POKÉMON BRILLIANT DIAMOND AND SHINING PEARL

According to old patterns
The ILCA team was involved in the development of remakes, that is, Game Freak is not related to the updated versions. This is noticeable – the authors for the most part limited themselves to transferring the two-dimensional “skeleton” to 3D. The Sinnoh region looks exactly the same: houses, trees, fences, and bushes are located in the same places as in the originals, and the dialogue has not changed.

So in general, these are the same games as 15 years ago. We create a character and go on a journey, collecting Pokémon and participating in competitions for which we get badges. This is such an accurate translation of the classics into 3D that against the backdrop of another remake – Pokémon: Let’s Go! he looks like a loser. For example, there are no creatures in the tall grass – run in circles the old fashioned way. And in the caves, you never know at all whether a random battle will begin.

Normal Pokémon had to be collected.
The graphics have changed the most, and in this matter the audience was divided into two camps even during the demonstration of the first trailer. I didn’t like the chibi character design at first, but I got used to it very quickly. Someone considers the remake cheap and ugly, but the authors still tried to modernize the games, and not just pull three-dimensional graphics on them.

In particular, during the story dialogues, the camera runs over the characters, showing them not the richest facial animation – this was not the case on the DS. And in battles, the player in the background is shown not a daub, as in the original, but the location where the battle takes place. Fight in the Pokemon graveyard – you will throw Pokeballs next to the graves. A battle ensued in the forest – you will see trees and bushes.

Best place to fight.
What’s new?
Oddly enough, these changes are enough to make the game not seem like a guest from the distant past. You quickly forget about its roots – at least, I got so carried away filling out the Pokedex that the archaic gameplay and the complete lack of new ideas ceased to excite. Most likely, this is due to the bad aftertaste that left after Pokémon Sword with its idiotic slowdown “wild zone” and other strange decisions. The remakes became a kind of outlet, a return to the roots and a pleasant bridge between Sword and the upcoming Arceus.

It also helps that some outdated gameplay mechanics have been removed by the developers. Techniques that use you to chop down obstructing trees or fly to high places are now recorded in the Poké Clock – you do not need to use Pokémon ability slots for this. Access to the box with unused Pokémon is open at any time. Autosaves allow you to turn off the game and not worry about losing your progress. Well, all sorts of little things have been added, such as the ability to buy costumes for the character (you can’t change individual things, but it’s fine anyway).

In the remake, all trainers throw Pokeballs differently – another detail that was paid attention to.
The most controversial innovation was that for participating in battles, all Pokemon in your squad will now receive experience. Longtime fans of the series have been outraged by this decision since the days of Let’s Go!, since it cannot be turned off, but casual players are unlikely to like it either. Pokémon level up so quickly that an already simple game becomes very easy. For the fourth story challenge, where you have to fight water Pokémon, I came with a pumped-up luxray that kills everyone with one lightning strike. At the same time, I have never managed him until this moment – he only gained experience while sitting in reserve.

Another important change is the updated subway. After the second story challenge, the player gains access to the subway, where they can go at almost any time. It is a kind of labyrinth, where, unlike the upper world, enemy Pokemon can be seen on the map. This is a great opportunity to collect the missing creatures in the collection. If you search every bush in the regular world, you will fight the same geodudes and crickets, while in the subway it is easy to find the right Pokemon. And it’s even easier to do this if you put the appropriate statues in the secret base, which increase the chance to stumble upon the desired monster.

It took an indecently long time to capture the skantenka.
So collecting Pokemon (and filling the Pokedex, I think, is the main entertainment in any part of the series) has become more convenient in the remakes. This process is exciting, including due to the presence of a national Pokédex – when you collect 150 creatures of the fourth generation and talk to the professor, several hundred more Pokémon from earlier games appear in the world. Those who just want to go through the story, not without pleasure, will spend several tens of hours fighting with ordinary trainers and members of the Galaxy Team. They dream of a new world order and, due to the updated visual style, seem to be even more caricatured antagonists.