After years of fans asking Nintendo and The Pokemon Company to release remakes of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are finally here, fifteen years after the originals' release. The Pokemon franchise has gone a long way over the years, and modern games are very different from the original Generation 4, which translated into some extra features making their way into Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl too. The remakes are overall meant to be faithful to the story and setting of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, but they also improve upon the foundations laid by Game Freak's work.
Pokemon games introduced the concept of friendship levels back in Generation 2, but it's only in more recent times that this evolved into something more, with Pokemon Sword and Shield and Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl showing a bit of emotion from the critters. This happens through small in-game movements and text messages while in battles, but it can also have an impact on the battle's outcome, especially if the Pokemon are fond of their Trainer.
A great example comes from the short video shared on Reddit by a user called fat_flamingo, as the clip shows a Luxray sitting at 1 HP from a previous attack from Byron's Steelix in the Canalave City Gym. Then, Luxray performs a critical hit on the opposing Steelix to impress its Trainer, only to survive two KO moves in a row for the same principle, showing how powerful the bond with Pokemon can be. This is an exceptional case, of course, and players shouldn't expect their Pokemon to do the same in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl - at least, not all the time.
This addition to Pokemon games has been there since Pokemon X and Y, but Pokemon Sword and Shield did elevate Pokemon friendship to a new level thanks to Pokemon Camps and the possibility to allow players to interact with their critters. Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl's approach is a bit different and more simplistic, but it can still yield amazing results such as these.
While friendship and how it works in the games is improved in the remakes, one of the flaws of Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl is its Poketch Calculator, which is completely broken whenever players try to use it without whole numbers. Still, despite the bugs and soft locks, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl make for a fine addition to the saga thus far.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are out now for the Nintendo Switch.