What to Play in November and December: 12 Notable Upcoming Games

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – October 29, 2021

In the gallery on this page, our editors have selected the most promising videogames scheduled for release during the final two months of 2021.

10 of 13 photo by The Pokemon Company

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond / Shining Pearl

RPG
Out Novmeber 19 for Switch

The pair of Pokémon games for the Switch are remakes of Diamond and Pearl, originally released for the DS in 2006. The remakes come not from usual Pokémon developer Game Freak but by ILCA, a Japanese studio that rarely takes a lead developer role (but has assisted on titles ranging from NieR Automata to Dragon Quest XI). And they appear to have taken a very faithful approach to the two games, duplicating the originals' visual style and top-down/tilt-shift perspective (but updating the level of graphic detail for the better hardware), unlike other recent remakes by Game Freak that have made more drastic changes. As in the original games, you'll start with your choice of Turtwig, Chimchar, or Piplup as you head out across the rural region of Sinnoh.

You won't have to wait long for the next Pokémon game, as the all new Pokémon Legends: Arceus—a prequel to Diamond and Pearl—will arrive in January.

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