Current Events > Pokemon Diamond.

(+) Yeah! (+)

All the copies of Platinum I could find on Amazon are too expensive. Is Diamond OK to play?

Sure, but it is an inferior experience to Platinum.

I'd say it's significantly inferior

Accolon posted...

I'd say it's significantly inferior

Like how Ruby is inferior to Emerald?

CastletonSnob1 posted...

Like how Ruby is inferior to Emerald?

More inferior than that imo

Platinum added a lot of improvements, but the original DP is still good.

The biggest issue that Platinum fixed is that the original has a small dex until the postgame. For example, if you dont choose Chimchar, then Ponyta is literally your only option for a Fire-type until after the Elite Four.

Also, the Battle Frontier is only in Platinum.

Heres a rundown of the changes Platinum made:
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Platinum_Version#Changes_from_Pok%C3%A9mon_Diamond_and_Pearl

If you're playing on a 3DS, there's also the option of cracking it and playing it that way. I'm assuming we aren't able to explain/link how but it's easy to find out.

The game isn't sold officially in any format anymore; why pay some random scalper dingus on eBay or whatever triple digits for an old ass game that never sold for anywhere close to that even when it was brand new, especially when Ninty/GF aren't going to see a single cent of that money anyway?

CastletonSnob1 posted...

Like how Ruby is inferior to Emerald?

No, not even close. Let me put it into percentiles. If Ruby is valued at a 60% and Emerald is valued at a 75%, then Diamond would be a 25% and Platinum would be an 80%. There's that much difference between the two. Diamond and Pearl were collectively known as the screw ups of the first few generations. They decided to focus on using mostly on gen 4 pokemon with maybe 10-15 pokemon from previous gens until the main game was completed, which causes a lot of issues.

Gym leaders would have Pokemon not of their type to fill out teams, routes would have duplicate pokemon more than usual, and there was a significant lack of fire pokemon. To the point where if you didn't pick the fire starter, you'd be waiting a while before encountering a fire pokemon. Platinum fixed a lot of these issues. Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl are even worse, as they had technical issues on top of the pre-existing issues. Which is why a lot of people were confused when they released those remasters instead of one for Platinum.

If you can't get a hold of Platinum (and aren't willing to just emulate it) you may as well get BD/SP if you have a Switch. At least they have better graphics and some added content, even if they're still an inferior experience compared to Platinum. The original D/P are absolutely not worth playing ever again.

Platinum is the only Shinoh game worth playing.

(Excluding spinoffs)

Not to mention D/P are waaaaaay slower than Platinum. Battle speed and surfing speed both take forever in D/P.

AlienDestroyer4 posted...

Not to mention D/P are waaaaaay slower than Platinum. Battle speed and surfing speed both take forever in D/P.

https://youtu.be/XGnb_ilGK0A

(BDSP eventually got a patch to improve the loading times)

Calwings posted...

The original D/P are absolutely not worth playing ever again.

The original Pearl killed my interest in the series for 4 generations

I didn't even buy a 3DS as a result <_<

Personally, I liked Diamond just fine, a lot more than seemingly most other people did. But yeah, Platinum is overall a better, more complete experience. One of the last Pokemon games to have a Battle Frontier, for that matter (along with HG/SS), to help scratch any potential postgame itch.

Ivany2008 posted...

Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl are even worse, as they had technical issues on top of the pre-existing issues

The one good thing I'll say for the Switch versions is that the pokedex issues are remedied by the underground biomes. It's a bit silly the way it's executed, and the games are still missing other Platinum improvements, but as long as you're willing to engage with the underground, pokedex diversity isn't an issue.

They also murdered the overall difficulty curve with the mandatory exp share, but the silver lining is that they have one of the best elite 4/champion gauntlets.