N-Philes

Pokémon Pearl/Diamond

Posted June 21st 2007 by Curtis Brunet.

The Pokémon series began life in Japan in 1996, before making its debut in North American in 1998 as Pokémon Red and Blue. The series that started off as a pet project by series creator Satoshi Tajiri has since that time ballooned into possibly the greatest source of revenue for Nintendo. In its fourth generation, Pokémon Diamond/Pearl attempts to once again go to the gaming well and give gamers another reason to return to the Pokémon universe.

With plenty of Game Boy and a Game Boy Advance title in their past, plenty of expectations were being put on Nintendo to deliver a true successor to their cash-cow. Unfortunately for the hordes of Pokémon fanatics, Nintendo was just as happy to recreate the same old adventure as before.

The game starts off almost identically to the previous titles in the series. An unnamed young character is finally given the right to start their life as a Pokémon trainer in a new continent (the Sinnoh region) of the Pokémon 'verse. After receiving their first Pokédex (an encyclopedic catalog of the different creatures the character encounters), along with their first Pokémon (once again, chosen between a fire-type, grass-type, or water-type), the user sets off on an perilous adventure to battle their way to the top of the Pokémon League and become a champion Pokémon trainer.

For those unfamiliar with the world of Pokémon, the crash course is a short one. You have tiny balls that have the power of containing the different animals of the Pokémon universe, called, of course, Pokémon. Once you collect these pocket monsters, they can then be used to battle other trainer's Pokémon, or wild Pokémon spread throughout the region. When battling wild Pokémon, you can weaken them and eventually capture then within Poké-Balls to be used as your own at a later time. Squaring off against other trainers helps your Pokémon gain fighting experience, which helps them get stronger, learn new techniques, and eventually evolve into higher-level monsters. Battling your way through the different towns will force encounters with different Gym Leaders, who you can then defeat and win badges from to prove your worth. Eventually, after you've grown a team of six Pokémon and gathered all the badges in the region, you can challenge the top trainers for the Championship of the Pokémon League. Along the way, you usually have a story surrounding your attempts to stop an evil corporation from doing malevolent acts (usually involving Pokémon), and the chance to score yourself a "Legendary" Pokémon (see: Rare and Super Powerful).

This formula holds true for Nintendo's latest foray into the world of Pokémon. The intro will usually set off some bells of familiarity for Poké-veterans, but if it doesn't, the rest of the game surely will. Nothing has really changed for Nintendo's behemoth in the past 11 years apparently, and The Pokémon Company was quite happy to rehash everything that worked in the original titles rather then spend any time on changing things around in the series.

Of course, this isn't always necessarily a bad thing. The battle system in the Pokémon series has always been a great one, and back again is the same four move, type vs. type turn based battle system that has worked so well for the series in the past. The user has six Pokémon in their arsenal, and when a battle begins, the Pokémon in the first slot is always sent in first. The user then has the chance to choose to attack with one of four learned moves, use an item, attempt to flee the battle, or switch the Pokémon with another. The entire battle system is also enhanced with the use of the Nintendo DS and the dual screen touch system. Now battle commands can be used by simply hitting a very large menu based system on the bottom screen while all the action takes place unobtrusively on the top screen.

Though battles are random, they will only initiate when the on-screen character is in a dungeon or in long grass areas. This gives the gamer the ability to pick and choose when battles take place, and adds some sanity to long travels when you just want to get to the destination rather then be constantly interrupted by battle sequences. The choice of moves in the battle system follow a rock-paper-scissors style of gameplay, wherein one type of move (say, a grass type attack), is strong against another (water-type in this example), but that second type is strong against another (fire-type), and that third type is strong against the original. This opens up the gameplay to immense strategy with the multitudes of character types found throughout the game.

Alongside this impressive battle system is the only really welcome addition to the Pokémon series, an online battle and trading mode. Aside from being plagued by Nintendo's own Nintendo WiFi Connection with the ineffective "friend-code" system, the usefulness and the replayability that the Internet opens up to the title will give gamers millions of others to battle and trade with. The Trade-Station lets you upload Pokémon and state a trade that you would like to make. Any users can then browse through the selections and make trades in this manner, rather then trying to convince your friend that a level 5 Bidoof really is worth a level 50 Gyarados.

But in the end, Pokémon Diamond/Pearl is nothing more then a service patch to the original formula. The graphics contain the same animations found in every other title, and the Pokémon themselves return as immobile mannequins. The animations for battle attacks have slightly been improved, but a simple waggle of a Pokémon's tail doesn't quite cut it anymore. For a system that boasts all the graphical capabilities of the Nintendo 64, why not see more 3D, better animation, or at least greater resolution visuals? The outmoded control system also makes a return, with a max of four different directions the on-screen character can move. Is this the Dark Ages? Can the D-Pad not point in eight directions properly for Nintendo's liking? Add to this the terribly cringe inducing sound effects the different pocket monsters elicit, along with its sub-par music repeated throughout the title, and one can only wonder when gamers will learn to stop shilling out for a game with nothing more than an updated roster. These exact gamers, of course, will bleat endlessly about the stupidity of Madden fans returning year after year to buy the same game.

Slight Pulse - Gotta catch 'em all... over again.

Pokémon Diamond/Pearl does have its good points. Battling and trading online via Nintendo WiFi Connection is a great addition to the franchise. The trading station is a great fix for those gamers who just don't want to admit to their friends that they still play Pokémon, and being able to battle users from all over the world really open up the replayability of the title. With some new additions to the Pokémon roster, and more advanced hardware, Diamond/Pearl on the Nintendo DS had a great chance of shining. Unfortunately, the archaic control system and crappy sound files still plague this tired franchise. When once a king among men, this franchise is in dire need of an overhaul. If you have never played a past Pokémon game, Diamond/Pearl could be a great addition to your catalog. For Pokémon veterans, Nintendo gives you very little reason to return.

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