Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl: release date, trailer, art style, and more

Here's everything you need to know about Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

A Garchomp prepares to fight Lucario in a cave

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl – remakes of, you guessed it, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl – are the next Pokémon games coming to Nintendo Switch. The original games ushered in the Nintendo DS era of Pokémon, and were the starting adventures for a whole generation of fans.

Known as the fourth generation of Pokémon, Diamond and Pearl took us to the Sinnoh region and introduced many hugely popular Pokémon such as Lucario, Garchomp, Luxray, and Bidoof. The games also introduced two new Eevee evolutions, Glaceon and Leafeon, which have remained fan favourites ever since. Of course the games also feature iconic starters, new evolutions for older Pokémon, and more legendary and mythical Pokémon than you can shake a stick at.

However, it’s not just about the monsters. The Pokémon Diamond and Pearl remakes are bringing a new art style to the story of Sinnoh, and players will have to wait and see whether that’s the only change to the iconic DS games. If you want to know more about the Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl release date, art style, or anything else, then you’re in the right place.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl remakes:

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl release date

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl release on November 19, 2021, on Nintendo Switch.

This means you have a little while to play the Gen 4 remakes before the Pokémon Legends: Arceus’ release date in 2022.

A view of a character running through snow, leaving footprints behind them, as seen from above

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl pre-order

You can pre-order Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl now from the Nintendo website.

Nearer the release, the Gen 4 remakes might receive special editions and some stores may offer pre-order bonuses, so keep your eyes peeled for the best deal.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl trailer

You can watch the Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl trailer here:

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This gives us a glimpse at what we can expect from the remakes, an adorable look back to Pokémon’s past, and a look at the new games’ unique art style.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl art style

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have a cute, chibi art style, which has proved divisive in the Pokémon community.

However, battles and Pokémon sprites have a more traditional 3D style than the characters and overworld. While some may lament the removal of classic 2D sprites from the Diamond and Pearl remakes, Pokémon is bringing the iconic games to a new generation, a new console, and the present day, so it would be remiss not to update the visuals.

A female Pokémon trainer in a chibi art style watching television

Will Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl be faithful to the original?

The Pokémon Company says that the Diamond and Pearl remakes have “faithfully reproduced” the original games, so don’t expect too many surprises among the familiar places and scenes. However, we’re hoping that Cynthia is at least given a little boost, seeing as her once formidable Dragon-type team from the original games is now glaringly weak to Fairy-types.

Whether entirely faithful or not, we’ll be keeping this guide up to date with the latest news, freshest trailers, and most exciting tidbits we can find about the Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl remakes, so keep checking back if you want to stay in the loop.