Pokemon Shining Pearl

There’s plenty of little life improvements but to me, and I realize this is extremely biased, is where PokéMon peaked and to remake PokéMon Diamond and Pearl this well is quite something. I think it’s hard to find complaints with Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl outside of simply not liking the formula of PokéMon. There’s so much to discover and do that it comes very close to feeling like living in the world of PokéMon and I suppose that’s all I ever wanted. Let me compete with friends on whose PokéMon is the cutest, see who is the toughest, and then let us hang out in the dingy underground digging up fancy gems together. Maybe when we’re done I’ll save the world from some evil group and catch some legendary PokéMon too. It brings me back not just to my teens, but to the feeling I had when I borrowed my friend’s copy of PokéMon Red and for a game to continue this long and still hook me after all this time is more praise than I can necessarily articulate.

It’s been a long time since players have gotten to revisit Sinnoh, and all things considered this may be the definitive way to enjoy it. While some changes may seem minor, they really do add to the overall enjoyment experience. Sinnoh was always fun but flawed, and while that’s still a teensy bit true here, it’s better than ever before. Although it’s easy to say it’s a shame that it’s missing the Platinum content, what’s here is still fantastic and will make it more fun to replay for years to come. Sinnoh fans will hopefully be excited to see their region well taken care of while they were gone, and new players can easily enjoy it without having to pick up old systems and cartridges that are now significantly more expensive. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are the best remakes we’ve gotten since Heart Gold and Soul Silver and offer up a fantastic, faithful yet slightly re-imagined version of Sinnoh to enjoy before the next entry in the series makes its debut.

I've had an absolute blast with Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, and I know there's plenty more for me to see thanks to their sheer size. With changes that lean mostly toward quality of life improvements, this is a firm reminder that Pokémon games can be extraordinary and one of the most enjoyable remakes I've played in a long time.

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond is like a warm hug, offering nothing but smiles and enjoyment throughout. Long term fans will find the quality of life changes make it even easier, but nonetheless, it's an otherwise faithful remake and a joy from start to finish.

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.

Quotation forthcoming.

It's a bit too easy, but still... Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl is a wonderful reissue of a set of classic games, with lots of visual improvements and an admirable loyalty to the original titles. Worth your money.

Overall, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are a must-play. Despite the chibi-style graphics feeling wacky in places, the gameplay overall is fantastic. The changes to the Grand Underground are incredible, offering up a wider selection of Pokemon early on, and Exp. Share really isn’t an issue. Even if you played the original games, BDSP offers many new features to the point where it feels like a new experience. And we won’t spoil it, but the post-game is something all veteran fans will absolutely love, especially if you like battles…and Platinum.

While it feels like Game Freak have been trying to find their footing with Pokémon over the last few years, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are a confident showing by ILCA that proves the series is far from dead. The classic formula is unchanged here, and still holds up, which will no doubt please long-time fans and newcomers alike. Smart new additions that feel like natural additions to the base game, coupled with a visual overhaul that captures the feel of the originals make for an experience that’s as nostalgic and comforting, as it is fresh and reinvigorating for the franchise.

Taken on its own, without the history of the franchise and the desire to see it be more, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond is a great RPG. There's a wide variety of content, the gameplay is fun and polished, and the presentation of the remake is charming and warm. While it's easier to recommend to newer Pokémon fans than those who played the Nintendo DS originals, taking another trip around a much more visually striking Sinnoh region turned out to be more satisfying than I anticipated. I'm certainly not in a hurry to leave it any time soon; that's for sure. However, with Pokémon Legends on the horizon, this one-two punch of Pokémon titles could be a winning way to close out one year and welcome in another, with a blast from the past followed by something we haven't really seen before. That's a Jigglepuff double-slap I can get behind.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are the best way to enjoy the fourth generation. Coming back to Sinnoh after so many years feels amazing because of the new art style and the charismatic characters that inhabit the region. Also, the new features are very welcome for a better experience. These remakes are a must for any Pokémon fan who wants to feel nostalgic while also being great for new players.

While Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl don’t move the needle in terms of what Pokémon games will look and play like moving forward, they mostly hit the mark in being faithful to the originals. I’ve really enjoyed my time re-exploring Sinnoh, despite my qualms with the lack of critical path difficulty. They’re a welcome throwback to a simpler time when I felt completing a Pokédex was a somewhat realistic task to undertake. Veteran trainers will find plenty here to scratch a nostalgic itch, and new trainers who missed out the first time around have a solid adventure to embark on.

Players of the DS original might mostly experience the same game. But including some new cool features, its well modernized graphics and raised accessibility, this Pokémon RPG will be a joy to play as well for fans as for gamers of every age, who can get out just a little of the franchise.

The new version of Pokémon Diamond (and Pearl) gives us the perfect mix of old and new. An easygoing story with dark tendencies spiced with all the improved elements from newer games in the series. The variety is huge and at its best even addictive. However, we can not shake off the fact that the character design itself feels a bit out of place.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have been visually enhanced and managed to be a faithful remake in terms of gameplay. Ideal to introduce new players to old style Pokémon games.

I enjoyed Diamond and Pearl back in the day, I enjoyed Platinum a little while later, and I enjoyed Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl here and now. It hits the notes most would want from a Pokemon game, and with this being a remake and Legends being right around the corner, I think its conservative approach can be forgiven.

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.

Although Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are not the definitive way to experience the Sinnoh region, they are a nostalgic joyride worth revisiting for fans of the originals and a worthwhile investment for newcomers.

In spite of a lot of missteps and unforced, unnecessary errors, however, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are great outings.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are incredibly faithful remakes of Diamond and Pearl, warts and all. There are some nice new additions that enhance the experience, and the visual style is unique and quite good-looking. It’s hard not to recommend these to any Pokémon fan or newcomer to the franchise. There might be a few negatives, but none of them take much away from the overall excellent experience.

If a good remake is defined by its loyalty to the original, then Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are very good remakes indeed. They are Diamond and Pearl down to nearly every detail, looking nicer than ever before with a few small tweaks, most of which are pretty good ones. It leaves in some of the original’s roster flaws, but they’re largely forgivable if you’re like me and have some degree of nostalgia for a time when Pokémon’s scope was smaller. And yet, I can’t help but be disappointed that Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl weren’t braver in how they improved upon the originals in the same way other Pokémon remakes were, bringing even some now-historic improvements back to correct history’s mistakes. Of course, I still had a perfectly pleasant time revisiting both Sinnoh and the simultaneously simpler yet more challenging era of Pokémon that took place within it reminded me of a time when this series asked a bit more of us.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl take me back to a simpler time in Pokémon where Mega Evolutions, Z-Moves, and Dynamaxing didn’t exist. It’s a wonderful reminder of how far Pokémon has come and it feels like a love letter to arguably the most formative generation of Pokémon.

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are good remakes of an inherently flawed Pokemon game. The games lean a little hard into recapturing the experience of the originals, which is a detriment and somewhat negates the fantastic visual and quality-of-life improvements. Honestly, it feels that Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are a preemptive olive branch to Pokemon fans ahead of Pokemon Legends: Arceus, in that it provides a decidedly retro experience as an alternative option to what is sure to be the most envelope-pushing Pokemon game made since the franchise launched 25 years ago. Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are made for those looking to celebrate the past of the Pokemon experience. For the rest of us, it's a nice distraction to hold us over until the launch of the next Pokemon game in a couple of months.

These gripes aside – and I realise that I’ve griped a lot in this review – Pokémon Pearl remains an excellent game, and the remake is of a very high quality. I’ve been able to reunite with Piplup, relive a very fondly-remembered adventure, and while there have been some tweaks that I’ve been less than amused by, on balance the developers have retained the qualities that made that game such a fondly remembered one.

The original DS Diamond and Pearl were great back in the day, and 15 years later this new coat of paint makes them just as entertaining. The improvements may not be as drastic as some may have hoped, but what's here is a solid Pokémon adventure regardless.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are bordering on a masterclass of how to do faithful remakes of a classic and beloved series. They're nostalgic, charming, lovely experiences that perfectly mix the old with the new to present a journey that will appeal to fans of the originals while still keeping things fresh and up-to-date. As one half of a pair of Sinnoh games, they deliver on their half in spades, and show that The Pokémon Company is ready, willing, and able to mess with the formula for the sake of the series. I have my complaints here and there, too, but overall, these are the Diamond and Pearl remakes that I didn't know I wanted until I fell in love with them.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are not the best games of the series nor the bravest, but they strongly respect the original games and the ones who played them, and they do everything they can to show that.

If you're a Pokemon fan and haven't played the original Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum then you're missing out. The Sinnoh region is an absolute joy to explore and it's super-fun trying to catch as many Pokémon as you can. Plus, Pokemon Shining Pearl lets you use the Nintendo Switch's network features in a way that you might not have had the opportunity to with the original DS games.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl offer exactly what you expect, sometimes a bit disappointing, but still oh so nice.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are a purchase to consider. It’s almost essential to the fans who waited so long for this game. It fixes some basic errors and annoying issues from the original versions and shows what makes the region so beloved. However, if you don't make a point for cute graphics, or if you have a Pokémon Platinum cartridge at home, it would be way better to keep your savings and wait to adventure yourself in Hisui next year.

Two fairly correct remakes that will especially appeal to those who did not know the originals. On the contrary, veterans may be missing more news and, in particular, the changes introduced by Pokémon Platinum.

Unique remakes of their kind, which find all their strengths and weaknesses in the morbid attachment to the past.

In Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl we have two distinct souls: the strict remake and the new features. It's still a pleasure to explore Sinnoh, but a more ILCA should have done more to blend all the new stuff and the core game.

For fans, these throwbacks aren’t to be missed, but if you’re looking for a reason to see what Pokefuss is all about, you’ll find better avenues into the franchise than these remakes.

Despite everything, it's impossible to shy away from your pleasure when it comes to beating the League (not that easy, by the way) and watching your Pokémon evolve. A return to Sinnoh that could be improved, but very pleasant.