Pokemon Brilliant Diamond - Review

“GOTTA CATCH ‘EM ALL!” I’m pretty sure if you grew up in the ‘90s, you know that catch phrase. Yup, the Pokémon IP has had decades of development and embedding itself into today’s culture. It’s so huge that there have been countless iterations of the game, but with more varieties of Pokémon to capture - which in this instance is the Sinnoh region.

Yes, this game is an update from the 2006 Pokémon Diamond and Pearl to the current Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, but essentially has kept the same core mechanics, gameplay, RPG and battle systems we’ve all come to love. Why change something when there’s still a huge fanbase that will constantly come back upon the next release? The real question is, does it feel dated by now? Before we get into that, let’s talk about the same *cough* I mean... similar narrative that’s always found in Pokémon games.

You, a young Pokémon fan, gets placed into a situation where you have to select one of three Pokémon to save yourself and a friend from being attacked by a wild Pokémon. Of the three, this will be your ‘starter’ Pokémon, which you’d have to select from either a Water, Grass or Fire attribute. From that point, you journey through the region by battling gyms to be the strongest trainer, while stopping the villain’s diabolical plans. In this particular instance, it’s Team Galactic. Oh! And don’t forget your friend that you started off with becoming your frenemy that wants to ‘be the very best’ trainer. Think of it as a Ken vs Ryu from Street Fighter type scenario… only this friend is obnoxious, which makes you want to beat him down even more.

By the end of the game, you would have levelled up your Pokémon and conquered all gyms and Pokémon League - the end. Sound familiar? That’s because it’s always the same story, but you swap out the friends, professor you meet, bad guys, and gym leaders. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond has kept the exact same formula that the franchise has been using for the past few decades.

On a more positive note, it’s fantastic to see the updated visuals of this game through the years, especially if you’re playing Brilliant Diamond on the Nintendo Switch OLED model. And yes, though it’s not necessarily needed, the brightness and colours of the OLED do make quality of life better… but that’s a different subject altogether. Seeing the variety of Pokémon in an updated design and visual style is definitely refreshing and exciting, especially in the first half of the game. However, once you get past that phase and realise it still feels like a 20+ year old game down to the core, trying to capture and interact with every character and Pokémon, the game takes a back seat. Well, at least it did for me.

Unfortunately, the game is littered with what felt like obnoxious interruptions in areas such as caves, tall grass or anywhere you might encounter Pokémon. This doesn’t let you move on across the map without feeling you’re abruptly stopping for what feels like every 10 seconds. Understandably this is to feature wild Pokémon encounters for you to potentially collect and using a repel item would stop this random interaction. However, when you’re pushed to a corner and have no items left to use or wanting to just travel over to the other side of the cave, the constant interruptions feel like an absolute chore and frustration that you have to get past. Additionally, when picking up items such as TMs found littered across the Sinnoh region, players are forced to listen to the ‘tune’ when one picks up that item opposed to letting you hit the next button to try and skip that animation/sequence. The only thing you can do to reduce the game’s repetitive animations is to change settings in Battle Effects to “off”, but that’s specifically only for the attack animations.

Speaking of things that feel dated and repeated; Brilliant Diamond’s battle animations are quite the same in that you can’t skip the opening or ending of a battle. The only difference with all the characters you meet are the archetype of the opponent, aka a sailor, a scientist, member of Team Galactic and so on. The game painfully makes you watch the same animated reactions looped with a handful of variations. This would be fine and tolerated in the first half of the game, but when your interactions with the people of the Sinnoh region results in 90% of the same scene across the entire game, it’s definitely felt... in an agonising way.

To change up the repetitive battles across the Sinnoh region, the game lets players solve level puzzles by unlocking abilities known as Hidden Moves via a Poke-watch known as the Poketch that you receive early in the game. As you progress, you add extra abilities to your arsenal to help you get past certain areas that were locked prior to receiving the particular ‘HM’ such as Surfing across lakes, Flying across maps once you’ve been to certain areas, and Rock Smashing certain boulders.

Additionally, players can sidestep the narrative with mini games once you attain certain tools such as a Fishing Rod, Bike, and more. One notable tool is the Explorer Kit which lets players dig into an underground labyrinth, allowing players to explore, battle and capture regular to rare Pokémon out in the wild. The difference is you’ll be able to see the Pokémon roaming around the area, which also run towards you if you get too close. So be ready to battle them - and potentially catch ‘em all - if your main agenda is to be the next Ash Ketchum.

As stated at the start of this review, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond uses the same Pokémon formula that’s been around for decades. And though this is the developer ILCA’s first entry with the IP, they’ve played it safe and simply updated what everyone’s familiar with. I’m personally not the target audience for this game, as it definitely feels like they’re still creating this franchise of games for a younger crowd. But if you were after a very familiar Pokémon game, perhaps one that you grew up with and have fond memories of, then this should provide a satisfying revisit, for newcomers, things maybe a little to hand holding for you.

The Score

6.0

Review code provided by Nintendo

The Pros

+Initially fun to catch a variety of Pokemon

+Familiar game formula as other games in the series

The Cons

-Still the same game formula, as other games in the series

-Feels like it’s created for a younger audience, which may bore older gamers

-Encountering Pokemon in the wild, happens too frequently, slowing things down