What’s new in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl?

The upcoming remakes of the early Nintendo DS Pokémon games, ILCA’s Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are two of the biggest releases in Nintendo’s holiday lineup. With just over a month until their expected release on November 19, we were allowed to see the games in a preview event. We take a look at what stays the same in these updated games, and what modern conveniences add to Sinnoh’s adventure.

Our demo began with a look at the world, which remains true to the vision of the original Diamond and Pearl. The camera remains on the ceiling and the characters that populate Sinnoh are presented in chibi models. However, everything has been redone with 3D models, with new textures and all that, which we knew from the initial trailer a few months ago. The novelty of traveling the routes from town to town is the option of letting one of your fellow Pokémon pass behind you at all times. It’s a cool feature in Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee and the Sword and Shield Isle of Armor DLC that I’m very happy to see return.

If you want more Pokémon from your party, head over to Amity Square. It is a location that allows predetermined “cute” Pokémon to scatter throughout the park, causing a kind of hide and seek game to unfold. Your monsters will find items around the area, and as you find each one, they will start to follow you wherever you go through Amity Square. With more than one member of your party by your side, the developers allow you to have a bit of fun by adding a zoom feature to the in-game camera so you can take photos with your partners. Bring all your favorites (considered cute by the Amity Square receptionist, of course) and create some memories.

Speaking of cute, the Pokémon Super Contest shows are also making a comeback. Super contests are a way to compete in different categories, including cuteness, toughness, coolness, and more. You will play a simple rhythm game during competitions and try to unleash a pre-selected move of your Pokémon at the perfect time to wow the judges. You will also see the fruits of customizing your Ball Capsule. With Ball Capsules, you can add stickers to specific Pokéballs, creating unique animations and ornaments each time you take out that Pokémon. I saw a combination of flame and water effects applied to one of the Pokémon that our demoist took out. Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl will have over 90 of these stickers, and some can be obtained by winning Super Contest programs.

Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl will not be completely faithful to the originals, as the remakes bring some well-tested features from the newer main games. First, the Pokémon battles use the full 3D models that you would expect to see in Sword and Shield. Your trainer also receives a full-size model so you can wear your character’s outfits in battle. The EXP share applies to all Pokémon in your party when a battle concludes. However, it was confirmed that it is not a feature that can be disabled this time. Other quality-of-life additions are also making a comeback, such as automatic saves and seeing the effectiveness of movements in your attacks.

A big question when tackling these remakes was whether Hidden Machines made the cut, as they are in a very different state in modern Pokémon games. This time around, earning gym badges will unlock HM moves that can be used in the world, but you don’t have to teach them to your Pokémon. Using an HM as Force to move a rock will make a wild Pokémon appear and use the move for you. It doesn’t really make sense, but I’ll take advantage of the convenience of wasting precious motion spaces. You can summon these useful wild monsters using the new and improved Pokétch, the watch-like device from Diamond and Pearl, which now looks more like a modern smartwatch. Applications for this new Pokétch include a step counter, a Pokémon friend checker, a calculator, a dowsing machine, and a sketch pad.

My favorite part of the demo was when we ventured into the Grand Underground, a huge underground map that compares in size to the aerial region of Sinnoh. At these depths, trainers can excavate items from the cavern walls. This is where you can sometimes find Pokémon statues, decorations that can be placed in your Secret Base. These secret bases are special customizable rooms found in the Grand Underground. Depending on the Pokémon figures you decorate with, it will affect which Pokémon you can find and catch in larger underground rooms called Hideaways. Do you use certain statues of insect Pokémon? You are more likely to find more bugs in the local cache. A device on the front of your Secret Base will let you know how the Hideaways will be affected. The statue collection will be a big part of the Grand Underground experience and your overall Pokemon collecting strategy. Some statues even come in rare Shiny versions that give a different effect than their standard counterpart.

My demo with Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl was short, but as you can see, very informative of the overall package. From what I have seen, I am very excited for these remakes and to go back to Sinnoh and see all these changes for myself.