Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl (19th November 2021)

[Scratch]

Bidoof should have been used for Fly as well...

[Julius]

27 minutes ago, Sckewi said:

Bidoof should have been used for Fly as well...

This will tie in nicely to Glen-i's point about Charizard...

7 hours ago, Glen-i said:

Makes more bloody sense then Charizard being used to fly in Sun/Moon, despite the fact you can never catch one in those games!

Ah well you see, that's because they heard how much you don't like Gen I fan service 

Also, there's no way Staraptor is just going to be the default Pokémon we see every time...right? But then again, I also don't see them bringing back the nebulous shadow flying Pokémon, which did always look like a Staraptor to me...

7 hours ago, Glen-i said:

Still, nice to see an actual feature from a more modern game be retroactively applied to this. Now you don't have to waste a move slot on bloomin' Defog!

I've talked before about how Staraptor was my ace back when I played Diamond for the first time - holy crap haha that was 14 years ago! - and I still remember it's moveset that always seemed to trounce my friends and their legendary Pokémon: 

• Fly

• Pluck - back as a Starly and then Staravia, grabbing this TM (I think from Floarama?) and teaching it was the difference to taking down Mars' Purugly because of its stupid Oran Berry. Man I hate Purugly, I mean it looks so obnoxious...

• Brave Bird - honestly, I think I loved this because it was the most shonen-type move I could find. "THIS MIGHT HURT ME...BUT NOT AS MUCH AS IT'S ABOUT TO HURT YOU!"

• Defog - yeah, the only Pokémon on my team capable of learning Defog was my ace. Go figure. An entire wasted move slot 

Why do I feel like nostalgia is what will tip me over to picking this game up? 

[Glen-i]

23 minutes ago, Julius said:

Also, there's no way Staraptor is just going to be the default Pokémon we see every time...right? But then again, I also don't see them bringing back the nebulous shadow flying Pokémon, which did always look like a Staraptor to me...

While that would be nice (And much more possible thanks to the fact that reusing 3D models for that kind of thing is a lot easier then drawing new sprites), it's probably just gonna be one specific Pokémon per HM move, like in Sun/Moon.

EDIT: Oh, and chances are, I'll be reviewing this for N-E. So if you give me a week or two after release, it'll be done.

Edited September 29, 2021 by Glen-i

[Julius]

1 minute ago, Glen-i said:

While that would be nice (And much more possible thanks to the fact that reusing 3D models for that kind of thing is a lot easier then drawing new sprites), it's probably just gonna be one specific Pokémon per HM move, like in Sun/Moon.

Yeah, you're probably right. 

But hey, if it's Staraptor (and who are we kidding, or probably would be), at least it'll feel like a bit of a throwback to pretty much everyone flying around the regions on Staraptor in the later Ranger games. 

flashbacks to flying around in Guardian Signs, and then ORAS, and then realising we ain't getting that here

While I'm still not sold on the music we've heard so far from the remakes, I've made the mistake of sticking the original OST on in the background, and I've got to say...it's winning me over and making me want to pre-order this. 

starts planning my team

[Julius]

Some previews have gone up today:

What is up with Chimchar's neck?! 

Edited October 13, 2021 by Julius

[Scratch]

Well, the HP Bar seems to go down quite quick. xD

Edit: And I'm glad about that!

Edited October 13, 2021 by Sckewi
A ghoooost editeeed the pooooost

[Glen-i]

@Julius, hate to break it to you, but Chimchar's neck has always been that thin. And yes, I just booted up Pokédex 3D Pro to confirm it.

Edited October 13, 2021 by Glen-i

[Julius]

16 hours ago, Glen-i said:

@Julius, hate to break it to you, but Chimchar's neck has always been that thin. And yes, I just booted up Pokédex 3D Pro to confirm it.

Huh, might be down to me just not really using one and not seeing it from this angle. Don't think I've actually had a Chimchar since we've transitioned to 3D now that I think about it...

...but anyways, this further cements it as the worst designed of the three Sinnoh starters for me  I think it might be the first starter Pokémon I didn't fancy the look of, but then again, Chikorita is also a little plain! 

[Glen-i]

52 minutes ago, Julius said:

...but anyways, this further cements it as the worst designed of the three Sinnoh starters for me  I think it might be the first starter Pokémon I didn't fancy the look of, but then again, Chikorita is also a little plain! 

Chimchar ain't all that, but Infernape is my favourite Sinnoh final evolution.

Spoiler

Yes, it's only two colours, I assure you of that.

That design is awesome. It's a karate monkey whose head is on fire! What's not to like? And in Diamond/Pearl, if you don't choose Chimchar, you only have Ponyta for a Fire Pokémon. Which sucks.

Edited October 14, 2021 by Glen-i
I forgot to actually finish the last sentence!

[Julius]

Music in this trailer seems a bit more up my alley compared with what we've heard before, which I'm very glad about. Still very hard to take characters like chibi Cyrus and chibi Volkner seriously, but hey, I'm sure I'll continue to complain about this game being chibi until well after launch 

Seriously though, I do wish they would've kept it fixed camera and basically just had the in-battle models in the overworked similar to Let's Go. Let's just pray Black and White don't get done dirty in this regard like these games have. 

The Platinum outfit being an early purchase bonus and Manaphy being our early Mystery Gift this time though?

Sigh

I'm buying this aren't I? 

Edited October 26, 2021 by Julius

[Glen-i]

Option to use the Platinum outfit? Cool.

Locking it behind an early purchase condition? Not cool.

I mean, I'm buying it day 1 anyway, but still.

[Julius]

5 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

Option to use the Platinum outfit? Cool.

Locking it behind an early purchase condition? Not cool.

I mean, I'm buying it day 1 anyway, but still.

Yeah, you'd think that it could be a cool reward for beating the game, but that's Pokémon I guess, their pre-order/early purchase bonuses have been a bit odd as of late. It would've been even cooler if there was a Platinum Episode and you got this before starting it, but well... 

At least we don't need to be short-sleeved Lucas with a scarf the whole time! Maximum RP will be me changing between the Diamond/Pearl outfit and the Platinum outfit depending on the weather where I am in the game 

[Ike]

The Platinum outfits were better than the D/P outfits, I was hoping they would add them so that's cool. Looks a bit out of place if Sinnoh isn't cover in snow. 

[Julius]

Japanese overview trailer and two commercials:

Getting excited but still very nervous for this one.

The look I'll probably get used to after a few hours (even if the hands continue to serve as prime nightmare fuel) but it's mostly the music, it seems so up and down in quality based on what we've heard in the marketing so far compared to the originals, and even other compositions. The Route 209 composition for Smash sounds better to me than what we hear glimpses of in the above...

Might go through the original soundtrack and pick out my favourites to do a comparison with their Brilliant and Shining counterparts. 

I'm curious to see what events eventually look like for this game, especially with Legends: Arceus on the way. I'd very happily just take the Key Items we got back in Gen IV and have those small events over just doling them out haphazardly like they do these days. 

Also curious to see how the Battle Zone island is going to be handled this time around, as I remember before you had to see every Pokémon in the Sinnoh Dex - in both Diamond & Pearl, and then in Platinum - to go beyond the Fight Area. I remember being able to help my friends find the Pokémon they needed to see (more often than not it was telling them to see Dialga or Palkia in Celestic Town through the book) and all I needed to see was some lowly Burmy. Somehow I hadn't come across one in the wild, and eventually I found a trainer hiding in Eterna Forest who fought with one. That was not fun. Let's hope we don't need to do that again 

[Glen-i]

36 minutes ago, Julius said:

Also curious to see how the Battle Zone island is going to be handled this time around, as I remember before you had to see every Pokémon in the Sinnoh Dex - in both Diamond & Pearl, and then in Platinum - to go beyond the Fight Area. I remember being able to help my friends find the Pokémon they needed to see (more often than not it was telling them to see Dialga or Palkia in Celestic Town through the book) and all I needed to see was some lowly Burmy. Somehow I hadn't come across one in the wild, and eventually I found a trainer hiding in Eterna Forest who fought with one. That was not fun. Let's hope we don't need to do that again 

Difference this time is that you have access to some nutjob who has every Pokémon ready to go. (Granted, not all on the same game like he used to have...)

[Julius]

2 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

Difference this time is that you have access to some nutjob who has every Pokémon ready to go. (Granted, not all on the same game like he used to have...)

Haha yeah, that's true! Actually pretty crazy thinking back that me and my friends all got to that point in the same week...just to rub it in my face that I hadn't seen a Burmy. 

But speaking of transferring Pokémon, I wonder what the plan is for Pal Park now? Seeing as I imagine the Safari Zone is going to end up like the one in ORAS? Maybe that'll be where they have the swarm Pokémon turn up instead to save you running around or something. 

[Glen-i]

12 minutes ago, Julius said:

But speaking of transferring Pokémon, I wonder what the plan is for Pal Park now? Seeing as I imagine the Safari Zone is going to end up like the one in ORAS? Maybe that'll be where they have the swarm Pokémon turn up instead to save you running around or something. 

Might be a way to catch some Pokémon that are from Gen 5 onwards, that's what I would do.

Nah, in actuality, what I would do is sprinkle those throughout the game to keep veterans guessing what could show up.

But, in reality, it's gonna be neither. Because that would be nice, and we can't have nice things. I'd be amazed if anything from Black/White onwards showed up here. Further splitting up my living dex! My Inteleon's gonna be chilling out in Galar, while my Feraligatr is making the jump to HD by going back to Sinnoh and my Greninja will still be stuck in bloody low definition Alola!

Keeping track of them all is going to devolve into a nightmare at this rate! Why must my favourite water starters be split up!?

EDIT: Now that I think about it, it's really shocking that outside of Smash, Greninja hasn't shown up in a HD game! It's easily the most popular Kalos Pokémon, you'd think TPC would push it more.

Edited November 5, 2021 by Glen-i

[Dcubed]

Pal Park will probably be where your Pokémon Home mons get chucked into when you do the transfer.

[Ike]

22 hours ago, Julius said:

 and all I needed to see was some lowly Burmy. Somehow I hadn't come across one in the wild, and eventually I found a trainer hiding in Eterna Forest who fought with one. That was not fun. Let's hope we don't need to do that again 

I was missing Magmotor or something. There was a trainer in Victory Road I had missed.

Have they said whether all Pokemon are back in, or are they limiting them still?

[Glen-i]

3 hours ago, Dcubed said:

Pal Park will probably be where your Pokémon Home mons get chucked into when you do the transfer.

That makes no sense. Home lets you edit your in-game boxes straight from the Switch application.

And when you transfer from the 3DS, they get shoved into a Home box.

There's no need for a middle man in Diamond/Pearl anymore.

3 hours ago, Ike said:

Have they said whether all Pokemon are back in, or are they limiting them still?

No official confirmation. But I wouldn't be surprised if it was just the first 493 Pokémon that are allowed to be used (Plus Sylveon).

Sword/Shield may have limited the Pokémon out of necessity, but I'm concerned that it's success has started a worrying trend with that.

I don't think you'll be able to have an in-game living Dex for a very long time.

[Glen-i]

Like clockwork, it seems that copies of this are starting to trickle out to the public, so beware of potential spoilers.

Yes, I know it's weird for me to say that, giving how apathetic I am towards expecting anything new here, but if there is something new, I do want it to be a surprise. So keep it to yourself if you do decide to seek it out.

[Julius]

2 hours ago, Glen-i said:

Like clockwork, it seems that copies of this are starting to trickle out to the public, so beware of potential spoilers.

Yes, I know it's weird for me to say that, giving how apathetic I am towards expecting anything new here, but if there is something new, I do want it to be a surprise. So keep it to yourself if you do decide to seek it out.

I fully expect to see a sign at the end of Spear Pillar after you see credits roll which says The Distortion World Project Has Started!  

[bob]

Like clockwork, it seems that copies of this are starting to trickle out to the public, so beware of potential spoilers.
Yes, I know it's weird for me to say that, giving how apathetic I am towards expecting anything new here, but if there is something new, I do want it to be a surprise. So keep it to yourself if you do decide to seek it out.

Snivy kills Dunsparce.

[MindFreak]

How can this keep happening to Pokémon games? I would assume that retailers don't even have the games yet so they can't break street date so who leaks them? 

[Julius]

37 minutes ago, MindFreak said:

How can this keep happening to Pokémon games? I would assume that retailers don't even have the games yet so they can't break street date so who leaks them? 

No, it's exactly that. With the number of copies that Pokémon games need available at launch globally to be in excess of demand, the logistical nightmare probably means they're shipping to retailers up to a full month before launch. Typically these copies which have been sold before release have been sold at smaller chains or local stores (typically stores not dedicated to gaming) rather than supermarket chains or larger dedicated gaming chains like GAME, GameStop, etc., where the smaller chains have very little reason to hold out on selling the game until launch (such as not having the technology to report stock in a timely / accurate manner automatically, or simply because they need the business / are doing a friend a favour). Rarely if ever are these smaller chains going to come under much scrutiny from TPCi and Nintendo because they aren't even on their radar as needing to be watched. 

Unsurprisingly I think it's got a lot, lot worse since the transition to 3D, as X and Y were the first mainline games to be available simultaneously worldwide and the language options have been expanding each gen. Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire and Sun & Moon both got datamined big time after their demos, and while the former was delayed in Europe (some still believe due to many of the X & Y leaks originating from this side of the pond, though I remember there being some in Canada too, so it may genuinely have just been due to shipping or localisation), the simultaneous worldwide release has been pretty consistent since. That means a whole lot more smaller stores where the street date can be broken. 

It is what it is, it's like how we get leaks during the trailer cutting process for some massive films, or even see very small chains have screenings before they are supposed to of the latest blockbuster. In terms of these games, though, nothing of note has leaked so far (unsurprisingly), and I've been following them a bit. There's nothing to spoil, the UI looks like a nice modernisation of the original, and that's pretty much all there has been to say in terms of additions and improvements that we haven't seen too much in the marketing.

What seems to be unforgivable - if accurate - is that some of this early footage sounds like it has a MIDI soundtrack which doesn't really match up with what we've been hearing in the trailers, which makes you wonder if that will be patched in on day 1, which would mean that the game is shipping in an incomplete form.