After a few years of fans being vocal about how they wanted Generation 4 remakes, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl were finally released just a little over a month ago. The games have been a great success in terms of sales, and that goes to show just how excited players were to replay one of the most beloved Generations of Pokemon games to date. Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have quite a different visual style than most games in the series, considering that they blend 3D graphics with the classic 2D, top-down style of traditional games.
This is not the only peculiar thing about the remakes, though, as one of the most disappointing pieces of news came regarding Pokemon Platinum and its features. Pokemon Platinum fixed a lot of issues that the original Gen 4 games had, and it even introduced new elements that made a huge impact on the community, such as an expanded Pokedex and the Battle Frontier. Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl ended up not being based on Pokemon Platinum at all, and instead, they were made to be faithful remakes of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl.
This means that Pokemon Platinum's Battle Frontier never made it into Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, and that alone is a bit of wasted potential. Furthermore, a Reddit user by the name of mariomeister shared a meme that points out a huge inconsistency with Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver, the remakes of Gen 2 games, which do feature Sinnoh's Battle Frontier. This poses the question as to why Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl don't, considering that Sinnoh is the region they are set it.
The Battle Frontier used to offer a great way to experience Pokemon games differently in the endgame phase thanks to the diverse encounters and team compositions players go through in the Battle Factory, or the more hardcore Battle Castle. The Battle Arcade also offered Gen 4 and Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver players the opportunity to delve into double battles, something that is absent from Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
Remakes are often a difficult thing to deliver across all media, and some Pokemon fans often remake their favorite titles on their own, which shows how popular they are. There was no easy way to approach Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl because Gen 4 was such a loved one, and the fact that Gen 2 remakes got the Battle Frontier but Gen 4 ones didn't still stings.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are now available on Nintendo Switch.