Want to know what’s coming back in the Pokemon Diamond and Pearl remake? Yeah, me too. Aside from the announcement trailer, Gamefreak has given us next to nothing on Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, so you and I are left here to speculate in the cold.
All the same, I’m quite hopeful for the Diamond and Pearl remakes with the exception of the…. um…. let’s say questionable chibi art style, that is.
That’s not going to stop me projecting my hopes out into the ether, though. So, I’m putting together the 10 things I want to see make a comeback in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
- Mega Evolutions
- GTS
- Event Pokemon
- New Evolutions
- Poketch
- Cynthia
- The Underground
- Honey Trees
- Hidden Bases
- The Original Story
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have a chance to do something really special this year. There wasn’t close to as much excitement for ORAS or USUM when those games came out, so hopefully, Gamefreak decides to indulge us with these remakes.
Mega Evolutions
Let’s be honest with ourselves; mega evolutions were the best gimmick Gamefreak ever added to the series. They didn’t come with the original Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, I’ll admit, but that shouldn’t stop any of us from wanting the mechanic to see a return.
I mean, imagine the champion fight against Cynthia after she busts out a mega Garchomp. I don’t know about you, but that’s the kind of self-inflicted pain I can get behind.
This one is a bit of a stretch, I’ll admit, but a man can pray.
GTS
Pokemon has been two steps forward and one step back for years now. There is no bigger example of this than the GTS, or Global Trade Station. Okay, maybe the drop in quality from Gen V to Gen VI is a more notorious case of this, but you get my point.
Pokemon Diamond and Pearl did not come out when the internet was at its peak. That being said, the Gen IV era was the first in the series to have any sort of global wireless communication, and to this day, it remains the best system the series has ever seen.
This is mainly because it let you select what Pokemon you wanted to trade for. There was no need to spend hours trying to overcome your crippling social anxiety on a Discord channel trying to get a trade for a Rapidash, and yes, I am speaking from experience.
If the GTS does make a comeback in the Pokemon Diamond and Pearl remakes, I reckon it’ll bring about a new standardized trading system that we’ll see whenever Gen IX hits the shelf, that’s how good it is.
Event Pokemon
Arceus. Shaymin. Darkrai. Cresselia. All four of these Pokemon were available in Gen IV as event Pokemon. You only had a limited amount of time to get your hands on them, so once they were gone, tough luck.
Despite still doing events to distribute new Pokemon to this day, I believe the mechanic is painfully outdated, so this is the case of me not wanting something to return in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
Ideally, all four of the above will make a comeback in the Gen IV remakes as a part of the base game. It’s possible that we’re going to see Shaymin, at the very least, but I hope that the others do, too. That way, I can use PokeJesus and the Pokemon equivalent of my emo phase during highschool.
New Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl Evolutions
New evolutions aren’t exactly something that can make a comeback, but the idea of new evolutions is, so I’m exploiting that loophole. If you have a problem with that, too bad.
I’ll be honest, there’s only one Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Pokemon that I want to get a new evolution, and that’s Kricketune. The mustache that Pokemon is rocking deserves to get some love in these Gen IV remakes, and that’s a cause I truly believe in.
I’m not saying that a Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl Kricketune evolution is a make or break for me, but I’m heavily implying it.
Poketch
The Rotom Dex is cool and all, but it’s no Poketch. This little device was both the OG Pokemon smart device and what I’m holding as head-canon to be the inspiration behind the real-life Apple Watch.
There’s no real gameplay reason for me to want this beyond the nostalgia of it. I mean, Gamefreak went out of its way to make sure you have a range of fun and pointless little extras so that you could make use of the DS’ touchscreen, and I appreciate that.
In no other Pokemon game aside from Diamond and Pearl, would you have a way to flip a coin for absolutely no reason whatsoever, and that is a damn shame.
Cynthia
I want Cynthia to make a return, and by that, I mean the real Cynthia. I’ll admit that my overtly male brain might have some subconscious bias towards this, but there was something special about the original Sinnoh champion.
I’m arguing that she was the strongest trainer in the entire series from a pure strategy standpoint. Gamefreak clearly put some thought into her lineup, and that showed.
I don’t want to lose that with these Diamond and Pearl remakes. Pokemon has been getting increasingly easier with each passing generation, so hopefully, that trend gets broken on the Gen IV rock. Although, with that chibi art style, I’m not too hopeful.
The Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Underground
Yeah, yeah, I’m in the minority with this one, but I don’t care. This is my list, so I can put whatever I want on it.
I loved the underground. Out of all the nonsensical communication gimmicks Pokemon has come out with over the years, this was by far my favorite.
It might just be the fact that young me wanted to be an archaeologist (how did I end up going from that to journalism?), so the idea of digging for fossils was something that excited my simplistic little mind.
We’ve already caught a glimpse of the underground in the annoucement trailer, so we know it’s coming back, in what capactiy, though, remains to be seen.
Honey Trees
I had an excuse for why I used to enjoy the underground, but I don’t for why I spend so much time with honey trees.
When I say I spent so much time with them in Gen IV, I really mean that. I had a weird obsession with Combee to the point I used to role-play a beekeeper in the Pokemon universe. Yeah, while the other kids were off pretending to be legendary trainers, I was farming honey and digging up bones.
All that time, and I still never caught a Munchlax, though. It would be a nice nostalgia nod for the trees to make a comeback, but let’s hope that those ludicrous encounter rates do not.
Pokemon Diamond and Pearl’s Hidden Bases
Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire brought back hidden bases to a round of applause, so I’ve little doubt we’re going to see them return in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
Given that we already know the underground is making a comeback, I would be shocked if hidden bases don’t make an appearance in some capactiy. That being said, you never know what’s going inside the heads of the Gamefreak team, or in this, the unknown variable that is the ICLA team.
The Original Platinum Story
We didn’t see any sign of Giratina in the announcement trailer, and that’s a little bit concerning. However, what’s more concerning is the fact that Gamefreak has a history of messing with the narrative when it comes to remaking games.
USUM and ORAS both featured stories that deviated from the original games, but that’s not something I really want to see here. I’ll admit that some slight alterations to bring the likes of Arceus into the mix would be fine, but I don’t want them to go crazy like they did with that wormhole nonsense.
Maybe it’s the old-school purist in me, but I just want a comfortable remake of the game that defined my childhood; Gamefreak can leave all of the frills and thrills at the door.
Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Remake Returning Features
That’s what I want to see from the Diamond and Pearl remake, but I’m just one guy with a very misguided opinion. If you hate my guts and think I’m an idiot, feel free to yell at me in the comments.
Alternatively, you could be a bit more civilized and tell me what you want to see returning in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, but this is the internet, so that probably isn’t going to happen.
Either way, I hope you at least get what I’m going for with this list. Gen IV is very close to my heart, so I don’t want ILCA to mess it up. Even if Gamefreak is overseeing them, they’ve given the title to a studio with no prior relation to these games, so the Pokemon Diamond and Pearl remake could end up being very good or very bad – there is no in-between.
