LogFAQs > #960653066

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond (Switch)

There is honestly not much to say that hasn't already been said. They are simple remakes/remasters/reskins and it feels like the developers didn't know how to make them stand out or how to balance them correctly. Most of the game is a complete breeze, then the Elite 4 and Cynthia got buffed a whole lot compared to the originals and are a big challenge. They are clearly a little more balanced around you having 6 pokemon and being a higher than normal level, yet that makes the rest of the game so easy it becomes a chore. Forced exp share is just not fun, it works okay in SwSh because that game is far more about catching pokemon and doing "Dynamax boss battles" in the open wilds than the main story, while in a game with this classic structure, it makes the Pokemon in your team just kind of exist without the need to have them put effort in. Oh, and being able to just straight up buy some of the strongest TM's in as high a quantity as you want for very little money before the third gym is just overkill and makes finding the TM's in the overworld after exploration incredibly unsatisfying. Bad decision there, they could have postponed offering those TM's until later.

Unfortunately, they kept all the things from the original games that were not that great, such as the very lame story, the terrible pokemon variety and locking interesting evolutions to postgame, the overabundance of lame trainers with weak first stage pokemon...the HM's were changed to being useable outside your team, which is far less tedious, so that's cool (and I like how they made Bidoof/Bibarel do everything aside from the HM's that require wings to pull off), and the Grand Underground is fun in giving you cool items to find and some unique Pokemon through the hideouts, although the level difference affecting catch rates became annoying quick (the way to counter that was to overlevel, making the game too easy).

All in all, a nice nostalgic trip that is way too safe in the wrong areas, while it changes some things in the wrong areas as well. I started really having fun at the League, where my Pokemon being below there levels provided a solid challenge and required me to play smart here and there (on Set mode, by the way), especially against Cynthia. But before that, it was going through the motions too much. It did remind me how cool the Sinnoh gyms were though. They had some genuinely fun puzzles in them.

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Currently playing - Pokemon Brilliant Diamond, Metroid Dread, Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Odin Sphere Leifthrasir
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