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154 of 167 people found the following review helpful:
Diamonds Are Forever
After countless spin offs the real deal is here: Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. The Pokemon craze has been around for years. Ever since the Red and Blue versions hit way back, Pokemon has been huge. It's tried and true formula has worked for over ten years, and it's pretty apparent that the formula isn't going to die now. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are a lot like the...
Published on April 22, 2007 by S. Rhodes
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Not a Diamond in the Rough
Compared to the other Pokemon games in the series, I feel that Diamond and Pearl are relatively lack-luster.
This group in the series does introduce several new features to the Pokemon Universe (namely online battling and trading), and the storyline at least attempts to be epic. But the selection of Pokemon available to the trainer is relatively limited unless...
Published 4 months ago by K. DiMartino
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154 of 167 people found the following review helpful:
Diamonds Are Forever, April 22, 2007
Fun:
This review is from: Pokemon - Diamond Version (Video Game)
After countless spin offs the real deal is here: Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. The Pokemon craze has been around for years. Ever since the Red and Blue versions hit way back, Pokemon has been huge. It's tried and true formula has worked for over ten years, and it's pretty apparent that the formula isn't going to die now. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are a lot like the Pokemon games that preceded it, but they've really thrown in some good touches here. Still, most players who've been playing since the Gameboy days, or even as recent as the GBA days will still get a "been there, done that," feeling. Still, the game is good, addictive and it will keep you busy for hours on end.
As I said, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl have a "been there, done that" kind of feel. You begin as a rookie trainer in a village, and under some circumstances, you are asked by a professor to go and collect Pokemon data using a Pokedex. On your journey your goal is to collect as many Pokemon as you can and train them to take on other trainers, and to get all the badges from the games various gym leaders, while you've got a rival who is out doing to same thing to prove he's better than you. In addition, there's an evil organization called Team Galactic that has plans for a new world order and to do that they need all the Pokemon they can get. If all this sounds familiar, that's because it is! It's the exact same formula that worked for the original Pokemon games on the Gameboy, the games on the Gameboy Color and Gameboy Advance. The story, of course, is simple and charming, but where Pokemon has always managed to shine most is it's fantastic and addictive gameplay.
Pokemon is actually really strategic and in-depth. That is to say, it requires a lot of thought, and believe me, some of these battles (especially against the new Pokemon that are introduced in this version) require a lot of your skill. Battles are turn based, where you select a command and then watch a round of combat. There's a paper/rock/scissors effect here, however. Each and every Pokemon has a type, and some of the attacks they use reflect its type. This makes up what deals massive damage, what deals no damage and what deals just normal damage. Grass may be strong against water, for example but grass is also weak against fire, but in turn, fire is weak versus water. This effect plays through with seventeen and different types, and there is no best type because every type has a weakness. It's because of this element that Pokemon is so much fun to play. Just trying to construct the perfect team will take you more than a day, and with over 100 new creatures to collect, you can form endless amounts of teams. Just catching all the Pokemon alone will keep you busy for well over 50 hours. To add to the effect you'll face several other trainers as well, and you never know what they'll throw at you. Your strongest Pokemon may very well become your weakest in certain battles just because of its type.
The battle system itself is made even simplar by the touch screen. Where as before you were scrolling through menus, battling can simply be done by touching the different options on screen. It makes battling a lot faster, especially because the icons are pretty big. Luckily, there's never really a point where you have to use the touch screen if you don't want to, and battling can still be done the old fashioned way if you so choose.
As with Ruby and Sapphire there are also moments of two on two battles. Usually they come with either two trainers taking you on at a time, and you'll send out the two Pokemon in your top roster, or you'll be with another trainer who will send out his or her Pokemon with yours. It adds to the strategic feel of the game, but the moments of two on two battles are pretty few and far between.
In your journey you'll also receive a nifty watch that works based off the time of your internal clock. This means that much like Gold and Silver, it'll switch between day and night. Some Pokemon come out only in the early morning, others come out late at night. Some Pokemon only come out on certain days. Either way, those itching to catch each and every Pokemon will enjoy this aspect of it.
As I said before, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl have added some new things. The most important new thing however, is how much easier it is to trade Pokemon and battle with your friends. Using Wi-fi on the DS is far better than the various link cables or having to go out and buy the wireless adapter for the GBA. You can battle with people all across the world, and do other things as well, such as trade with them. Of course, in order to enjoy the full benefits of this you'll need the friend code to do it, and sometimes. In order to get the full experience of the online gaming world in Pokemon, you'll need to register friend codes. If you don't you can't enjoy some of the better perks, like being able to talk to a friend using the microphone of your DS as you battle. Still, the combat is enhanced greatly when playing online. If you don't want to play online you can easily connect to another DS and battle it out that way with your friend simply sitting in the room.
Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are also full of little secret goodies. There are the legendary Pokemon, Pokemon contests, and of course, even after you've finished the main story there's more to be done. You can transfer Pokemon from your GBA versions by sticking it into the GBA slot of the DS. No matter how you slice it, Pokemon can easily keep you busy longer than several RPGs combined
I wish I could say the graphics and sound are absolutely amazing, but they're really not. For as much fun as this game is, it's certainly not the best as far as graphics go. The same goes for the sound as well. Pokemon has never really been a game you go after for eye-candy, though. There are some moments where some 3D effects come out, but not very many. The sprites are more or less the same sprites they've been using since the Red and Blue versions. Ideally, the game doesn't look all that much of a step up from Ruby and Sapphire, and they were not fantastic looking games either. It's really colorful, but the DS is capable of so much more than this. Likewise, in battle is still as horrible as ever. Fun to do it, but the Pokemon still only flinch to attack, and there aren't a lot of animations going on, and we're still looking over the Pokemon's shoulder. Essentially, the combat engine hasn't changed since the series first outing in 1998. There are some move animations that look really good, but aside from that it's hard to look passed the simple fact that the game's combat engine hasn't really evolved since the original games came out way back in 1998. This isn't the original Gameboy, this is the Nintendo DS.
The sound is also no exception. A lot of it sounds really tinny. There are some tunes that definitely sound Pokemon like, but again, it's using old technology on a system capable of a lot more. Most of the sound effects such as the Pokemon's cries are ripped straight from--you guessed it--the original Gameboy versions released in 1998. That's not to say all the tunes sound bad, it's just to say that a lot of what you're going to hear is recycled.
Despite the games graphics and sound, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are still excellent games. There's a lot more depth here than people think, and a lot of stuff to keep you busy for a long time to come. Even those who are tired of the same simplistic plot and formula will find something great here.
Pros:
+Simple, yet addictive gameplay
+Deep, strategic combat system
+Touch screen controls make battling easier
+Wi-fi connection works well
+Over 100 new Pokemon join the roster
+Simple storyline that anyone can understand
+Being able to battle trainers all across the globe and being able to trade with them is fantastic
+Game can keep you busy for hours with all there is to do, easily over 80 hours worth of gameplay
Cons:
-You can still only save one file
-Graphics and sound are horribly outdated
-The formula works, but there are bound to be gamers out there who are sick of the same old storyline
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44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
"Diamonds are a Girl's best friend..." (by Laura), June 8, 2007
Fun:
This review is from: Pokemon - Diamond Version (Video Game)
Pokemon Diamond is a good step up from the other pokemon games. I have been a fan of pokemon since the old red, blue, and yellow versions for gameboy. This game makes them look like glitched up things of the past. Here's my opinionated scoop on the bad and the good of this game, in that order.
The Bad:
1. Same old thing. What I mean by this is, although the story has it's differences from other games, it's still basically the same idea. You get to pick your first pokemon from: Turtwig (a grass type), Chimchar (a fire type), and Piplup (a water type). Once you pick your first pokemon in a setup somewhat similar to the Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald versions, you are off on a journey to basically be both the ultimate trainer, and the contest master. You will meet a new, psychotic evil team, who has the wrong ideas about the pokemon world and such. There is also the same goal of beating the elite four, and the return of that tedious training you must do to get past the gym leaders. All I am saying, is this game will probably be a newer experience to those who are just getting to know pokemon.
2. It seems like the Pokemon company are starting to get low on ideas. First off, long time pokemon gamers may notice they haven't introduced as many new pokemon as they did in Gold, Silver, and Crystal. What's more, they even started intertwining old pokemon into the new games, just giving them different index numbers. Of course, it's hard not to include the old pokemon when many of the new ones are either pre-evolutionary forms, or even evolved forms of them. Cute and cool, but may not cut the mustard. Now don't get me wrong, there are some cool new pokemon (Piplup, for example, has become very popular among pokemon fans). All I am saying is, the game designers seem to be digging in the bottom of the barrel.
3. The secret base system just isn't as good. Now, I love the Underground! The prospect of digging for fossils, heart scales, and other rare items appeals to me; but who here has played the Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald versions? In those versions, you can have secret bases in trees, in rock walls, and even in bushes, in any desirable route. This game, not so much. You have to have to create your base somewhere in the Underground. Now, that may not be too bad for some, as you can create it wherever you want, provided you have the drilling tool. BUT WHY DO THE STUPID ROCKS HAVE TO BE THERE?! This is what really stinks; you can't move the rocks unless you capture someone elses flag. I think in order to do that, you have to have Wi-Fi connection, and infiltrate somebody else's base to get their flag. I have dial-up (because high speed can get expensive), and have heard Wi-Fi will not work with it, so I'm out of luck. I'm stuck with the dumb unmovable rocks (that are always in the way), in a base that looks like everyone elses (except maybe with different decorations), that lacks variety in landscaping.
4. The Poketch (Another awkward name, but it stands for pokemon watch) could use a bit more work. It's good if you only have a few things you can access from it. However, when you get more things, you basically have to start tapping the screen like crazy to get what you want. All I'm saying is a quick selection feature would have been nice.
5. Another annoying rival. Long time pokemon gamers will know the type. Pesky, bothering you at the wrong times, always beats you to the gymleaders even if it seems impossible that he did so, picks the starter that beats yours in type and boasts about it, and is supposedly a long time "friend" of yours. Yeah, very irritating.
6. Getting the national pokedex is a bit of a pain. Until you get it, you cannot rely on help from stronger pokemon in a couple of the older versions either.
The Good:
1. Waaay more life-like! This game is the most three dimensional of the pokemon hand-held games I have ever seen! This makes it more life-like in some areas, as it makes you feel you're actually on the ground rather than in a hot air ballon, or something in the air, looking down on everything.
2. Time is more realistic. This could also weave in with more life-like. Rather than change instantly from day to night or vice versa at six, like in Gold Silver, and Crystal, or not at all (like the other pokemon games), Pokemon Diamond actually has day phases. There is morning, afternoon, dusk, evening, and even late night! Gameplay is good no matter what time you play! The game also acknowledges days of the week (example: Drifloon comes to the windworks factory on Friday), though maybe that isn't used as much as it was in Gold, Silver, and Crystal. All the same, it is a better and well-developed system.
3. They brought back the night guards! It brings back fond memories of Gold, Silver, and Crystal, to have police men who will only fight you at night...
4. The gyms are better than ever! Maybe a tad harder than I like, but the traps and stuff don't have a deja vu feel to them. It's a totally new experience!
5. The Underground is awesome! I enjoy digging up rare items and spheres! The only thing I wish to warn is: don't dig to many spheres in the ground! The older spheres will start disappearing if you bury too many spheres.
6. The contests have come back with a vengance! Do you know those old contests in Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald? You feed your pokemon pokeblocks in hopes the audience will like how it looks, then you try to outshine the others with moves in a period of four turns on a single judge. Well, that kind of contest is now the thing of the past! First off, instead of pokeblocks, players must feed their pokemon a food called poffin. It's made of berrys still, but in a different way that uses the stylus. It's like you cook your pokemon's food now. Then there's the dancing, the accessory and poffin accented physical appeal, and rather than one, THREE judges you can appeal to! Contests are now more difficult, fun, and entertaining!
7. More trainer card features! You can actually sign your name in your own handwriting using the stylus on the back of your trainer's card! You can also shine your badges, which do get dull! I thought these were interesting and entertaining tidbits of the game.
8. The poketch is cool! Yes, I complained about it not having a quick select feature in the bad; but regardless, this thing is still very cool and useful in the game! Hidden item? Throw away the item finder and use your dowsing app! Forgot where you plant a berry? Find the locations of pickable berrys with the berry finding app (that may not be what it's really called). Chances are, if there's a feature you want your poketch to do, you will find it eventually.
9. The new pokemon are cool. There aren't really enough new ones, and the ideas seem to be a bit... lacking in a couple of areas; but still, the new abilities, moves, and pokemon make for new and exciting gameplay.
10. I believe there are a lot of legendaries. This means more rare pokemon for you (and a good deal of them are cute!)
11. This game is more "people friendly". Quite often, you will team up with a character in the game who will heal your pokemon after each battle, and offer his or her pokemon for assistance in double battling format. This is a great opportunity to learn to work with the pokemon that are not yours. The only drawback, is that you will meet two wild pokemon at once. If there is one you want, you can't catch it until you defeat the other pokemon. In addition, your "partner" will attack every turn not knowing to let up. On these facts, it is better to try and catch pokemon alone.
12. Animations are included, and there are many good details. This time there are differences between male and female pokemon other than the symbol. These differences are slight and difficult to tell, but it is good attention to detail. On top of that, pokemon animations are included (example: Starly flaps its wings when you see it). Another new good detail is being able to tell how much a pokemon weighs against yourself.
13. Taking care of berries is easier and more realistic! Don't recall when you last watered that berry in Ruby, Sapphire, or Emerald? Well, now you can tell! The soil actually changes to a light color when the berry plant hasn't been watered, so you know when to water it! The only challenge that remains is being able to water it several times a day...
So, that about raps it up. Overall, this is an awesome game beyond belief! If you want hours of entertainment, love pokemon, or even just enjoy playing videogames in general, then this is one of the best games you can buy out there.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
Awesome!, April 29, 2007
A Kid's Review
Fun:
This review is from: Pokemon - Diamond Version (Video Game)
Pokemon Diamond is the most exciting Pokemon game yet! There is SO MUCH TO DO. Seriously, there are almost two towns for every gym. That makes Sinnoh the biggest region in Pokemon history. Also, there are lots of great Pokekmon to choose from and a lot of cool legendaries.
While the graphics may not be as good as games like Nintendogs, I think the graphics are as good as they should be. Pokemon is a cartoon and I think the graphics are fine. But I do admit that Game Freak could have done a little more on the battle scenes. The battles look pretty much like Ruby and Sapphire. (Actually so does the game, but Ruby and Sapphire had pretty good grapis IMO) I think they could have made the Pokemon move more and that would have created a more "I'm there" feel.
But that is ot enough to make me lower my rating! This game is awesome! One great thing is that you can use the touvch screen to navigate through battles and party Pokemon and item bag (and trust me, the item bag has expanded, therefore making it even more time-consuming to navigate through). This is great for the Safari ame. I don't know about you, but in Pokemon Sapphire I kept accidemtally catching Oddish and that got annoying. It is harder to make that mistake in this game. And now they have day and night again! Yay!
The game is very easy for me, at least battle-wise, but that's because I've been playing Pokemon for like almost a decade. However, I have gotten stuck a couple of times. If that happens to you don't worry you can just buy a guide for Diamond or go on Google and type in "pokemon diamond pearl walkthrough". So, like in every Pokemon game, you are never completely trapped.
Although some of the new Pokemon are a disappointment (especially Bibarel it looks like a character out of a cheap kiddie show) in their character design, some look absolutely amazing. Lucario and Torterra are wicked and Pachirisu and Shellos are just too cute. You also have fairly early and easy access to a Pikachu. You can get one after you get four badges, I think. You can find them in the backyard of the Pokemon mansion. Uh wait I mean you can find PICHU there and they are SUPREMELY easy to catch. My personal favorite Pokemon (so far) in this game are Torterra, Lucario, Dialga (dragon/steel? It's about time!), Crusselia (looks wise), Midrevius (I know that's not the right name but it's the evolved form of Misdreavs and it's scary-looking but definitely an improvement. Stats are similar to Gengar's), and Floatzel (looks awesome). The only real qualm I have about the Pokemon is that there are like three fire-types to choose from: Chimchar (fire-starter), Ponyta (you can ctach one really early. They aren't half-bad when you teach one Fire Blast), and a fire/steel legendary (or fire/ground. I'm not sure. I do't think I'd use it, though). Some might just give up on Fire-types altogether, but fire is my favorite type so no way.
Team gallactic is all right. They are weird. They are more evil than Team Rocket. They mostly use bug-types and he new normal cat Pokemon.
There's also a cool-sounding wireless feature but I don't have any personaly experience with it yet.
To sum up my review, I'll list the pros and cons:
*nice graphics
*HUGE area to explore
*lots of cool new Pokemon
*early access to a Pikachu
*touch screen makes game easy to scroll through
*cool wireless features
*easy to moderate gameplay
*just plain awesome game
Cons:
*battles aren't as good in graphics as they could be
*some new Pokemon look dumb
*not many fire-types
Overall, a great game. A+
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Pokemon Diamond Version, April 26, 2007
Fun:
This review is from: Pokemon - Diamond Version (Video Game)
Take note that this is the newest edition of Pokemon that was released on Sunday, April 22, 2007... I pre-ordered this on Wednesday, April 18, 2007, received my package with Pokemon Diamond in it yesterday (Wednesday, April 25, 2007), and...
I love this game thus far!!!!!!! The graphics are awesome, the day/night scene makes a gr8 comeback,you get something called a Poketch in the game that lets you keep track of the time, the pokemon in your party, it has a calculator,etc... I could go on and on about this game for hours lol. It's actually like Ruby Sapphire Emerald, and Pokemon Crystal rolled into one game!!!!! I love it!!!!!!!! I've only had this game a day and already my Prinplup is in the mid-20's as of what level it's on! Sometime this summer or maybe even around Christmas, I may go back and get Pokemon Pearl, or after I beat this game, I might start a new game all over again and check out what the other starters are like. I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend this game! I should warn you though, it took me three tries before I defeated the second gym leader... but I finally managed to beat her... otherwise I love this game... in fact I'm gonna go back and play it right now! OK, like I said in one other Pokemon game review, I am now an eighteen and a half year old Pokemon fan, about to turn 19 in June. I guess you could call me a kid at heart, even though there are such things as adult Pokemon trainers... I don't know if I'll ever grow out of this phase... who knows, when it comes to video games, maybe I won't... I'll probably be playing games like this one for a long time!!!!!!
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Perfecting the formula, April 30, 2007
Fun:
This review is from: Pokemon - Diamond Version (Video Game)
So far, the Pokemon franchise has been all about perfecting the same formula that was introduced in Red and Blue. This game is no exception. To keep it fresh, they add various gimmicks that in a sense give you a break in the "main" gameplay. "Gimmicks" would probably be a bad word to use, because in this generation of Pokemon, it's more like "gimmicks done right." The addition of the Global Trade Station, the expansion of multiplayer options (Battle Tower, Underground), transferring Pokemon from older Game Boy Advance versions blend in with the game very well and add enough spice to make this game feel fresh, despite the fact the game formula is 10 years old.
Note that this game targets returning fans of the series. Also, if you are not able to take advantage of most of these features, the game will most likely seem somewhat lacking. So you're going to need a wireless access point and some friends playing the game for the best experience. If you need friends, there is always online Pokemon communities. It's not my style, but it works with a lot of people.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Get this Game, April 23, 2007
Fun:
This review is from: Pokemon - Diamond Version (Video Game)
I own almost all generations of pokemon games; Red, Blue, Yellow, Silver, Crystal, Sapphire, and Fire Red.
I wasn't too interested in buying Diamond, becuase I figured it would be the same old gameplay. I also assumed it would be just like the lame Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald games. (Lame to me, at least, since I am a sucker for the old style ones.) When Ruby and Sapphire came out, I really hated the new pokemon and plot and thought they were literally slautering the game. I recently discovered Fire Red, which I liked at first because of its similarity to the originals. But after a while, I began to get bored of the same old plot in kanto over and over again, and got tired of Pokemon.
But then, after reading up many reviews on April 22nd, 2007, I decided to give Diamond a shot. I thought it would be cool to use the touch screen for more advanced play, and connect with players worldwide using Wi-Fi. So I went to the local Fry's store and bought it, because I was just to anxious to see if it would be worth it.
I got home and eagerly ripped the plastic off the game.
After I touched that power button, I couldn't put the game down.
I loved the refreshing graphics and new story lines. And, suprisingly, the new pokemon didn't bother me.
I am now enthralled with Diamond and absolutely LOVE it. It reminds me of the old days, when I got Red Version and anxiously awaited each and every town in Kanto.
I was also very happy to find that the game had not lessened or risen in level of difficulty; it was still the same great gameplay.
Good job, Nintendo, on yet another great Pokemon game!
And for all you people debating getting the game; just get it! You won't be let down.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Lots of fun, but lots of annoyance, April 1, 2008
Fun:
This review is from: Pokemon - Diamond Version (Video Game)
The Pokemon series has always appealed to the obsessive in me. Indeed, who can resist a good chase, or the opportunity to collect literally hundreds of Pokemon. Of course, the old games pretty much required that you have a friend to play alongside you, and as I got older, it became more difficult to find people willing to devote a similar amount of effort into the game.
Now, however, with the Nintendo Wi-Fi option, all of that is a thing of the past.Now, one can trade for Pokemon around the country, or even the world. Thus, after a 6-year layoff, I decided to pick up Pokemon Diamond (which gave me an excuse to finally get the DS, which incidentally is 1000x better than the PSP that merely takes up desk space in my room). And yeah, the obsessive reared its ugly head immediately, as I then bought Pokemon Fire Red, Pokemon Sapphire and Pokemon Ranger.
But ahem, back to the game at hand. Pokemon is excellent. Although formulaic, it's always been a fantastically deep RPG experience, even without the postgame collection madness. I won't detail the plot, as it has been beaten to death in these reviews. Instead, let's move immediately to the good and bad here.
GOOD:
- Great gameplay. Yeah, the engine is a bit tired, but it still chugs along. I particularly enjoy the fact that it is easier to catch weak Pokemon in the wild with a special Pokeball.
- Good graphics. Although not the best the DS has to offer, with all the other data stored in there, they aren't bad.
- Wi-fi is nice. I have yet to experience any problems with connections or whatnot. It is annoying that some people will cheat you online (with hacked Pokemon, e.g.), but what can you do?
- National Pokedex. Come one. When they say you can now collect 493(!) different Pokemon, how can you not resist?
BAD:
- legendary pokemon. There's not much "legendary" about them anymore. I mean, there are around 13 new "legendaries" introduced in this very game. Moreover, many cannot be obtained except via Nintendo "events," most of which have yet to grace our fair shores (yeah, I know there was a Manaphy event - of course, you can get that Pokemon in other ways). This has always been an annoyance of mine, but it's particularly bad now. There are three Pokemon that simply aren't (legitimately) available at the moment, and another three which require the purchase of other games. The REAL annoyance is that there is no reason for this whatsoever - with a Wi-fi option, Nintendo could make their events available to the public at large. But whatever - Nintendo has always been annoying this way, and it won't change any time soon.
- Underground. Do I really have to mine the walls for hours to find certain fossils? Does my base really have a bunch of rocks in it that can only be moved if I find another person's base? Does anyone really have time for this? A complete dud.
- Pal-Park. Later in the game, one gets the opportunity to migrate Pokemon from older games to their pal-park. This was a great idea. Why, then, do I have to be bothered by its mechanics? Only six Pokemon can be migrated each day, and then I have to go through a "minigame" to catch them. Just let me upload them to the PC, for crying out loud!
The last two BAD remarks are somewhat nitpicky, but the first is getting outrageous. When it was only one Pokemon, it was reasonable. But Nintendo has turned their clever little satire about obsessives into a mass-marketing campaign...geared ONLY for fanboys. I'm pretty sure that we NEVER got the chance to get Mew in the GBA games, and that's annoying. Hopefully, Nintendo will use their Wi-fi to make events more public, I ain't holding my breath.
And thus, I knock the game one star.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Not a kid, just don't have my own Amazon account., April 25, 2007
A Kid's Review
Fun:
This review is from: Pokemon - Diamond Version (Video Game)
You've played one Pokemon game, you've played them all, right? Wrong.
When I first got Diamond, I thought it'd pretty much be Sapphire with different pokemon and better graphics. Well, in a way it is and it isn't. I've found this game more challenging than Sapphire (thought it's not really hard or anything) and what is turning out to be longer. I put 60 hours into Sapphire, and it seems on Diamond if I had to guess, I'd say I'll probably put somewhere between 150-250 hours on it.
One nice little thing they've done, is you do have some of the old HM moves, but some were taken out and others added. The gyms are a little more thought out too, you still have to get through a puzzle, which they aren't hard, but are harder than they were before.
Now one thing I was happy about, is this game doesn't over use the touch screen, you can use it during battles, but I find it easier to just use regular controls.
Now, onto one of the best features of this game, transfering pokemon via Pal Park from FireRed/LeafGreen/Sapphire/Ruby/Emerald. Now, you have to complete your Sinnoh PokeDex before this, however I have some goods news, you don't have to CATCH them all, just see them all. And if you're worried about seeing the other legendary, there's a woman who shows you a picture of it which adds to your pokedex. And of course you have to beat the elite four, but you have to do that anyways.
All in all, I'd say this is without a doubt the best pokemon game ever.
I highly recommend it, even if you don't like the show (since I hate the show, but I LOVE this game.)
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Pokemon Diamond- A Dream Come True, May 18, 2007
Fun:
This review is from: Pokemon - Diamond Version (Video Game)
In the world of Sinnoh, you are a boy or girl starting out in the Land of Sinnoh. As soon as you start the game, you and your friend decide to check out lake Verity for the shiny Gyrados sighting. As you go there, you see no Gyrados, but an old Man and his assistant Dawn or Lucas(depends on what gender you chose). As they leave, you realized they dropped a briefcase. As you guys are approaching it, you get attacked by a couple of Starly(Mukuru in japanese)and you open up the breifcase nd find...pokeballs. Within the pokeballs are the Fire Type Chimchar(Hikozaru), the Water Type Piplup(Pochama, Picked him in Diamond), and the Grass type Turtwig(Naeteru, Picked him in pearl). At this point is where your adventure starts. You have to take your newfound partner, catch other amigos and make a team to battle against other trainers.
Graphics-5/5 The graphics are definately an update from the old GBA games. Some places, and even a cutscene or two have 3D effects that were impossible to do on the GBA. THey could've probably been better, but I'm happy with it.
Sound-5/5 It has some of the old revamped sounds, along with a bunch of new songs. All of the songs are intereting to listen to, you might even end up liking a few.
Gameplay- There is many things to do in this game. You can battle, as usual, and you can also do contest again, a feature once introduced in Ruby and Sapphire, and again in Emerald. However, they added two other parts to the contests, a Visual contest and a Dance contest. You can dress up your Pokemon with clothes you obtain for your Fashion case, while the Dancing game is a rhythm game. You can also go into the underground to play games with friends or get fossils spheres and stones. Online you can battle with friends, or trade with them directly, judging on if you have their friend codes or vise versa. However, there is a way to trade online without those darn codes. The GTS is a server based system in which you can trade with peopleall over the world, and it is also one of my favorite features.
Overall, there is a lot to do in this game and Pearl. IF you are a pokemon fan, you're probably going to get this game anyways. But if you are looking for a great RPG, a PokeNOOb, or a casual gamer, you should still try this game out. Overall, I give this game a 5 out of 5(lol, it sounds like Xplay)
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
I've owned all the pokemon games and this is the best ever!!!, May 16, 2007
A Kid's Review
Fun:
This review is from: Pokemon - Diamond Version (Video Game)
Ever since pokemon red I have played these games and this one is the best. Pokemon diamond has pretty good 3D graphics but they aren't as good as the ones in vale of darkness for the gamecube. If your looking for a game that you can play for almost a year than buy this. You can't get sick of it. This is a great game for all ages and I think that you should get it.
The good:
The Wi-Fi connection lets you trade and battle people from the other side of the world.
Hundreds of knew pokemon make this game intresting even if you have already played the gameboy versions.
The story line is brand knew and will take up a lot of time.
Night and day in the game are according to the real time and enable you to catch different pokemon and do different things at different times of day.
There are knew moves (There are two knew HM's), knew pokemon, knew places, and knew functions.
I have played for hours and I haven't found any gliches.
You can have secret bases with cool stuff like TV's, fridges, and furniture.
If you do certain things you can move all the rocks out of your base and get a nice clean floor to work with that has no obstacles.
You get something that tells you how your pokemon with the breeder are doing and if there are any ripe berrys around.
Knew form of pokeblocks called poffin are more fun to make.
You can put one of your pokemon on offer and someone can do the trade even when the DS is off.
The bad:
You can only trade for things on the Wi-Fi that you have at least seen on your pokedex.
You have to buy certain GBA games to be able to catch certain pokemon.
This game is incredibly good and I suggest that anyone who is at least interested in a non-violent game to buy it. Plus, some people on the Wi-Fi are stupid and will give you great deals in trades. BUY THIS!!!!!!!!!!!
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