as well as furniture inside the game that seems to be taken from a ds library, such as zooms that go back and forth wrongly programmed When should the zoom be removed? e the battle at the end of the combat, lights that blink at some point, npcs going through things and so on, the adventure is the same as in DS only they have added some platinum things to their will, the story is simple but full of Lore, making a remake we hope they take advantage of the game, the story, everything including the console, and they have not taken advantage in any way to innovate or give a quality product, after getting mew and jirachi as if they were nothing they took away my desire to play and here the question should I have spoiled in leaks to see that and not have so important pokemon at the beginning of the game ...?

    In summary, completely wasted remakes, with new mechanics that break the immersion and the difficulty of the game, like mythical pokemon at the beginning of the game.

    PS: A Pokemon adventure ride where it gets interesting after half the game, but at the same time it is too easy and without any challenge.

    Just as you complain about those who do BOMBING, they complained about those who give a high score to a poor quality product for $ 60.
    Be realistic.

    Graphics 4/10
    Music 9/10
    Gameplay 7/10
    Duration 7/10    … Expand
  23. Hubliterate
    Nov 23, 2021
    7
    Not bad, not great. Nintendo really need to step up their game/lower their prices or they will lose their fanbase. Wait for a price drop... oh wait no... Nintendo never drop their prices.
  24. TheHonestMan
    Nov 20, 2021
    6
    Not so Brilliant or Shining. There's things to like here such as the faster pacing and streamlined HM system, but otherwise this is a real mixed bag. The new additions like revamped contests feel hollow compared to how they were, and following pokemon are bothced compared to how they were done in past entries like HGSS and even LGPE. So what you're left with is an indentical game to theNot so Brilliant or Shining. There's things to like here such as the faster pacing and streamlined HM system, but otherwise this is a real mixed bag. The new additions like revamped contests feel hollow compared to how they were, and following pokemon are bothced compared to how they were done in past entries like HGSS and even LGPE. So what you're left with is an indentical game to the originals, with a divisive super-chibi art stytle, and none of the improvements Platinum brought to the table.
    Oh, and the amie battle bonuses, which used to be optional and out of the way, are now forced on you through regular gameplay. This is a big design flaw imo as it further trivialiizes an already easier game. Overall, I see little reason to buy these games if you've experienced the originals since it removes or waters down features and introduces flaws of it's own. What little new there is does not make up for what was lost.    … Expand
  25. Testudinate
    Nov 20, 2021
    6
    This game is not bad, but it is pretty lackluster. It does not have a distortion world, it has a forced exp. Share (making the game really easy), it only has pokemon up to generation 4 (not even any of the 'mons from SW/SH). But putting all of that aside, I wouldn't reality call this a remake, more of a remaster in my opinion. If you are returning to the pokemon franchise, you should justThis game is not bad, but it is pretty lackluster. It does not have a distortion world, it has a forced exp. Share (making the game really easy), it only has pokemon up to generation 4 (not even any of the 'mons from SW/SH). But putting all of that aside, I wouldn't reality call this a remake, more of a remaster in my opinion. If you are returning to the pokemon franchise, you should just get pokemon sword and shield or the let's go games.… Expand
  26. cpeacock87
    Nov 20, 2021
    7
    I can't agree with all the zero's I'm seeing here. That's just ridiculous review bombing. The game isn't perfect. It's not what everyone dreamed of. But it functions perfectly fine so no major bugs. So a 5 is pretty much automatic. After that the new art style can be subjective (I like it but I understand) and the lack of new content can be disappointing. But a perfectly serviceableI can't agree with all the zero's I'm seeing here. That's just ridiculous review bombing. The game isn't perfect. It's not what everyone dreamed of. But it functions perfectly fine so no major bugs. So a 5 is pretty much automatic. After that the new art style can be subjective (I like it but I understand) and the lack of new content can be disappointing. But a perfectly serviceable functioning game is not a zero. Let's be real.… Expand
  27. PokeMaester
    Nov 22, 2021
    7
    I absolutely love this remake, opening the game gave me goosebumps and playing it gives me flashbacks of playing this game with groups of friends in high school. So many fond memories. However I only have 1 real complaint which took away quite a bit of my personal rating which are the flash animations that pokemon make during an attack even when animations are shut off. Normally theseI absolutely love this remake, opening the game gave me goosebumps and playing it gives me flashbacks of playing this game with groups of friends in high school. So many fond memories. However I only have 1 real complaint which took away quite a bit of my personal rating which are the flash animations that pokemon make during an attack even when animations are shut off. Normally these flashes do nothing to me; I can't say the same for others. But for me, if I'm in a Team Galactic fight the flashes can trigger seizure auras. I remember pokemon would blink in the DS version; in this one the moves make brilliant tiny flashes. I quickly took some medication before it got serious, but it would be very nice to be able to shut the flashes off and I would give it a 10.… Expand
  28. Anonbby
    Nov 20, 2021
    7
    While these remakes don't do anything spectacular, they are better than Sword and Shield. Unfortunately the fanbase surrounding this IP has begun to change for the worst since the release of generation 8. The Nintendo Switch has one of if not the largest playerbase in the company's history. There are several people who have never played these games before. There are also people who playedWhile these remakes don't do anything spectacular, they are better than Sword and Shield. Unfortunately the fanbase surrounding this IP has begun to change for the worst since the release of generation 8. The Nintendo Switch has one of if not the largest playerbase in the company's history. There are several people who have never played these games before. There are also people who played the originals and sold or lost them when they were younger. Certain players also wish to play on home consoles versus emulating elsewhere. This release will have it fans, but it will unfortunately also have its detractors due to its lack of Platinum content as well as how criticisms of IP have increase over the years. I rate this release a 7/10 not as bad as Sword and Shield with or without its dlc.… Expand
  29. MadMiddy
    Nov 20, 2021
    7
    Brilliant Diamond is a solid remake of a very slow, outdated game. The experience of playing Brilliant versus the original game is simply faster, snappier, with a much better UI than even Sword/Shield. However, the choice not to implement any platinum content at launch is fairly disappointing, as well as things like the persistence of mandatory affection mechanics and experience shareBrilliant Diamond is a solid remake of a very slow, outdated game. The experience of playing Brilliant versus the original game is simply faster, snappier, with a much better UI than even Sword/Shield. However, the choice not to implement any platinum content at launch is fairly disappointing, as well as things like the persistence of mandatory affection mechanics and experience share boosting. The overworld is much more beautiful, even with the questionable choice for the style of the overworld human models. The battles where you spend most of your time look fantastic. I just wish TPC and ILCA had cared enough to put in the little extra work that might have elevated this from just a slightly above average game to something really worth getting excited about.… Expand
  30. Alvillas
    Nov 21, 2021
    7
    Buen remake pero falta novedades y el motor grafico podrian haber utilizado el del Let's Go
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Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2021

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 89 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 38 out of 89
  2. Mixed: 51 out of 89
  3. Negative: 0 out of 89
  1. Nintendo Insider
    Sep 9, 2022
    70
    Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are faithful remakes of the 2006 Nintendo DS games. They probably lean too much on the safe side, not achieving an awful lot to improve on the originals other than a few quality-of-life improvements. The improved Underground sections are a welcome addition, but the missing features from Pokémon Platinum are a big let-down. All in all, though, the Sinnoh region offers just as brilliant of an adventure as it was 15 years ago and the formula that worked back then (and then some) is still as addictive to this day. If you are a fan of classic Pokémon titles, this is a no-brainer.
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  2. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Mar 7, 2022
    65
    I honestly think ILCA's decision to play it safe was the biggest thing that hurt Brilliant Diamond. Maybe if it had included a few more of the story beats and improvements that were introduced in Platinum, I'd be giving it a higher grade. [Issue #57 – January/February 2022, p. 66]
  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 18, 2022
    60
    Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl is a decent remaster transferring the fourth generation from Nintendo DS to Switch. The authors handled well the absence of the second screen, but in the case of game mechanics they could go a bit further.
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