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

[Julius]

13 hours ago, Julius said:

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. 

From the game's page on the Japanese Nintendo Store:

Quote

Guess it's time for me to make like Switzerland and go find that fence I was sitting on before. And then probably jump over it and not look back. 

I feel really sorry for any fans - especially any kids - who don't have dependable / easy / any access to the internet for such an update. As if there wasn't enough here to be absolutely, belligerently indifferent already, with this game setting the bar at the floor for what we should now expect from Pokémon remakes moving forwards. Game Freak clearly wanted to take a next step into 3D with Legends: Arceus, felt like they needed to make a remake for these games, and so outsourced them, but in turn completely misread the situation in giving us remakes which are quickly adding up to not even be the definitive way to play through Sinnoh. I know myself and many others wanted remakes, but if we knew it'd end up getting this treatment, I'd much rather they didn't bother.

You might try to be super optimistic and say "hey, maybe they've done this so that those who get access to the game before it's meant to launch don't get access to Episode Platinum / post-game stuff / etc., so it doesn't leak!" To which I say: if that were the case, that's somehow even worse for those unable to update the game. 

I don't get how you end up that tight on time when you are pulling off the lowest effort and most "faithful" pair of remakes to date that a Pokémon game isn't being shipped in a complete form. It's not on ILCA, heck it might not even be on GF at this point (it probably isn't, it's probably TPCi), but it seriously feels like ILCA were only approached about this project last year. Maybe they were approached in 2019 and things being delayed due to COVID is what makes me feel that way, but if you're needing to ship a Pokémon game which needs a day 1 patch that isn't to do with a bug picked up very late in QA and is of a noteworthy size, potentially replacing temporary MIDI tracks on shipped copies? It will genuinely be the most embarrassing thing Pokémon has shipped since the franchise started. I don't think there's been a project anywhere near as objectively messed up - not talking about the quality of the game, but I genuinely mean from a technical and development perspective - for them as this appears to be right now. 

Edited November 9, 2021 by Julius

[Glen-i]

Yeah, @Dcubed just informed me of that. It's really horrendous.

Gen 4 deserved way better then this.

[Dcubed]

Absolutely awful.  I’m shocked that TPC/Nintendo are allowing this.

They’re literally selling people a Beta version on the cartridge.

There’s no point in buying the retail version at launch; might as well wait until they re-print the actual finished version of the game later on down the line (unless you actually DO want to mess around with the unfinished beta that is ).

Edited November 9, 2021 by Dcubed

[Ike]

Click the Tweet to view the thread, for more hilarity. They are releasing an update 8 days before launch.

[Julius]

Full details of tomorrow's patch that @Ike mentioned:

Yeah, it's way more than just the music and bug fixes expected from the leaks...and it doesn't even mention the music here, hopefully it feels under "Other adjustments and corrections were made to improve the gameplay experience." And all official tweets following this latest update have a follow-up set of tweets in an attempt to keep things transparent I guess? 

 

I wonder if they've had time to update the box with these details -- that online is needed to update the game to actually have full access to a lot of the post-game content? 

Either way...what a mess. I'd like to say detailing Ramanas Park (at least we know what Pal Park is in this game now!) this late would have to do with the leaks, but I seem to remember the Delta Episode being detailed very late into the marketing for ORAS too. Which honestly just makes them seem more lost. Not super keen on Mew and Jirachi requiring save data from previous games (it's like the Poké Ball Plus all over again), much less being available as seemingly early as Floaroma Town. 

Kind of wish they'd nip remakes in the bud now rather than try to remake Black & White at this rate. 

Edited November 10, 2021 by Julius

[Scratch]

The decision to give Mew if Let's Go save data detected seems kinda odd... Since the PokeBall Plus was kinda released for Let's Go, so Let's Go trainers are the most likely of anyone to already have a Mew. Although I guess no-one would complain about having two legit Mews. xD

 

[Julius]

Okay, so something not totally apparent in today's update from the video, but is on the official site...the Genome Slates are based on the cartridge design of the game that the Legendary Pokémon it is designed for is originally from. 

GB cartridge for Mewtwo. 

GB cartridge for the legendary birds. 

GBA cartridge for Rayquaza. 

I kind of love it. 

15 minutes ago, Sckewi said:

Although I guess no-one would complain about having two legit Mews. xD

Honestly, maybe it's just me and because it seemed so rare to see someone with certain event Pokémon back in the day, but legendary Pokémon just don't really seem that...well...legendary anymore?

They give away almost as many legendary Pokémon as Oprah does cars, it's a bit perplexing. I remember the excitement for the 20th anniversary, seeing all of the event Pokémon be released over the course of 2016, and now they're in each game like sardines in a can. 

Edited November 10, 2021 by Julius

[Ike]

Seems like certain Legendaries get distributed more often, like Mew. Manaphy and Shaymin, for example, don't seem to get as many.

[Glen-i]

1 hour ago, Ike said:

Seems like certain Legendaries get distributed more often, like Mew. Manaphy and Shaymin, for example, don't seem to get as many.

You all know exactly why that's the case.

[Dcubed]

Wow, even after the day 1 update, Union Room STILL only supports 2 players!? (making it basically pointless).  It’s STILL not finished!?

What a joke! This game desperately needed a delay.  There’s no excuse for this kind of shabby, incomplete release.

Considering that Advance Wars Reboot Camp just got a great big whacking 4 month delay? This is totally a TPC decision; can’t imagine that Nintendo would allow this if they were totally in charge.

Edited November 10, 2021 by Dcubed

[Julius]

The soundtrack has been updated as part of the pre-release patch. Thank Arceus for that.  

So here's an example of one of the MIDI tracks before this patch got released, the Trainer Theme:

And here is what it sounds like now: 

Not to speak to the quality of the arrangement just yet, but that at least sounds a whole lot better in terms of fidelity. You know, not like someone has shoved a sock down the trumpets 

We're just over a week from release, and I've got to admit, I'm still very torn on picking the game up as a result of how clearly rushed this game's release has been. I do want to return to Sinnoh, I do want to listen to the soundtrack, and I do want to see the post-game in action, but I feel like the pre-release leaks have cast a pretty permanent cloud over any enjoyment I might have of the game. And I seriously hope reviewers drag this game - and TPC - over the coals and make it clear that a Pokémon game, of all games, has been shipped in a completely unacceptable form. I honestly think that's a factor in me still wanting to pick it up too, as once it's released it would be unfair for me to critique a game I haven't played. 

Has anyone else's purchase of this game been cancelled because of the news over the last few days, or at the very least called into question? 

Edited November 11, 2021 by Julius

[MindFreak]

It's a shame that only a few reviewers actually get the game before release, at least in Europe. So many reviewers won't be aware that the game was in a bad shape before release.

I won't buy the games as I think they aren't ambitious enough. I know they are remakes but pixel to pixel remakes are not what I would be expecting at this point. 

Edited November 11, 2021 by MindFreak

[Ronnie]

Having recently played the Link's Awakening remake, this really doesn't stack up well next to it. Those squared off cliff faces 

[Dcubed]

I'm definitely not buying a retail copy until they release a re-print with all of the updates on the cartridge.

43 minutes ago, MindFreak said:

It's a shame that only a few reviewers actually get the game before release, at least in Europe. So many reviewers won't be aware that the game was in a bad shape before release.

I won't buy the games as I think they aren't ambitious enough. I know they are remakes but pixel to pixel remakes are not what I would be expecting at this point. 

If anything, the international reviews are going to be much less kind than they actually should be, because they've been reviewing a beta version of the game.  TPC brought this on themselves though, so I say let the reviewers rake them over the coals for this mess.

Edited November 11, 2021 by Dcubed

[Glen-i]

9 hours ago, Julius said:

Has anyone else's purchase of this game been cancelled because of the news over the last few days, or at the very least called into question? 

See, the thing is, even if it is a poor Pokémon remake. It's still Diamond and Pearl, which are great Pokémon games in their own right. Certainly better then the past three generations of Pokémon games have been.

It may have been completely shafted by getting outsourced to a different company with a unfairly tight deadline, but if it still has the same structure as the DS originals (with obvious QoL improvements like HM removals, etc.), it's still gonna be a good game for those people who never played it on the DS.

Anyway, I'm planning on reviewing it for N-Europe, and you know I'm going to notice any differences that I think are for the worse, and I will call it out if it does.

EDIT: That said, I think @Ronnie's comparison to the Link's Awakening remake is already unfair, you're putting Nintendo up against a much smaller developer. A more apt comparison would be to take another Switch Pokémon remake done by a relatively smaller studio.

Ah... Well, BD/SP can't catch a bloody break, can it?

Edited November 11, 2021 by Glen-i

[Ronnie]

2 hours ago, Glen-i said:

That said, I think @Ronnie's comparison to the Link's Awakening remake is already unfair, you're putting Nintendo up against a much smaller developer.

A much smaller developer chosen by Game Freak to develop it, with their considerable financial backing behind them. 

And also, BD/SP is going to sell more copies than Zelda did...

 

Edited November 11, 2021 by Ronnie

[Glen-i]

1 hour ago, Ronnie said:

A much smaller developer chosen by Game Freak to develop it, with their considerable financial backing behind them. 

And also, BD/SP is going to sell more copies than Zelda did...

I very much doubt that Game Freak chose who developed this. If anything, TPC would be the ones calling the shots there.

[Julius]

5 hours ago, Ronnie said:

A much smaller developer chosen by Game Freak to develop it, with their considerable financial backing behind them. 

And also, BD/SP is going to sell more copies than Zelda did...

I agree with @Glen-i that in all likelihood Game Freak unfortunately would have very little say over who the game would be outsourced to, and that TPCi likely made the call for ILCA to get involved. This is total speculation on my part, building on my earlier thought that ILCA likely got called in too late / with little wiggle room after COVID, but I think what happened is:

• Game Freak went to TPCi with the ambition to create an open world Pokémon game. Whether this was a response to the very noticeable feedback we've seen in the last few years I don't think really matters, but I think Game Freak may have overestimated their own staff's suitability, in size and experience, for work on an open world Pokémon game, and potentially even underestimated how long they would need to work on such a game.

I think there was probably a level of compromise here as TPCi likely figured the next set of remakes (Diamond & Pearl) would need to be outsourced if they wanted them out by the end of 2021 for the 25th anniversary of the series, and at the same time would trust Game Freak to create an open world Pokémon game. It wouldn't surprise me if something more like Breath of the Wild was their original ambition, but the release of Monster Hunter World in 2018 - and it's crazy level of success - makes me think that they likely pivoted to what we've seen over the last few months: a game much more like Monster Hunter World, and much less like Pokémon x Breath of the Wild (main base, more open zones, methods of traversing the world, etc.).

The other compromise would likely be that the open world project would take place in an already designed region to help them get to full production sooner, and to have it be part of a spin-off series to mitigate any damage to the reputation of the main series should it bomb. They can insist that "Legends" is core series all they want, if it bombs you know they'll rewrite the history books. 

• after the launch of Sword & Shield, and with plans for DLC, I think the trigger was pulled on the Diamond & Pearl remakes at the end of 2019 to head into full production. Game Freak's structure has constantly been changing, and I think there were likely only a few of them who would have helped advise ILCA during the development of the remakes, but let's not forget that there was only one year between the releases of X & Y and Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, likely being worked on for the most part by half of Game Freak's staff before scaling up towards release (back when they seemed to have the A-team and B-team structure to churn out projects, not too dissimilar to how Call of Duty cycles between three development studios to churn out annual entries). Two years for top-down remakes of Pokémon games and potentially with a limited scope, maybe some plans for Platinum content to be included? I'm not too familiar with ILCA's work, but I think something like that was the original plan: two years to develop Diamond & Pearl remakes. And, if anything, as a bit of a trial run. 

• the one thing no-one could account for: COVID. Again, I'm not too familiar with ILCA's work (and there honestly seems to be very little out there about them), but we all heard plenty last year about just how much game studios in Japan struggled to transition to working from home. This easily could have impacted 6 - 9 months of development on the game for ILCA, and if they were only given around two years, that's a massive amount. I reckon if there were any plans to incorporate Platinum content (let's not forget just how loud the community's outcry was in retaliation to how Emerald content was handled in ORAS), they were quickly scrapped or scaled way down in scope. Honestly, if they had any plans to incorporate more realised trainer models in the overworld they would have had to be scrapped too (something more akin to Let's Go, for example), and so I don't think it's a surprise at all how these games turned out looking visually divisive. I mean, look at just how much has had to be put into a pre-release patch, including very major aspects of the post-game content and the game's music! 

Why did they have to make 2021? Well, it's the year of the 25th anniversary, there will have been no new core series titles for two years at this point, and because of the all-out multimedia barrage that is Pokémon merchandising, anime, etc., it's just too big a wheel to stop turning. 

I'm not at all excusing how it's been handled, because I've found it a bit of a rollercoaster myself the last week or so, but I don't think the blame can be put on ILCA, or potentially even Game Freak. I think the very fact that ILCA managed to turn around these games in what could easily have been the originally planned release window agreed upon prior to COVID is a feat that I'm sure will see them getting more opportunities to work with Pokémon in the future. Just, hopefully, with more time for development and a greater scope and budget for what they want to do with the games they work on. 

Back to your original point though @Ronnie, I totally agree that remakes in the style of the Link's Awakening remake would have been great -- I know I would have liked it. To some extent, I think that sort of toy-like look might have even been what ILCA would have been looking at originally, but it might have been reduced due to the apparent time constraints. As others have mentioned before, I would absolutely love to see other games in Nintendo's library (ahem, the Mother series) get that treatment too! 

[Glen-i]

7 hours ago, Julius said:

As others have mentioned before, I would absolutely love to see other games in Nintendo's library (ahem, the Mother series) get that treatment too! 

See, now I want all three Mother games remade to look more clay-like, much like the "renders" those games use for promotional purposes. That'd be sweet!

Or just release the two EarthBound games on Switch online. That'd also be nice...

Edited November 12, 2021 by Glen-i

[Julius]

Well I guess I'm glad I finished Galaxy last night!

Time (heh) to revisit my childhood, and be a bitter old man disappointed by all of the changes they've made...or, rather, haven't? 

Edited November 16, 2021 by Julius

[Ike]

6 hours ago, Julius said:

Well I guess I'm glad I finished Galaxy last night!

Time (heh) to revisit my childhood, and be a bitter old man disappointed by all of the changes they've made...or, rather, haven't? 

Lucky. I'd say it's early, but well..

[Julius]

So, I've put a few hours into this, and the good thing is that it's keeping my attention. Even if it's been a bit of a mixed bag so far, I'm having a pretty good time. I'm just about to head into Eterna City's gym; at this point my team is:

• Monferno - Lv. 24
• Staravia - Lv. 22
• Buneary - Lv. 18
• Luxio - Lv. 22
• Budew - Lv. 20
• Buizel - Lv. 17

I've never had a Monferno as my ace starter before, as while I did trade a Chimchar over to Platinum back in the day along with a Piplup and (a superior to my in-game starter) Turtwig, it quickly fell to the wayside. I still hate Chimchar's design, but Monferno and Infernape are a lot better, and from what I remember from the Diamond & Pearl Dex, it's very light on Fire types, so figured now was as good a time as any. Back in the day on Diamond the first Pokémon I ran into after getting PokéBalls was a Lv. 2 Starly, and surely enough, the same thing happened in Brilliant Diamond. Naturally had to catch it in the same type of Ball, a Premier Ball! Think I'll be keeping Luxio around as well as Budew (I've had but never really used a Roserade in previous games, so I look forward to it!), but the other two spots at the moment are being kept warm for particular Pokémon I won't be able to get for a little while (Gible and Sneasel). 

The battles are a lot faster than they were back in the day, that's for sure, and that's something I'm very grateful for. Going back and seeing Diamond & Pearl battle footage these days is completely rage-inducing. 

Only problem I have with battles really, as has been the case since X & Y overhauled the EXP Share, is being overleveled. I walked over Roark's team with a Lv. 15 Monferno. I could go out of the way to apply limits to myself, but it's a bit too much effort for my liking to do so, and besides, if any games want you to battle everyone, it's Diamond & Pearl, seeing as you needed to see every Pokémon back in the day on the Sinnoh Dex to access a large part of the post-game. Based on my time with the game so far, I'll be very surprised if I find out that's changed. 

There's definitely a charm here that I just haven't felt in a brand new Pokémon game since the transition to 3D. Maybe some of that is nostalgia, but I've found myself smiling at the silliness of a lot of the NPC dialogue in the game so far, and far more frequently than in, say, Sword (which admittedly did have some funny moments). There's a hilarious nod to how you had to get access to Mystery Gift back in the day, which have me a good chuckle.

In terms of the charm, I don't think it's the chibi models, which I still think are hideous and could end up damaging the more serious moments in the game, especially with their deadpan expressions during zoom-ins. It's definitely not the depth of field, which is all over the place and seems to change from location to location. I don't think it's just the music either, as some of the remixes I've heard so far sound almost identical in arrangement to the original games, but just come across much softer, to the point that I'd describe some as lacking energy. Maybe it's the locations? Because take away the NPC models and I think the game looks alright, the colours are nice and it looks like a low poly take on classic locations, even if it could've done with a higher budget and more time. It could also be the lengths ILCA clearly went through to include small details, like the background of the Pokémon using a HM and the animation for it matching that of the original games, or the TV changing over to show something which kind of matches what you're watching, or the battle transition animation matching up too. 

I also had my first excursion into the Grand Underground...man, that's surprisingly fun stuff. I forgot just how much I loved the minesweeper-like minigame for the dig sites, and finding the caverns with Pokémon has been pretty cool. Nothing too crazy, but still caught some pretty rare stuff (an underleveled Gastrodon and Houndoom, a Scyther, some Skorupi). Stocking up on PokéBalls before heading down there seems like the smart move, and honestly running out (I had 40 before heading down) after about an hour down there was probably my saving grace; I think I'm going to have to save this for the post-game, for my own sanity! 

Enjoying it so far, definitely some weird nitpicks I've got so far, we'll see if those (and my enjoyment) persist until the end of the game. One of the nitpicks is that they use a zoom-in before a lot of battles to show you your opponent up close in overworked chibi form, but then it quickly cuts to the typical overhead angle before going into the battle. It's just a little bizarre to see in action! 

7 hours ago, Ike said:

Lucky. I'd say it's early, but well..

There are some downsides to it coming so early: you can't post screenshots for the game yet (I like to illustrate my points!); and the Mystery Gift servers aren't up yet, meaning my wait for the Platinum outfit continues 

[Dcubed]

Reviews are coming out now.

Nintendo Life gave it a 6/10? Ouch! They rate basically every first party release highly, so that's pretty brutal coming from them!

BTW, Nintendo Life's review is very shit and very poorly written, NE would never have approved such a crappy writing job  

Edited November 17, 2021 by Dcubed

[Glen-i]

31 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

Reviews are coming out now.

Nintendo Life gave it a 6/10? Ouch! They rate basically every first party release highly, so that's pretty brutal coming from them!

BTW, Nintendo Life's review is very shit and very poorly written, NE would never have approved such a crappy writing job  

Can confirm. Blatantly written by someone who played through 2 or 3 gyms then got all the other info from Serebii.

Edited November 17, 2021 by Glen-i

[Glen-i]

So it's the day before the digital version drops and I spend the next week playing nothing but.

Hopefully, I can get an Electabuzz and Electirizer before Sunday. Wanna use an Electivire in a playthrough for once. Top 3 favourite electric Pokémon there.

Heads up, @Julius. May need your help there, and to test the Union Room for review purposes.

EDIT: Ah, bugger! The Electivire line is exclusive to Diamond... Well, if you manage to get an Elekid egg this weekend, hit me up please. No rush, mind. I can live with a different playthrough Pokémon.

And yes, an egg. I don't want the EXP boost if I can avoid it. Forced EXP share kinda ruined me when I tried to use two starters in Shield. I never used my Rillaboom because it was always higher in level.

Edited November 18, 2021 by Glen-i