After countless spin offs the real deal is here: Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. The Pokemon craze has been around for years. Ever since the Red and Blue versions hit way back, Pokemon has been huge. It’s tried and true formula has worked for over ten years, and it’s pretty apparent that the formula isn’t going to die now. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are a lot like the Pokemon games that preceded it, but they’ve really thrown in some good touches here. Still, most players who’ve been playing since the Gameboy days, or even as recent as the GBA days will still get a “been there, done that,” feeling. Still, the game is good, addictive and it will keep you busy for hours on end.
As I said, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl have a “been there, done that” kind of feel. You begin as a rookie trainer in a village, and under some circumstances, you are asked by a professor to go and collect Pokemon data using a Pokedex. On your journey your goal is to collect as many Pokemon as you can and train them to take on other trainers, and to get all the badges from the games various gym leaders, while you’ve got a rival who is out doing to same thing to prove he’s better than you. In addition, there’s an evil organization called Team Galactic that has plans for a new world order and to do that they need all the Pokemon they can get. If all this sounds familiar, that’s because it is! It’s the exact same formula that worked for the original Pokemon games on the Gameboy, the games on the Gameboy Color and Gameboy Advance. The story, of course, is simple and charming, but where Pokemon has always managed to shine most is it’s fantastic and addictive gameplay.
Pokemon is actually really strategic and in-depth. That is to say, it requires a lot of thought, and believe me, some of these battles (especially against the new Pokemon that are introduced in this version) require a lot of your skill. Battles are turn based, where you select a command and then watch a round of combat. There’s a paper/rock/scissors effect here, however. Each and every Pokemon has a type, and some of the attacks they use reflect its type. This makes up what deals massive damage, what deals no damage and what deals just normal damage. Grass may be strong against water, for example but grass is also weak against fire, but in turn, fire is weak versus water. This effect plays through with seventeen and different types, and there is no best type because every type has a weakness. It’s because of this element that Pokemon is so much fun to play. Just trying to construct the perfect team will take you more than a day, and with over 100 new creatures to collect, you can form endless amounts of teams. Just catching all the Pokemon alone will keep you busy for well over 50 hours. To add to the effect you’ll face several other trainers as well, and you never know what they’ll throw at you. Your strongest Pokemon may very well become your weakest in certain battles just because of its type.
The battle system itself is made even simplar by the touch screen. Where as before you were scrolling through menus, battling can simply be done by touching the different options on screen. It makes battling a lot faster, especially because the icons are pretty big. Luckily, there’s never really a point where you have to use the touch screen if you don’t want to, and battling can still be done the old fashioned way if you so choose.
As with Ruby and Sapphire there are also moments of two on two battles. Usually they come with either two trainers taking you on at a time, and you’ll send out the two Pokemon in your top roster, or you’ll be with another trainer who will send out his or her Pokemon with yours. It adds to the strategic feel of the game, but the moments of two on two battles are pretty few and far between.
In your journey you’ll also receive a nifty watch that works based off the time of your internal clock. This means that much like Gold and Silver, it’ll switch between day and night. Some Pokemon come out only in the early morning, others come out late at night. Some Pokemon only come out on certain days. Either way, those itching to catch each and every Pokemon will enjoy this aspect of it.
As I said before, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl have added some new things. The most important new thing however, is how much easier it is to trade Pokemon and battle with your friends. Using Wi-fi on the DS is far better than the various link cables or having to go out and buy the wireless adapter for the GBA. You can battle with people all across the world, and do other things as well, such as trade with them. Of course, in order to enjoy the full benefits of this you’ll need the friend code to do it, and sometimes. In order to get the full experience of the online gaming world in Pokemon, you’ll need to register friend codes. If you don’t you can’t enjoy some of the better perks, like being able to talk to a friend using the microphone of your DS as you battle. Still, the combat is enhanced greatly when playing online. If you don’t want to play online you can easily connect to another DS and battle it out that way with your friend simply sitting in the room.
Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are also full of little secret goodies. There are the legendary Pokemon, Pokemon contests, and of course, even after you’ve finished the main story there’s more to be done. You can transfer Pokemon from your GBA versions by sticking it into the GBA slot of the DS. No matter how you slice it, Pokemon can easily keep you busy longer than several RPGs combined
I wish I could say the graphics and sound are absolutely amazing, but they’re really not. For as much fun as this game is, it’s certainly not the best as far as graphics go. The same goes for the sound as well. Pokemon has never really been a game you go after for eye-candy, though. There are some moments where some 3D effects come out, but not very many. The sprites are more or less the same sprites they’ve been using since the Red and Blue versions. Ideally, the game doesn’t look all that much of a step up from Ruby and Sapphire, and they were not fantastic looking games either. It’s really colorful, but the DS is capable of so much more than this. Likewise, in battle is still as horrible as ever. Fun to do it, but the Pokemon still only flinch to attack, and there aren’t a lot of animations going on, and we’re still looking over the Pokemon’s shoulder. Essentially, the combat engine hasn’t changed since the series first outing in 1998. There are some move animations that look really good, but aside from that it’s hard to look passed the simple fact that the game’s combat engine hasn’t really evolved since the original games came out way back in 1998. This isn’t the original Gameboy, this is the Nintendo DS.
The sound is also no exception. A lot of it sounds really tinny. There are some tunes that definitely sound Pokemon like, but again, it’s using old technology on a system capable of a lot more. Most of the sound effects such as the Pokemon’s cries are ripped straight from–you guessed it–the original Gameboy versions released in 1998. That’s not to say all the tunes sound bad, it’s just to say that a lot of what you’re going to hear is recycled.
Despite the games graphics and sound, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are still excellent games. There’s a lot more depth here than people think, and a lot of stuff to keep you busy for a long time to come. Even those who are tired of the same simplistic plot and formula will find something great here.
Pros:
+Simple, yet addictive gameplay
+Deep, strategic combat system
+Touch screen controls make battling easier
+Wi-fi connection works well
+Over 100 new Pokemon join the roster
+Simple storyline that anyone can understand
+Being able to battle trainers all across the globe and being able to trade with them is fantastic
+Game can keep you busy for hours with all there is to do, easily over 80 hours worth of gameplay
Cons:
-You can still only save one file
-Graphics and sound are horribly outdated
-The formula works, but there are bound to be gamers out there who are sick of the same old storyline
Rating: 4 / 5
Pokemon Diamond is a good step up from the other pokemon games. I have been a fan of pokemon since the old red, blue, and yellow versions for gameboy. This game makes them look like glitched up things of the past. Here’s my opinionated scoop on the bad and the good of this game, in that order.
The Bad:
1. Same old thing. What I mean by this is, although the story has it’s differences from other games, it’s still basically the same idea. You get to pick your first pokemon from: Turtwig (a grass type), Chimchar (a fire type), and Piplup (a water type). Once you pick your first pokemon in a setup somewhat similar to the Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald versions, you are off on a journey to basically be both the ultimate trainer, and the contest master. You will meet a new, psychotic evil team, who has the wrong ideas about the pokemon world and such. There is also the same goal of beating the elite four, and the return of that tedious training you must do to get past the gym leaders. All I am saying, is this game will probably be a newer experience to those who are just getting to know pokemon.
2. It seems like the Pokemon company are starting to get low on ideas. First off, long time pokemon gamers may notice they haven’t introduced as many new pokemon as they did in Gold, Silver, and Crystal. What’s more, they even started intertwining old pokemon into the new games, just giving them different index numbers. Of course, it’s hard not to include the old pokemon when many of the new ones are either pre-evolutionary forms, or even evolved forms of them. Cute and cool, but may not cut the mustard. Now don’t get me wrong, there are some cool new pokemon (Piplup, for example, has become very popular among pokemon fans). All I am saying is, the game designers seem to be digging in the bottom of the barrel.
3. The secret base system just isn’t as good. Now, I love the Underground! The prospect of digging for fossils, heart scales, and other rare items appeals to me; but who here has played the Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald versions? In those versions, you can have secret bases in trees, in rock walls, and even in bushes, in any desirable route. This game, not so much. You have to have to create your base somewhere in the Underground. Now, that may not be too bad for some, as you can create it wherever you want, provided you have the drilling tool. BUT WHY DO THE STUPID ROCKS HAVE TO BE THERE?! This is what really stinks; you can’t move the rocks unless you capture someone elses flag. I think in order to do that, you have to have Wi-Fi connection, and infiltrate somebody else’s base to get their flag. I have dial-up (because high speed can get expensive), and have heard Wi-Fi will not work with it, so I’m out of luck. I’m stuck with the dumb unmovable rocks (that are always in the way), in a base that looks like everyone elses (except maybe with different decorations), that lacks variety in landscaping.
4. The Poketch (Another awkward name, but it stands for pokemon watch) could use a bit more work. It’s good if you only have a few things you can access from it. However, when you get more things, you basically have to start tapping the screen like crazy to get what you want. All I’m saying is a quick selection feature would have been nice.
5. Another annoying rival. Long time pokemon gamers will know the type. Pesky, bothering you at the wrong times, always beats you to the gymleaders even if it seems impossible that he did so, picks the starter that beats yours in type and boasts about it, and is supposedly a long time “friend” of yours. Yeah, very irritating.
6. Getting the national pokedex is a bit of a pain. Until you get it, you cannot rely on help from stronger pokemon in a couple of the older versions either.
The Good:
1. Waaay more life-like! This game is the most three dimensional of the pokemon hand-held games I have ever seen! This makes it more life-like in some areas, as it makes you feel you’re actually on the ground rather than in a hot air ballon, or something in the air, looking down on everything.
2. Time is more realistic. This could also weave in with more life-like. Rather than change instantly from day to night or vice versa at six, like in Gold Silver, and Crystal, or not at all (like the other pokemon games), Pokemon Diamond actually has day phases. There is morning, afternoon, dusk, evening, and even late night! Gameplay is good no matter what time you play! The game also acknowledges days of the week (example: Drifloon comes to the windworks factory on Friday), though maybe that isn’t used as much as it was in Gold, Silver, and Crystal. All the same, it is a better and well-developed system.
3. They brought back the night guards! It brings back fond memories of Gold, Silver, and Crystal, to have police men who will only fight you at night…
4. The gyms are better than ever! Maybe a tad harder than I like, but the traps and stuff don’t have a deja vu feel to them. It’s a totally new experience!
5. The Underground is awesome! I enjoy digging up rare items and spheres! The only thing I wish to warn is: don’t dig to many spheres in the ground! The older spheres will start disappearing if you bury too many spheres.
6. The contests have come back with a vengance! Do you know those old contests in Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald? You feed your pokemon pokeblocks in hopes the audience will like how it looks, then you try to outshine the others with moves in a period of four turns on a single judge. Well, that kind of contest is now the thing of the past! First off, instead of pokeblocks, players must feed their pokemon a food called poffin. It’s made of berrys still, but in a different way that uses the stylus. It’s like you cook your pokemon’s food now. Then there’s the dancing, the accessory and poffin accented physical appeal, and rather than one, THREE judges you can appeal to! Contests are now more difficult, fun, and entertaining!
7. More trainer card features! You can actually sign your name in your own handwriting using the stylus on the back of your trainer’s card! You can also shine your badges, which do get dull! I thought these were interesting and entertaining tidbits of the game.
8. The poketch is cool! Yes, I complained about it not having a quick select feature in the bad; but regardless, this thing is still very cool and useful in the game! Hidden item? Throw away the item finder and use your dowsing app! Forgot where you plant a berry? Find the locations of pickable berrys with the berry finding app (that may not be what it’s really called). Chances are, if there’s a feature you want your poketch to do, you will find it eventually.
9. The new pokemon are cool. There aren’t really enough new ones, and the ideas seem to be a bit… lacking in a couple of areas; but still, the new abilities, moves, and pokemon make for new and exciting gameplay.
10. I believe there are a lot of legendaries. This means more rare pokemon for you (and a good deal of them are cute!)
11. This game is more “people friendly”. Quite often, you will team up with a character in the game who will heal your pokemon after each battle, and offer his or her pokemon for assistance in double battling format. This is a great opportunity to learn to work with the pokemon that are not yours. The only drawback, is that you will meet two wild pokemon at once. If there is one you want, you can’t catch it until you defeat the other pokemon. In addition, your “partner” will attack every turn not knowing to let up. On these facts, it is better to try and catch pokemon alone.
12. Animations are included, and there are many good details. This time there are differences between male and female pokemon other than the symbol. These differences are slight and difficult to tell, but it is good attention to detail. On top of that, pokemon animations are included (example: Starly flaps its wings when you see it). Another new good detail is being able to tell how much a pokemon weighs against yourself.
13. Taking care of berries is easier and more realistic! Don’t recall when you last watered that berry in Ruby, Sapphire, or Emerald? Well, now you can tell! The soil actually changes to a light color when the berry plant hasn’t been watered, so you know when to water it! The only challenge that remains is being able to water it several times a day…
So, that about raps it up. Overall, this is an awesome game beyond belief! If you want hours of entertainment, love pokemon, or even just enjoy playing videogames in general, then this is one of the best games you can buy out there.
Rating: 4 / 5
Pokemon Diamond is the most exciting Pokemon game yet! There is SO MUCH TO DO. Seriously, there are almost two towns for every gym. That makes Sinnoh the biggest region in Pokemon history. Also, there are lots of great Pokekmon to choose from and a lot of cool legendaries.
While the graphics may not be as good as games like Nintendogs, I think the graphics are as good as they should be. Pokemon is a cartoon and I think the graphics are fine. But I do admit that Game Freak could have done a little more on the battle scenes. The battles look pretty much like Ruby and Sapphire. (Actually so does the game, but Ruby and Sapphire had pretty good grapis IMO) I think they could have made the Pokemon move more and that would have created a more “I’m there” feel.
But that is ot enough to make me lower my rating! This game is awesome! One great thing is that you can use the touvch screen to navigate through battles and party Pokemon and item bag (and trust me, the item bag has expanded, therefore making it even more time-consuming to navigate through). This is great for the Safari ame. I don’t know about you, but in Pokemon Sapphire I kept accidemtally catching Oddish and that got annoying. It is harder to make that mistake in this game. And now they have day and night again! Yay!
The game is very easy for me, at least battle-wise, but that’s because I’ve been playing Pokemon for like almost a decade. However, I have gotten stuck a couple of times. If that happens to you don’t worry you can just buy a guide for Diamond or go on Google and type in “pokemon diamond pearl walkthrough”. So, like in every Pokemon game, you are never completely trapped.
Although some of the new Pokemon are a disappointment (especially Bibarel it looks like a character out of a cheap kiddie show) in their character design, some look absolutely amazing. Lucario and Torterra are wicked and Pachirisu and Shellos are just too cute. You also have fairly early and easy access to a Pikachu. You can get one after you get four badges, I think. You can find them in the backyard of the Pokemon mansion. Uh wait I mean you can find PICHU there and they are SUPREMELY easy to catch. My personal favorite Pokemon (so far) in this game are Torterra, Lucario, Dialga (dragon/steel? It’s about time!), Crusselia (looks wise), Midrevius (I know that’s not the right name but it’s the evolved form of Misdreavs and it’s scary-looking but definitely an improvement. Stats are similar to Gengar’s), and Floatzel (looks awesome). The only real qualm I have about the Pokemon is that there are like three fire-types to choose from: Chimchar (fire-starter), Ponyta (you can ctach one really early. They aren’t half-bad when you teach one Fire Blast), and a fire/steel legendary (or fire/ground. I’m not sure. I do’t think I’d use it, though). Some might just give up on Fire-types altogether, but fire is my favorite type so no way.
Team gallactic is all right. They are weird. They are more evil than Team Rocket. They mostly use bug-types and he new normal cat Pokemon.
There’s also a cool-sounding wireless feature but I don’t have any personaly experience with it yet.
To sum up my review, I’ll list the pros and cons:
*nice graphics
*HUGE area to explore
*lots of cool new Pokemon
*early access to a Pikachu
*touch screen makes game easy to scroll through
*cool wireless features
*easy to moderate gameplay
*just plain awesome game
Cons:
*battles aren’t as good in graphics as they could be
Take note that this is the newest edition of Pokemon that was released on Sunday, April 22, 2007… I pre-ordered this on Wednesday, April 18, 2007, received my package with Pokemon Diamond in it yesterday (Wednesday, April 25, 2007), and…
I love this game thus far!!!!!!! The graphics are awesome, the day/night scene makes a gr8 comeback,you get something called a Poketch in the game that lets you keep track of the time, the pokemon in your party, it has a calculator,etc… I could go on and on about this game for hours lol. It’s actually like Ruby Sapphire Emerald, and Pokemon Crystal rolled into one game!!!!! I love it!!!!!!!! I’ve only had this game a day and already my Prinplup is in the mid-20′s as of what level it’s on! Sometime this summer or maybe even around Christmas, I may go back and get Pokemon Pearl, or after I beat this game, I might start a new game all over again and check out what the other starters are like. I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend this game! I should warn you though, it took me three tries before I defeated the second gym leader… but I finally managed to beat her… otherwise I love this game… in fact I’m gonna go back and play it right now! OK, like I said in one other Pokemon game review, I am now an eighteen and a half year old Pokemon fan, about to turn 19 in June. I guess you could call me a kid at heart, even though there are such things as adult Pokemon trainers… I don’t know if I’ll ever grow out of this phase… who knows, when it comes to video games, maybe I won’t… I’ll probably be playing games like this one for a long time!!!!!!
Rating: 5 / 5
So far, the Pokemon franchise has been all about perfecting the same formula that was introduced in Red and Blue. This game is no exception. To keep it fresh, they add various gimmicks that in a sense give you a break in the “main” gameplay. “Gimmicks” would probably be a bad word to use, because in this generation of Pokemon, it’s more like “gimmicks done right.” The addition of the Global Trade Station, the expansion of multiplayer options (Battle Tower, Underground), transferring Pokemon from older Game Boy Advance versions blend in with the game very well and add enough spice to make this game feel fresh, despite the fact the game formula is 10 years old.
Note that this game targets returning fans of the series. Also, if you are not able to take advantage of most of these features, the game will most likely seem somewhat lacking. So you’re going to need a wireless access point and some friends playing the game for the best experience. If you need friends, there is always online Pokemon communities. It’s not my style, but it works with a lot of people.
Rating: 5 / 5
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After countless spin offs the real deal is here: Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. The Pokemon craze has been around for years. Ever since the Red and Blue versions hit way back, Pokemon has been huge. It’s tried and true formula has worked for over ten years, and it’s pretty apparent that the formula isn’t going to die now. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are a lot like the Pokemon games that preceded it, but they’ve really thrown in some good touches here. Still, most players who’ve been playing since the Gameboy days, or even as recent as the GBA days will still get a “been there, done that,” feeling. Still, the game is good, addictive and it will keep you busy for hours on end.
As I said, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl have a “been there, done that” kind of feel. You begin as a rookie trainer in a village, and under some circumstances, you are asked by a professor to go and collect Pokemon data using a Pokedex. On your journey your goal is to collect as many Pokemon as you can and train them to take on other trainers, and to get all the badges from the games various gym leaders, while you’ve got a rival who is out doing to same thing to prove he’s better than you. In addition, there’s an evil organization called Team Galactic that has plans for a new world order and to do that they need all the Pokemon they can get. If all this sounds familiar, that’s because it is! It’s the exact same formula that worked for the original Pokemon games on the Gameboy, the games on the Gameboy Color and Gameboy Advance. The story, of course, is simple and charming, but where Pokemon has always managed to shine most is it’s fantastic and addictive gameplay.
Pokemon is actually really strategic and in-depth. That is to say, it requires a lot of thought, and believe me, some of these battles (especially against the new Pokemon that are introduced in this version) require a lot of your skill. Battles are turn based, where you select a command and then watch a round of combat. There’s a paper/rock/scissors effect here, however. Each and every Pokemon has a type, and some of the attacks they use reflect its type. This makes up what deals massive damage, what deals no damage and what deals just normal damage. Grass may be strong against water, for example but grass is also weak against fire, but in turn, fire is weak versus water. This effect plays through with seventeen and different types, and there is no best type because every type has a weakness. It’s because of this element that Pokemon is so much fun to play. Just trying to construct the perfect team will take you more than a day, and with over 100 new creatures to collect, you can form endless amounts of teams. Just catching all the Pokemon alone will keep you busy for well over 50 hours. To add to the effect you’ll face several other trainers as well, and you never know what they’ll throw at you. Your strongest Pokemon may very well become your weakest in certain battles just because of its type.
The battle system itself is made even simplar by the touch screen. Where as before you were scrolling through menus, battling can simply be done by touching the different options on screen. It makes battling a lot faster, especially because the icons are pretty big. Luckily, there’s never really a point where you have to use the touch screen if you don’t want to, and battling can still be done the old fashioned way if you so choose.
As with Ruby and Sapphire there are also moments of two on two battles. Usually they come with either two trainers taking you on at a time, and you’ll send out the two Pokemon in your top roster, or you’ll be with another trainer who will send out his or her Pokemon with yours. It adds to the strategic feel of the game, but the moments of two on two battles are pretty few and far between.
In your journey you’ll also receive a nifty watch that works based off the time of your internal clock. This means that much like Gold and Silver, it’ll switch between day and night. Some Pokemon come out only in the early morning, others come out late at night. Some Pokemon only come out on certain days. Either way, those itching to catch each and every Pokemon will enjoy this aspect of it.
As I said before, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl have added some new things. The most important new thing however, is how much easier it is to trade Pokemon and battle with your friends. Using Wi-fi on the DS is far better than the various link cables or having to go out and buy the wireless adapter for the GBA. You can battle with people all across the world, and do other things as well, such as trade with them. Of course, in order to enjoy the full benefits of this you’ll need the friend code to do it, and sometimes. In order to get the full experience of the online gaming world in Pokemon, you’ll need to register friend codes. If you don’t you can’t enjoy some of the better perks, like being able to talk to a friend using the microphone of your DS as you battle. Still, the combat is enhanced greatly when playing online. If you don’t want to play online you can easily connect to another DS and battle it out that way with your friend simply sitting in the room.
Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are also full of little secret goodies. There are the legendary Pokemon, Pokemon contests, and of course, even after you’ve finished the main story there’s more to be done. You can transfer Pokemon from your GBA versions by sticking it into the GBA slot of the DS. No matter how you slice it, Pokemon can easily keep you busy longer than several RPGs combined
I wish I could say the graphics and sound are absolutely amazing, but they’re really not. For as much fun as this game is, it’s certainly not the best as far as graphics go. The same goes for the sound as well. Pokemon has never really been a game you go after for eye-candy, though. There are some moments where some 3D effects come out, but not very many. The sprites are more or less the same sprites they’ve been using since the Red and Blue versions. Ideally, the game doesn’t look all that much of a step up from Ruby and Sapphire, and they were not fantastic looking games either. It’s really colorful, but the DS is capable of so much more than this. Likewise, in battle is still as horrible as ever. Fun to do it, but the Pokemon still only flinch to attack, and there aren’t a lot of animations going on, and we’re still looking over the Pokemon’s shoulder. Essentially, the combat engine hasn’t changed since the series first outing in 1998. There are some move animations that look really good, but aside from that it’s hard to look passed the simple fact that the game’s combat engine hasn’t really evolved since the original games came out way back in 1998. This isn’t the original Gameboy, this is the Nintendo DS.
The sound is also no exception. A lot of it sounds really tinny. There are some tunes that definitely sound Pokemon like, but again, it’s using old technology on a system capable of a lot more. Most of the sound effects such as the Pokemon’s cries are ripped straight from–you guessed it–the original Gameboy versions released in 1998. That’s not to say all the tunes sound bad, it’s just to say that a lot of what you’re going to hear is recycled.
Despite the games graphics and sound, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are still excellent games. There’s a lot more depth here than people think, and a lot of stuff to keep you busy for a long time to come. Even those who are tired of the same simplistic plot and formula will find something great here.
Pros:
+Simple, yet addictive gameplay
+Deep, strategic combat system
+Touch screen controls make battling easier
+Wi-fi connection works well
+Over 100 new Pokemon join the roster
+Simple storyline that anyone can understand
+Being able to battle trainers all across the globe and being able to trade with them is fantastic
+Game can keep you busy for hours with all there is to do, easily over 80 hours worth of gameplay
Cons:
-You can still only save one file
-Graphics and sound are horribly outdated
-The formula works, but there are bound to be gamers out there who are sick of the same old storyline
Rating: 4 / 5
Pokemon Diamond is a good step up from the other pokemon games. I have been a fan of pokemon since the old red, blue, and yellow versions for gameboy. This game makes them look like glitched up things of the past. Here’s my opinionated scoop on the bad and the good of this game, in that order.
The Bad:
1. Same old thing. What I mean by this is, although the story has it’s differences from other games, it’s still basically the same idea. You get to pick your first pokemon from: Turtwig (a grass type), Chimchar (a fire type), and Piplup (a water type). Once you pick your first pokemon in a setup somewhat similar to the Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald versions, you are off on a journey to basically be both the ultimate trainer, and the contest master. You will meet a new, psychotic evil team, who has the wrong ideas about the pokemon world and such. There is also the same goal of beating the elite four, and the return of that tedious training you must do to get past the gym leaders. All I am saying, is this game will probably be a newer experience to those who are just getting to know pokemon.
2. It seems like the Pokemon company are starting to get low on ideas. First off, long time pokemon gamers may notice they haven’t introduced as many new pokemon as they did in Gold, Silver, and Crystal. What’s more, they even started intertwining old pokemon into the new games, just giving them different index numbers. Of course, it’s hard not to include the old pokemon when many of the new ones are either pre-evolutionary forms, or even evolved forms of them. Cute and cool, but may not cut the mustard. Now don’t get me wrong, there are some cool new pokemon (Piplup, for example, has become very popular among pokemon fans). All I am saying is, the game designers seem to be digging in the bottom of the barrel.
3. The secret base system just isn’t as good. Now, I love the Underground! The prospect of digging for fossils, heart scales, and other rare items appeals to me; but who here has played the Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald versions? In those versions, you can have secret bases in trees, in rock walls, and even in bushes, in any desirable route. This game, not so much. You have to have to create your base somewhere in the Underground. Now, that may not be too bad for some, as you can create it wherever you want, provided you have the drilling tool. BUT WHY DO THE STUPID ROCKS HAVE TO BE THERE?! This is what really stinks; you can’t move the rocks unless you capture someone elses flag. I think in order to do that, you have to have Wi-Fi connection, and infiltrate somebody else’s base to get their flag. I have dial-up (because high speed can get expensive), and have heard Wi-Fi will not work with it, so I’m out of luck. I’m stuck with the dumb unmovable rocks (that are always in the way), in a base that looks like everyone elses (except maybe with different decorations), that lacks variety in landscaping.
4. The Poketch (Another awkward name, but it stands for pokemon watch) could use a bit more work. It’s good if you only have a few things you can access from it. However, when you get more things, you basically have to start tapping the screen like crazy to get what you want. All I’m saying is a quick selection feature would have been nice.
5. Another annoying rival. Long time pokemon gamers will know the type. Pesky, bothering you at the wrong times, always beats you to the gymleaders even if it seems impossible that he did so, picks the starter that beats yours in type and boasts about it, and is supposedly a long time “friend” of yours. Yeah, very irritating.
6. Getting the national pokedex is a bit of a pain. Until you get it, you cannot rely on help from stronger pokemon in a couple of the older versions either.
The Good:
1. Waaay more life-like! This game is the most three dimensional of the pokemon hand-held games I have ever seen! This makes it more life-like in some areas, as it makes you feel you’re actually on the ground rather than in a hot air ballon, or something in the air, looking down on everything.
2. Time is more realistic. This could also weave in with more life-like. Rather than change instantly from day to night or vice versa at six, like in Gold Silver, and Crystal, or not at all (like the other pokemon games), Pokemon Diamond actually has day phases. There is morning, afternoon, dusk, evening, and even late night! Gameplay is good no matter what time you play! The game also acknowledges days of the week (example: Drifloon comes to the windworks factory on Friday), though maybe that isn’t used as much as it was in Gold, Silver, and Crystal. All the same, it is a better and well-developed system.
3. They brought back the night guards! It brings back fond memories of Gold, Silver, and Crystal, to have police men who will only fight you at night…
4. The gyms are better than ever! Maybe a tad harder than I like, but the traps and stuff don’t have a deja vu feel to them. It’s a totally new experience!
5. The Underground is awesome! I enjoy digging up rare items and spheres! The only thing I wish to warn is: don’t dig to many spheres in the ground! The older spheres will start disappearing if you bury too many spheres.
6. The contests have come back with a vengance! Do you know those old contests in Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald? You feed your pokemon pokeblocks in hopes the audience will like how it looks, then you try to outshine the others with moves in a period of four turns on a single judge. Well, that kind of contest is now the thing of the past! First off, instead of pokeblocks, players must feed their pokemon a food called poffin. It’s made of berrys still, but in a different way that uses the stylus. It’s like you cook your pokemon’s food now. Then there’s the dancing, the accessory and poffin accented physical appeal, and rather than one, THREE judges you can appeal to! Contests are now more difficult, fun, and entertaining!
7. More trainer card features! You can actually sign your name in your own handwriting using the stylus on the back of your trainer’s card! You can also shine your badges, which do get dull! I thought these were interesting and entertaining tidbits of the game.
8. The poketch is cool! Yes, I complained about it not having a quick select feature in the bad; but regardless, this thing is still very cool and useful in the game! Hidden item? Throw away the item finder and use your dowsing app! Forgot where you plant a berry? Find the locations of pickable berrys with the berry finding app (that may not be what it’s really called). Chances are, if there’s a feature you want your poketch to do, you will find it eventually.
9. The new pokemon are cool. There aren’t really enough new ones, and the ideas seem to be a bit… lacking in a couple of areas; but still, the new abilities, moves, and pokemon make for new and exciting gameplay.
10. I believe there are a lot of legendaries. This means more rare pokemon for you (and a good deal of them are cute!)
11. This game is more “people friendly”. Quite often, you will team up with a character in the game who will heal your pokemon after each battle, and offer his or her pokemon for assistance in double battling format. This is a great opportunity to learn to work with the pokemon that are not yours. The only drawback, is that you will meet two wild pokemon at once. If there is one you want, you can’t catch it until you defeat the other pokemon. In addition, your “partner” will attack every turn not knowing to let up. On these facts, it is better to try and catch pokemon alone.
12. Animations are included, and there are many good details. This time there are differences between male and female pokemon other than the symbol. These differences are slight and difficult to tell, but it is good attention to detail. On top of that, pokemon animations are included (example: Starly flaps its wings when you see it). Another new good detail is being able to tell how much a pokemon weighs against yourself.
13. Taking care of berries is easier and more realistic! Don’t recall when you last watered that berry in Ruby, Sapphire, or Emerald? Well, now you can tell! The soil actually changes to a light color when the berry plant hasn’t been watered, so you know when to water it! The only challenge that remains is being able to water it several times a day…
So, that about raps it up. Overall, this is an awesome game beyond belief! If you want hours of entertainment, love pokemon, or even just enjoy playing videogames in general, then this is one of the best games you can buy out there.
Rating: 4 / 5
Pokemon Diamond is the most exciting Pokemon game yet! There is SO MUCH TO DO. Seriously, there are almost two towns for every gym. That makes Sinnoh the biggest region in Pokemon history. Also, there are lots of great Pokekmon to choose from and a lot of cool legendaries.
While the graphics may not be as good as games like Nintendogs, I think the graphics are as good as they should be. Pokemon is a cartoon and I think the graphics are fine. But I do admit that Game Freak could have done a little more on the battle scenes. The battles look pretty much like Ruby and Sapphire. (Actually so does the game, but Ruby and Sapphire had pretty good grapis IMO) I think they could have made the Pokemon move more and that would have created a more “I’m there” feel.
But that is ot enough to make me lower my rating! This game is awesome! One great thing is that you can use the touvch screen to navigate through battles and party Pokemon and item bag (and trust me, the item bag has expanded, therefore making it even more time-consuming to navigate through). This is great for the Safari ame. I don’t know about you, but in Pokemon Sapphire I kept accidemtally catching Oddish and that got annoying. It is harder to make that mistake in this game. And now they have day and night again! Yay!
The game is very easy for me, at least battle-wise, but that’s because I’ve been playing Pokemon for like almost a decade. However, I have gotten stuck a couple of times. If that happens to you don’t worry you can just buy a guide for Diamond or go on Google and type in “pokemon diamond pearl walkthrough”. So, like in every Pokemon game, you are never completely trapped.
Although some of the new Pokemon are a disappointment (especially Bibarel it looks like a character out of a cheap kiddie show) in their character design, some look absolutely amazing. Lucario and Torterra are wicked and Pachirisu and Shellos are just too cute. You also have fairly early and easy access to a Pikachu. You can get one after you get four badges, I think. You can find them in the backyard of the Pokemon mansion. Uh wait I mean you can find PICHU there and they are SUPREMELY easy to catch. My personal favorite Pokemon (so far) in this game are Torterra, Lucario, Dialga (dragon/steel? It’s about time!), Crusselia (looks wise), Midrevius (I know that’s not the right name but it’s the evolved form of Misdreavs and it’s scary-looking but definitely an improvement. Stats are similar to Gengar’s), and Floatzel (looks awesome). The only real qualm I have about the Pokemon is that there are like three fire-types to choose from: Chimchar (fire-starter), Ponyta (you can ctach one really early. They aren’t half-bad when you teach one Fire Blast), and a fire/steel legendary (or fire/ground. I’m not sure. I do’t think I’d use it, though). Some might just give up on Fire-types altogether, but fire is my favorite type so no way.
Team gallactic is all right. They are weird. They are more evil than Team Rocket. They mostly use bug-types and he new normal cat Pokemon.
There’s also a cool-sounding wireless feature but I don’t have any personaly experience with it yet.
To sum up my review, I’ll list the pros and cons:
*nice graphics
*HUGE area to explore
*lots of cool new Pokemon
*early access to a Pikachu
*touch screen makes game easy to scroll through
*cool wireless features
*easy to moderate gameplay
*just plain awesome game
Cons:
*battles aren’t as good in graphics as they could be
*some new Pokemon look dumb
*not many fire-types
Overall, a great game. A+
Rating: 5 / 5
Take note that this is the newest edition of Pokemon that was released on Sunday, April 22, 2007… I pre-ordered this on Wednesday, April 18, 2007, received my package with Pokemon Diamond in it yesterday (Wednesday, April 25, 2007), and…
I love this game thus far!!!!!!! The graphics are awesome, the day/night scene makes a gr8 comeback,you get something called a Poketch in the game that lets you keep track of the time, the pokemon in your party, it has a calculator,etc… I could go on and on about this game for hours lol. It’s actually like Ruby Sapphire Emerald, and Pokemon Crystal rolled into one game!!!!! I love it!!!!!!!! I’ve only had this game a day and already my Prinplup is in the mid-20′s as of what level it’s on! Sometime this summer or maybe even around Christmas, I may go back and get Pokemon Pearl, or after I beat this game, I might start a new game all over again and check out what the other starters are like. I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend this game! I should warn you though, it took me three tries before I defeated the second gym leader… but I finally managed to beat her… otherwise I love this game… in fact I’m gonna go back and play it right now! OK, like I said in one other Pokemon game review, I am now an eighteen and a half year old Pokemon fan, about to turn 19 in June. I guess you could call me a kid at heart, even though there are such things as adult Pokemon trainers… I don’t know if I’ll ever grow out of this phase… who knows, when it comes to video games, maybe I won’t… I’ll probably be playing games like this one for a long time!!!!!!
Rating: 5 / 5
So far, the Pokemon franchise has been all about perfecting the same formula that was introduced in Red and Blue. This game is no exception. To keep it fresh, they add various gimmicks that in a sense give you a break in the “main” gameplay. “Gimmicks” would probably be a bad word to use, because in this generation of Pokemon, it’s more like “gimmicks done right.” The addition of the Global Trade Station, the expansion of multiplayer options (Battle Tower, Underground), transferring Pokemon from older Game Boy Advance versions blend in with the game very well and add enough spice to make this game feel fresh, despite the fact the game formula is 10 years old.
Note that this game targets returning fans of the series. Also, if you are not able to take advantage of most of these features, the game will most likely seem somewhat lacking. So you’re going to need a wireless access point and some friends playing the game for the best experience. If you need friends, there is always online Pokemon communities. It’s not my style, but it works with a lot of people.
Rating: 5 / 5