What The Critics Are Saying About Pokemon Brilliant Diamond And Shining Pearl
"Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl" release on November 19, although a few bad eggs got the games early and spoiled them way before their official arrival. With any release comes critic reviews, which have finally begun to roll out. The reviews are relatively positive, although the overarching sentiment seems to be that these games don't feel improved enough to justify selling a full-priced remake. While "Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl" are different from the original games it seems like the developers decided to keep much of the games the same as the 2006 titles.
"Pokemon Brilliant Diamond" is sitting at a 77 on Metacritic, which certainly isn't a bad score, but the original "Pokemon Diamond" is an 85 on the same site, showing a dip in critical reception. The other issue, mentioned in a few reviews, is that "Pokemon Platinum" (the original "improved" version of "Diamond and Pearl") made expanded on the game in ways that aren't present in "Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl."
Critics think Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are just fine
Starting on the higher end, Game Informer gave "Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl" an 8.5/10, with John Carson praising the games for providing an enjoyable nostalgia trip back to the Sinnoh region. However, Carson criticized the game's main path difficulty and pointed out that these games don't move the series forward in any meaningful way.
GameSpot's review-in-progress of "Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl" gave the game a 7/10, with critic Steve Watts praising the game's chibi art style, which feels right at home in a cute, nostalgic Pokemon game. Watts also noted some quality of life improvements that smoothed out some of the rough edges of the original release, making this installment feel like a classic "Pokemon" title. The downside is that the classic feeling also makes this game feel like it's been done before, feeling more repetitive than nostalgic.
TheGamer gave "Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl" 3/5, with critic Cian Maher also cheering the art-syle and the quality of life improvements. However, Maher criticized the remakes for ignoring "Pokemon Platinum" which included a variety of improvements and additional content. Ignoring that game means, in Maher's eyes, that these remakes aren't the best version of these games.