GoNintendo "End of Day" thought - Pokemon Diamond/Pearl impressions

The weekend is finally here…and I needed it badly. You guys all know about the hell we’ve gone through this week. I need to catch up on some sleep, and just relax! While I’m catching some Zs, make sure you take another look at our Capcom Gamer’s Day post. More links have been added throughout the night. I will catch you guys in a few hours, have a wonderful Saturday morning!

It’s been a very long time since I set out to become a Pokemon trainer. Back in the day I used to be all about the games. I loved the idea of Pokemon then, and I still love the idea now. The only problem is that somewhere in-between the inception of Pokemon and now, I fell out of the series. The longer I was out of the loop, the harder it was for me to picture myself getting back in. There was just so much that I missed in the Pokemon universe. When I was a big fan, there were 150 Pokemon…now that number has more than doubled. I barely remember the original ones by now anyway! I didn’t see myself getting back into the Pokemon series at all until I heard about Diamond/Pearl. There wasn’t one particular feature that sparked my interest. The first new Pokemon game on a portable platform, the crazy response it saw in Japan, the wireless features…I think all of them helped to get my attention. In the time since the game’s announcement, I also got to meet one of the localization staff for Pokemon in the US. Just seeing his passion for the franchise could be enough to turn anyone into a Pokemon fan. All of this lead to my excitement for today. Earlier my review copies showed up. I haven’t had much of any time with the games, but I can talk about the very early bits. All I know is that the game is bringing back a flood of memories, and is getting me really excited to continue on.

The story starts off with you and your best friend heading out for an adventure. There is a mysterious Pokemon that has been seen at a local lake, so you two head out to see for yourself. While you don’t catch a glimpse of that Pokemon, you are met by a professor and a young girl. They seem to be hunting out the same thing that you are. The pair heads off, only to leave their briefcase behind. That very case sits in a patch of tall grass, a breeding ground for Pokemon. Your mother warns you to stay out of situations like this, but you and your friend just can’t help yourselves. No sooner than you check out the briefcase, you are attacked by a couple of wild Pokemon. Inside the case you find 3 Pokeballs to choose from. Since you need to have a Pokemon to protect you, you choose one of the three. My choice was Turtwig for the simple fact that he was cute. After a quick battle you (hopefully) come away without a scratch. You and your friend run back to town to inform your families of what happened. Before you make it back you are met by the professor once again, who hears of what happened. Within a few minutes the Professor has gone back to his lab. With a quick goodbye to your mom, you are off to the neighboring town to return Turtwig to the professor. Of course once you get there, the professor cannot break the bond that you and your Pokemon have formed. He allows you to keep the Pokemon as long as you will help him out with his studies. You are given a Pokedex to keep track of all the Pokemon you’ll see on your journeys. It’s now up to you to scour the lands and hunt down every last Pokemon. So you have yourself a Pokemon, Pokedex, and a mission…you are now officially ready to enter the world of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl.

Battles don’t seem to be any different than they were 10 years ago. You have your basic attacks, defensive moves, hit points, and points needed to perform your attacks. Battles are turn based, with you and the other Pokemon/Pokemon Trainer going back and forth. The option to use items for both healing and attack purposes is available, as is the option to flee a battle. Once you or your opponent’s Pokemon hits zero hit points, the fight is over. Each fight you win gains your Pokemon experience which adds to your Pokemon’s many traits. As you get deeper into the game you will learn about all the types of Pokemon, as well as what ones work best against others. Right now things are extremely simple. You are attacked or offered a challenge, you jump in, and you tackle everything you see. As long as you have enough health you are fine.

The graphics have seen a sizeable bump thanks to the DS hardware. While the game doesn’t look mind blowing by DS standards, it does do some nice things. Buildings and other objects are all 3d, while character models (people and Pokemon) are all 2d sprites. There are little touches that have been added in such as footprints in the sand, and reflections off the water. There’s something about the game that really appeals to me graphically. I think it is the nice, clean, simple look that really pulls me in. My big gripe is that there really aren’t any big Pokemon animations. When fighting, the Pokemon on the field are very much static. They may shake a bit, flash quickly, or something along those lines…but there’s really not much in the way of movement. I think it’s disappointing to see that Nintendo keeps going with the same battle screens that we’ve seen for years now. I am not asking for huge changes, just a few things thrown in there to spice up the screens. I mean, we see them thousands of times over during the course of the game, why not make them a little more interesting!?

Dialog is the same straight-forward campy stuff you can find in the rest of the series. Well, I should say that that’s the feeling I am getting right now. There’s quite a bit of talking to be done, and I think I’ve gotten a good feel of things so far. You aren’t dealing with Shakespeare here. There are only so many ways that someone can ask you to battle. Still though, there are nice little touches to be found. Televisions are a great source for some of the funnier situations in the game. You’ll hear all kinds of crazy conversations coming from the TVs you come across. Townspeople for the most part run the character gamut that you would expect. You have snotty kids, friendly kids, concerned parents, wise old people, and that’s about it.

The size of the game seems absolutely massive. I know it’s going to take me a very large amount of time to complete the game. Just seeing the map screen can be intimidating. I can’t wait to see the variety in the locations. Judging from the game footage I’ve seen leading up to the game release, locations look to be quite varied. Sure there will be fields and caves, they there looks to be a lot more this time around. I don’t doubt that I will miss a lot of the areas on my first play-through of the game, but that’s part of the fun. I’ll be able to backtrack and explore new areas all while further developing my Pokemon. Thank goodness your mom gives you running shoes before you leave the house. If she didn’t, you would have a lot of land to cover at a very slow pace. I know that at some point I’ll have a bike to get me around, which should definitely come in handy.

So far Diamond/Pearl is exactly what I expected the game to be. It doesn’t seem that much has changed in the world of Pokemon other than new Pokemon types and abilities. That’s not a bad thing by any means, it got the franchise to the level of popularity it is at today. I am yet to try out the wifi features, which I am sure will add a huge amount of replay. I can’t wait to be confident enough in my Pokemon to take them online. I know I’ll get my butt kicked, but that’s how you learn right?! We will see if the single player can hold my interest just as I expect the wifi mode to do. I’ll have a full review of Pokemon Diamond/Pearl most likely by next weekend. Until then, I have a lot more exploring to do.