Nearly a week after their release, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are already one of the biggest releases on Switch for the year, as they sold around 1.4 million copies in Japan alone, and only within the first three days since release. This doesn't come as a surprise, though, because the original Generation 4 games are among the most beloved in the series. Unfortunately, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are flawed as well, and there are numerous glitches players can encounter in their playthroughs.
A rather common type of glitch players run into is softlocks, which can occur in different ways, such as the post-game content softlock caused by the appearance of Drifloon in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl being tied to a weekly event. Another form of softlock is when players get stuck somewhere without a chance to free themselves, and this can even lead to the save becoming unsalvageable in some cases.
A Reddit user by the name of Smooth-Morning6937 shared a video on the platform that shows gameplay from the Iron Island secondary quest involving an NPC called Riley. Normally, players encounter Riley and then progress through a cave via dual battles, only to face Team Galactic members at the very end, which is how players get Riolu in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. However, the short video shows how Riley is instead invisible, both in the cave and in battle, and even while speaking to the NPC at his usual location towards the entrance of the cave.
Am I the only one w/ a glitchy Pokémon Brilliant Diamond? This is one of the few things I’ve noticed w/in the game :/ from pokemon
According to some fellow Redditors, the same glitch happened in the original Pokemon Diamond and Pearl too, and Smooth-Morning6937's case is not unique in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl as well. While this particular glitch is not too problematic for those who know their way around the Iron Island mine cave, new players running into Riley's invisibility might be a bit concerned that their save is corrupted - which doesn't seem to be the case.
With bugs like players getting the wrong box Legendary in their playthroughs and Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl players being softlocked inside the Snowpoint Gym, the launch of the remakes is also causing confusion within the community. When they are working properly, however, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are a fine addition to the franchise.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are available now on Nintendo Switch.