After 89 hours on Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shiny Pearl, I want more Pokemon games like this.

I admit that with my journey Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shiny Pearl The first time was over too quickly, because I rushed the story and mainly spent time in the Grand Underground. I really didn't like the direction of the games in terms of “pure gen 4 remake”. Pokemon Platinum Features, very limited Pokedex before National Decks, and chibi characters. After that I never replayed Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shiny Pearl For years since their debut, and just started another playthrough Pokemon Shiny Pearl Very recently.

I didn't want to play these games so badly that I even skipped the Darkrai and Shaymin programs. BDSP (Which I deeply regret). I don't know why exactly, but I guess I expected a different remake experience that I didn't get, and that alone was disappointing for me. It came after a while Pokemon Legends: ArceusAnd I spent a lot of time with it, which made me decide that it's a good Gen 4. Pokemon Game anyway. It gave me a good reason to ditch BDSPAnd I never looked back. But I must have. Now I'm replaying Pokemon Shiny PearlI think I was too harsh early on, and in these games I feel lost in the process of 3D, open-world titles.

Why more future Pokemon games should be like BDSP

After deleting my game data and starting a new game, my first thought upon entering the world was that I didn't remember it. Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shiny PearlThe graphics are very vivid. And after about 20 hours, I am completely erect. I think the same thing happened while playing Pokemon Sword and Shield Again after a long hiatus, what I once believed to be middling games are now some of my favorites in the series due to their charm, colors, and more basic approach.

I think Pokemon BDSP's gyms are extreme – sorry, sorry

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shiny PearlThe gyms still preserve that element of dungeon-like design with puzzles and gameplay. Pokemon Legends: ZA and Pokemon Gen 9 for so long, I didn't know I missed it so much. Not only that, but I feel like I miss the old 2D era a lot Pokemon With that top-down view, tall grass encounters, and tough pokedexes before beating the game. before BDSPI went back to Gen 1 Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreenAnd the feeling only intensified when I replayed Gen 4.

Since I'm not done with my second playthrough of Shining Pearl yet, since I'm trying to take things slowly, I've decided to do a shiny-only run where I can use another shiny pokemon I catch at full odds after each gym. I did the same Pokemon FireRed On my last playthrough, which I still haven't finished, as I found myself playing a total of three in a shiny 180 hours, including my starter. There luck was not on my side, but again, within the shining odds Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen are immeasurable. Thankfully, this is not the case BDSP.

However, I feel it Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shiny Pearl's Grand Underground is one of these games' hidden gems. Re-purposed. It's vast and rich with Pokemon to catch, NPCs to meet for (long and gruesome) Spiritomb quests, loot to dig up and collect, and even a cool Diglett event that lets you find shiny and rare items more often. This is something I already thought about when I first played through these games in 2021, but it hits differently when the framing is different too.

Comparing to Pokemon BDSP Gen 9 and Beyond

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In comparison, Pokemon Scarlet and PurpleWhich are still among my absolute favorite games in the series, can feel a little too big for their own sake. There's plenty to do and discover, but overworld encounters can take away some of the charm. Likewise, gyms are no longer these dungeon-like mazes full of riddles and puzzles, but instead, they have more straightforward challenges to complete in order to fight. Pokemon Gym leaders. They're more mini-games than puzzles, and while there's nothing wrong with that, I feel like a piece of the series' identity is broken.

What's more, it's been two generations of games in a row without a meaningful villain. To be honest, I don't even like the villains in Gen 7, and I think Gen 3, 4 and 6 are the best. That said, President Rose and Team Yale are respectively a concerned individual and a group of misfits who want their favorite coach to succeed, while Team Star's story is about what happens after being bullied at school. I appreciate all these things, but Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shiny PearlTeam Galactic is on a whole other level like the original games, and I think that contributes to the appeal. BDSP Watch cosmic-themed backgrounds while fighting them.

So, if I had to ask for my perfect Pokemon Game to monitor Pokemon wind and waves By the end of 2027, it should have these features:

• Attractive 2D or 2D-HD JRPG graphics in the overworld, 3D in battle – eg BDSP

• Vibrant colors as realistic as possible – BDSP and Sword and shield Vs Scarlet and purple

• Enclosed spaces for gyms with real mazes and puzzles—eg BDSP and FRLG

• Around 200-250 Pokemon in the base game, with more unlocked with National Decks — ie BDSP and FRLG

• The ability to flash-hunt starter Pokemon, means pausing your playthrough until you get one.

• Either actual villains or characters like Team Yell and Team Star, without the pretense of being a villainous team. Better yet, both

with Pokemon Not among the Gen 5 remakes Pokemon Games in production at Game Freak, according to the leak, there are two options: either remakes are no longer being made, or they are being outsourced from here on out. since BDSP was outsourced to ILCA, I hope more games like them will be made at some point.

Pokemon BDSP aren't perfect games, and that's okay

With that, I want to emphasize that I don't think so Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shiny Pearl are perfect. They have their flaws, and some things about them still bug me, like the bite Pokemon PlatinumThe deformation world and war border. However, replaying these games, I felt that kind of underlying spark Pokemon Games that are still with modern titles, but in a very modified way.

Gen. 9 and Pokemon Legends: ZAI thought the story was fantastic, and in both cases, it greatly enhanced the campaign, even at moments when it felt like a slog. Likewise, being fully immersed in the wider world is amazing, and I don't want that to be lost from future games. At the same time, I really miss that charm of small towns with a few houses and NPCs that often made interactions matter, and I miss the anticipation of random, wild encounters in the tall grass. I have high hopes for Gen 10, even though it looks very different from everything else, but every now and then a return to that classic formula would make me very happy – and I'm sure I'm not alone.