Remakes of older Pokémon games are as much of a sure bet as corruption in politics or me finding some way to surprise Gavin yet again with my unfiltered takes on food. I can’t believe fruit mince pies don’t have mince made out of fruit, that’s false advertising yo. Now that 2020 has doubled down on Pokémon expansions instead of an all-star combo of Pokémon Sword and Shield, it’s time to look towards 2021 and see what’s on the Nintendo horizon.
And what’s that I see? Pokémon Diamond and Pearl possibly getting the remake treatment? Oh no.
It was inevitable at this point, that the dullest mainline Pokémon games would be in redevelopment. After seeing remakes for the first three generations several times, Diamond and Pearl were long overdue and according to noted leaker Kelios (who has been bang on the money with Nintendo Direct events) via Games Radar, they’ll be out next year November. According to Kelios, Detective Pikachu 2, Pokémon Snap, and Pokémon Unite will also be out in 2021, which is a lot of Pocket Monster content.
I’ve never hated Pokémon Diamond and Pearl or its Kalos region, but it never blew me away like previous generations of the game did. The first core Pokémon game on the Nintendo DS, Diamond and Pearl were just fine to play and battle in, but they added very little to the core Pokémon experience. The worlds were dull, I hated that Fire-type Pokémon were almost non-existent in the new Pokedex, and it relied too heavily on established gameplay which made the whole experience feel like a tiresome grind.
At least it had two cool mascot Pokémon for the cover art, I will give the games that. Diamond and Pearl will arrive in an era where Pokémon is bigger than ever before though, as the design of Pokémon Sword and Shield has expanded on what the world of pocket monsters could be like. It has been fascinating to see these creatures out in the wild, to go on a safari, and traverse a landscape teeming with life.
Those gameplay advances applied to a remake that could definitely do with a kick in the pants? That could be super effective.
Last Updated: November 24, 2020
Grid10ck
November 24, 2020 at 14:10
Wonder if these will be dumbed down as much as the recent games are. After X/Y the handholding in these games became unbearable.
Darren Stauffer
November 24, 2020 at 17:18
The “worst” Pokemon games? No. I very much disagree.