Several outlets took part in a special preview of the upcoming Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. As remakes of the fourth generation of Pokémon games, a lot of old features from the originals will make their way back to the remakes.
The original games were released on the original Nintendo DS and made use of the touchscreen, and the Switch’s handheld function will allow for some of these features to return. One is the Pokétch, a device from the original games that allowed players to use a variety of functions like checking up Pokémon and looking up the date. A lot of the touchscreen functions for the device will work on Switch’s handheld option, while playing the game docked will display it on the top right-hand part of the screen.
Experience Share, or EXP. Share, will be automatic, meaning all Pokémon in a party will receive experience points in every battle no matter if they participated in the fight or not. Based on previews, EXP. Share cannot be turned off. Auto-save is also automatically on, though it can be turned off.
Related: Will Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have Pokémon Platinum content?
Some quality of life improvements from later generations makes their way to Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. For example, type effectiveness will be displayed on moves during battles. HMs will return, but rather than forcing you to teach Pokémon moves that are needed to progress, a wild Pokémon will instead do the HM for you. TMs will become one-time use again as they were in the original games.
The most important returning feature to fans is the ability to polish badges again. In the original Diamond and Pearl, players can use the DS touchscreen to rub their badges on the bottom screen. Rub the badges enough they will shine. If the badges are ignored long enough they will begin to dull out and lose their color. Players can relive all of this when Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are slated to release on the Nintendo Switch on November 19.
