A few days ago Pokémon Presents finally revealed that, yes, after many years of fans incessantly asking for it Diamond and Pearl would be remade for the Nintendo Switch. Now called Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl the new titles were revealed to the world in a new trailer, and things didn’t go very well.
The timeless pixel art of the original 2016 games have been replaced with cartoony and cheap looking 3D models and, at least in the overworld, characters are replaced by chibi versions of themselves.
To properly take in these changes YouTube channel Mixeli has created a video taking the reveal trailer and pairing it with scenes from the original games. Even if you like the new art direction of Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl this video is handy to see how they compare to the games they’re based on.
One thing that the comparison really drove home for us is that the new games look rather darker. We thought this was just our imagination when watching the Pokémon Presents livestream but this trailer certainly seems to present Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl as less lively places. We’re sure this has something to do with shadows and making the 3D models work, but the pixel art just looked so much more vibrant.
What the comparison video above can’t show you, however, is changes which aren’t apparent from a short trailer.
“These remakes include easy-to-understand, player-friendly conveniences of the modern Pokémon series, plus up-close-and-personal Pokémon battle scenes,” reads the official website for the games.
As much as we love the older games many of them have some unnecessary tedium that newer titles have done away with, so it’s good to know that these remakes will at least factor this in.
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl are slated for a “late 2021” release on the Nintendo Switch.
