Pokemon Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearlare the franchise’s newest iteration in now-expected tradition of remaking older games. Aiming to reintroduce the fourth generation and its Sinnoh region to a contemporary audience, these remakes seem to be retoolingDiamondandPearlspecifically, rather than combining the original games and the third edition like Johto remakesHeartGoldandSoulSilverdid. This can be seen with the decision to useDiamondandPearloutfits for the protagonists, Lucas and Dawn.
However, Nintendo and developer ILCA satisfied fans when the popular alternate attires for Lucas and Dawn fromPokemon Platinumwere confirmed as bonus content. Considering how acclaimedPlatinumis for fixing its predecessors’ flaws and expanding what Sinnoh has to offer, this content showsPokemon Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearlhave the potential to include lucrative DLC.
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Being Faithful to the Original Diamond and Pearl
Pokemon Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearlare facing a dilemma. They are a modernized version of games that are now 15 years old, and may seem outdated in some aspects. Features from modernPokemongames likeFairy typeswill make a return, but overall fan reception of the originalDiamondandPearlvastly differs from their sister game,Platinum. UnlikeGoldandSilverwithCrystalorRubyandSapphirewithEmerald,DiamondandPearlwere arguably almost made obsolete byPlatinum.
The third game fixed the original pair’s sluggish engine,Pokemondistribution issues, awkward boss trainer teams, and added more things to do.Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearlgoing back to what theoriginalDiamondandPearlofferedinstead of being name-only remakes that focus onPlatinummight be seen as regressive.
IfPokemon Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearlare straightforward remakes of the original pair, and from the looks from it they are in many ways, there aren’t a lot of things to expect beyond introducing mechanics to Sinnoh that did not exist a decade ago. As games likeMario Kart 8,Pokemon SwordandShield, andSuper Smash Bros. Ultimateshow, Nintendo’s hostility toward DLC is long gone.Pokemon Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearlare the perfect opportunity to continue whatSwordandShieldstarted by turning these games into more than just simple remakes.
DLC Events with Rare Pokemon
Nintendo is already looking to convince fans to purchasePokemon Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearlby promisingtheir very own Manaphyvia the Mystery Gift system. In the original Gen 4 games, Manaphy was Sinnoh’s version of Mythical Pokemon like Mew, Celebi, and Jirachi. It was a cute and balanced Pokemon that was extremely hard to get, as Manaphy was only obtainable through a special code in thePokemon Rangerspin-offs. Thankfully, the remakes make it more straightforward to get, and it also opens doors to other rare Pokemon in the form of DLC.
Pokemon Diamond and Pearlintroduced a plethora of Legendaries. At the time,Sinnoh’s roster of Legendary Pokemonwas the biggest. Most of them were properly available in the games, but others were relegated to special events like Manaphy. The most notable cases are Darkrai, Shaymin, and Arceus. All three were meant to be prizes in events that were available for a limited time, though Arceus' event item was never officially released.
With the help of cheating devices such as an Action Replay, players who missed out were able to experience these events and catch the rare Pokemon. Without tools and trading, these Pokemon were impossible to get. Players would not only miss out on rare monsters, butinteresting Pokemon loreas well. Nowadays, with the modern transfer systems, getting rare Pokemon is not as obnoxious. However,Pokemon Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearlmaking a nod to these events via DLC would add an extra layer to the already nostalgic adventure.
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Adding More Pokemon to Sinnoh
Pokemon Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearlappear to continue one ofPokemon SwordandShield’s most controversial decisions bylimiting the amount of Pokemonprogrammed into the games prior to inevitable updates. This is a worrisome practice with unfortunate implications about the franchise’s future.
SincePlatinumfamously polished up the Sinnoh Pokedex, an ideal solution forPokemon Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearlwould be to include the rest of the Pokemon as free downloadable content. Instead of confining the Pokemon that are excluded into a fewDLC locations like inSwordandShield, this would allow players to transfer their old Pokemon as quickly as possible and even use monsters that are not native to the Sinnoh region.
Expanding the World
Pokemon Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearlhave not completely forgotten aboutPlatinum, but for now this reminder is limited to outfits and a few quality-of-life changes. If these games want to really pander to fans and theirPlatinum-related content ends up lacking, DLC could be the way to make up for it.
Platinumgave more attention to Giratina, and allowed players to explore the beast’sDistortion World. WhetherBrilliant DiamondandShining Pearlwill bring back that area or relocate Giratina to a cave like in the originals remains to be seen. If the Distortion World is excluded from the remakes, DLC would be the way to bring it back. It is perhaps the most important addition that the transition fromDiamondandPearltoPlatinumprovided.
Aside from the Distortion World,Pokemon Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearlcould introduce new areas for players to explore. Sinnoh has not been revisited in over a decade, and DLC could provide more characterization of the region’s history and inhabitants. By doing that and bringing iconic aspects ofDiamond, Pearl, andPlatinumback, it would serve the games well and establish an identity separate from Gen 4.
PokemonBrilliantDiamondandShining Pearlwill release on July 28, 2025 for Nintendo Switch.
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