Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

[Prowler]

No thread for the gen 4 remakes? That's surprising. Anyway, what do you think of these games?

Now, I didn't play gen 4 back in the DS days, so this is a whole new experience for me. But I've been having a lot of fun with the game so far. And considering I'm about 20 hours into it and already have 6 gym badges, I think I have played enough to form an opinion on the game. I also love the fact that I don't have to teach the actual HM moves to a pokemon in order to use them.

I remember several people online complaining about the chibi artstyle of the game, but I personally think it fits Pokémon very well. No idea how it compares to the originals since I haven't played them.

Cooking poffins is a bit frustrating, but doable. I prefer Pokeblocks.

The only criticism I can make about this game so far... well, Sinnoh isn't that interesting of a region compared to others in the series, imo. The Grand Underground makes it much more interesting.
I just personally prefer Kanto, Johto and Hoenn.

What about you?

[CyberCubed]

It's literally the same game as 2006 with slightly different graphics and some (minor) new features. And everything from Platinum version is gone, so literally a 2008 release was better.

[Prowler]

It's literally the same game as 2006 with slightly different graphics and some (minor) new features. And everything from Platinum version is gone, so literally a 2008 release was better.

Well, since I haven't played the originals, I cannot compare the remake to them. What features/content did Platinum have?

[CyberCubed]

Platinum had a Battle Frontier in the post-game after you defeat the Elite 4.

It added a new Team Galactic character named Pluto an older scientist guy, and a police officer named Handsome who tracked down Team Galactic. It also gave better motivations for Cyrus and Team Galactic. Besides that you can capture both Dialga and Palkia in the same game, whereas in DP and the remakes you can only get 1 or the other depending which version you buy.

Giratina one of the legendaries had a distortion world sidequest where you walk upside down, it was really cool and you can watch scenes on youtube of it in Platinum, but in the DP games you just find him in a cave.

The Elite 4 and Gym leaders also had better Pokemon teams if I remember right.

Lucas/Dawn's Platinum outfits are in the game though, you can get them in Veilstone city. It also had some updates to the side features like Contests and Underground but a lot of those were kept or re-done so it doesn't matter.

[Prowler]

I see.

Tbh I wonder why it took then so long to remake DP. I was expecting it to be made for the 3DS some years ago.

I guess we're going to have to wait quite a whole before we get the BW remakes? I did buy Pokémon Black before the pandemic but am yet to play it. Gotta get onto that sometime.

What do you think of Arceus? I haven't gotten that one yet.

[sdp]

I was a huge Pokemon for for decades, I even got to work for Pokemon USA Inc a few years. But Game freak has been phoning it in for decades now and I finally got tired of their BS. I still enjoy it but come on this game was phoning it in, I have nothing against chibi art style or newer pokemon, our girl Dawn deserved better.

[CyberCubed]

Tbh I wonder why it took then so long to remake DP. I was expecting it to be made for the 3DS some years ago..

I mean the Hoenn remakes came out in 2014 which isn't that long ago. So we got DP remakes in 2021. the 3DS already had a set of remakes so it wasn't going to get another.

If you count the Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee games than Kanto got another remake on Switch before DP too.

[Prowler]

I was a huge Pokemon for for decades, I even got to work for Pokemon USA Inc a few years. But Game freak has been phoning it in for decades now and I finally got tired of their BS. I still enjoy it but come on this game was phoning it in, I have nothing against chibi art style or newer pokemon, our girl Dawn deserved better.
I've been hearing that since gen 6. Tbh the XY games, while not bad, were kinda... underwhelming? I dunno. The mechanics were fine and all, but I just couldn't really get into the game.

Dawn is a generic Pokémon game protagonist... like every other.

I mean the Hoenn remakes came out in 2014 which isn't that long ago. So we got DP remakes in 2021. the 3DS already had a set of remakes so it wasn't going to get another.

If you count the Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee games than Kanto got another remake on Switch before DP too.
Now that you mention it, they do tend to keep it at one gen remake per system.

I haven't played Let's Go Pikachu.

[Cure]

Everyone should be playing Arceus. The best joint in forever.

[The Terror of Death]

Consensus seems to be lot of casuals and newcomers think the remakes are great as is, but most older fans who played the originals are extremely disappointed. I'm in the latter camp and wish the changes were more drastic and all the platinum content was included.

I hear Arceus is much better but it's still abundantly clear TCPI and Nintendo know the franchise will be successful regardless of the actual quality of the games. Instead of ILCA, a developer like Bandai Namco instead should have been given free rein on the DP remakes. Also, Game Freak needs to significantly increase their production budget or hire employees who have actual experience making high-end rpgs or modern video games in general. All their Switch releases feel like they were created over a decade ago.

[LeotheLateBloomer]

Everyone should be playing Arceus. The best joint in forever.

What this man says!

[Prowler]

Well, I have been grinding to win the Pokémon League. The Elite Four is challenging and Cynthia, the champion, is very difficult. Her Garchomp is brutal.

The Elite Four on my first try was crazy, but since I've grinded a few times against them to level up my party now, I can get past them without any major issues for the most part. Already know which pokemon and which attacks to pick to take down their pokemon. Ofc, gotta stock up on revives and full restores since it feels like several of the Poke League pokemon know Earthquake.

Even though I've been grinding and not trying to seriously win the Pokémon League I've managed to reach Cynthia twice. But her Garchomp and her Milotic are such a pain. Once I get my ice type to level 60+ I'll try to beat it for real. Plus, I've noticed I have some Ethers and Elixirs in my item bag, so that seems convenient.

None of the gym leaders gave me much trouble except maybe the last 2, but I still managed to beat them on the first try. Nothing like Koga from gen 1 or Whitney from gen 2.

[Prowler]

Well, I have been grinding to win the Pokémon League. The Elite Four is challenging and Cynthia, the champion, is very difficult. Her Garchomp is brutal.

The Elite Four on my first try was crazy, but since I've grinded a few times against them to level up my party now, I can get past them without any major issues for the most part. Already know which pokemon and which attacks to pick to take down their pokemon. Ofc, gotta stock up on revives and full restores since it feels like several of the Poke League pokemon know Earthquake.

Even though I've been grinding and not trying to seriously win the Pokémon League I've managed to reach Cynthia twice. But her Garchomp and her Milotic are such a pain. Once I get my ice type to level 60+ I'll try to beat it for real. Plus, I've noticed I have some Ethers and Elixirs in my item bag, so that seems convenient.

None of the gym leaders gave me much trouble except maybe the last 2, but I still managed to beat them on the first try. Nothing like Koga from gen 1 or Whitney from gen 2.

OK, after some grinding, I beat Cynthia yesterday. Had to put an ice type pokemon in my party.

Now I'm in the post game. Already got the national pokedex from Professor Oak and can now get every single pokemon from gen 1 to 4. I even got one of the Sinnoh starters, Chimchar already.

It's ridiculous this game isn't compatible with Pokémon Home though. Wtf.

[Allio]

Everyone should be playing Arceus. The best joint in forever.

That is t exactly a high bar.

[Prowler]

And I randomly caught a Shiny Wingull today. It appeared randomly. This is the first shiny I've ever caught, not counting the shiny Gyarados in Pokémon Crystal.

Shiny Wingull is very uninteresting though. Probably one of the least interesting looking shinies out there. His body is still white. Difference being he has green stripes on his wings instead of blue ones.

There's players who spend like 600 hours or more in Pokémon games because they hunt for shinies. That seems like a bit of a waste of time, but meh.

[Prowler]

Good news, everyone. We'll finally be able to use Pokémon BDSP and also Pokémon Arceus with Pokémon Home.

https://www.eurogamer.net/pokemon-home-version-20-adds-arceus-and-bdsp-support

Honestly, why wasn't this ready from the get go? What's with Nintendo releasing games and then only adding cool features or new characters and stages and such some months later in free updates? Do they just rush games?

[Coola Yagami]

Good news, everyone. We'll finally be able to use Pokémon BDSP and also Pokémon Arceus with Pokémon Home.

https://www.eurogamer.net/pokemon-home-version-20-adds-arceus-and-bdsp-support

Honestly, why wasn't this ready from the get go? What's with Nintendo releasing games and then only adding cool features or new characters and stages and such some months later in free updates? Do they just rush games?

lmao yes, pretty much. They know everyone is gonna buy em day one anyway.

[Prowler]

Yes, Coola. Nintendo also is releasing the newest Mario Strikers game soon and they said they'll eventually and new characters for free sometime later as well. For some odd reason, Daisy isn't part of the roster since day 1. She is a staple of mutiplayer Mario spinoff titles so that's odd.

Anyway back to Pokémon.

I wonder why the female trainer is once again
more interesting looking than the male one. Back in gen 3, May was more interrsting than Brandon. Not just in aesthetics but also due to the fact her dad is a gym leader as well. In gen 4, the male trainer looks dull and boring compared to Dawn.

It's not a big deal, but as a guy I get stuck playing with a dull generic male character while girls get May and Dawn, two characters that are iconic because they were main characters in the anime at some point.

And yes I know you can play as however you want to, but in Pokémon the trainer is supposed to be an avatar for the player. I always name it after me. Because it's supposed to be my personal journey and someone I vicariously live through. That wouldn't work well with May or Dawn for obvious reasons. I'm glad the girls get to have cool characters to play as, but they could have put a better effort into the male ones as well lol

[FredWolfLeonardo]

I blame the anime. The female trainers in gen 3 and 4 get anime counterparts whereas the Male ones don't.

Atleast I think that the gen 1 male protagonist, Red, is pretty interesting since you get to fight him in the Johto games, he is the star of Pokemon Origins and was the direct inspiration for Ash in the anime.

[Prowler]

I blame the anime. The female trainers in gen 3 and 4 get anime counterparts whereas the Male ones don't.

Atleast I think that the gen 1 male protagonist, Red, is pretty interesting since you get to fight him in the Johto games, he is the star of Pokemon Origins and was the direct inspiration for Ash in the anime.
Red is the main character of the Pokemon manga. I'm not sure if Brandon and the Gen 4 guy even exist outside the games. Do they?

In GSC, you play as Kenta. He looks cool too from his artwork.

Even without the anime, the male characters in gen 3 and 4 just look boring. Subtle details matter a lot. Red and Kenta wore caps. May and Dawn have slightly unique hairdos and Dawn's default outfit is also more unique than her male counterpart.

I don't watch the anime, so I don't even know what kind of personalities May and Dawn have. It's not like you get to know the personality of the character you control in the game. Which is why visual presentation is important to make them look unique.

I like BDSP, but I do feel like I'm controlling an NPC at times lol