Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl were among the most anticipated games of the year due to them being the remakes of the original Generation 4 titles. The choice to not include Pokemon Platinum content was something the community was not happy about, even though Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl do offer some form of interesting endgame content with the Battle Tower and the Grand Underground. Despite the fact that the remakes were conceived as faithful adaptations of the original games, there are major changes to be appreciated in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
The visual style in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl is quite different, with a more refined classic top-down view from the first few Generations of Pokemon games, whereas the battles are fully 3D and resemble Pokemon Sword and Shield. However, the change also meant that other things have been altered from the originals, like the walking animations for some Pokemon, and even their appearance. Walking animations in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have been a hot topic within the community, especially because of a few notable bad examples like Ekans' and Milotic's.
Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl's Sprites Are Worse Than Original Gen 4
Pokemon Diamond and Pearl were iconic titles because they made the players feel small in a region that held so many secrets, where imposing and towering Pokemon like Giratina dwelled. Giratina, in particular, was extremely tall and much bigger than the player character when Trainers encountered it, making for a rather terrifying encounter with the Dragon/Ghost type. Giratina is still rather big in battle in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, but it arguably lost its creepy facade because its sprite's size is much smaller, both when encountered in the overworld, and when players make it follow them.
The same holds true for Rayquaza, a huge Legendary Pokemon with a coiling snake-like body that suddenly becomes smaller than the player character when it's out of its Poke Ball for a walk. Speaking of which, Rayquaza's walking animation is one of the worst in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, and it follows the example set by that of Ekans and Milotic, likely due to all three having a similar body type. Rayquaza, or rather the tiny version of it that comes out of the Poke Ball, simply glides over the terrain and lifelessly follows players around without really moving.
Legendary Pokemon battles are often meant to be epic moments in the series, where Trainers try their best to overpower mythic creatures to catch them and harness their strength. Thus, seeing Legendary Pokemon have rather small overworld sprites that are not much bigger than those of regular critters found in the Grand Underground is not exactly living up to the standards of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. Some of Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl's animations are great, with slightly smaller sprites than one would expect, but still well done.
This makes it all the more infuriating to some players that beloved Pokemon like Giratina, Rayquaza, Groudon, and Kyogre all look more akin to pets than creatures of legend. Pokemon Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokemon Let's Go, Eevee! players could even ride some of the bigger Pokemon in the games, such as Persian, Charizard, and several more.
Drawing inspiration from those games could have been beneficial for Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, even though Sinnoh would have needed to be a bit bigger, and the visual style adapted to different standards. Ultimately, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are not bad games and they bring new, interesting things to the table, but they are also imperfect remakes.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are available now on Nintendo Switch.