I was introduced to the gaming world with Nintendo's Pokemon Yellow way
back on the GameBoy Colour. Needless to say, the series has always held
a special place in my heart. Each generation has found me owning one or
even two of the games. However, the formula has changed very little
since its debut 10 years ago, and it might be starting to wear thin.
For the select few who are unfamiliar with this classic series, you
should know that Pokemon is a role-playing game. While moving a
character, male or female, around the relatively vast world, you will
harness the powers of a team of "Pokemon". Pokemon are creatures that
also roam the region, and they come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
Starting with just one (given to you by a scientist at the beginning of
the game), you will capture and raise many others. You can only carry
around six Pokemon at a time, so choose your core team wisely! You will
need a strong but balanced team to successfully traverse the land of
Sinnoh.
The battles with Pokemon happen randomly, when you are traveling
through long grass, dark caves, certain buildings, or over water. You
will also battle other trainers, but only when you enter their line of
sight on the map.
The actual battling is centered around a rock-paper-scissors mechanic
that can set-up some frantic switching and nasty surprises. There are
17 types, ranging from Fire to Psychic to Steel to Flying. Each Pokemon
has one or two types, and each attack has one type. Certain types have
advantages or disadvantages. For example, attack a Water-type Pokemon
with a Grass attack, and you'll be rewarded with double damage.
However, use that same Grass attack against a Poison-type, and the
damage will be halved. Because of this, the battles take on an
interesting cat-and-mouse feel. You have to decide when to stand your
ground and when to switch up.
The story is really only there to make the gameplay have a point. Your
character is a young child who sets out on his/her own adventure after
being given a Pokemon by the aforementioned scientist. Travelling
around the continent of Sinnoh, you will be battling trainers,
challenging "Gyms" (basically training centers that feature a 'boss'
character), and finally challenging the legendary "Elite Four." A whole
host of nasty character are there to deter you. Team Galactic are a
bunch of crooks bent on causing general mayhem, and your rival, too,
will challenge you in an attempt to prove that he is a superior
trainer. Unfortunately, the story really is just "there." It doesn't
involve you at all. None of the characters are memorable, and you
certainly can't connect with them. Fortunately, this is not meant to be
a story-driven game.
This has been the Pokemon formula since the series started a decade
ago, and it has changed very little since. Diamond and Pearl keep it,
almost entirely unaltered. This can be a blessing and a curse - the
formula is an addicting one that works, but it might be starting to get
a bit stale after so many reiterations.
Diamond and Pearl look pretty nice for DS games. The colourful graphics
seamlessly blend old-school 2D and new 3D graphics to create some
really nice effects. The world in particular has been given a
beautiful, 3D face lift. This means that now, buildings and trees will
move with your character. They will shift to match your perspective.
This also means that your character can walk behind trees and
buildings, and that inside houses computers or chairs no longer block
your way. On the other hand, while the world has undergone some
changes, the actual battling has not. Some sprites have been revamped,
but still look flat, and particularly in the case of the new Pokemon,
bland. Some of the attacks have changed, too, and the new versions look
pretty cool, but the battles are really lifeless and stale where they
could have been made exciting.
The sound is perhaps the most disappointing feature of Diamond/Pearl.
Some of the newer Pokemon sound okay when they are going into battle,
but the older sprites still have their original cry, which is usually
shrill or tinny. Zubat, in particular, is terribly annoying. It really
wouldn't have taken that much effort for Nintendo to simply revamp the
older Pokemon's cries, and it would have added a lot to the battles.
The music in Diamond/Pearl hasn't changed from older gens either. After
hundreds of hours of gameplay, I am beginning to tire of the same
battle music, and when you are traversing the world the music is
nothing to get excited about either. Overall, the sound in Pokemon
Diamond and Pearl is really disappointing. It is something that could
easily have been made great, but ends up annoying or bland. For the
most part, I plugged in my own music and played with the sound turned
off.
Taking advantage of the DS's hardware, Diamond/Pearly incorporate some
very light touch-screen controls. You will play several mini-games with
it, and during your travels there is a "Poketch" on the bottom screen.
On this, you can choose to display a number of things, ranging from the
time to your recently caught Pokemon. None of them are particularly
useful, though. Fortunately, during battles you use the touch screen to
select attacks, navigate menus, and use items. This makes everything a
lot quicker and easier. All-in-all, though, you can't help but wonder
if Nintendo couldn't have used the touch screen more to their advantage.
Online play is one new feature that really adds a lot to the series.
Most notably, the ability to trade Pokemon with the GTS trading system
and the ability to battle strong trainers whenever you feel the urge to
are great. The GTS trading system is surprisingly accessible, but not
without its flaws. You can put up any of your Pokemon for trade, then
specify what you would like in return, right down to the gender or
level of the Pokemon you wish to receive. On the downside, the trading
system is plagued with absolutely ridiculous trades (think level one
Pokemon for level 100s), posted by people hoping to get lucky and have
a hacker hack them the Pokemon they want. As for online battling, it is
a bit limited at the game's beginning, due to the unfortunate reality
of needing friend codes in order to battle, but when you complete the
story you can battle trainer's teams. Unfortunately, the teams you
challenge are controlled by AI; you can still only battle "real"
trainers once you have their friend code.
Another plus is that the online, in collaboration with great replay
value, make these games last a long time, and you definitely get enough
bang for your buck. You can play through these game multiple times,
because there are always new secrets or different Pokemon combinations
to try out. The game can appeal to a great amount of ages, too.
Children will be content with the simplistic story and easy gameplay,
while older gamers can get into competitive battling and the
challenging extras at the end of the game.
All in all, Pokemon Diamond/Pearl are solid enough entries into the
Pokemon series. It is a worry, however, that many of the games aspects
have changed little, if at all, since the game debuted 10 years ago.
Nintendo really needs to think about altering some parts of this
classic series, or gamers will get bored with the all too familiar
battle style, bland story, or repetitive gameplay.
Round-up:
Gameplay: 8.5
Story: 7.0
Graphics: 8.0
Sound: 6.0
Value: 8.5
OVERALL SCORE: 8.0
