Easily one of the greatest titles on the DS...Between exploring the massive towns, wandering through the multi-tiered wastelands, and challenging legions of trainers, you’ll enjoy a lengthy adventure that no other DS game can boast.
Armed with a host of new Pokemon, an expansive new world, and the functionality of the DS, Diamond and Pearl constitute the ultimate Pokemon experience. [June 2007, p.102]
In the end, it's more of the same with some added critters. If you're hankerin' for a batch of Pokemon on the DS, pick it up. If you haven't beaten the other versions, though, you may want to go the cheaper route.
The additions and alterations aren't game changing, and Diamond and Pearl do what the Pokémon franchise has always done best--deliver an accessible and highly addictive role-playing game experience.
The fact that it's far from a perfect game and not much of a step forward doesn't make it any less of a must-buy. The core single-player adventure is guaranteed to occupy you for more than thirty hours, and the promise of extensive global trading and (surprisingly deep) Wi-Fi battling awaits those who complete the main storyline. Get this game.
Just back-to-basics, old school pocket monster capturing and training. The bad news, however, is this: these two new games are exactly what you would expect in a new Pokemon RPG. So no, you’re not having a drug-induced flashback to the crazy times you had playing "Pokemon Ruby and Emerald." It’s, well, pretty much the same game.
While the fourth generation of Pokémon mainline games is what I like to call the “Golden Age of Pokémon”, this entry is, in retrospect, quite underwhelming. The region itself is wonderful, Sinnoh is perhaps the best of the regions and the lore and world-building to go alongside that region is expertly crafted. Even features like the quality of life improvements in battle, an example being the physical-special split, are highly innovative. This goes to show this game, with its many flaws, still has many things going for it. Despite this, the unusually slow pace of the experience, and, its later overshadowing by its successor game, Platinum, leave it relying heavily on nostalgia. Truly a classic compared to the modern era, but compared to other heavy hitters in the series, leaves much to be desired.
Platinum may be an overall better version of this game. But it is still worth playing for the version exclusives Pokemon and cutscenes. If you wanted to have a fresh Sinnoh adventure, but are sick of replaying Platinum and Legends Arceus, this game is still fairly enjoyable.
43/100
Pokémon Diamond is the start of a new journey, where the playful energetic tunes of Hoenn give way to gentler, soothing melodies of Sinnoh, soaking the experience in a serene, almost contemplative mood. Sinnoh is a place brimming with ancient history, alluring folklore and memorable sites, all blending together to form one of the most thematically rich and iconic settings in the series. Sadly not even half of the ideas it introduces are explored to their full potential, as the story disappointingly turns out to be a sighltly altered retread of the Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald story, but with mostly less charismatic characters. The core Pokémon gameplay didnt age well since its repetitiveness and simplicity appears quite dull in today's gaming landscape, and the speed of battles has been significantly slowed down making them extremely tedious at times. Even so, the often labyrinthine rich Level Design makes for an interesting exploration experience and the rewarding challenge when fighting the strongest trainers pushes the player to put real effort into their strategies, while Super Contests and the Undergound Tunnels offer some decently fun, entertaining gameplay variety. Annoyingly enough though, Team-building options are partially heavily restricted due to the embarassingly low amount of Fire-Type Pokémon available in the region.
SummaryPokemon Diamond and Pearl are traditional Pokemon RPGs that takes place in a region called Sinnoh. When you set off on your travels, you'll be able to play as either a boy or girl Trainer. Pokemon fans have caught glimpses of Lucario, Munchlax and Weavile in Pokemon movies, and these Pokemon will are debuting in this adventure. Diamond a...