Pokemon Brilliant Diamond- Nintendo Switch Review

It's time to go back to the Sinnoh region after completing Pokemon Black and Black 2. I was going to do this right after Black 2, but I wanted a break from the main series before I covered this. When I quit the main Pokemon titles a few years ago, it was Pearl, so I decided I'd do the Diamond remake this time. Will this game be as good as Platinum that I reviewed for the DS, considering Game Freak isn't involved?

Plot

As a direct remake, the plot is the same as the original Diamond. After seeing a news report on a red Gyarados, you and your friend Barry go to the local lake to see if you can find a rare Pokemon there. When they arrive to the lake, they see Professor Rowan, leave behind a briefcase. Luckily, they did as the starter Pokemon inside protect you and Barry from a Starly attack. When you go and return the briefcase, the professor asked you and Barry to keep the Pokemon that rescued you. Then, you decide to go on a journey to collect the 8 badges and fill the Pokedex.

Gameplay

You control your character using the left joy stick, open menu with X, select options with A, back with B, and the plus sign is your registered key items. You move around the map in a top down perspective, and the grass areas as usual hold Pokemon for you to battle and catch, there are trainers to battle, and you can interact with NPCs with the A button.

New features for Original Diamond and Pearl include character customization, The Grand Underground to catch rare Pokemon and shiny statues that can be collected using Nintendo Online, Poke Ball decorations, a guild room accessible via the Y key, and the Super Contest shows.

Review

I had a great time with this title and still am as of course I want to collect as many Pokemon as I can in it. Here are the upsides I see to this remake series, no need for HMs due to the Poke'tech HM app, I love the exp share as less need for grinding, walking with Pokemon is fun, I also love the Grand Underground. The downsides are, the friendship can be overpowered, minor glitches, Secret base is just a statue display, super contests are just a quick time event, Poffin making is far harder, and the ending and defeating team Galactic isn't as good as Platinum. If the downsides are deal breakers then maybe this is not the game for you, but you may have a good time.