As part of its big Pokémon Direct presentation, The Pokémon Company announced remake versions of Diamond and Pearl in HD for the Nintendo Switch – unveiled alongside Pokémon Legends: Arceus, an upcoming open-world game.
While it was thought these games would get the ‘Let’s Go’ branding of the Pikachu and Eevee games – a remake of Pokémon Yellow – but are simply called Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. You’ll get to choose between Turtwig, Chimchar or Piplup as your starter.
There isn’t a specific date for the games yet, but we know that they will arrive ‘late 2021’ so that likely to be around October or November. Interestingly, the main developer won’t be Game Freak for a change and will instead be ILCA.
That means it will arrive before the other new game that was announced, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, which will arrive ‘early 2022’.
This one will be developed by Game Freak and is the first open-world Pokémon game, like properly open-world. Pokémon run wild and your character can run, dive and roll.
It’s set in the Sinnoh region, which is the setting for Diamond and Pearl – first released on the DS in 2006 – but this is a separate game to those remakes.
Specifically the Sinnoh region of old “before the existence of Pokémon Trainers and Pokémon Leagues. It’s in this long-gone era that players will embark on an entirely new adventure to create the region’s first Pokédex.”
The Legends: Arceus starters are Rowlet (Grass type from the Alolah region), Cyndaquil (Fire type from the Johto region) and Oshawatt (Water type from the Unova region).
The village will be the base for the player, and your character will set out across the map to find new Pokémon and catch them with Poké Balls. There’s also the chance to compete in battles to level up your Pokémon, just like in the main games.
This village of Sinnoh features travellers from all over who are looking to learn more about the land – so it could be possible that the player has to take on quests for people in the community.
The games have been announced by Tsunekazu Ishihara, president and CEO of The Pokémon Company, as it celebrated 25 years of the franchise. Check out the trailers for both games below.
