25 years ago, we painstakingly chose our first starter Pokémon to leave Pallet town and embark on a quest to become the best there ever was. Only to find Blue beat us to it. Over and over. 25 years later, we still love-hate Blue, Ash is still 10, and we’ve travelled beyond the Kanto region and its original 151 to 8 Generations worth of Pokémon adventures with a Pokédex of 893: Professor Oak never said catching them all was going to be easy, after all. Opening with five minutes of nostalgia overload, showcasing the history of Pokémon from its inception to its most current evolution, Pokémon Presents celebrated 25 years of battling and collecting, reminding us how it has become the highest-grossing media franchise of all time, with more forms of merchandise than there are Pokédex entries…
With updates for New Pokémon Snap, as well as two new – or rather one new and one not-so-new – adventures to look forward to, whether you’re a battle-hardened Ace Trainer or an enthusiastic Trainer Joey holding on to that top tier level 4 Rattata, Pokémon has captured the imagination of so many Pokéfans the world over thanks to its various anime incarnations, new game entries, and iconic electric mascot. Now we turn back to 2007s Gen 4 entries, so if you’re a Sinnoh stan and been waiting all this time to see a return to Sinnoh with improvements, late 2021 and early 2022 are going to be worth waiting for!
Pokémon Diamond & Pearl remakes confirmed: Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl
In the wake of Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, 3DS remakes of the Generation 3 games, Pokémon fans have been clamouring for remakes of 2007s Generation 4 Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, originally released for Nintendo DS. Set in the mountainous Sinnoh region, based on Hokkaidō, Diamond & Pearl followed the traditional story of yet another new young trainer recklessly allowed to travel the region unsupervised to train to become the new region Champion, while dealing with the criminal organisation, Team Galactic, who planned to use legendary Pokémon to destroy the universe and create a new one. Certainly a tad more dramatic than Team Rocket’s plot to steal Pokémon for money…
Releasing as the very originally named Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl – seriously, no other name options? Then again, “New” Pokémon Snap – these remakes seem to be more or less direct translations of the original titles, recreating the sprite work in 3D: in this sense it’s more of a remaster than a remake. Some have already drawn comparisons to the likes of the Links Awakening Switch remake, though admittedly that game had a more expressive quality about it. Initially to me, the chibi style looked a little awkward from the trailer, like it was designed as a mobile game rather than a Switch title, but it is certainly faithful. Personally, for a modernised take on the classic style, Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu & Eevee managed to retain its classic style while implementing 3D environments that gave it a unique, modern appeal, where the character art even recalled the Pokémon Adventures manga. From the footage shown, it also looks like a return to random encounters, which will likely be disappointing to some seeing how Let’s Go Pikachu & Eevee and Sword & Shield featured overworld encounters.
Hopefully when these remakes release, they’ll add some new content to the Sinnoh region – as they have with previous remakes. Pokémon Fire Red & Leaf Green for instance added the Sevii Islands to the Kanto region, offering more post-game content that made returning to Generation 1 more worthwhile, and it has to be said Diamond & Pearl also suffered from some poor pacing issues, which might hopefully be addressed. Personally, I just hope they come up with new names. Adamant Diamond & Lustrous Pearl maybe, after the Adamant and Lustrous orbs from the game? Heck, make a Jojo reference and call them Crazy Diamond & Pearl Jam!
Pokémon Legends Arceus may well be the open world, Breath of the Wild x Pokémon game we’ve always wanted
If there’s one thing we’ve always wanted from Pokémon, aside from them existing in real life of course, it’s for the series to take after its titular monsters and evolve. One of the many criticisms the series has received over the years has been how formulaic aspects of each games have been with each iteration: similar structured story progression with the gym battles and a big bad team threatening the region, and a plot to abuse a Legendary Pokémon for sinister purposes. Though realistically, a Pokémon game’s longevity comes from its post-game and competitive mode, while new region and creature designs are used to make each title unique.
So how about Breath of the Wild x Pokémon? A massive open world adventure in a land teeming with all kinds of Pokémon out in the wild – just like the anime, but with a less frustrating protagonist? Sounds too good to be true. Which is why Pokémon Legends Arceus stole the Pokémon Presents show, showing pretty much just that!
Like Diamond & Pearl, it will be set in the Sinnoh region, but in the past where the story so far as we can tell will focus more on collecting Pokémon for the regions first Pokédex, rather than battling and training to become the region Champion, likely diving more into the mythical elements of the region. This is the evolution the series needed to progress its unique concepts and ideas – yet from what we saw, it still looks like it’ll retain the core Pokémon battle mechanics we enjoy. Hopefully, it’ll have an engaging story to tell and more interesting gameplay mechanics than simply walking up to a Garchomp and tossing a ball, as shown in the trailer. Stylistically, it looks like a much more elaborate Sword & Shield. Sword & Shield were sadly disappointing to say the least, with bland environments and poor-quality textures, with a monotonous story and characters. Although what we saw of Legends Arceus was clearly an early build, it promises a lot that hopefully builds on what Sword & Shield perhaps wanted to be – especially with the Wild Area – and hopefully it’ll live up to our admittedly lofty expectations!
Curiously, in Diamond & Pearl the Sinnoh starters were Chimchar, Turtwig and Piplup, whereas this time round we’ll be choosing from Cyndaquil, Rowlet and Oshawott: so Cyndaquil it is, then! And believe it or not, the Pokémon look like they actually move to attack each other, rather than remain static and animate with awkward shakes…! Evolution is a beautiful thing. Unless your Mime Jr. evolves into a Mr. Mime. In that case it’s scary and should be forced to hold an Everstone…
