Now, before I start anything, let me acknowledge that I’m absolutely going to be biased here. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl (which is how I’ll be referring to the game, even though I only played Pearl) were the first ever games I played. Things that may be flaws for some, either I really like, or I can overlook. Diamond and Pearl do have flaws to them that I can understand, but my nostalgia and love for these games let me overlook that. And it was really nice to finally replay Diamond and Pearl after this long, I absolutely adore the Sinnoh games, and in my plan to play through all of the mainline Pokemon titles, I had to save the Sinnoh games until near the end. I’m glad that even after all this time, and after having played countless other Pokemon titles, I still adore Pokemon Diamond and Pearl.
Of course talking about Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, we can’t ignore the best change that it brought about in Pokemon overall. That being the Physical/Special Split. A move being Physical or Special no longer was tied to what type the move was, now each move was individually determined as Physical or Special. This noticeably allows Pokemon that were once terrible to now become amazing, Dark Type Pokemon could now utilize their often powerful Physical Attack Stat, and Ghost Type Pokemon could utilize their Special Attack Stat. Grass Types could be physical attackers, Poison Types could be special attackers, and the list just goes on and on. The Physical/Special Split frees so much that was once so limited. While Gen 3 introduced abilities, Gens 2 and 6 introduced whole new types, and Gen 6 onwards introduced new gimmick mechanics for each generation, I think that Generation 4’s Physical/Special Split is the best mechanical change that has ever occurred in a Pokemon game.
And in a similar vein, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl also add so many new evolutions to Pokemon that really needed it. It introduced some of my favorite Pokemon, like Honchkrow, Weavile, and Roserade to name just a few. And it’s so nice to see a large batch of Pokemon that needed something, as only recently have we seen old Pokemon gain new evolutions, even though it’s only a small few now, instead of the large batches. One unfortunate aspect though is a lot of new evolutions can only be obtained after beating the game, as many of the Pokemon they gave evolutions to can’t be caught until them. It’s just somewhat unfortunate.
Now, to continue my bias as mentioned from earlier, the Sinnoh region is honestly my favorite region in all of Pokemon. There’s so many different areas to explore, and places that are completely fleshed out, but you can entirely miss out on. One of my favorite areas in the game is Fuego Ironworks, and you’d only know of it if you think to go back to Floraroma Town, and Surf on the route east of it. And while I understand why people would be upset by the massive requirement of HM use, I’m not. It makes Sinnoh feel a lot more unexplored of a region, which then in turn, makes me want to explore it more. And areas like Victory Road needing 5 HMs total to get through feels like a true test of what you’ve had to do beforehand, which I really love. Even though I wish it had more use, the more I played Diamond and Pearl overtime, the more I found Defog as an HM to be useful, though only once during the game I’ll admit. Fog is just an annoying weather condition. And in a similar case, while it is a little tedious to go through, I love the snow routes. They’re just too pretty to me to really be bothered by how slow it is to move through them.
I absolutely had a blast playing through the whole game. My team was just really fun. For reference, I had an Infernape, Roserade, Manaphy, Mismagius, Lopunny, and Weavile. A mix of some of my favorite Pokemon, some I don’t use often, and one I’ve never had the chance of using before. I still can’t believe I was able to do the Pokemon Ranger event and have an actual Manaphy in a Pokemon game, I only got that chance once, and that was probably a decade ago. My team was so well crafted that I barely struggled with most of the game. While I did grind here and there (I did a lot in Iron Island, so I didn’t have to do much afterwards), I surprisingly found myself grinding very little. And a great thing about early Pokemon is that I find myself really getting attached to my party members, I feel like I really got to know how each Pokemon played, their strengths, and their weaknesses. It’s something that only recently have I noticed is sort of lacking in the modern games.
And even though I this go of the game probably had my easiest fight against Cynthia, I really have to acknowledge just how memorable Cynthia is. Cynthia still, all in all, is one of the hardest Champions in a Pokemon game, and for good reason. She has noticeably higher levels than any other trainer you’ve fought so far, and her ace of Garchomp is terrifying. Dragon and Ground are generally some of the best offensive types, especially in Gen 4. Starting out with Spiritomb, also having a Milotic and a Lucario. Her team is built to adapt to possibly anything, and that means you have to as well. It took me years before I was able to first beat Cynthia without trading any legendary Pokemon from other games, and I’m proud to see how I’ve grown to where I’m able to properly plan and now easily beat Cynthia. And this all hasn’t even acknowledged the iconic music that plays before and during the Cynthia fight, which makes her all more memorable.
Now of course, while I have a lot of love for Diamond and Pearl, I can also acknowledge that they aren’t perfect games. As it’s been constantly been joked about, Diamond and Pearl have a noticeable lack in Fire Type Pokemon, only having the starter Chimchar, and Ponyta. Though, while Fire is a really useful type for a lot of battles throughout Diamond and Pearl, it’s a very minimal criticism, as you can easily just use other types. I think there’s only one Pokemon in the entirety of Diamond and Pearl that’s exclusively weak to Fire, though I may be wrong. Another notable flaw is that Diamond and Pearl are really slow, and that’s true. I’m used to it of course, but it is one that I can’t ignore. It’s especially noticeable when surfing, and this ties to something that I think is important to reference. Pokemon Platinum improves so much that Diamond and Pearl falters with, so many more Pokemon in the region to catch, altered graphics that better fit Sinnoh’s general aesthetics, and faster speeds all around, both during battle, and while moving through the overworld. It just fixes a lot, so if the flaws of Diamond and Pearl are a turn off for someone, I think Platinum can still be a strong recommendation.
And this goes all to repeat that I will always love Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. There’s a lot I never acknowledged as well. It was (I believe) the first mainline game to feature Wi-Fi Connection, Wi-Fi battles, and Wi-Fi trading through the GTS. Team Galactic is my favorite villain team, and I hardly mentioned them because I plan to mention them further when I get to Pokemon Platinum. The music is amazing, I love the gym leader designs, and generation 4 introduced just so many amazing Pokemon. There’s so much I want to talk about the generation 4 games, though I see myself saving them for when I review Platinum, as it’s just the better game all around. Even still, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl were the first games I ever played, so even if they’re not perfect, I love them either way.
Of course talking about Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, we can’t ignore the best change that it brought about in Pokemon overall. That being the Physical/Special Split. A move being Physical or Special no longer was tied to what type the move was, now each move was individually determined as Physical or Special. This noticeably allows Pokemon that were once terrible to now become amazing, Dark Type Pokemon could now utilize their often powerful Physical Attack Stat, and Ghost Type Pokemon could utilize their Special Attack Stat. Grass Types could be physical attackers, Poison Types could be special attackers, and the list just goes on and on. The Physical/Special Split frees so much that was once so limited. While Gen 3 introduced abilities, Gens 2 and 6 introduced whole new types, and Gen 6 onwards introduced new gimmick mechanics for each generation, I think that Generation 4’s Physical/Special Split is the best mechanical change that has ever occurred in a Pokemon game.
And in a similar vein, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl also add so many new evolutions to Pokemon that really needed it. It introduced some of my favorite Pokemon, like Honchkrow, Weavile, and Roserade to name just a few. And it’s so nice to see a large batch of Pokemon that needed something, as only recently have we seen old Pokemon gain new evolutions, even though it’s only a small few now, instead of the large batches. One unfortunate aspect though is a lot of new evolutions can only be obtained after beating the game, as many of the Pokemon they gave evolutions to can’t be caught until them. It’s just somewhat unfortunate.
Now, to continue my bias as mentioned from earlier, the Sinnoh region is honestly my favorite region in all of Pokemon. There’s so many different areas to explore, and places that are completely fleshed out, but you can entirely miss out on. One of my favorite areas in the game is Fuego Ironworks, and you’d only know of it if you think to go back to Floraroma Town, and Surf on the route east of it. And while I understand why people would be upset by the massive requirement of HM use, I’m not. It makes Sinnoh feel a lot more unexplored of a region, which then in turn, makes me want to explore it more. And areas like Victory Road needing 5 HMs total to get through feels like a true test of what you’ve had to do beforehand, which I really love. Even though I wish it had more use, the more I played Diamond and Pearl overtime, the more I found Defog as an HM to be useful, though only once during the game I’ll admit. Fog is just an annoying weather condition. And in a similar case, while it is a little tedious to go through, I love the snow routes. They’re just too pretty to me to really be bothered by how slow it is to move through them.
I absolutely had a blast playing through the whole game. My team was just really fun. For reference, I had an Infernape, Roserade, Manaphy, Mismagius, Lopunny, and Weavile. A mix of some of my favorite Pokemon, some I don’t use often, and one I’ve never had the chance of using before. I still can’t believe I was able to do the Pokemon Ranger event and have an actual Manaphy in a Pokemon game, I only got that chance once, and that was probably a decade ago. My team was so well crafted that I barely struggled with most of the game. While I did grind here and there (I did a lot in Iron Island, so I didn’t have to do much afterwards), I surprisingly found myself grinding very little. And a great thing about early Pokemon is that I find myself really getting attached to my party members, I feel like I really got to know how each Pokemon played, their strengths, and their weaknesses. It’s something that only recently have I noticed is sort of lacking in the modern games.
And even though I this go of the game probably had my easiest fight against Cynthia, I really have to acknowledge just how memorable Cynthia is. Cynthia still, all in all, is one of the hardest Champions in a Pokemon game, and for good reason. She has noticeably higher levels than any other trainer you’ve fought so far, and her ace of Garchomp is terrifying. Dragon and Ground are generally some of the best offensive types, especially in Gen 4. Starting out with Spiritomb, also having a Milotic and a Lucario. Her team is built to adapt to possibly anything, and that means you have to as well. It took me years before I was able to first beat Cynthia without trading any legendary Pokemon from other games, and I’m proud to see how I’ve grown to where I’m able to properly plan and now easily beat Cynthia. And this all hasn’t even acknowledged the iconic music that plays before and during the Cynthia fight, which makes her all more memorable.
Now of course, while I have a lot of love for Diamond and Pearl, I can also acknowledge that they aren’t perfect games. As it’s been constantly been joked about, Diamond and Pearl have a noticeable lack in Fire Type Pokemon, only having the starter Chimchar, and Ponyta. Though, while Fire is a really useful type for a lot of battles throughout Diamond and Pearl, it’s a very minimal criticism, as you can easily just use other types. I think there’s only one Pokemon in the entirety of Diamond and Pearl that’s exclusively weak to Fire, though I may be wrong. Another notable flaw is that Diamond and Pearl are really slow, and that’s true. I’m used to it of course, but it is one that I can’t ignore. It’s especially noticeable when surfing, and this ties to something that I think is important to reference. Pokemon Platinum improves so much that Diamond and Pearl falters with, so many more Pokemon in the region to catch, altered graphics that better fit Sinnoh’s general aesthetics, and faster speeds all around, both during battle, and while moving through the overworld. It just fixes a lot, so if the flaws of Diamond and Pearl are a turn off for someone, I think Platinum can still be a strong recommendation.
And this goes all to repeat that I will always love Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. There’s a lot I never acknowledged as well. It was (I believe) the first mainline game to feature Wi-Fi Connection, Wi-Fi battles, and Wi-Fi trading through the GTS. Team Galactic is my favorite villain team, and I hardly mentioned them because I plan to mention them further when I get to Pokemon Platinum. The music is amazing, I love the gym leader designs, and generation 4 introduced just so many amazing Pokemon. There’s so much I want to talk about the generation 4 games, though I see myself saving them for when I review Platinum, as it’s just the better game all around. Even still, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl were the first games I ever played, so even if they’re not perfect, I love them either way.