Pokemon Shining Pearl

 Switch
User Score
5.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 430 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 177 out of 430
  2. Mixed: 88 out of 430
  3. Negative: 165 out of 430
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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    In terms of graphics, the game looks completely outdated.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    In terms of graphics, the game looks completely outdated.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 I wish they didn't maintain the 2D tile aesthetic - it just looks fake/outdated to me.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 Random battles are extremely outdated and are annoying, especially in caves.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. TheHonestMan
    Nov 24, 2021
    5
    Mediocre experience. Retains the originals flaws and has an ugly art style for the sake of "faithfulness". Sinnoh itself is still well designed and the improved pacing is welcome but there's just nothing compelling about it for those looking for a better or fresh take on the originals. Forced exp share and affection bonuses also tamper with the experience as most of the game it notMediocre experience. Retains the originals flaws and has an ugly art style for the sake of "faithfulness". Sinnoh itself is still well designed and the improved pacing is welcome but there's just nothing compelling about it for those looking for a better or fresh take on the originals. Forced exp share and affection bonuses also tamper with the experience as most of the game it not rebalanced to accomodate them. You'll get some causal nostalgic fun going through the story but the buyer's remorse will kick in at the postgame where there is little to do except the same old low-effort legend fetch quest we've had since ORAS. Save your money for Legends… Expand
  3. SavageReviews1
    Nov 25, 2021
    5
    My biggest gripe with this game and this series in general is I basically one shot ever trainer/ Gym Leader with my starter Pokémon. It makes battles boring which makes up a majority of the gameplay. I wish they would add some difficulty options. How about making it so you can only use certain types of Pokémon in a gym battle or make it so you can only carry three Pokémon at a time. Or howMy biggest gripe with this game and this series in general is I basically one shot ever trainer/ Gym Leader with my starter Pokémon. It makes battles boring which makes up a majority of the gameplay. I wish they would add some difficulty options. How about making it so you can only use certain types of Pokémon in a gym battle or make it so you can only carry three Pokémon at a time. Or how about have the trainers and gym battles match whatever level you are like the grand underground does? It shouldn’t be on the player to have to create artificial limits to make the game more challenging. My wife is even bored with the game after the third gym battle because she has all these Pokémon but she never has a reason to use them because her starter handles everything.… Expand
  4. NylonYT
    Jan 31, 2022
    5
    It is an ok game bu tI think that that Ilca was a bit lazy about this. They could have done so much more to bring life into this game, but it just looks bare bones.
  5. fanmadeendings
    Feb 15, 2022
    6
    Diamond and pearl aren't bad games, so this isn't bad - It's just not much better than the games it is based on, and that's a shame, as HeartGold and SoulSilver were essentially remaking the definitive Crystal version, but this is just a remake of the base games instead of Platinum. It's also visually inconsistent and buggy - For better and for worse. All in all, minus the glitches, it'sDiamond and pearl aren't bad games, so this isn't bad - It's just not much better than the games it is based on, and that's a shame, as HeartGold and SoulSilver were essentially remaking the definitive Crystal version, but this is just a remake of the base games instead of Platinum. It's also visually inconsistent and buggy - For better and for worse. All in all, minus the glitches, it's probably the most uninteresting pokemon experience so far.… Expand
  6. judgementblade
    Feb 16, 2022
    7
    I'll try to keep this short and on point. For starters, Gen 4, namely Platinum is my favorite Gen (Gen 6 being 2 and Gen 3 ironically 3). It is also one of the tougher games in the franchise, which still holds up compared to most other Pokemon main games. As such, I was rather looking forward to it. Unfortunately these remakes were not that good. I chose Shining Pearl since originally II'll try to keep this short and on point. For starters, Gen 4, namely Platinum is my favorite Gen (Gen 6 being 2 and Gen 3 ironically 3). It is also one of the tougher games in the franchise, which still holds up compared to most other Pokemon main games. As such, I was rather looking forward to it. Unfortunately these remakes were not that good. I chose Shining Pearl since originally I played Diamond on DS.
    Like for many, the Chibi-Style didn't resonate with me at first. After a couple of hours it didn't bother me anymore. Still, I really LOOOOOOOOVED the contest in Platinum and can't believe HOW MUCH they screwed them up in this re-make.I had hardly any fun with them anymore. It would have been fine if it just had been one round. Sadly, that **** they came up with here, is all that was left of the original really great Contests. New player though won't know what they botched here.
    The new Underground wasn't that great either. I assumed stupidly that I would be able to catch new Pokes before the national Dex but no, so a rather pointless addition and also terrible to not be able to decorate my secret base with carpets, poster and other furniture like originally, only with rather useless statues until post-game. However, I love the new trainer animations when they lose, they are charming. This doesn't help how annoying the menu delay is though. Don't be surprised if your too fast for the game and use an item in a way you didn't intent due the delay screwing you over.
    I never cared for competitive play and not even catching them all since Gen 5 so I won't go more in-depth than this. It was fine to play through it again but I rather play the originals, you even got a holiday estate in Platinum in post-game but not even that anymore. So, don't buy it for more than 20-30 bucks if at all, unless you just want a modern look on Gen 4 that you missed for one reason or another.    … Expand
  7. ProfessorPlumb
    Nov 30, 2021
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. In many ways I found myself disappointed playing Pokémon Shining Pearl. I don’t have a ton of nostalgia for this game as I grew up more heavily with Pokémon Gen 3 and Gen 5. At its core, Shining Pearl still has the addicting gameplay loop of catching Mons, challenging Gym Leaders, and foiling nefarious criminal plots on the side. There are some really cool Pokémon in Sinnoh that are fun to find and use. I like the honey tree mechanic, which I feel gives you a solid reason to go back and re-explore areas all over the map. The last few gyms felt much better-developed and even as an adult I had fun solving the puzzles to get to the Gym Leaders. The music has a fresh coat of orchestrated paint and several of the tracks stand out with the jazz and charm that makes Pokémon’s music so iconic and memorable. Sinnoh’s map isn’t my favorite, but some areas like Mount Coronet were fun to explore.

    The HM mechanic is improved due to not having to spend valuable move slots on your party, but it feels awkward because if you use fly or surf, it’s a random starraptor or bibarel that perform the HM, it doesn’t make sense and breaks immersion. I think a sensible solution would be to use the HM’s only if a Pokémon on your current team is capable of using it. That way it feels special to have useful Pokémon on your team but you don’t have to bog your team down with an “HM Slave” or two. The TM mechanic feels like they struck the right balance, where they do break so you have to conserve TM, but the common ones can be found or purchased, and the gym leader TMs give you multiple copies so it’s not wasted entirely if you end up using it on a Pokémon and decide later not to use them. It’s unfortunate that the game is so ridiculously easy throughout, you can play through the entire game without losing a single battle. I had this complaint about Sword/Shield as well, so the best I can say is Pokémon is a relaxing gaming experience, and if you want true challenge, try playing competitive Pokémon or a different video game. The main story is just too easy. There feels like an infinite amount of trainers to battle on the various routes but none of them are particularly challenging or memorable, just more fresh meat to level up your Pokémon. It gets stale in the mid-late game.

    The characters feel excessively clumsy and clunky, I found myself getting stuck often and the general movement felt terrible. The chibi animations are somewhat cute but the character wobble like fisher price toys, it is very unnatural. It is incredibly jarring to see team Galactic boss as a chibi model and then you battle him to see him as a rugged adult man that could kill you with his eyes, it makes no sense and I really disliked the juxtaposition of both models. The game feels SLOW. Battling is tedious, and since that is 60% of the gameplay, it gets old really quick. I found myself playing half-heartedly with one hand on the controller and watching YouTube or listening to music in between battles. I really wish they would make a Pokémon game that combines all of the magic of the core gameplay but make it more pretty polished, actually make the battles difficult (I thought the AI for the 8th gym leader was a step in the right direction, he felt noticeably more challenging than the other gyms), and make the battling 10x faster and more intelligent. They could keep the game as is for the main demographic of children but it would be as easy as creating a difficulty slider or “this is not my first rodeo” mode so that more experienced and older players can enjoy the nostalgia of Pokémon without being made to feel like they’re actually still 10 years old. Overall I had some fun, so I will still say it is playable, but definitely a slip in quality in my opinion from the ds/3ds Pokémon era.    … Expand
  8. Markianer
    Mar 15, 2022
    6
    I like the graphic and the remake is actually pretty well made, but i dont understand why they didnt fix the whole buncg of issues that the original game had very sad
  9. Toasttt
    Mar 26, 2022
    5
    meh .
  10. Xitomz
    Nov 24, 2021
    7
    Same games as the old ones with improved graphics and some quality of life improvements. Overall an enjoyable game for anyone that wants to experience the 4th generation of pokemon as a newcomer or an experienced player.
  11. Turdnuggz
    Nov 24, 2021
    5
    They could've remade this game by taking into account all the improvements Platinum made to this generation but they decided not too. They made the game even easier, and the chibi overworld looks a bit unusual. They added some new features that improved the game but just like with every new pokemon game there is a step back for every step forward. The exp. share giving all pokemon exp andThey could've remade this game by taking into account all the improvements Platinum made to this generation but they decided not too. They made the game even easier, and the chibi overworld looks a bit unusual. They added some new features that improved the game but just like with every new pokemon game there is a step back for every step forward. The exp. share giving all pokemon exp and being required is stupid, but at the very least they changed the exp gain system to what was introduced in Gen 5. Many of the issues that pretty much every pokemon game have once again return to this as well such as the boring/tedious NPC trainer battles, and ridiculous evolution requirements. These games have so much potential but are wasted by terrible decision making.… Expand
  12. larsdebest21
    Nov 22, 2021
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game has become way to ez. Like all of my pokemons are 10 levels higher then all my opponents pokemon. I can spam 1 in entire gym to win..... Thats really boring tbh. Also this game could have some extra content like post game stuff. Its disappointing for me they didnt do anything new at all .… Expand
  13. Detorded
    Nov 22, 2021
    7
    These are undoubtedly the best Pokemon games on the Switch, but unfortunately this is not saying much. Let's Go and Sword/Shield were weak entries; the only reason Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl are enjoyable games is because the originals were good - since all this game does it modernize the old DS games, it is pretty hard to mess them up. However, this is a very unambitious remake andThese are undoubtedly the best Pokemon games on the Switch, but unfortunately this is not saying much. Let's Go and Sword/Shield were weak entries; the only reason Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl are enjoyable games is because the originals were good - since all this game does it modernize the old DS games, it is pretty hard to mess them up. However, this is a very unambitious remake and it leaves me disappointed as Pokemon once again misses its potential.

    These games are full price (up to $90 in Canada) and they arguably do less than Pokemon Platinum (which released 13 years ago at half the price). The main problems with these games are that they are so caught up in being "faithful" remakes that they miss the point of a remake - we don't want to buy the same games again at a higher price and modernized graphics, people were expecting a bit more - Platinum made Diamond and Pearl redundant, and to faithfully recreate Diamond and Pearl is to take a step backwards, not forwards. The bar for remakes had already been set with Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire - which was ambitious, not only nostalgically recreating Hoenn, but adding new and improved features (including an entire new postgame story with Rayquaza). These games are a step back from ORAS.

    Again, the games are great fun since DP were good games to begin with - I am having fun playing this game and I am about 8 hours in. Yet, I can't stop reminding myself that these games could have been so much more.    … Expand
  14. LCBane
    Nov 22, 2021
    6
    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. BDSP 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    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. BDSP 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
  15. YourLocalChonke
    Nov 21, 2021
    6
    Very slow, not smooth, and unpolished experience. Locked to 8 directions, which would be fine if it didn't snap you to the grid when you moved left, it made the games' movement feel unnatural. Can only run at 30fps, which makes the game feel even slower. When running into a wild encounter, you get a text box, do a move, text box, field effect, text box. Anything that happens will be saidVery slow, not smooth, and unpolished experience. Locked to 8 directions, which would be fine if it didn't snap you to the grid when you moved left, it made the games' movement feel unnatural. Can only run at 30fps, which makes the game feel even slower. When running into a wild encounter, you get a text box, do a move, text box, field effect, text box. Anything that happens will be said to you with a text box which lasts for over 1 second, which doesn't seem so bad, but when you are running into wild battles so often, it gets tedious. Use a move, it says the move with a text box, makes the hp go down, says if it was super effective with a text box, allows the enemy to do the same, so on and so forth. Very, very unintuitive. The graphics look less appealing than the originals, which is disappointing. But alas, it's still pokemon and a solid bit of fun, definitely not worth the $60 though, $40 would suit it more.… Expand
  16. Kuja089
    Nov 20, 2021
    5
    Some of the complaints here are amusing. Text boxes galore that statesbits raining, your pokemon fainted, pokemon awaiting directions... that has been in every pokemon game, this is standard in the series; children still play this game and it is needed.

    Overall decent remake. I love the art style, chibis are cute, everything pops and the colors bring life to the game. My main    Some of the complaints here are amusing. Text boxes galore that statesbits raining, your pokemon fainted, pokemon awaiting directions... that has been in every pokemon game, this is standard in the series; children still play this game and it is needed.

    Overall decent remake. I love the art style, chibis are cute, everything pops and the colors bring life to the game.

    My main complaint -The Game Is Too Easy. Please please pleeeeeease stop woth the exp share for the entire team and when catching pokemon. The pokemon level much too quickly. Or revert to Pokemon X and Y by allowing us to turn it off. I hate feeling trapped by how I should play the game, give us a choice.

    Im not going to write a novel of a review since i thought the contests and underground explorer changes add tons of gameplay time.

    Now i understand this is for "children" in some peoples eyes, but a large percentage of the player base are adults who grew up with the series and have played and bought every game released. Ive been reading didnt blog posts and cannot understand how nintendo/gamefreak cant see the large exodus that will happen if they dont tweak the difficulty (or allow the users to turn the handicaps off). Greatly disappointed by this remake, not in relation to the presentation, but due to the handicaps placed on an already easy game.

    That is another point id like to make. Those of us who played Red and Blue as children, we know how difficult that game was. Guess what, we beat it over and over again while learning and sharpening our skills. Stop babying and spoon feeding the current gen of kids. Its unnecessary.    … Expand
  17. Duckfan2037
    Nov 27, 2021
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. If you like Pokemon remakes this one is a great game, if a bit too easy and some difficulty scaling problems at times, for example the third gym leaders Lucario will kick your ass if you at level. I cant imagine a child being able to beat her without help. Other than that the lack of features at launch is abhorrent. Even as far as remakes go. I pre orderded the double pack on the eShop and was immediately disappointed to find out link trade isn't available at launch and will be patched in later. Besides that you will need a Nintendo online account to use it! My score would be higher of this was fixed. I don't and have never supported looking previously free content behind a paywall. Starlink did this and I stoped playing it out of spite for Ubisoft.

    In conclusion, it's a good remake with stripped down features and neat exclusives if you are willing to look beyond the 20.00 a year paywall to play online.    … Expand
  18. hkatbamna1
    Feb 20, 2023
    7
    Visually, its an excellent remake of my favorite pokemon generation. Them keeping the chibi artstyle definitely helped nail the nostalgia of it. Sadly, taking points away for how absurdly easy they made this game. The forced experience share with no option to turn it off made it so my pokemon were perpetually at least 10-15 levels above the opponent. Really would have appreciated SOME challenge
  19. Fra-k
    May 15, 2022
    6
    a sufficient game, that unlike the titles, don't shine at all.
    a timid remake, with not enough new stuff for both old and new players.
    a failed occasion
  20. Schueli
    Aug 10, 2022
    7
    Ja, gibt nicht viel zu sagen. Typisches Pokémon halt. Nur mit hässlichen Figuren in der Oberwelt. Im Kampf passt dann alles.

    Bin durchgerusht und hab nicht viel gesammelt. Macht das, was Pokémon macht und war soweit gut.
  21. Dragonfire14
    Dec 2, 2021
    7
    It's a shame that these remakes are better than the actual next entries in the series (Sword and Shield). Even though BD&SP (Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl) are better, they are still flawed and no where near what a modern AAA release should be. Missing content, removed content, weird art style, missing options, and bugs are all taking away from making these remakes great. Are theyIt's a shame that these remakes are better than the actual next entries in the series (Sword and Shield). Even though BD&SP (Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl) are better, they are still flawed and no where near what a modern AAA release should be. Missing content, removed content, weird art style, missing options, and bugs are all taking away from making these remakes great. Are they terrible must avoid games, no.

    Graphics:

    The art style in these games is a bit strange. They basically took the original DS games and upscaled/polished them. It is strange to look at, but could be overlooked if the animations and in battle models were fantastic, but they are not. Animations are again lacking and and basic. Pokemon developers refuse to fully utilize the hardware and add animations in that amount to more that using the transition and rotation buttons. This is just a nit pick of mine, but I wish shinies were actually hand made and not a simple hue shift.

    Content:

    These games are remakes, so expecting something completely different is out of the question, but expecting a better experience than the originals is what I went into them with. These games are missing a ton of platinum content, all event content, nerfed contests, and removed game corner. The contest change was the biggest hit to me. They completely threw them out in the remakes changing them into a shell of their former self. Instead of a multi staged mini game it is simply a rhythm game without the rhythm. The removed Arceus, Darkrai and Shaymin events are currently not in the game, but Shaymin has been proven to be in the game through glitching out of the map. I know that in the past these were events later in the game's life, but these remakes should of included them in the base version. Then there is the glitches, there are many. I won't go super into detail here, but a quick google can outline them for you.

    That being said these remakes do make one awesome change to content, the underground. The Grand Underground is amazing, and let's you catch a ton of Pokemon not in the game. Secret bases are a bit simplistic and boring now, but the rest of the Underground is so fun.

    Options:

    The biggest issue with missing options is that exp share is stuck to be on. While I don't mind it since it just eliminates grind time for me, a bunch of players are upset with the lack of difficulty this creates. I hope this option gets added to the game.

    Conclusion:

    While I'm happy Pokemon is back on track to be an actually good game after the mess that was SW&SH, I think these games could of been so much better. I don't know if it is Gamefreak or The Pokemon Company that is holding the series back, but something needs to give. The Pokemon series itself needs an evolution, it needs to finally enter the modern gaming levels, and use modern technology.    … Expand
  22. Magmagan
    Dec 17, 2021
    6
    I put in 13 hours into this game. And I don't think there was a single hour that I didn't think "huh, I'd rather be playing Platinum on my 3DS right now".

    Unlike Sword and Shield, that pulls off a global XP share by having the trainer and wild encounters keep up with your levels, BDSP has the same old wild Pokémon and trainer levels with an XP gain that doesn't fit with the original    I put in 13 hours into this game. And I don't think there was a single hour that I didn't think "huh, I'd rather be playing Platinum on my 3DS right now".

    Unlike Sword and Shield, that pulls off a global XP share by having the trainer and wild encounters keep up with your levels, BDSP has the same old wild Pokémon and trainer levels with an XP gain that doesn't fit with the original levels. Even trying to Nuzlocke felt like child's play

    The only redeeming factor is that your Pokémon can run around with you. But that comes in a little too late for that wow factor to carry through the rest of the game.

    If you can, just play the original.    … Expand
  23. PlanetDeadwing
    Dec 19, 2021
    7
    Pokémon Shining Pearl (or Brilliant Diamond) is a game that is constantly at war with itself. It's a game that completely succeeds at emulating the classic experience of arguably Pokémon's finest generation - the mighty Generation IV - and the unforgettable spirit of the duo of games that largely represented it. But in both attempting to be as faithful as possible to the original gamesPokémon Shining Pearl (or Brilliant Diamond) is a game that is constantly at war with itself. It's a game that completely succeeds at emulating the classic experience of arguably Pokémon's finest generation - the mighty Generation IV - and the unforgettable spirit of the duo of games that largely represented it. But in both attempting to be as faithful as possible to the original games while also being modernised and in refined for the Switch, it results in perhaps the strangest gameplay experience out of all the Pokémon games. For me, this game constantly alternated between being a happy trip back in time to the blissful golden years of the late 2000s (back when life was simple, everyone got along, the world made sense, and everything felt right) and a somewhat awkward retread that doesn't entirely justify its existence. This game is so unnecessarily faithful to the original that at times it feels like playing a really shiny port rather than a true remake, and at times it's surreal seeing things about Diamond/Pearl that now feel somewhat dated being celebrated by the game. From the designs of gyms and towns to the chibi art style and even having the exact same Pokémon on every route, this game will repeatedly give you deja vu if you've played the Sinnoh trio multiple times (which I have). But despite these issues, I'm enjoying this game so far, simply because, let's face it - Sinnoh is, and always will be, a realm of absolute magic, and it's impossible not to get sucked into it for hours. It's a shame that there wasn't more done to it though. It needed more stuff from Platinum, more new things and more improvements to old things. But if you can look past its lack of ambition and a few awkwardly dated aspects that didn't translate well to the Switch, Shining Pearl (and Brilliant Diamond) once again prove that there's no end to Pokémon. There is no escape...… Expand
  24. elolugo
    Jun 27, 2022
    6
    Good pokemon game. Not perfect, but fun nevertheless. Play it only if you haven't played it on the DS
  25. Woodley1400
    Dec 12, 2021
    6
    Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl are faithful remakes of the original games with stylized and colorful graphics and a few quality of life changes. However, this remains my least favorite generation of Pokémon. The remakes still suffer from a lack of Pokémon diversity, too frequent random encounters, and inconsistent difficulty curves. The inclusion of fairy type does add an interestingBrilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl are faithful remakes of the original games with stylized and colorful graphics and a few quality of life changes. However, this remains my least favorite generation of Pokémon. The remakes still suffer from a lack of Pokémon diversity, too frequent random encounters, and inconsistent difficulty curves. The inclusion of fairy type does add an interesting twist to the combat. Annoyingly, movement felt jerky, and I rarely used the bike in the whole play through. Despite its flaws, this is still fun and charming. One of the biggest highlights is the updated soundtrack, which is lovely.… Expand
  26. JimPickens
    Dec 4, 2021
    7
    Pokémon BDSP is remarkably disappointing simply by virtue of being a remake of a heavily flawed game that was improved greatly already with Platinum, unfortunately however is not a Platinum remake.

    The original Diamond and Pearl were slow and agonizing to play, the Regional Dex was comically unbalanced against fire types, and just about every single aspect of the games were improved in    Pokémon BDSP is remarkably disappointing simply by virtue of being a remake of a heavily flawed game that was improved greatly already with Platinum, unfortunately however is not a Platinum remake.

    The original Diamond and Pearl were slow and agonizing to play, the Regional Dex was comically unbalanced against fire types, and just about every single aspect of the games were improved in Platinum, the games third revised version. I generally do not like Gen 4, I don't care for DP or HGSS, but I do like Platinum, I love Giratina, I love Cynthia and I love the Sinnoh region, Piplup is my favourite starter, so I feel these remakes have already shot themselves in the foot when they decide to remake the objectively inferior versions instead for no other reason than to be able to sell 2 copies of the same game to idiots who'll eat up anything GameFreak throws at them.

    BDSP fixes some issues with DP, namely the speed. Originally they were unbearably slow, showcased in an infamous video of a Blissy's health going from 655 to 0, taking 34 seconds. So BDSP already places it's best foot forward by having the game run at Gen 8 speed, then shoots that foot with its art style. Yes the age old complaint, BDSP looks hideous, the chibi art style looks fine from a distance but the game loves to do lose up's of characters during dialogue and it looks pretty rough, Cyrus in particular really suffers here, I just can't take him seriously when he's so gosh darn adorable and cuddly looking. While the style does look nice for cute things, that doesn't really work in a game that debuts Giratina, which I'm sorry, looks like the Gaping Dragon from Dark Souls, it just does, I'm right goddamnit. You would think the cute chibi art style would go great with Pokémon given how easily they could turn them into adorable little chibi models... they don't. For following you around, rather than making the models chibi to work with the characters, they just scaled them down, so Giratina looks like an 8 legged dog and not a giant, terrifying dragon thing. Not helping matters is the following animation, for most it's fine, but some Pokemon like Ekans suffer greatly, because Ekans does not slither, no no no, Ekans slides along the ground in his basic model as if attached by a string, it looks horrible, not least of all because the animation already exists in Let's Go, and could have easily been reused, ILCA are just incompetent, not lazy.

    Combat isn't slow anymore, but feels incredibly slow, it's the same old static, boring turn based combat, which is really disappointing when we exist in a post-Persona 5 world and have seen Turn Based taken to a logical extreme and how engaging it CAN be, Pokemon just refuses to, ironically enough, evolve.

    Story hasn't bee changed much, still fun and engaging, still would've liked it if they used Platinum over DP but oh well, can't sell two copies of Platinum I guess.

    Pokemon BDSP is not bad, but it's not any better than the original Diamond and Pearl, which makes it still worse than Platinum, which it really shouldn't be. The moment to moment Pokemon gameplay will always be fun to me, so I can't say I didn't have fun here, and hell, I can't say I didn't ENJOY these games, I absolutely intend to go back to these at some point and play them again, they're the definitive version of Diamond and Pearl, but not the definitive version of Gen 4, which is honestly really disappointing, and I simply can't ignore it's plethora of flaws both inherent to Diamond and Pearl, and unique to the remakes. Let's all hope Legends Arcues is good... But it probably won't be.    … Expand
  27. KeybladeHero_05
    Jun 29, 2023
    7
    I'm going to be honest with you all, this remake was really really boring. Sure the trailer did say that it's a faithful remake but to me, it isn't. Both games and including the original versions, are empty and a lot of people agreed.

    If this was a remake of Platinum then things would be slightly better. By the time I've reached the champion for the first time, I was 5 or 6 levels    I'm going to be honest with you all, this remake was really really boring. Sure the trailer did say that it's a faithful remake but to me, it isn't. Both games and including the original versions, are empty and a lot of people agreed.

    If this was a remake of Platinum then things would be slightly better. By the time I've reached the champion for the first time, I was 5 or 6 levels behind because shared EXP is back for some odd reason.    … Expand
  28. Zumbie101
    May 7, 2022
    6
    It feels like a direct remaster, nothing particularly changes at all which is nice for nostalgia but thats all really. Additional point for removing all the HM's however nothing stands out at all, feels like a re release especially with the overworld sprites
  29. Frad
    Aug 28, 2023
    6
    El regreso a las raíces de la franquicia Pokémon es una experiencia gratificante, especialmente después de haber experimentado las innovaciones de títulos más recientes como Pokémon Arceus y Pokémon Violet. Pokémon Shining Pearl nos brinda la oportunidad de revivir una experiencia clásica, y aunque presenta ciertos aspectos que merecen mención, este remake no pasa desapercibido.

    La    El regreso a las raíces de la franquicia Pokémon es una experiencia gratificante, especialmente después de haber experimentado las innovaciones de títulos más recientes como Pokémon Arceus y Pokémon Violet. Pokémon Shining Pearl nos brinda la oportunidad de revivir una experiencia clásica, y aunque presenta ciertos aspectos que merecen mención, este remake no pasa desapercibido.

    La fidelidad de este remake a la cuarta generación de Pokémon es innegable, y esta lealtad es una característica altamente apreciable. Al buscar adquirir este remake, lo que buscaba era precisamente una reencarnación modernizada de la experiencia original. Las gráficas y texturas, aunque no alcanzan la cima de las capacidades actuales, son respetables y adecuadas para el propósito de revitalizar este título clásico.

    Una mejora notable en este remake es la capacidad de correr en lugar de caminar, lo cual amplía significativamente la experiencia de exploración. Este cambio en la movilidad proporciona un elemento adicional de comodidad y dinamismo al juego, permitiendo una exploración más ágil y fluida en la región de Sinnoh.

    Un aspecto particularmente interesante es la eliminación de la necesidad de utilizar movimientos específicos como "cut", "move" o "swim" a los Pokémon del equipo. En su lugar, un Bidoof interviene para llevar a cabo estas acciones. Aunque esta elección puede suscitar interrogantes sobre por qué un solo Pokémon realiza todas estas tareas, la implementación es aceptable y no perturba la experiencia de manera significativa.

    La introducción del subsuelo ("Underground") es un aspecto que enriquece el juego con una dimensión adicional. A pesar de que no exploté plenamente esta función, considero que es una adición valiosa que, si bien no es esencial, proporciona una capa extra de diversión y descubrimiento.

    No obstante, es justo destacar ciertos aspectos desfavorables. Las batallas, en ocasiones, transmiten la sensación de un título similar a Pokémon Stadium. Aunque esta variación puede ser interesante, personalmente considero que la ejecución podría haberse perfeccionado para una experiencia más equilibrada y coherente. Además, al completar el juego, la sensación de obsolescencia se hace presente, generando una disminución en la motivación para emprender la captura de Pokémon Shiny.

    En resumen, Pokémon Shining Pearl se revela como un remaster acertado que reaviva la magia de la región Sinnoh de manera encantadora. Los gráficos modernizados, la jugabilidad consolidada y las mejoras en el modo multijugador convergen para brindar una versión remasterizada que merece ser explorada. Aunque no está exenta de críticas, esta recreación ofrece una oportunidad valiosa para redescubrir un clásico de la franquicia Pokémon.    … Expand
  30. Emanuel317
    Dec 8, 2021
    7
    Fiel a los juegos originales... las gráficas me parece bien y sus modelos "chibi" en cuanto la dificultad cuando tienes revancha con la campeona de la región es muy difícil con lo cual es excelente pero con el poder de la amistad puedes ganarle fácilmente.
  31. Alepod
    Jan 4, 2022
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Nice graphics and fluid gameplay but it is easy during all the main campaign and it becomes truly hard only in the Pokémon League, I’m not a fan of the chibi sprites and I think that the history could be expressed better if it was not chibi, plus the dungeons are easier than before before the HMs or because some elements have been cancelled. If we think at them as the entrée for Pokémon Legends: Arceus it is good and… FINALLY the text is written in an easy to read font, seriously, I have problems at the right eye and I was able to read perfectly during all the game, though this font was introduced in Sword and Shield.… Expand
  32. RealisticStance
    Jan 7, 2022
    6
    When they first announced this, I was ecstatic. Growing up with DP, this was something I had been looking forward to for years. The recent decline in quality with pokemon started to make me skeptical about what would become after all.
    It's not really bad, it is pokemon afterall. It's just disappointing. The devs seem like they were trying hard to make this a remaster more than a remake,    When they first announced this, I was ecstatic. Growing up with DP, this was something I had been looking forward to for years. The recent decline in quality with pokemon started to make me skeptical about what would become after all.
    It's not really bad, it is pokemon afterall. It's just disappointing. The devs seem like they were trying hard to make this a remaster more than a remake, but at the same time they changed it up enough were it isn't a remastered.
    They made the exp share for the whole team permanent, so now there is not really any skill needed. You can say that I'm an adult, so of course it's easy, but when I can just walk through the game, barely grind, and end up 10 levels higher than the next gym leader, you know there is a problem.
    The fact that the Sinnoh dex isn't the platinum one irks me, as it was expanded for a reason. Platinum dex pokemon are in the underground now, so why not just go the extra step?
    The lack of traps and capture the flag just bothers me. What was the point off removing them? It's not like they didn't want to put effort into the underground. They expanded the whole map and added the pokemon encounters, so what was the issue?
    Why were the mythicals given so early? They're obviously overpowered, and they sort of ruin the flow. I know you could simply not use them, but the kid inside me wants to use them to win as easily as possible.
    Following pokemon being brought back is cool, but why make them use realistic moving speeds? If they're slow enough, they'll just keep teleporting to you. HGSS got it right with with just having them be right behind you.
    Nothing similar to Delta Episode? They could have just used Platinums story if they were feeling extra uninspired. Just not much new content? Sure, we have "new" content, which just changes the structure of things that were in the originals, or brings back old features, but nothing that hadn't been touched on before. Every other remake had added on a lot of lore or activities to the story, so why should this one not receive the same amount of care and attention? The only other thing I can really say is that HGSS is the prime example for how a remake should be done. This game did not really follow it.
    (Music is phenomenal, though that doesn't make up for the cons of this game)    … Expand
  33. Satsoku
    Jan 8, 2023
    6
    I feel like these remakes were a miss opportunity. They are faithful to the original Diamond and Pearl respectively, however, they felt soulless and forgettable compared to the originals, or Platinum even. Playable, but that's about it.
  34. KinimodYunmi
    Dec 12, 2022
    6
    Hatte mich anfangs erst gefreut Pearl nochmal durchzuspielen, sah aber dann etwas weird aus und ist dann aber doch trotz Remaster viel zu sehr in die Jahre gekommen, man hätte es mit den Funktionen und der Story von Platin remastern sollen und nicht Pearl und Diamant.

Awards & Rankings

11
#11 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2021

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 88 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 37 out of 88
  2. Mixed: 51 out of 88
  3. Negative: 0 out of 88
  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
    60
    If you're a Switch owner looking to play a Pokémon game, this pair should be your third choice after the Let's Go games and Sword & Shield. [Issue #57 – January/February 2022, p. 67]
  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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