Should I Buy? – Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum
11 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment
in Review Tags: DS, Game, Nintendo, Pokemon, Review, RPG
Is there anybody left in the world that hasn’t played or watched Pokemon? You must at least know what it is. I think I can safely assume you know the premise, yes?
D/P/P comprises Generation IV of the Pokemon games. Basically, each Generation is the new set where they make a new region with a new bunch of Pokemon to catch. This generation takes you to the Sinnoh region, which is based on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. Did you see any of the cartoon with that new girl Dawn instead of Misty? She had a Piplup, the little penguin one? Yeah, that’s Sinnoh.
This game gives you a choice of three starters as always, the Water-type penguin Piplup, the monkey like Fire-type Chimchar and the weird half plant, half animal Grass-type Turtwig from Professor Rowan, who then sends you on a quest to see (not catch this time) all the Pokemon of the region.
The game gives you two rivals this time, your energetic friend takes the Pokemon your starter is weak to, and the Professor’s timid son/daughter (depending on your character’s gender) takes the other one. The basic gameplay of the game is unchanged. You still travel between towns, catching and raising Pokemon to do battle with trainers and Gym Leaders to challenge the Elite Four and become the regional Champion.
There’s a story to this one, with the new villainous Team Galactic planning on using the region’s Legendary Pokemon Dialga and Palkia to remake the entire universe. Platinum adds a new member of the villainous team and has the player facing off against Giratina instead, as well as adding one last plot after their defeat and the capture of the Legendary. Oh, and the introduction of the incompetent yet reliable Interpol agent Looker who never really does anything.
Overall, these games feel more difficult than the previous Generations, possibly due to the prevalence of cross-types and improved opponent AI. The new Pokemon aren’t all that memorable, save for a few examples. But that’ll probably be through dreading them rather than revelling in having one.
That said, these games are still as Pokemon-y as sever and there’s no reason not to get one of these if you’re looking for a Pokemon game for your DS.
Price: Pokemon Diamond: £12 (CEX)
Pokemon Pearl: £15 (CEX)
Pokemon Platinum: £20 (CEX)
