Round Up: The Pokémon Brilliant Diamond And Shining Pearl Reviews Are In

NL review definitely looking like the outlier. No idea how that scored a 6 beyond being reactionary. Even Let’s Go got a better review score. That got an 8 here despite being way more controversial lol

I'm really sorry but i have to get Skylanders Imaginators PS4 first before getting Pokemon Brilliant Diamond. 😣
My game purchase in December 2021 will be PS4, PS3 and other machine games.

It does not seem like the NL reviewer finished the game or he would have noticed that no matter how much Underground Grinding you do, the leveling is a non-issue, as the jump from normal trainers to Gym Leaders and Elite Four as well as Champion is huge.

Also no mention of the endgame that includes you collecting ALL of Gen 1-4 + rebattling everyone again with really strong teams.

Trying to get praise from the pokemon hate club is one thing, but this was a bit much. Just because you dont like the art style of something doesnt mean you have to make the whole review about that one topic.

I do agree with platinum content missing being a bad thing, but the only thing thats missing is the battle frontier part, which he couldnt have reached anyways because again, I dont think he finished it.

Edit: The Reviewer did reply to this and noticed that he was not able to speak to other parts of the game due to the embargo.

Within the games themselves, you'll find plenty of complaints about the post games of Gens VI, VII, and VIII being "too short" or lacking in extensive battle facilities that Generation III, IV and V had. What isn't mentioned is that Game Freak has noticed that most fans don't even participate in them since they're often far too difficult for most of the player base to even attempt, and to do well, you'll need to understand the ins-and-outs of game mechanics that the game doesn't mention at all. This all indicates that those who actively complete these areas are unfortunately a minority of players. Generations VI, VII, and VIII in fact, got more sales and mainstream recognition than the previous few generations, indicating that ultimately the changes made in them resulted in wider overall appeal and all but confirming said fans as a Vocal Minority. just thought I posted this here so people will know why they don’t add in battle frontiers. 😉

@thiz- Can't take this review seriously, all things considered. Thanks for pointing this out.

People have grown with this franchise for over 20 years now and it is a shame that every game seems easier than the last. I do not know if they target small kids (which could definitively tackle a more challenging game too) or what.
There has been absolutely no challenge in the latest entries, and that is a big NO for me

Sounds like they're a lot better if you didn't play the DS originals.

Pokemon will and always be kids friendly.
As we get old we accept whatever game freaks brings to the next generation of players. It can't evolve to adult games because we're aging.

Edit: don't get me wrong when I mean kid friendly. Having a difficulty settings will be great. However, pokemon is geared towards the younger audience.
Between I have been playing since the first gameboy release that's like 26years now or more.

@Rpg-lover absolutely. But each game is easier than the last and that is not good either. You cannot compare Gold/Silver era with the SwSh. I literally finished it without using a single revive or losing a battle. It was lame. I would add difficulty options as most jrpgs do these days. I am not asking for SMT´s hard or Dragon Quest´s Draconian Quests difficulty (It would be amazing), but give us something more

Typical game informer L

Looking good then

@Arawn93 It's 5 reviews in this article not counting NL, of which 2 gave it a similar score ( The Gamer and Gamespot).

@RupeeClock I get being too easy for people that know those games inside and out, but braindead seems like a hyperbole.

It's really going to be hard to rate Pokémon remakes moving forward. They'll either be a hit or miss depending on the reviewer's POV. Some purists love the faithful remake adaptation while there are those who would want to see the game being remade from the groundup.

NintendoLife's score is the lowest score for the game that I've seen.

@CactusMan Guess I'd be the middle man and give it a 7, and I've yet to play the remake lol.

@Arawn93

....or (!) Let's Go was scored too high.

NL's 6/10 was more than deserved given the complaints, IMO. It's not unplayable, it's not even bad, but it's a remake where the changes mostly seem to make the game worse.

Really disappointing, even if the core game is still decent.

@Yomogi I mean, if they wanted this to be a faithful remake, they shouldn't have forced EXP Share. Once you start making changes like that that dramatically impact the feel of the game, the developer can't really be excused for being "faithful" to the originals anymore.

@RupeeClock That was actually very well put. Concise and effective. Sorry, but I'm stealing this.

Kinda considering canceling my preorder, tbh

@Ralizah Fair point. I'm just pointing out that some of the reviews seem to praise BDSP for how "faithful" of a remake they are.

Love to see real reviews recognizing the hard work by the developers bringing back a classic. Can't wait to play. I donated a Switch and a few games to a local Christmas charity last year, I'm going to be doing the same this year with Pearl and Diamond.

These games are going to make a ridiculous amount of money this holiday season with the Pokemon Company and Nintendo making all the right business and creative decisions with this franchise. Me and my kids couldn't be prouder to be true Pokemon fans. So excited.

@Damo So you rather bring out a review early and have it missing almost all of the information instead of actually giving people a fair picture?

I can see why, but its something that should be open for discussion.

@Arawn93 Not convinced it's reactionary. I just think people hit Pokemon Fatigue at different rates. I was one of the people vehemently defending Pokemon from criticism in Gen V when people started saying it got stale. But man the fatigue and disillusionment hit me hard in Gen VI.

Not to mention, the context of release timings matter a ton. Let's Go probably got an 8 out of 10 because it was the first Poke game on switch, it had that nice shiny HD quality, following pokemon was back, etc etc. Even if in the grand scheme of things it was pretty mediocre, the release had a lot going for it. Three Switch releases in, however, with no change to the formula and some of the updates being walked back? Yeah the 6 makes sense.

Nowadays when I see the 8 or 9s from reviews and I read them, it's usually, "It's great to play Pokemon again!" But how long will that last? If it werent for Arceus trying something new, I'd be pretty confident next year would be the year we started seeing 6's and 7's across the board.

Ok, i take back what i said before. I'm interested in this game

@msvt doesn’t speak well for NL review quality for Pokémon games then.

@roy130390 None of those reviews here was the equivalent of a 6. Lowest ones here are two 7s when converted to 10 score format and even then they gave better reasons then the NL review

I just can't with the formula anymore. I grew up with every title and all I can do anymore is look forward and hope they manage to innovate the series someday, but the idea of going through the exact same beats yet again makes me nauseous even with a fresh coat of paint (I actually find the graphics here quite charming). Cautiously optimistic with Legends but after Sw/Sh my faith couldn't be lower. I hope those chasing nostalgia or those new to the franchise get their money's worth here.

@BenAV if we want to be honest with each other no mainline Pokémon game should be scored very high to begin with Switch or not, but they been around for many years and since established a “standard metric” for Pokémon games rather then a standard for a typical turn based jrpg in the genre

I appreciate The Gamer review comparing these games to Platinum. The most baffling choice in these remakes is keeping them faithful to DP/P and excluding the Platinum content, dex, and improvements. This was a chance to make the definitive Sinnoh games. It's not just a matter of "you'll like this more if you didn't play the originals"; there's no justification for putting less content in a Switch game than a DS game from 2008.

While probably still a good game, it's a "safe" remake, 7 seems like a correct score.

@Brydontk context of timing shouldn’t matter at all in regards to reviewing the game itself objectively. Not to mention that shouldn’t be a factor anyway considering Let’s Go got way more controversy leading up to its release then this game ever did. Let’s Go got a lot more significant criticism then “muh exp share” and “chibi look” that this game got

@Controller-Drift i get your point and you're right. If they add the difficulty settings it won't be a bad idea. However, pokemon will also remain kids friendly, no matter how we age and turn to adults it will keep the same formula.

I think the games are decent, but I feel like they could have been better. However, I kind of feel like a lot of the criticisms NL made against this game are kind of subjective. Like, I don't really feel like the art style was a reason to take points away from the game, as it's really a "you like it or you don't" type of thing.

@RupeeClock absolutely and I support that. However, this game is targeted more for the younger generation of gamers.

Pokemon fans disappointed by these subpar efforts should consider branching out to other franchises. Both Monster Hunter Stories 2 and Shin Megami Tensei V are vastly better monster-collecting JRPGs than anything that is likely to come out of this property in the near future.

Stories 2 even has that 'monsters are our friends' vibe to it that endear people to Pokemon.

The reviewer aid the game was better than Let’s Go then gave it a worse score. It makes no sense.

Wow thank you game informer, an honest and intelligent review, of these great games.

@Arawn93 Come on dude, are you gonna tell me that a 7 and a 6 are so different? It's one point. Hence why I said similar, not the same.

Besides, I'm not even discussing if I agree with this review or not, there just isn't as much difference as you are making it out to be. For me, both entries would have gotten the same score (6).

@Arawn93

eh... they're generally aiiiiight. I've liked this site since WiiWareWorld or whatever it was called back then.

@Ralizah I get what you're saying, but Monster Hunter Stories and SMT5 don't have Turtwig in them. Hard pass

Not sure why anyone would really need a review to know if they want BDSP. It was pretty obvious from the first announcement exactly what you're getting: Diamond and Pearl with a chibi art style.

Game freak is giving us a remake of a game that is actually worse than the original. 6/10 sounds about right.

@HeroponRiki that makes it sound as if the originals weren’t already Chibi 😅

@Controller-Drift There is a great game call shin megami tensei v if you would like a harder game

@thiz- "no matter how much Underground Grinding you do, the leveling is a non-issue, as the jump from normal trainers to Gym Leaders and Elite Four as well as Champion is huge."

you make it sound like the levelling and general balance of the game is a HUGE issue.

i havent played it im just going off the quoted statement

edit- i was also going to say, i havent taken the number score of game reviews seriously since i was like 10 yo reading gameplayers and gamepro. i suppose some ppl commenting here are that age.

.

@-wc- Just let me say, that if you battle every single trainer along the way, you will be at an equal level with Gym Leaders, Elite Four and Champion, but you WILL outlevel the no-name trainers along the way.

Nintendo Life… damned if you do, damned if you don’t! I’m getting this game for my son for Christmas, regardless of reviews. I am positive he’ll enjoy it.

Either this is a game you love or hate. The battles look nice and I would have liked it if the complete game looked like that. But in the end the it looks like a more fun experience then the let's go games.

It's a safe remake but sometimes that's better. I wish square-enix did a safe remake with FFVII.

I will pick it up for my 7yr old who has just gotten into Pokemon via Sword. And perhaps if it is 'easy' my 5yr old can play it too.

I have never played any Pokemon besides way back in the day of getting Pokemon Red and never finishing it.

@Controller-Drift They have stated they want the Pokemon games to be 'easily accessible' to everybody. Though I do feel that they've kinda taken that to a bit of an extreme.

But hey

At this point my desire for monster collecting games has fully been transferred to SMT. They’re Just straight up better RPG games, SMT V especially makes these remakes look like a joke.

I hope Dragon Quest throws their hat back in the ring at some point too.

HeartGold and SoulSilver are still the best remakes! If not for the Gameboy player item which plays 8 bit gold and silver music. 🎶
Also on DS!

Lol. It's funny when Nintendo Life writes a review roundup article, and theirs ends up being the lowest score.

It's Pokemon, review scores don't matter, the masses will still buy it

Including me

@Ralizah I understand what you mean, but this suggestion doesn't really do nothing for people that are far more invested in the world and characters of Pokémon.

@UltimateOtaku91 Yeah, not everyone is some jaded hardcore gamer who has played these games already and demands a high difficulty Pokemon experience. For people like me, who will be experiencing these games for the first time, it sounds like a fun and charming game.

I never played Pokemon for difficulty anyways, it has always been easy to level your way to an easy experience.

@razorxkenshin Except these remakes aren't developed by GameFreak

It's Pokemon. You can knock it down (for lack of originality), but it still keeps getting up (the charts.)

They will sell tons as always, but I think they could have invested a lot more and made this special (and included Platinum stuff).
I'm not calling it lazy, but I think they just went and did the bare minimum, both graphic and content wise.
Sad to see the greed for money so obviously.
"Just pump out a mobile quality rerelease, people buy it anyway, better spent those $ on marketing"

Think a lot of people have prepared for these not being a packed with new features remake much like I am. As much as I wished they did more, I'm still looking forward to playing through my fav gen once more.

@JayJ yeah I mean there's over 400 pokemon in the game to get and level up, if it was a difficult game then leveling all those up would just become tiring

I'll eventually get this as I haven't played these particular games since it was released and I am not wedded to the Platinum features (and to be honest, I don't recall if I ever even finished Platinum).

I'll wait to hear reviews from actual Pokemon fans and will probably wait til they're on sale, whenever that may be.

@thiz- Well said. If embargo’s prevent you from talking about most features of a game… then maybe you should just wait until release day to review the game.

I know they need to make money but this just shows me they care more about stirring controversy and clicks rather than sharing a fair, full-featured review and engaging in the community in a fun and respective manner. Might stop using NintendoLife if this is the case, there are plenty of other sources to get information, rumors, and reviews from real consumers that aren’t being paid to rush this stuff out.

@thiz- Hey, thanks for reading my review. The things I didn't talk about, I'm not allowed to. I finished the game. Thanks.

Looks like amazing reviews across the Table, I'm going to look at a few youtubers and so and so, but NL seems to be the outer in the review Pile.

But Different people, different opinions, So, not every review will be the same.
I think people forget that reviews aren't the end all be all, it should just help you form your decision. Great review, but I Can't say I can't agree wit ha review on a game I never played, guess we will see my score soon.

(Also for pokemon fans this games should be great anyway so)

@UltimateOtaku91 Damn I love your honesty here LOL.

@thiz- That Was the one part I just couldn't agree with, That is a subjective part of the review, and not everyone hates the art style,kinda made it look like they were trying to appeal to the Hate club a little bit.

I'm personally gonna skip this and save up for SMT V and Monster Hunter Stories 2.

@Ralizah I'm already decided to play Shin Megami Tensei V and your enthusiasm for it only makes me want it more haha, but unfortunately with Christmas right around the corner I'll have to wait a bit for that one. It does look fantastic.

Another bland, boring Pokemon game. Shock.

Could it be that some of you guys just outgrown pokemon and it's time to move on?

I'm sure it's more kids that get into it than people leaving so there is your reasoning for most of the design choices.

I ended up lending my copy out after only a few hours.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't DISLIKE it and I'll want it back eventually, but there is no a lot here that motivates me to pick playing these games over just going back to Sun/Moon or Sword/Shield, my personal favourites. Add that to the fact that it's November and 5 MUST PLAY games are coming out every week between now and New Years, I think this is a pretty cut and dry example of games that are really good, but still somehow nowhere near good enough.

@EriXz

How dare you suggest that this IP I got into as a child that is marketed to children and has several child focused tie-in TV series and movies shouldn't be made exclusively for its adult fanbase.

What's next? Are you going to tell me Super Hero movies are for kids and I shouldn't get upset when they make changes from the ultra violent and dark comics? Star Wars is simplistic and derivative by design because it's marketed to pre-teens?

Get out of here with your crazy talk.

I like the term "comfey nostolgia trip" sums up what I'm hoping tonget out of these games.

@HeadPirate U OK M8?

@thiz- does that mean the Distortipn World(iirc the name?) is in the game?
I recall that being a huge deal in Platinum

@HeadPirate What do you think the game is missing compared to Sun and Moon in your opinion?

@HeadPirate I know, crazy right?

@Greatluigi

1 i'm not asking for a battle frontier in every game but i would enjoy more post-game content

2. What sources are you using to say gens 6-8 outsold gen 4? Of you don't count remakes or further versions DP out sold XY and SM if you count further verstions DPPt sold about on par with USUM and higher than any pokemon game without further versions. Not to mention HGSS are the best selling pokémon remakes of all time. In total, Gen 4 is only eclipsed by Gen one in total, sales across all it's releases. (Though gen 8 is in the market to upend that title with LA on the horizon and indisclosed DLC sales)

@iLikeUrAttitude

Nothing.

When Sun/Moon came out it was enough, relative to the other gaming options I had, to get me playing to the point where I got invested. Now because of that investment, this game needs to offer a compelling reason to re-invest.

And that's the point I'm trying to make, the "value" of a game is subjective well beyond being "good" or "bad". If this came out 3 months ago I would be playing the crap out of it, but given I'm knee deep in Forza, juggling that with Shin V, playing AC:HHP a few hours a day with my wife while my friends all bug me to play Battlefield or the new DOTA hero with them, knowing I've only got 20 days before Master Chef is going to demand all my time ... it's just not compelling enough.

@DeathByLasagna It’s just different opinions of different writers. Chris Scullion wrote the VGC review and gave it 4/5- he writes a lot of reviews for NintendoLife too; if he wrote the review for this site instead of VGC it’d have been the same.

I’ve never know NL to low ball scores just to stir things up- if anything they’re generally up there with the more generous sites when it comes to scores. This reviewer just didn’t enjoy it as much it seems, nothing wrong with that. That’s why it’s important to not take a score/review as gospel and look around at other opinions before making a decision to buy a game.

@Ralizah
You're right.
Pokémon is marketed towards children. I love it and looking forward to Arceus, but it is what it is.
If you want Pokémon for "Adults" go SMT5.

@larryisaman
The game is a low effort remake.
It's still Pokémon and I don't dislike the Chibi, but it could have looked much better, even in Chibi style.
Not it looks like Nexomon ripoff, which in turn is but a mobile game...
The score is fair in my opinion.

Literally can’t wait for my eShop preorder to be unlocked now!

These games blew me away when I first played them in 2006ish? I can’t remember off top of my head. I had a friend who is a bio researcher. She was a few years younger than me, friend of the family, she put me up for a few nights a day after the game came out, so long that I claimed I was her assistant. I opted for Pearl as my wife got Diamond.

The whole trip was a disaster. There was a massive storm resulting in the area going on lockdown (it’s a biological whatyamacallit university) where nobody could go outside. It was a dorm building but due to location and such we had massive food provisions. I got to visit as the place was nearly deserted for weeks. Wild ***** time.

But it was magnificent for me. We put the gas fire on. My friend read her books and I had Pokémon to sustain me. I put so much time into it. The internet was severely restricted due to the storm so couldn’t read up on things and social media. It was HEAVEN.

I used the Pokewalker whilst I used the gym there. Racking up steps listening to music. Never ever saw the appeal of Podcasts or RSS things. Hate them. The quality of them now is also so poorly produced. Trying so hard and failing so much.

I beat the elite four and all that. Amazing game.

These remakes look perfect. So ***** gorgeous. I wonder if they’ll do Pokémon Soul Silver Gold Heart as DLC? Retain all the engine but add asserts. Could be done, or Platinum as DLC. I want that!

@Dilly-Mick tvtropes on the YMMV section of the Pokémon franchise page under the vocal minority page.

@larryisaman I wasn’t knocking his opinion or score on the game. I was knocking the concrete fact that there were many features regarding the game completely absent from the review. I don’t care about the logistics of the embargo or not. As a consumer I didn’t read about most of the new advertised features in the game I was hoping to get knowledge and opinions about.

I am aware that other reviewers and consumers have different opinions. One opinion isn’t going to make or stop me from buying a game. The “stop using NintendoLife” may have been a bit premature on my part, but I don’t like when reviews from professional sites are short and dismiss talking about a lot of core game features. Wait until the embargo to talk about them or else the review just seems unhelpful and lacking to me.

@link12684 Already bought it and already enjoying it on hard difficulty, and I am happier than ever that I bought it instead of this game because of that exactly. It is something that will never happen, but just imagine a mainline Pokemon game with that level of challenge in the main story. Perfection

I switched from physical to digital because of that huge day-1 patch that added a lot of stuff to the core game (physical sucks if they leave out too much or if it's unplayable without a patch).

But yeah, I pre-ordered like a sucker and I'm sure I'll enjoy it.

Despite the mixed reviews, personal choice and preference is what's important at the end.

I got Brilliant Diamond just for nostalgia's sake and Shining Pearl for my fiancee to introduce her to the series and just casually have fun exploring Sinnoh.

@Arawn93 Context of release timing is always a factor, what do you mean? For an extreme example, if Pokemon Let's Go, by some magic, released exactly how it is but in 1990, how do you think it would score? How about in the year 2050?

@Screen he didn't review LGPE on here, so one can assume he would rate it lower than NL did

@somebread

I get that, but he should have at least given us a frame of reference of what he WOULD have scored it, is it a 5? A 1?

Overall his review doesn’t do a good job explaining his opinion. Not saying he can’t dislike it, but he called it the best looking Pokémon game in battle, then didn’t reflect it in the conclusion.

@Brydontk Reviews are supposed to review the game itself by looking at what it has objectively. Not decide arbitrarily if 2021 is a year where it deserves points to be added/subtracted.

@thiz- So the only part missing is the Battle Frontier? That's great news to hear. I've never cared about the Battle Frontiers personally. I just wanted to experience Distortion World and see Giratina.

Good to see positive reviews across the board. I wouldn't even consider NL's 6 a negative. Shining pearl will be a nice Christmas gift.

@CharlieGirl Do cancel it, don't let them keep getting away with making sub-par Pokemon games. The series deserves better.

Insert score only from 7-9

Triple A game review done

And this is why sites like Metacritic are useful; they allow an easy way to see the (almost) entire range of reviews, so when outliers like NL's review on BD/SP come out, you can put it's score within the proper context, rather than make the assumption that it's the average take.

@Samuel-Flutter @Ludovsky Its more of a Distortion Room this time around, but yeah.

@JordanMiddler Thank you for replying to my comment. I appreciate you taking your time and talking to the community. I edited my comment with a Disclaimer for this so people know. Its still just a sour taste in my mouth that you rather release it early and have this important info missing instead of actually caring to give people a full picture. This is not your personal fault and a decision of the people you work for I am assuming, but the criticism is still valid I believe. Now your review just looks like a trailer-critique. Its not really what anyone should call a review.

Maybe NL just didn't try everything the game has to offer

@Meteoroid you're right of course, but a man can dream!

@Ultrasmiles Except the review's author commented and clarified in this very comment section that he has played everything, he just isn't allowed to talk about it due to embargo.

People are always complaining about Nintendo life being too "friendly" with scores. This is an obvious exception then! 😂🤣

Not remaking platinum is such a bad move. It's a shame when removing the HM hell probably really changed up the game for the better!

That 6 seems REALLY fair to me, glad for the devs that they're also receiving much better scores!

@Greatluigi or....
Maybe the higher sales numbers were because of much larger console install bases? Just putting it out there.

Those are definitely the worst Pokémon Remakes. Sadly I'm not looking forward to Gen5 remakes now.

@-wc- Off-topic, but I just wanted to say that your mentioning Gameplayer was kinda cool to see. It was totally my favorite gaming magazine during that era. The absurd surrealist / irreverent humor in it was genuinely entertaining and kind of ahead of its time, imo. It was sort of like the Adult Swim of videogame mags (long before Adult Swim was even a popular thing).

Anyway, I think it was very underrated then and is rarely mentioned now (imo), so it was a pleasant surprise to see you name drop it. Those were some good times.

@Damo That is very interesting. The question then becomes, how much info you are forced to cut away and how much you actually just chose yourself to not include. The review we are talking about is not really a review by any means. I am repeating myself, but it sounds like someone watched a trailer and is writing a very quick critique on the art style they've seen in it. There is almost no substence or deepness apart from that.

And I want to make it clear that I am certainly not just a fanboy, being mad about the rating, I couldnt care less if you gave it a 3 or a 9, I am simply refering to the text itself.

I am not saying spoil people the whole game and tell them every nook and cranny, but you must certainly be allowed to talk about more than one topic.

Maybe another format is required. Something thats going deeper into certain gameplay aspects. If reviews are not allowed to be deep in any kind, maybe articles should be released after a games release talking freely about those aspects.

If that would be a regular thing, everyone could get used to it and know "aha, well this is more like a first impressions, the real thing to give me an idea of what the game can be before launch, while I know there'll be a deeper talk for it a week later". That could fix alot.

@Damo Then we have completely different ideas of what a review should be. Duly noted.

@Andy_Witmyer
(APOLOGIES FOR MAJOR DIGRESSION)
Gameplayers was my first game mag ever. i saw spider man and venom on the cover, and i picked it up on the strength of that, not even knowing that game mags were a thing! i think i was 9.

(edit - dang, august 1994, i was 8! time really flies. https://www.picclickimg.com/d/l400/pict/224655390553_/Game-Players-SEGA-NINTENDO-Maximum-Carnage-RPG-Special.jpg)

you are right, they had a truly special and unique thing going, there was something special about that group of editors, that era of gaming. i rrad every issue i could get my hands on, cover to cover. every word. even the ads, for some reason.

I see your point about Adult Swim, and you are right, but id also say it was kind of the MAD magazine of games. they spent alot of their page space on inside jokes, editorials, replying to reader mail.

eventually gameplayers became ULTRA gameplayers, and got a bit more serious and "late 90s" but it remained my favorite until they finally called it quits and i got an EGM subscription. (incidentally EGM carried the humor torch almost as well as GP did and i got years of enjoyment from the sushi x files, decapitato, et al. LE SIGH.)

i truly miss bill donahue, patrick baggatta, mike salmon, francesca reyes, and others i cant quite think of off the top of my head. the only one i still see around now and again is Chris Slate, he moved on to run Nintendo Power for a while, and PSM i believe with bill and francesca in the early 2000s, and these days does the nintendo power podcast (which is... fine. its almost like theyve told him not to be funny, its weird.)

mostly this little world seems to have vanished completely. thanks for sharing it with me, it was a good time 😌

@Arawn93 It's not about "arbitrarily deciding etc etc etc". My point in putting Let's Go in those time periods is that the game's quality DOES change depending on when it comes out. It's not something that's decided, it's an unconcious thing.

Kirby games have recently been getting mediocre reviews by being more of the same. But if they were the first game? Changes things. Theyve never been bad games, but by the standards of everything coming out around it, it matters. Saying that games should only be weighed "objectively" is silly. For example, would Pokemon fans be ANYWHERE NEAR AS BITTER if it werent for the fact that Zelda has evolved, Mario has evolved, God of War has evolved, Smash Bros have evolved, Animal Crossing has evolved, but Pokemon appears stuck in place? Probably not.

@Controller-Drift And good for you. I am glad you enjoy SMT and you supported the series by buying a copy. I will say to be careful what you say so You come across as a person who cares vs a hater. Will help everyone out

@Arawn93 Looking back, Let's Go was a good game for what it was. It was just controversial because it was not was anyone had been asking for: the first new Pokémon game, rather than being an actually new generation of Pokémon, was yet another remake of the first generation, and one with completely different gameplay mechanics at that. But then Sword and Shield came, and they turned out to be much worse than Let's Go. More remakes in the style of Let's Go would be nice, as long as it's considered a separate series.

Pokemon platinum was the best version of the gen 4 games and I see a lot of players wanting a port to the Switch of platinum. Do the remakes of diamond and pearl include the extra content found in pokemon platinum 🤔. Maybe they plan to include stuff like that in a DLC package who knows 🤷‍♂️. I'll buy both version of the game as I always do. Would love to see more ports of DS titles in the future and for the love of God port twilight princess already. People are foaming at the mouth at the mere thought of an updated release on the switch