Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have finally arrived, and gamers around the world are once again exploring the caves, cities, and winding routes of the Sinnoh region. However, some players appear to have run into a development oversight that can make navigating the games' world frustrating and unexpectedly complicated. It seems that these players have run afoul of Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl's hitboxes, which can make getting around objects and fitting into doors a real pain.
Although the Pokemon games were specifically designed to be relatively laid-back and focused on strategy rather than testing the player's reflexes, wandering around the games' maps still requires functional hitboxes. Historically, the 2D Pokemon games used sprites and pixel art with clearly marked edges. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are no exception, but the transition to 3D models seems to have thrown a wrench into things.
Redditor curryboy1996 shared a video of the hitboxes acting up in a post where they declare that, although they're enjoying Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, the hitboxes are terrible. In the video, curryboy1996's character is shown walking in a room on the game's overworld. Although the player appears to be well away from any obstacle, they cannot move forward, seemingly caught on a power plant that should not be close enough to affect the character's movement.
Im really enjoying Brilliant Diamond, but THESE HITBOXES TRIGGER ME ON A WHOLE DIFFERENT LEVEL frompokemon
The video appears to take place in the Valley Windworks location, but reportedly, the issue has also surfaced in other areas found throughout Sinnoh. Several other users stated they had trouble navigating the Pokemon rooms found in the Underground, with one user even stating they often accidentally ran into a Pokemon they were trying to avoid. Another user wondered whether or not the developers had made a mistake when translating the tile-based sprite movements of the original games to the 3D maps of the remakes, since the object curryboy1996 got caught on had a slightly misleading hitbox in the original titles--though not to this extent.
As of writing, it appears that other fans agree this is one of the biggest issues with the games. This isn't the only problem that can arise in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, but it does seem to have a significant impact on gameplay. One user stated that the hitbox issues had also kept them from picking up any items hidden in the grass, while a second called these titles the worst clipping games they've ever played.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are available for Nintendo Switch.