Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl were finally released yesterday worldwide after many years when fans would ask for remakes of Generation 4 games, seeing how many players started their journey in the Pokemon universe with those games. Reviews for Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are coming in as more players get to experience the game in full - or long enough to provide their feedback on the first remakes made outside of Game Freak, and they are mostly positive. While the art style is very different from the standards of Pokemon Sword and Shield, the remakes for Pokemon Diamond and Pearl blend modern move sets with a largely improved Pokedex that makes Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl good additions to the franchise.
For many players, these games are all about the nostalgia of Generation 4, but for others, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl might just be the games that will start it all. Either way, several fans were looking forward to the expanded Pokedex to relive the adventure with more critters than ever before, as well as accessing the post-game content and the National Pokedex to indeed catch them all. However, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have a similar system to that of Pokemon Sword and Shield for time-based in-game events, as they rely on the date and time of the Nintendo Switch, but this is causing problems for those who just want to see or catch a Drifloon.
Why Drifloon is Crucial in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl were released yesterday, on a Friday, and players who follow the story through the first bits of the game will find themselves having to deal with some Team Galactic Grunts at Valley Windworks. After defeating the Grunts and their Commander, Trainers will discover that just outside the building in Valley Windworks should spawn a Drifloon, a very rare Ghost/Flying Pokemon that many players look for on their playthrough. Drifloon is only available on a specific day throughout the entire week, and that day is Friday. The problem is that this event only triggers the Friday after players dispose of Team Galactic, and every Friday after that until Drifloon is captured.
There is only a single Drifloon in the entirety of Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, and that's the one players can catch outside the building in Valley Windworks. This is a rather weird decision on its own because Drifloon and its evolution, Drifblim, are very popular Pokemon, but the main problem arises from the fact that there is only one other way to see a Drifloon in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. This can be done if players know the trick beforehand, as they have to answer incorrectly whenever they are asked questions at the Hearthome Gym, so that they can finally encounter a Trainer who uses Drifloon in battle.
The reason why seeing Drifloon in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl is so important lies in the fact that players need to complete the Sinnoh Pokedex before they can access the National Pokedex in the post-game. In fact, to complete the Sinnoh Pokedex, players have to see - not necessarily catch - every single Pokemon in it, and that includes Drifloon. Because this rare Pokemon can only be seen in the two aforementioned ways, it's an odd decision to make its appearance in the wilds an event that only occurs a week after players get to play the game for the first time, when in reality many players will finish the game in a day or two.
Switch-Based Time and Date in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
Pokemon Sword and Shield had a different approach with Switch-based date and time events, and this could be manipulated by players to get the perfect weather conditions or exact days to make specific Pokemon spawn. This could be the reason why the same level of date and time customization doesn't apply to Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, which do feature events based in real-time (if the Switch is connected to the internet and synced). Nonetheless, players can also access these events at different times if they change the date and time on the console prior to launching either Pokemon Brilliant Diamond or Shining Pearl, but this cannot be done once the game is running or after playing it with a specific save.
After that, changing the console's date and time will have no effect, hence why many players are having trouble finding that elusive Drifloon in order to complete the Sinnoh Pokedex. That's also why this is such a big oversight in the way Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are made, as Drifloon's appearance could have easily been swapped to Saturdays or Sundays, for example, thus making every player's chance to get the Pokemon fair time-wise. Instead, those who got their copies early and those who didn't sync their Switch's date and time online, are forced to either wait until next Friday or answer questions incorrectly at the Hearthome Gym just to finish the Pokedex.
Making the date and time-locked once players launch the games for the first time is not the problem, as that's a reasonable solution to some fans abusing the mechanic in Pokemon Sword and Shield. The problem is locking part of the game behind a weekly event that virtually no one should be able to complete on launch week, and that's a weird mechanic to work into the games. Ultimately, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are great at improving the best features of the original Generation 4 games, but they still suffer from a few Pokedex-related issues.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are available now for the Nintendo Switch.