Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are remakes of the original Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, except are for the Nintendo Switch instead of the original Nintendo DS.
The pair of games are set for a worldwide launch on November 19, 2021.
Interested in buying either Pokémon Brilliant Diamond or Shining Pearl? You can buy them digitally from the Nintendo eShop or from the following affiliate links on Amazon:
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Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Walkthrough
Following the games’ release, a walkthrough will be written for Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl to help you get through the game. Keep in mind that it might take a bit to write, but, don’t worry, it is a definite priority!
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Pokédex
Immediately after the games’ release in the first available geographical areas (Japan, Australia, New Zealand, etc.), a Pokédex for Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl will be added to the site, showing all of the moves that are learned in BDSP as well as some other information. This will be housed on separate pages than the Sword & Shield Pokédex pages, although there will be easy linking between entries shared by both games.
Additionally, the Marriland Team Builder will be updated for support to show a quick status indicator if a Pokémon is available in BDSP or not, similar to how it currently does for Sword & Shield. This should help you plan out your team’s weaknesses and resistances.
What’s Changed From Diamond and Pearl?
These two games feature the original story from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl—faithfully reproduced, according to the official website—so don’t expect much in the way of drastic changes to the storyline or for it to include much, if any, content from Pokémon Platinum.
However, there are a lot of modern changes that have been introduced to the remakes, including a lot of improvements from more recent generations. Additionally, several areas in the game have undergone some changes, such as the Underground becoming the Grand Underground and featuring substantially more content within, as well as the revamp of the Super Contests into the new Super Contest Shows.
Here are a few other things that have been updated compared to the original version, based on information shown from before the game’s official release:
- Modern changes to moves and types have been put into the game, so there are Fairy-type Pokémon and moves, and many moves will have improvements compared to the original games.
- Pokémon have improved the moves they can learn from leveling up, with Pokémon like Turtwig getting Leafage and Piplup getting Water Gun, which are much more effective than Absorb and Bubble from the original games.
- Since there is only one screen on the Nintendo Switch, the Pokétch is now available in the top-right corner, and it can be activated at will, similar to the old games.
- Pokémon can follow you outside of battle, similar to Let’s Go, Pikachu & Eevee. You need to have first visited Amity Square in Hearthome City before this feature is available, though, which has also received an improvement including bringing out several select Pokémon at once and having a free camera mode while in Amity Square.
- As previously mentioned, the Sinnoh Underground has been upgraded to the Grand Underground. There are quite a lot of Pokémon available in the Grand Underground inside of Pokémon Hideaways, including Pokémon that were not available in the wild in the original Diamond and Pearl.
- Capsule Decoration is an improvement on the old Ball Capsule system, allowing you to customize your Pokémon’s Poké Balls with cool effects when they’re sent out in battle. There are over 90 Stickers, which add these effects, for you to collect, and you can buy them, get them from beating Gym Leaders, and also by completing Super Contest Shows.
- HMs have been removed. Instead, you will use Hidden Moves directly from the Pokétch, which summon a Pokémon to utilize the equivalent HM move, such as Cut, Rock Climb, and Surf. This is similar to the Alola games or Let’s Go, Pikachu & Eevee.
- Trainer customization is an option, with many different styles available from the Metronome Style Shop in Veilstone City, which replaces the Game Corner. There’s also a special Platinum style outfit available as an Early Purchase bonus.
- The Pal Park has been replaced with the post-game exclusive Ramanas Park, which allows you to catch various Legendary Pokémon.
- Compatibility with Pokémon HOME will be added to the game in a future patch sometime in 2022. HOME compatibility will not be available at launch, though.
- The Pokémon Daycare in Solaceon Town is now referred to as the Pokémon Nursery, similar to what it was rebranded as in Sword & Shield.
Pokémon and Characters
As these games are faithful remakes of the original Diamond and Pearl, there’s not a lot of “new” information on these older characters. However, there’s still a page set up for you to view new artwork of some of the characters in the game as well as the Pokémon, as well as provide some basic information on the game’s starter Pokémon and Legendary Pokémon.
Grand Underground
The Sinnoh Underground has been updated to the Grand Underground, and with it a lot of cool features along with the ability to find many Pokémon, some of which weren’t available in the wild in the original games.
You can read more about the Grand Underground on the dedicated page set up for it:
Super Contest Shows
Super Contests have been revamped in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, becoming reborn as Super Contest Shows. These are designed to be much more interactive than the original Super Contests, with less emphasis on using moves and more on dancing and visuals.
You can read more about them and about making Poffins over on the dedicated page for Super Contest Shows:
Ramanas Park
Gone is the Pal Park of old, which was previously used to transfer Pokémon from the third Generation up to the fourth. Thanks to Pokémon HOME, that’s no longer necessary (at least once it is available for Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl). Because of that, the Pal Park has become the Ramanas Park, which is a special area you can go to after beating the game to encounter Legendary Pokémon such as Mewtwo, Rayquaza, and more.
You can read more about Ramanas Park on the page set up for it:
Get a Mew and a Jirachi
If you have Pokémon Sword, Shield, Let’s Go, Pikachu!, or Let’s Go, Eevee!, you can get access to a Mythical Pokémon to take with you on your adventure as soon as you arrive in Floaroma Town, which is pretty early in the game. You can get Mew if you have one of the Let’s Go games and Jirachi if you have either Sword or Shield.
You can find out more about the specifics on the page set up for Mew and Jirachi:
Get a Manaphy and Phione
Until February 21, 2022, you’ll be able to get a free Manaphy Egg from Mystery Gift via the “Get via Internet” option, meaning you don’t have to go to a store to get a code, you don’t have to get a serial code from an email, you can just connect online and get it (you don’t even need to have a Nintendo Switch Online membership to get it!).
This Manaphy Egg hatches into a Manaphy after awhile, which you can then take with you throughout the Sinnoh region.
If you leave Manaphy at the Nursery (Daycare) in Solaceon Town with a Ditto, it will produce Phione eggs. These eggs hatch into the Pokémon Phione (obviously), which resembles Manaphy in several ways, but is incapable of evolving into Manaphy in any way. It’s still a Pokémon to add to your Pokédex, though.