Pokemon players question Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl after viral fan trailer
Twitter: @millenniumloops / The Pokemon CompanyFollowing the release of a fan’s now-viral Sinnoh remake trailer, some players are questioning whether Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl could have been made differently – the graphics especially.
Despite the community begging to revisit Gen IV for years, reactions were mixed when The Pokemon Company officially announced Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl in February. The title’s surprising chibi art-style left some players divided.
An artist went viral on March 9 when they completely remade the remakes’ debut trailer with graphics closer to Gen 8’s Sword & Shield. The fan-made video had some questioning whether official Sinnoh reimaginings are as good as they could have been.
YouTube: millenniumloops / The Pokemon CompanyFans question Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl
Unlike previous remakes, Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl are aiming closer to being faithful ports rather than a modern reimagining. Breaking further with tradition, the Sinnoh projects are not even being developed by Game Freak, instead being headed up by 3rd party studio, ILCA.
The debate over the games’ chibi graphics was reignited again on March 9 when talented artist ‘millenniumloops‘ released their own fan-made trailer that reimagined the Gen IV RPGs closer to the graphical direction of Sword & Shield and Pokemon Legends: Arceus.
Shortly after the stunning video was released, many Pokemon fans took to social media to further voice their concerns about whether TPC went in the right direction for the Sinnoh remakes that the community desperately wanted for over a decade.
https://twitter.com/millenniumloops/status/1369093332081729537
“THESE are the remakes I would’ve screamed for. I love ORAS to this day for the amazing graphics and I expected the same to happen to BSDP. They dropped the ball hard on this one,” one fan wrote in reaction to the fan trailer. “This is literally what I wanted out of a D&P remakes…Don’t think I’m the only one,” another replied. One user tweeted, “You seriously did what Nintendo/Game Freak couldn’t. Congrats!”
It should also be stated that not everyone feels negatively about ILCA’s direction. Just as many Trainers are excited for BDSP, some are even obsessed with the chibi art style.
The Community’s mixed reaction to the Sinnoh remakes isn’t too surprising. For the last 25 years, The Pokemon Company has traditionally used remakes to bring older titles to the current generation. Many fans expected Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl would re-imagine Sinnoh using modern graphics from either Sword & Shield or Let’s Go Pikachu.
The viral fan-made trailer has only left some players wondering what could have been had Game Freak taken on the project using Gen 8’s engine and features. Although to be fair, Pokemon Legends: Arceus is coming out in early 2022 and checks off all those boxes. Only time will tell if the Gen IV Switch titles win over all Trainers.