Pokemon Brilliant DiamondandPokemon Shining Pearlhave been out in the wild for over a week now, and they have already made a pretty big splash with fans of the franchise. The games have proven to be a pretty faithful reproduction ofPokemon’s fourth generation, with many new additions that are reflective of how the franchise has evolved sinceDiamondandPearlfirst released. For many of those that spent years begging for a remake of the Sinnoh region,Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearlseem to have delivered thus far.
DespitePokemon Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearl’s early success, however, there is also a sense that something is missing from the game. While additions likeRamanas Parkand outfit customizations have added some flavor to the remakes, there are features fromPokemon Platinumand more recentPokemonentries that are oddly absent. If Nintendo and The Pokemon Company want to extend the games beyond what pastPokemonremakes have done, it could consider a DLC model similar toPokemon SwordandShieldto makeBrilliant DiamondandShiningPearlinto the ultimate Gen 4 experience.
RELATED:Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl Highlight an Issue With Reviving Older DS Titles
Expanding Brilliant Diamond And Shining Pearl’s Ramanas Park
One of the first things thatPokemon SwordandShielddid with its DLC was make almost every Legendary inPokemon’s history available for players to catch. This proved to be an excellent move for the remake, chiefly because the lack of classic Legendaries inSwordandShieldwas one of the biggest complaints around that game. WhileBrilliant DiamondandShining Pearloffer a fair amount of Legendariesin Ramanas Park, there are some unexplained omissions. With how much work already went into developing the area, expanding on it with even more DLC Legendaries could give a lot of players a reason to keep playing.
Bringing In Features From Pokemon Platinum
Leading up to the release ofPokemon Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearl, one of the biggest questions was how muchcontent fromPokemon Platinumwould be included. Now that the game is out, it turns out the answer was not all that much, as a few features fromPlatinumare missing from the current game. This is in stark contrast to previous remakes such asPokemon Omega RubyandAlpha Sapphire, which went so far as to include all new story content as a way of connecting toPokemon Emerald.
IfBrilliant DiamondandShining Pearldid get DLC support, it could bring in these missing features and turn the games into a more comprehensive celebration of Gen 4. Locations like the Distortion World could be added, which could be a great way to provide more background onGiratina, considering how important it is to Gen 4 as a whole. DLC could also add some ofPlatinum’s additional story content, or at least rework it to meld better withBrilliant DiamondandShining Pearl’s current vision.
Pokemon SwordandShield’s DLC showed thatPokemoncan take on a format that is more reflective of modern gaming trends. While it may seem worrying to seePokemontake on a development mechanic that can turn predatory,SwordandShieldused its DLC in a way that was mostly satisfying.Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearlmay be faithful to the source material, but both don’t have to be completely in the past. There’s no plans to bring DLC toBrilliant DiamondandShining Pearlright now, but it’s hard to deny just how much it could expand the Gen 4 remakes.
