"Finally, a step in the right direction for the Pokemon franchise"

Game Freak and myself have undergone a rather interesting love/hate relationship over the years. I still remember back to many years ago, when one of my many cousins, while visiting our grandmother at Christmastime, would bring along a few different Pokemon games. I didn't think much of them at first, but a few years went by -- each year I played Pokemon once a year. And finally, I got it. I started really having fun with these games. So, naturally, I promptly rushed out to my nearest Target (or rather, bugged my mom for a week until she took me) and picked up a copy of Pokemon Gold. I was hooked.

Years went by. I went all retro and in the interim picked up Pokemon Red (Gasp! Downgrading!). While not as good as Gold, I still played it and enjoyed it. Finally, the much-anticipated (by myself, anyway) Pokemon Ruby was released. I bought it, I played it, and sadly, I was let down. What happened? Was it because I was older? What happened to all that Pokemon-ness that was so very present in Gold? Shot, I suppose…but regardless of how the charm of the first two games met its untimely end, I had lost faith in Game Freak. They went from being my favorite developers in the whole freaking world to something of a betrayer figure.

FireRed was there shortly afterward, and I had fun with it -- as much as one can have fun with a remake of a game one already has. And I slogged through a couple stupid Pokemon spin-offs, clearly there to milk money out of people like myself: Pokemon Pinball, Ranger, and Mystery Dungeon were all such disappointments (luckily, even I could tell that there was no way in hell Pokemon Dash could be any good). And at last came Diamond and Pearl for the Nintendo DS.

I'll confess: even with the disappointments that Game Freak had shoved down my throat, I met the release with a feeling of anticipation. Here was a chance to turn things around, to really imbue the Pokemon franchise with some life and innovation. I even bothered to scrounge up the cash and pick up a copy of Diamond on it's Sunday launch date. And now, more than six months later, I feel about ready to write a review.

First, let me begin simply and clearly: Pokemon Diamond is a good game. It's by no means the perfect title that many people out there would have you believe -- but neither is it a failure as Poke-haters insist. Honestly, if you've played any other Pokemon game before, you've already got down 90% of this title. There are no huge additions to the game play mechanic, nothing that's all that mind-blowing. Instead, it follows the traditional Pokemon formula that we've seen done and re-done countless times.

So, it's boring, right? The same old monotonous game play that we've suffered through the past several years? Well, actually, no. While the game play mechanic is basically the same as that of past games in the series, Diamond somehow manages to grasp a little bit of that charm that made the first Pokemon games so much fun. So there! -- proof that it's not me growing up, but the series sucking lately that's my cause for disliking recent Pokemon games.

But before we go on, I'd like to bring up a point that (I hope) will make you ease up a bit on Pokemon games -- I know I certainly took this thought into consideration before reviewing this game. Essentially, Game Freak has two options to take when creating a new Pokemon game, correct? They can either essentially remake past Pokemon games, set in a new world and with “new” Pokemon, or they can try something radically different and hope that it's well-received by fans and critics. Well, as we've already seen, both situations have failed, to an extent, in the past. Games like FireRed and Ruby lacked the spark that made the original games such fun; newer games that deviated from the predetermined Pokemon Path were generally frowned upon (think back, for example, to Pokemon Battle Revolution -- a piece of crap, in case you hadn't already heard). So, really, Game Freak is in a bit of a rut with the Pokemon series -- it seems that either way, it's tough for them to create a good game. Yet, somehow, Game Freak managed to pull of a game that, while not perfect, is a solid title and significantly better than other Pokemon of recent release.

First off is the story. While in net value, it seems to end up on top of the plots of past Pokemon games, I'd still say it's one of the more painful aspects of Diamond. Why, you ask, if it's better than that of other games? Well, you may be surprised to hear me say this of any Pokemon game, but Diamond's story actually shows surprising potential. There are a number of times in the game (okay, only a couple) where it really starts to pick up -- hell, I might even say I was excited about the plot. And then, sadly, Game Freak just seemed to drop the ball. It's like they took care of this game in little spurts; sometimes they cared about developing the plot, and sometimes they didn't.

At first glance, Diamond's story is pretty much a carbon copy of the stories of every other Pokemon game ever created. You begin the game by picking out a name and gender from yourself, buried under a dumb, contrived conversation by a professor who claims to know you yet doesn't even know your name or freaking gender. Still, it's a tradition, I suppose, so it's got to be kept up. From there, you'll begin your horribly cliched adventure as a young boy (or girl) setting out to fulfill his (or her) supposedly lifelong dream to become a Pokemon master (after picking out your starting Pokemon, of course! -- but more on that momentarily). Shortly into your adventure you get a call back from that shifty professor and he presents you with a Pokedex, a device that tracks every single Pokemon that you ever come across or possess. He asks you to fill it up for him, for one such reason or another, and you've got no choice but to oblige.

And, of course, a Pokemon game would never be complete without the crazy, maniacal yet illogical randomly-named “Team Blank” trying to take over the world. This time it's Team Galaxy's turn to step up to the plate and give world domination a shot. As always, it's your duty to put a stop to their evil deeds. But as an astute player of Pokemon games may have noticed over the past several years, Game Freak seems to be getting better and better at developing their bad guys. This is no Team Rocket, with stupid, selfish motivations that aren't even clearly explained within the game. Instead, there's a real story behind Team Galaxy, and then certainly helps the game out. It's always nice for a game to have a great story -- because if the game play starts to slow down, you've got the plot motivating people to continue playing. While not great by any stretch of the imagination, Diamond's story certainly has some bright spots. Let's just hope this indicates a trend with plots in these games.

Graphically, Diamond is also a huge step up from past Pokemon games. The visuals are really nice-looking -- they adeptly combine the feel from the old 2D games with plenty of 3D effects. The result? A similarly colorful, cheerful, and vibrant world, but one that feels more real. Additionally, animations have been included which, though small, are nice little touches (an example: seeing your character toss out a PokeBall at the beginning of a battle). The Pokemon themselves also look great, which is nice. All things considered, I'm actually quite satisfied with the visuals in Diamond, and I certainly hope that future Pokemon games will continue to take advantage of the graphical capabilities of whichever system they are on.

In terms of sound, Diamond is similarly a step up from its recent predecessors. The Pokemon music has always been catchy, but oftentimes the quality seems to have been absolutely shot -- what is that crap coming out of the speakers?! Diamond, however, has well-rectified any audio problems with past games, and the game's music retains that catchiness characteristic of past games but at the same time doesn't play the same tune over and over again until it dies. In such a lighthearted game as Pokemon Diamond, the music is honestly pretty irrelevant to the overall quality of your gaming experience; however, it certainly is nice to have an excuse to play with the sound on.

Now, to the meat of the game: the game play mechanic. Diamond earns some points for doing a fairly good job of hitting that fine line between new and untested/unwanted game play mechanic and same old game that we've played for years and are now tired of. Of course, the real fun to be had in this game is in building up a team of six Pokemon, then facing them off against wild Pokemon, other trainers, gym leaders, and eventually the Elite Four and the Pokemon Champion -- the best trainers to be had. But first, you've got to pick out a starter. Pokemon games seem to be generally characterized by the starting pocket monsters that they offer (I say “Charizard” and you think “Red Version”), and the lineup isn't too shoddy this time around. As always, there are three types to choose from: Water, Fire, and Grass. Sadly, one of them (the Fire starter) is noticeably overpowered, which takes a lot of the fun (and replay value) from the whole starter system.

Seeing as I've mentioned it, now's a good a time as any to discuss Pokemon types. Every single Pokemon in the entire game can be classified by type -- some Pokemon even have multiple types. What are types, you ask? They are usually easily determined just by observing the Pokemon, and range from Fire to Ice to Bug to Ghost and many others. The strategy invoked by this type system? Well, each type has strengths, weaknesses, and resistances. For example, Water type Pokemon are particularly strong against Fire and Rock types, but are easily taken down by Grass and Electric Pokemon. Flying types can easily KO grass or bug types and they're immune to Ground attacks, but they're very vulnerable to Electric and Rock Pokemon. So, the obvious strategy here is to essentially cover your ass. You want to use Pokemon that have good strengths, of course. But what about they're weaknesses? Well, then you want another Pokemon that's strong against your first Pokemon's weaknesses. You'll continue on like this, trying to build up a good team that can easily take care of any situation.

Building your team is a goal that will extend throughout the length of the entire game, but it's not your only focus. Of course, your end goal is to ultimately defeat the Elite Four and become the Pokemon Champion, but this doesn't even really come into question until quite far into the game. One of the lasting goals of this game is also to fill up the Pokedex that the good Professor Birch gave to you at the beginning of the game. It keeps track of the Pokemon that you've come across in battle, as well as those that you have actually caught. Filling up the Pokedex is quite a lengthy undertaking, as there are more than Pokemon this time around. Back to the Elite Four, however: naturally, you can't go right ahead and face off against them for a number of reasons. The primary one, of course, that you're pathetically weak, and they won't fight you unless you've obtained all 8 Pokemon Gym Badges.

A number of the different towns throughout the world of Sinnoh house Pokemon Gyms, the training ground of different trainers. Each Gym is headed by an aptly named Gym Leader, who is the most difficult “trainer” there. Every Gym focuses on a specific type of Pokemon; some are like a fighting Dojo and focus on Fighting types, while others feature different, unique specialties. In addition to the mere trainers themselves, many gyms possess puzzles that must be completed in order to advance to the Gym Leader and obtain that Gym's Badge. Of course, the fact that each gym has one dominant Pokemon type will make every trainer there easy prey to a player who's figured out type advantages. For example, take a Water Pokemon into a Rock Gm, and you've pretty much assured yourself an easy victory -- but just don't let one Pokemon get overpowered!

Each Badge isn't just for show and admittance to the Elite Four, however; they also offer you a number of abilities that are quite helpful (and many of which are necessary) throughout the game. Many Gym Badges allow you to use a HM (more on that in just a second…), which are necessary to progress through the game. Also, many badges will allow you to control Pokemon up to a certain level, ensuring that they do your bidding. For example, if you've got a badge that ensures that “Pokemon level 30 and below will obey you” then Pokemon you receive in a trade (more on that towards the end of the review) up to level 30 will obey your commands. If they're above your level of command, however, they might choose to ignore you in battle, which is always problematic.

There are a number of different attack items scattered throughout the world, called HMs (Hidden Machines) and TMs (Technical Machines). The difference? You're going to want to be more careful with whom you give TMs to, as they can only be used once. On the other hand, an HM never expires -- it can be used over and over again, as long as a Pokemon is compatible with it. TMs are useful for attacks in battle, but many can be replaced by powerful attacks that your Pokemon will learn on its own eventually. However, HMs are absolutely indispensable -- these are moves that can be used not only in battle, but also in the field to solve puzzles that must be completed in order to progress.

Pokemon Diamond is essentially an RPG, but it's a very interesting one in that at first glance, it's far simpler and shallow than other RPGs. Yes, you gain experience and use items, but there may not seem to be much customization to it. However, as you delve more and more into the game, you'll realize that that is definitely not the case. Of course, there's the concept of building a party, which has already been discussed. But in addition to that, there's the strategy of building up each Pokemon's moveset. Each Pokemon can only have four moves at any one time, and each move itself is categorized by type. So, the strategy is to build up a diverse moveset so that even if a Pokemon is at a disadvantage, it may still have some moves that can help get it out of a jam. Another big RPG convention present in Diamond and all the Pokemon games is the evolution system. Once a Pokemon reaches a certain level (it's unique for each Pokemon) they will evolve -- they'll change form and gain an increase in stats. Some evolve twice, while some only evolve once and some not at all. It doesn't hugely affect the way that you play the game, but the evolution system is a fun addition to the game.

As you might have imagined already, there's plenty of replay value to be had in Pokemon Diamond. Sadly, the biggest reason for playing this game again is also one reason why you may be tempted to put it down after the last battle (confusing, isn't it?). The fact that there are hundred of Pokemon will ensure that you'll need to spend many, many hours if you intend to catch every single one of them. Plus, many of them cannot be caught in the wild, so they must be evolved from Pokemon that you have already caught. However, the very fact that it will take so long to complete this goal (by the way, you can still get the credits to roll without catching every Pokemon -- the developers realize that it's a very lofty goal) will ensure that all but the most die-hard Pokemon fans will not stick around with this game long enough for that to occur.

Another slight disappointment is that, as already mentioned, one starter is clearly better than the others. This is a pity, because I got a lot of time out of the old Pokemon games playing through the entire game with each starter and seeing how it affected the way that I played. It ensured a different play style, Pokemon lineup, and battle strategy, but since one starter is significantly better than the other two, you kind of get a “Why should I even bother” mentality. It's a shame, because this could have extended the life of the game even longer -- sadly, though, for whatever reason, the system kind of flopped.

Even without catching every Pokemon, though, there's still plenty of play value with Diamond, making it well worth the thirty dollars you will spend on it. Even for somebody just playing for fun, it's very feasible for that person to spend at least fifty hours with the game. The story mode is long and involved (far more so than in past games) and the mere distance between each gym and plot point really increases the time you play the game. It doesn't feel dragged out, however -- the game is well-paced and generally quite fun to play without getting bored or feeling that the game is just groping.

If you are intent upon catching every single Pokemon, you won't have to go at it alone, thanks to the excellent trading system in Diamond. In fact, even if you're just having fun with this title and playing through all the plot points, you'll likely want to take advantage of Pokemon trading. Just wirelessly link up with a friend (or stranger…) with the game an you can swap Pokemon to your heart's content. And of course, there's wireless battling, which is actually quite fun. You get to pit your team of Pokemon against that of a friend's, and there are plenty of rules you can customize for each battle to keep them fresh and exciting. For example, you can play a classic battle, or you can opt to have two Pokemon from your party on the battleground at a time -- a decision that requires even more strategy: whom are you going to pair up with whom to ensure an unstoppable duo?

In case you're one of those people who don't have friends (let's just say your “friends” don't have a DS or Pokemon Diamond), as long as you've got a wireless router or one of those nifty little WiFi USB connectors, you're covered. Diamond has got an awesome online trading and battling system that you're definitely going to want to get into. You can post a Pokemon on the Trading Center and let any potential traders know what you want in return -- come back in a few days, and you'll probably have the Pokemon that you want! Conversely, you can peruse through the posted Pokemon to find ones that you want, and then give the other guy the Pokemon he requests. It's a lot of fun and actually makes catching the ridiculous number of Pokemon a bit more feasible. There's also online battling, which is a lot of fun. Sadly, though, you've got to get those blasted Friend Codes in order to battle online (although trading is done randomly). Still, there's an excellent voice chat feature for online battling, which is nice and helps to negate the stupid Friend Code requirement.

All in all, Pokemon Diamond is a very solid package. The stupid, stale, and uncreative games of yore are being improved upon, and that alone is enough to restore my faith in the Pokemon franchise. While there are some problems with Diamond, you'll likely be able to overlook most, if not all of them, and see Diamond for what it was meant to be: a fun, exciting, and accessible RPG that begins to draw upon the many things that made Pokemon so great to begin with. Chances are you've already picked up this game (or it's sister title, Pearl), but if you haven't, I'd strongly urge you to pick up a copy when you can. Again, while slightly flawed, it's a really great DS gaming experience that nobody should ignore.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/16/08

Game Release: Pokemon Diamond (US, 04/22/07)