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I think you'd be hard-pressed to
find a franchise as consistently, overwhelmingly dominant as Pokémon. The year is
2006, Pokémon as a franchise has seen a slight dip in core game sales, but it didn't really
matter given that the franchise was still printing money. With the introduction of the
Nintendo DS, Nintendo's new flagship handheld, Diamond and Pearl marked a next-gen chapter.
We may have passed the days of Pokémon mania, but tens of millions of people were still buying
the games, cards, toys, movies, and spinoffs. It wasn't dominating the news anymore, but it was
still dominating the lives of children everywhere, including me. Though gen 3 was my introduction,
and I played it a lot: gen 4 has my most playtime of any generation. Easily. I don't even want to
think about how many times I've played Diamond and Platinum. My mom got me Diamond as soon
as it came out, and I still have my childhood copy. The save is long gone, I guess I wasn't
sentimental enough to hang onto those memories. But I'd say the new memories I made on subsequent
playthroughs more than made up for that. All I'm really missing out on is a super
overleveled Infernape anyway. So yeah, if you care about that sorta thing, I'm probably
very nostalgically biased towards this generation. Not much I can do about that, we all have one
or two generations that we grew up with.
This video will be focusing on the debut titles,
Diamond and Pearl, so we can get a better idea as to what these games were like at the time. After
the general discussion, we'll get into the changes brought by its sister release, Platinum. This
will be a pretty beefy section of the video, a la Emerald. Platinum is probably the most
substantial sister version ever released, so we'll be dedicating a lot of time to it. And finally,
because I know people are going to ask about it: yes, I've seen Brilliant Diamond and Shining
Pearl. Once those games have released, I will be including them in the video that I'm doing about
every Pokémon remake somewhere down the line.
Let's take a hike through the
ancient Sinnoh region.
--
Part 1 - We Are As Gods
--
Sinnoh is based on the Hokkaido region of Japan,
a generally cold and mountainous portion of the country. The name Sinnoh means "god within" and
is meant to reflect the region's rustic feel. It has a storied history, much like Johto;
however, unlike Johto, that history has long passed. We're talking creation of the
universe mythos. Much of Sinnoh is a more modern civilization. Jubilife City is a sprawling
metropolis, with a TV station, new smartwatches, a global trade station. Wouldn't feel out of place
in Kanto. Hearthome has a church, a contest hall, a park where you can walk your Pokémon. Veilstone
has a casino, a department store, Team Galactic HQ. There's a sense that Sinnoh and its citizens
have made great strides towards the future; yet, those strides have never completely overwritten
their past. Eterna City houses a statue of the legendary Pokémon, either Dialga or Palkia, with
half faded text talking about the creation of time and space. Solaceon Town is a small hamlet built
next to the ancient Unown ruins. Celestic Town is an even smaller settlement containing a cave
with a mural of the lake trio. Celestic Town's saying is literally "The Past Lives."
"A tiny town that preserves the history of Sinnoh and the old ways of life."
Sinnoh is quiet, calm, slow. It is the birthplace of the Pokémon world, and though
modern advancements are still taking place, much of the region is haunted by the past. Mt.
Coronet is an ever present symbol of that past, bisecting the land into two halves. At its
peak, Spear Pillar, an ancient ruin where the world supposedly began. I suppose "haunted" is an
ill-fitting word. Cynthia, the region's champion, is a historian; she and those of her hometown
take great pride in preserving the history of Sinnoh. More specifically, the customs and
teachings which were cultivated long ago. You could say love and connection is a core theme
of every Pokémon game, to some extent, but I think it's at its most relevant in Sinnoh.
Arceus brought Dialga and Palkia into existence so that they could create time and space. Since
they would often come into conflict, the lake trio were created to calm them down, and to
bestow humanity the gifts of emotion, knowledge, and willpower. There is a sense of gratitude
towards these beings for creating humanity, in a more literal sense, but there are also
messages to take away and pass down. Much of Sinnoh is disconnected, it is a mountainous
region, so many of its cities and towns are isolated. It's an arduous trek to get anywhere in
this region, and yet everyone is connected by the history which still lives on through its people;
they are reminded of it every day, as the towering Mt. Coronet, with Spear Pillar at its summit, is
visible no matter where you are in the region. It serves as an eternal reminder binding
everyone together. No one has taken these gifts for granted, and strive to remember
that compassion and love are important.
Oreburgh City, a mining town built
into the side of Mt. Coronet, is full of hard workers. But they aren't working
hard for the benefit of their corporate overlords; they're working hard to provide the region with
natural resources. Not only do they get to take breaks in the town gym, the gym leader himself is
seen helping to collect coal from the mines. Vents in the city were created to fill the mines with
fresh air so that workers wouldn't be inundated with poisonous chemicals. Great care has been
taken to ensure these workers' safety, a notion that I desperately wish our own world could more
widely adopt. Pastoria City is another excellent example. A community sprung up around the Great
Marsh in order to protect it, turning it into a National Park. Everyone living in Pastoria wishes
to live in harmony not only with each other, but with the rare Pokémon that inhabit the Marsh.
Everywhere you turn, these ideals are reinforced… everywhere except Team Galactic.
Cyrus stands in opposition to this sentiment. Growing up alone in Sunyshore, he didn't cultivate
these connections; he didn't share in these intimate emotions. He sees them as a hindrance, an
obstacle to progress. He thinks the world would be better off without them, and seeks to recreate
it in his cold, calculated image. He makes for one of the most threatening team leaders in any of
these games because of how disconnected he is from everyone. You run into him wandering around
Sinnoh, like some wise sage. When you meet him at his HQ, he describes the grunts and admins
of Team Galactic as different from him. You see, they merely use Pokémon as tools, whereas he seeks
to take their power as his own. He doesn't care about his grunts and admins. There is always
a degree of separation with Cyrus. There's no one he holds close, no one he can confide in
besides himself. I've always found him really intimidating, but there's also something kinda sad
about him. Maybe if he'd had a better upbringing, fostered more genuine connections, he would have
turned out better. Maybe he would have been able to understand why the world was created,
rather than simply understanding how.
Given that Sinnoh is a historical site, your
adventure through it is pretty laid back. Perhaps it's just the slow battle pacing talking, but
these games have always been pretty slow burns. There is a lot to do and see in between gyms,
not all of it required. Most of the journey is about soaking in the sights and sounds of Sinnoh,
uncovering its past, exploring the wilderness, and encountering its Pokémon. I'm never in any
rush playing these games, which is why Barry is such a fitting rival. He's a simple character in
that his main quirk is impatience. He's constantly bolting forward, eager to get to the next stop on
his journey. He forgets packages, he is constantly one step ahead, he doesn't even give Professor
Rowan a chance to hand him a Pokédex. He isn't mean, but he's still your rival. He's there every
step of the way to make sure you're keeping up with his quick pace. I don't actually believe your
rival needs to be a huge jerk in order for them to keep your attention, and Barry is proof positive
of that. He is grateful to Professor Rowan, and wants to help stop Team Galactic. He's an
endearing teammate as much as he is a tough rival, he's just a little too eager to rush into things
without thinking. His loss to Commander Jupiter at Lake Acuity forces him to become a little
more serious, and so his comeback at Spear Pillar is a really good moment. This time, you
made it there before him. He took his time, trained his Pokémon, and fought them with you,
instead of on his own. It's nothing monumental, but it's enough to make me really like seeing him
pop up every now and then. I think it instills in the player a sense of patience; it encourages
them to take their journey one step at a time, to not miss anything important.
And this is a region you'll want to pay close attention to. It's a contender for
the most beautiful. Eterna Forest is captivating, it's enchanting, it feels like its own little
world, forgotten by the rest of Sinnoh, ghosts of its past haunting the nearby abandoned
mansion. Floaroma Meadow is soothing, an assortment of multi-colored flowers at every turn.
You can almost smell the reassuring spring breeze. I can also smell my allergies going into overdrive
when I set even a single foot into the meadow. Mt. Coronet, Spear Pillar at its peak, is magnificent. You can feel its historic
significance, the universe-altering power. My personal favorite area is Snowpoint City. It's
all the way at the top of Sinnoh. You have to travel through the depths of Mt. Coronet, and then
through a massive blizzard before finally reaching the settlement. There aren't many actual people
that live up here, just a few houses, a gym, a port, and a ruined temple. I love
walking around at night when there's a bunch of snow on the ground, and Snowpoint
sure knows how to replicate that feeling.
Could you imagine living up here, the Abomasnow
in the woods next to you? It's one of my favorites from the generation, like a cross between a yeti
and an evergreen tree. Most of these designs are really good. Bidoof is a derpy little
beaver, one of the better rodents for sure. Still prefer Zigzagoon, I don't think any rodent
is gonna top that: but what Sinnoh easily tops is the best bird. It's not even close. Starly,
Staravia, and Staraptor are ridiculously cool. The evolution from cute black and white bird
into this sick raptor with a red streak on top of his head, that can learn Close Combat. I've
actually made a rule that I'm not allowed to use this thing in playthroughs anymore because
it used to be on every single team I ever made. It's that cool. On the same route, you can catch
Shinx, one of my new favorite Electric types. I think maybe cute to cool is my secret weakness
or something. What can I say, I'm easy to please. The only thing about Luxray that I don't like
is that it looks like it should be part dark type. Given that dark is my favorite type, it
would have been extremely fitting. I just love how the ratio between light blue and black reverses
throughout the stages. At first there's a ton of light blue, with a bit of black peeking out.
Then there's a good mixture with Luxio. Finally, the black almost completely overtakes Luxray.
I've probably used this thing about as much as Staraptor, but I don't have it in me to ban
myself from using him. I just can't do it.
They've driven Lucario into the ground a little
bit, but I understand why he became so instantly popular. Blue martial arts wolf is a pretty
appealing archetype. I love Buizel and Floatzel, my cute little sea otters, that can fire
themselves off like torpedoes with Aqua Jet. Drifloon and Drifblim are sick new ghost types,
based around two different types of balloons. You've got a cat that evolves into a chonky
boi and a skunk that evolves into a chonky boi; you've got the Taco Bell bell. I'm having a
hard time finding a design that I don't like, and as cool as a lot of these new designs
are, arguably the most iconic new Pokémon come via new evolutions to pre-existing Pokémon.
Though there are 151 Pokémon in the regional dex, only 107 are new Pokémon, and of that 107, only
78 are entirely new. 29 of them are attached to previously existing Pokémon, either as baby
pre-evolutions, or brand new evolutions. Or both, in the case of Roselia. Why they felt the need
to add both a baby and new evolution to Roselia, I will never know, but hey: we got Roserade outta
that deal, so you won't hear me complaining.
I suppose there's an argument here that a
substantial portion of the dex is relying on nostalgia, buffing up previously existing Pokémon
through new evolutions. While this is true, I'm willing to forgive this since the evolutions
were given to Pokémon that deserved them, rather than simply handing them out to the ones
that were popular. I mean, it is generally the same principle as baby Pokémon, but for a final
evolution stage that you'll actually be using in battle. Honchkrow takes the small crow and turns
it into a chonker with a scarf and a fedora. It's a lot more smug now; embracing that redditor
energy. Mismagius grows taller, with more of a resemblance to the traditional mage archetype.
It has a darker shade of colors, but still retains what made the original interesting. It's a more
mature rendition. Mamoswine is a more intimidating upgrade to Piloswine; Gliscor and Yanmega are more
sinister renditions of their original designs; Electivire and Magmortar are super saiyan
transformations. I especially love the arm cannons they give Magmortar, it feels very extra, but in a
good way. I mean, sure, some designs are a little strange. I'm not sure why Rhyperior or Probopass
needed to exist, but they're inoffensive enough, and the stat boosts are at least nice. As usual,
while the baby Pokémon don't offer much utility, they sport some clean, memorable designs. I don't
think many people will argue against Bonsly, Munchlax, Mime Jr., and Chingling being adorable.
Generally, all of this was a good idea… but. We need to talk about Ambipom.
Good lord, what happened to my boy? My special, cute monkey boy? What's with the ugly nose? The
twigs sticking out on top of his head? The tails which now look like the udders of a cow rather
than a glove? The feet being the same color as the rest of his body? What in the actual hell happened
here? Can someone explain this to me? I'm sorry but Ambipom is a disgrace. Anyone who likes him
needs to vacate the premises. Arceus Almighty.
Speaking of the heavenly creator, given
we're dealing with actual deities in Sinnoh, it's fitting that they've perhaps given us the
most iconic main legendary trio. Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina are some of my favorite legendaries
of all time. Dialga, a Steel/Dragon type, wears what looks to be a crown of steel all
throughout its body. On its feet, on its back, on its head. The gem in the center of
its chest completes the regal image, befitting of the God which controls time through
its mighty roar. Palkia shares some of Dialga's features, namely the face design and prominent
display of its colored jewel. There's something kinda otherworldly about them. But Palkia is
distinct in that it feels like a cyborg kaiju. It has much less bits which resemble skin, it's
more a metallic surrounding armor. It's similar to Groudon, in that way. Giratina, though, is unlike
any legendary that has come before. Giratina has a similarly regal appearance, but with a darker
color palette. The red, black, faded gold, and dark gray blend makes for quite the terrifying
presence, as do the shadow wings sprouting out on either side. Where Dialga and Palkia have
pretty epic cries, and a regal theme tune; Giratina's is darker and more muddled. Where they rule from on high, Giratina rules from
the shadows: the king of the underworld itself. It's the one which was banished by Arceus for
being a troublemaker. There's something spooky about it that's immediately apparent, and is one
of the only times a Pokémon design has instilled a genuine fear in me. Arceus, the primordial
creator of the universe, is a bit more ethereal. It's wavy, incomplete, almost intangible. The
white and yellow crown surrounding its body is probably meant to be angelic, and giving
it the ability to be any type it wants is pretty fitting for God itself.
Man, what a cool Pokémon. Wanna hear something else that's cool? Arceus is not only a
mythical Pokémon, meaning it is event exclusive, but there's also an item in the game called the
Azure Flute, which creates a literal stairway to heaven atop Spear Pillar where you were meant
to fight and catch it. The Azure Flute was never distributed, meaning that you can't access this
without a cheating device. Oh goodie! Way to make me not care about encountering the literal god of
creation. It's basically the same with Darkrai, Shaymin, and Manaphy, though Manaphy can be
obtained pretty easily through Pokémon Ranger, so at least you could theoretically get one
nowadays without any trouble. The rest, though, are kinda just out of your hands. Which is super
annoying, especially for Darkrai, because it makes the Harbor Inn in Canalave City feel remarkably
artificial when you realize you can't access it without an event trigger. It will forever have the
allure of the faded text sign, foreboding light, and locked door. That's all it will ever be, until
you travel back in time, journey to toys r us, and have someone transfer a key into your
game that will let you fight Darkrai.
I know I complain a lot about Mythical Pokémon in
these videos, but these complaints only exist with such veracity because I live in a time where they
are no longer available. As someone who actually did get his hands on a few events back in the
day, it made me feel pretty cool at the time. I convinced my mom to take me to toys r us, so now
I have this cool exclusive event in my game that my friends don't have, how neat! Nowadays, though,
it's yet another thing you have to hack into the game, and even when you do hack it in, Darkrai
is just sitting on an island somewhere. You don't go through a dungeon or anything, you don't
even have to find him: you get the event item, sleep in a bed, and there's Darkrai. It leads to
an excess of super special Pokémon that you will normally never see or interact with at all, and
given that this game has its own cool dungeon for Giratina in the Sendoff Spring, which mysteriously
appears after beating the game, you'll have to forgive me for being a touch disappointed
that we didn't get a few more of those.
You know, this stuff is so arbitrary right?
Certain regions get certain Pokémon at certain times, it's kinda annoying to
be that restrictive. It's pretty much a sad reality today, with various streaming
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--
Part 2 - Moving at a Shellos’ Pace
--
Now that I've blown a considerable amount of
hot air up Sinnoh's entrance to Mt. Coronet, if you catch my drift, it's time to
start knocking it down a few pegs. Diamond and Pearl have some gaping wounds that
need immediate medical attention. Remember how I talked about the 107 new Pokémon introduced?
Only 81 of those are in the regional dex of 151, meaning that only about 53% of this regional dex
consists of new Pokémon. Most of the ones which weren't included were the new evolutions, for some
reason. We're allowed to use Roserade, Honchkrow, and Mismagius, sure; buuuuuut not Togekiss,
Probopass, Rhyperior, Electivire, Magmortar, Lickilicky, Yanmega, Mamoswine, Magnezone,
Gliscor, Porygon-Z, Dusknoir, or Froslass. Tangrowth isn't even natively available in Diamond
and Pearl, for some reason. You just have to trade up a Tangela from the GBA games. Now, these games
actually have a pretty beefy post game, with an entire new island to explore, so this was probably
done to keep the game fresh and exciting even after you've entered the Hall of Fame. I've never
personally been a fan of this approach. With the exception of pseudo legendaries, which would break
the game a bit if they were obtained too early, I want to be able to play around with all the cool
new Pokémon before fighting the champion. I don't need to see Gyarados for the fourth time, it's
okay, I'm fine with him not being there. In fact, being able to encounter Pokémon from previous
games in the post game is one of my favorite ways to utilize old Pokémon. You can stick all of the
fresh new designs in the main game, with a scant few returning Pokémon to buff out the regional
dex, and then save everything else for the post game. Otherwise, it feels like the game is pushing
me to create a nearly identical team every single generation. I don't like when a regional dex
reduces my options as much as Sinnoh does.
For instance, I don't mind adding old electric
types. If we were only adding new Pokémon, the Luxray line and Pachirisu would be the
only electric types available until post game, and something about that feels wrong. So, they
added the Pikachu line! And uh, that's it, I guess? Sure makes me question why Volkner, the
electric type gym leader, has an Octillery and Ambipom? Honestly, this is just his fault, he
could have used Pachirisu: it won Worlds! If Volkner can't even use Magnezone or Electivire,
something is seriously wrong here. Compare that to the criminal overrepresentation of water types
in a region that, unlike Hoenn, literally has no excuse. We've got some really cool new water types
this generation. Empoleon is a Steel/Water type, pretty interesting new combo there. Buizel
and Floatzel are fast attackers. Shellos and Gastrodon are tanky water ground types sporting
that electric immunity. I mean, surely we've got enough options, and the occasional tentacool or
whatever for a few more isn't hurting anybody. But it just keeps going. Gyarados, Milotic,
Golduck, Whiscash AND Quagsire despite already having a water ground type. Pelliper, Azumarill:
is this not a touch excessive? I feel like some of the new evolutions could have taken a few of
those spots. Or, god forbid, more fire types.
If you thought Hoenn was lacking in fire types,
boy howdy. You're in for a treat, let me tell you. Once again, there's a massive elemental trio
imbalance for no good reason. There are five grass type lines, fourteen water type lines, and… two
fire type lines. One of which is your starter. There are two fire type lines in the Sinnoh
regional dex. Chimchar, Monferno, Infernape, Ponyta, and Rapidash are the only available
fire types. If you wanna be real smug about it, only one of these lines is a new line. If Volkner
is sad, Flint is just a goddamn tragedy. Rapidash and Infernape are here, makes sense. Then…
Steelix, Drifblim, and Lopunny? Now, I know what you're thinking here: haven't I said in the past
that I prefer gym leaders and elite four members to have multiple different Pokémon? You're right,
I have said that. Good job, you have destroyed my arguments in trial by combat and I will now
retire from the Pokémon series forever.
In principle, I would rather gym leaders use
different types: but Flint and Volkner are not doing this to have a varied team. They're doing
this in spite of their team. Because the regional dex is so awful that they have no other options.
And they just teach these random Pokémon fire or electric type moves anyway. These Pokémon don't
really check weaknesses or anything. The only two Pokémon on Flint's team which can easily deal
with water types, his most common weakness, are the two fire types that likely won't survive
a hit from one of dozens of available water types. I mean, I'll give Volkner this I guess,
his Octillery ensures that a ground type indeed will not end his career, but also… it still
might, because Octillery isn't very good, and it tends to just want to use Charge Beam anyway.
Ambipom doesn't even have a physical move! What's up with that? I guess it wants to set up and use
Baton Pass, which is admittedly pretty intriguing, but it's so frail that it will barely have time to
set anything up anyway. These teams were only ever interesting because of a lack of options, and
every other boss in the game is proof of that, because they don't do this. Crasher Wake has
Gyarados, a solid specially defensive attacker; Quagsire, a beefy water type with immunity to
electricity; and Floatzel, a very quick water type with access to Ice Fang to brutalize essentially
any grass type you bring to the table. He's not amazing, granted, since he is still forced to use
water types, but you can tell they actually had a lot of options as to how to go about making an
engaging team for him which fits the monotype. Byron has an interesting team of steel types,
Gardenia has an interesting team of grass types, Maylene has an interesting team of fighting
types. Lucian has five distinct options, Bertha has five distinct options, fuckin'
Aaron has five distinct options, my lord. Diamond and Pearl are really hard to go back to
for this reason, because you don't realistically have a lot of options for team building. You're
going to end up using a lot of the same Pokémon, and if you're trying to use Sinnoh
exclusives, you'll have even less options.
But a boring Pokédex is not the only thing that
makes these games more exhausting to replay. Another problem is the significantly slower
pace, which manifests in several forms. Now, I'm not really talking about story pacing here. I
think the time in between gyms and story events is just fine, it's essentially the same as any of the
other games. The design of Sinnoh is pretty cool, there are a lot of areas you'll see in
the beginning and have to return to later. West of Jubilife houses the sixth gym, which you
can only reach with Surf. You get to Hearthome City before you can even fight the fifth gym, and
have to circle back around to it. The Veilstone Galactic HQ and subsequent visit to Spear Pillar
through Mt. Coronet overstays its welcome a tad, but I guarantee it wouldn't feel nearly as bad
without HMs. In between every gym there's at least one distraction to wrap yourself into. The Pokémon
Mansion, Wayward Cave, the Unown Ruins, and the various entrances to Mt. Coronet. Add that to the
list of places you can reach with Surf, like the Ironworks, and you've got a pretty healthy mix
of main story progression and side content where you can more or less decide your own pace.
When I say the game feels slow, it has more to do with the speed of the game itself. Diamond and
Pearl are on the Nintendo DS, and so are taking advantage of the 3D that it offers. It looks
really good, like there's still an essence of the GBA games, but translated into something with
more space and dimension. However, the cost of this transition seems to have been speed. Walking
around is slower on average. Random encounters are slower on average, battles are slower on average.
A lot of this stuff is incremental. There are tiny pauses after hitting a Pokémon before their
health will start draining, and after they've fainted. There's a very slight pause when a battle
begins before the commands will show up. In double battles, sometimes the menu actually lags after
selecting an input. Health bars drain per frame, meaning that they scroll slower than previous
games on average, and only grow slower the further into the game you get with higher HP values.
I mean, if you've been a Pokémon fan for long enough, you've probably seen this video, and
although it is the most extreme example of these problems, it's still pretty reflective of
the feeling of playing through gen 4. [Video]. Compounding this problem
are HMs. *phew* *breathe*
HMs are so awful that I don't even know how to
begin to describe how awful they are. In Red and Blue, they were relatively inoffensive. They were
kinda annoying every now and then, requiring Cut for Lt. Surge or Erika, but it's unlikely that
you'll have a full team of six by then anyway. Plus, moves like Surf are really good in battle,
so it was easy to look past how dumb they were in concept. With each successive generation, though,
it has become harder and harder to forgive, and gen 4 is the apex. HMs are at their worst
here. Let's go over the HMs in this game. Rock Smash can break rocks in your way for items,
usually. Cut does the same for trees. Strength can move boulders out of the way. Fly can fast travel.
Surf is used to move through water, and waterfall is used to scale waterfalls. The two new additions
are used in specific situations. Defog removes fog from a few routes and caves, and Rock Climb
can scale mountainsides. Considering that Fly is basically a requirement in these games, 6
of these Hidden Machines are routinely required throughout the game, and one of them might as well
be required, because not using it means you'll be in the pits of accuracy hell for a few hours.
This ensures that, for most of your playthrough, you'll be dragging around a Bibarel and swapping
it out with one of your team of six. One of them is just gonna have to sit some stuff out, because
unless you want to take up valuable move slots with HMs, you're going to drag out someone from
the PC to do it. In some cases, you might even need two spare Pokémon to use all of this stuff,
and it's just so unnecessary. I get that it's cool to be using your actual team members to get around
the environment. But having them take up move slots that can't be replaced unless you travel
to the move deleter all the way in Canalave City is not fun. Since your TMs are limited, and
you need heart scales to remember past moves, it becomes a huge exercise in tedium. You're
constantly shuffling things in and out of your box, you basically need a water and flying
type if you want to make things more convenient, and it makes the simple act of
exploring a new area a huge chore.
Defog is by far the worst offender. Every other
HM is at least used to access areas which you previously couldn't. I would argue there's
something kinda exciting about getting a new HM and being able to explore old areas again.
That's why finally getting Rock Climb feels so satisfying, because you've seen so many rock
climb locations all over Sinnoh, and now you can finally use them all for rare items. Defog exists
to remove fog. That's it. But it isn't quite like Flash. Flash was similarly dumb, but you could
theoretically get by without it if you knew the map layout or looked it up online. It wasn't
strictly necessary. Fog is more insidious, though. In routes where fog is active, every
Pokémon participating in a battle has its accuracy dropped wholesale by 10%. Which leads to
extremely fun battle scenarios in which both sides continually miss their attacks and you sit there
for several minutes doing nothing. You can either put up with that the entire route, or pull
out a Pokémon which learns Defog, and likely your other HM user since fog routes usually also
have a billion other HM gates for some reason. This is a lose lose scenario, there is nothing
this adds to the game other than unnecessary tedium. You can't go back to previously foggy
routes, you get it before encountering your first fog, it's just something you can start
using if you don't want to be frustrated.
We now have the benefit of hindsight here,
in an age where Pokémon no longer has HMs, and in my humble opinion, nothing of any value
has been lost. This rampant HM use is likely one of the biggest silent contributors to the
generation's slower pace that a lot of players might not even consciously recognize. And if the
remakes do not remove HMs, or otherwise repurpose them so they don't take up move slots, then what
was even the point in remaking them at all? Might as well just stick the originals on Switch. I know
that sounds petty, but I swear to you, HMs are the single biggest reason I'm reluctant to play these
games again. I push through, because I still love gen 4, but they make it very, very difficult.
--
Part 3 - Rock Smashing Boundaries
--
Despite my grumbling, there is actually one very
crucial positive decision which marks a bit of a mechanical turning point for the series. In gen 2,
they split the special stat into two types, which in theory meant that we had a more solid balance
of stats. But there was still the matter of entire typings being tied to one stat specialization.
Water type moves would always use special attack and special defense, while fighting type moves
would always use physical attack and physical defense. Gen 4 blew that door off its hinges. Now,
each move will have its own physical and special distinction, which doesn't sound like a huge
deal, but let me tell you: a ton of Pokémon were radically altered by this. Sneasel is no longer
garbage, because it can learn Avalanche and Night Slash after it evolves, so it can, you know, use
its best stat. Though it does feel like a bit of a cruel joke that it learns Avalanche, a move which
is forced to always go second, on a speedy glass cannon that'll probably die before it sees any
use out of Avalanche to begin with. *sigh* there's always something. Gengar had a similar problem in
reverse, although I wouldn't say it made him trash beforehand. But it is nice that he can better use
STAB now that ghost and poison type attacks don't necessarily need to be physical. My boy Absol
isn't really available until post game, but they made him actually viable. This change almost
single handedly saved the entire dark typing given how damn many of them were physical attackers
in previous games for some asinine reason.
Not only does this improve a majority of
previously really unfortunate Pokémon, it also adds a lot more variety than was previously
present. Now, you have to consider which moves are physical or special, as opposed to just running
into a poison type and determining that it will do physical damage. Now you have to consider whether
something will have Poison Jab or Sludge Bomb, which adds to the strategy of a battle, and to
your potential team building options. Yes, some Pokémon were actually hurt by this change, but
that's only because there aren't enough moves to compensate. Muk can only really rely on Poison
Jab now to do damage, since every other poison type move is special, and it takes too long
to learn Gunk Shot. You're gonna have a much tougher time raising Grimer and Muk after gen 4,
but that's the fault of the moves given to it, not the typing or Pokémon itself, which
for me is a huge step forward. Like, no one's gonna say that Rapidash and Flareon
don't benefit from the physical special split, it's simply that there aren't very many physical
fire type moves, and the ones that do exist come very late in a Pokémon's life, or not at all.
I guess it stings in particular with fire types, given they're almost extinct in Sinnoh for
whatever reason. Still, this is a great change that was, by this point, a long time coming,
and fixed a lot of previously broken Pokémon.
This generation also embraced a lot of
revolutionary new multiplayer features for the series. The concept of secret bases has
been expanded in Sinnoh to include a vast array of underground tunnels below the region that
you can explore with friends. Secret bases were kinda cool when I was a kid, I suppose. I got to
pick out a cool place in the region and deck out my tree house or whatever. But with the dawn of
local wireless communication on the Nintendo DS, this vast underground is a really big improvement.
Not only can you still make secret bases wherever you want, you can visit a friend's base and
steal their flag. You'll then have to take it back to your own base through the various
tunnels, which may have some hidden traps placed by the person you're stealing from. You can
screw around with your friends, you can focus on decorating your secret base, or you can go mining
which will yield some of the evolutionary stones, shards, elemental plates, or even fossils if
you're lucky enough. Obviously, it's hard for me to get a lot out of the Underground in the
year 2021. I'm 23, not a lot of people around me who want to play the Pokemon Diamond
underground, but I remember playing the Underground constantly with my friends. We'd use
it to exchange items to put in our secret bases, we would see how many flags we could steal, we'd
enter and exit a bunch so we could encounter Spiritomb. For me, Pokémon had never been more
of a social experience. Anywhere in Sinnoh, you could don your explorer's kit and dive
underground with your friends, goofing away the whole day. I really do cherish those memories.
Local Wireless was clearly a huge new addition, but even more impressive for me was the
introduction of online multiplayer features. The Pokémon Center has built itself a basement
where players can battle friends or strangers from across the world using the now defunct Nintendo
Wi-Fi Connection. You could battle or trade with anyone in the world. There was even a way to list
Pokémon for trade with specific requests at the Global Trade Station in Jubilife. As the Pokédex
grew larger, I think it was about time a system like this was added. It wasn't exactly infeasible
to complete the Pokédex yourself or with a few friends, but it was a lot harder than it was in
the days of Red and Blue. The GTS let everyone around the world help each other get the Pokémon
they needed. You even got to see what country the Pokémon was coming from, it was really neat.
You know, I'm typing this out on a brisk day in mid-April, and feeling a bit overwhelmed.
Thinking back on all this stuff I used to do with my friends, the thousands of hours
I'd spend in Sinnoh, it's really bittersweet. I still play and enjoy Pokémon, but I don't
think it's possible to ever truly connect with it the way I did when I was younger, surrounded
by friends who were also interested. I'm not that old. Even so, man, a lot of time has passed.
*ahem* sorry. I think this focus on worldwide communication led to a willingness for players
to dive deep into online battling. People would post their Wi-Fi battles on YouTube, some of them
would start paying more attention to EVs and IVs, what moves and held items were more competitively
viable. Though the first VGC championship was held in 2009, after the release of Platinum, I do think
Diamond and Pearl at least put the seeds in place for the competitive scene to blossom. And with
Pokémon Battle Revolution releasing around the same time for the Wii, Pokémon battling was more
popular than ever. I don't really want to talk too in-depth about the competitive side of Pokémon
just yet, seeing as I think Gen 5 onward was when it really came into its own; I just wanted to
acknowledge that gen 4 kinda set the stage.
Honestly, if this was where the video ended, it
would be difficult to call gen 4 a whole step better than gen 3. Diamond and Pearl, while more
fun to me than the offerings in gens 1 and 2, can be a bit of a slog. There are slim pickings
in its Pokédex, some baffling gym challenges, and an over-reliance on HM usage that makes me
want to rip my head off. Which is what makes gen 4 so weird. The debut titles were rough as ever,
but on the flipside: Pokémon Platinum is by far the best third version ever released.
--
Part 4 - Pure Platinum
--
When I say that I love gen 4, what I'm really
saying is that I love Pokémon Platinum. Platinum is built around the third legendary, Giratina, and
gives it much more prominence in the narrative. Instead of either Dialga or Palkia showing up at
Spear Pillar, Team Galactic plans to use both of them: which is when Giratina intervenes.
You get a peek into the distortion world, where the laws of physics seemingly don't exist.
You can walk on walls and ceilings, there's a weird purple haze everywhere, unexplainable plant
life on the floating rocks. This is Giratina's sickening abode, a place that Cyrus finds very
appealing. A place without other people, a place where he can truly be alone. Team Galactic, in
general, get a few more scenes of development that make them more compelling antagonists.
Cyrus gives an impassioned speech to his grunts, rallying them behind his cause. There are
some arguments between the admins and Charon, a newly introduced scientist figure, showing
that the admins all respect Cyrus as a person more than his stated goals. You get a better idea,
through this, as to why so many people look up to and respect him as a leader. He's just got this
aura about him that you don't want to mess with, and in turn, his ending feels even more
final. After defeating him in battle, he expresses a desire to live in the distortion
world for the rest of his days, away from the connections weighing him down. It's sad that he's
so far gone, and there's really nothing you can do to pull him back. Ultimately, the distortion world
is nothing more than an extravagant set piece, but it's also unlike anything we've seen in
Pokémon before. I do wish it was a bit more of a dungeon, with a few more difficult puzzles, but I
can understand the hesitancy given that this takes place after Veilstone Galactic HQ and Mt. Coronet
back to back. At this point, it would probably be a little exhausting to have yet another huge
dungeon to explore. It works well to set the tone for the final Cyrus fight, followed by your
encounter with the king of the underworld.
It also gives Cynthia more of an active role in
the fight against Cyrus. Cynthia is a historian, and obviously has taken to heart the messages
behind why the universe was created. She sees the power behind love and connections, how it
came to shape not just the region, but the world as we know it. Cynthia isn't concerned at all
with the power these beings might still wield, where Cyrus is absolutely concerned with that
power. In a sense, they are both historians, they both know a similar amount of the
region's history, but it's clear how the messages they've taken from those events differ
dramatically. Cynthia's willingness to drop into the Distortion World with you to brave whatever
comes next is really badass; there's a reason she's my favorite champion. That is, only if
another one of my favorites isn't technically a champion. She's better than Lance!
Makes the fight against her at the end even more of a nail-biter. While the level of her Pokémon,
in general, have been reduced, the quality of her team has only improved. She has fire coverage
on her Garchomp now, her Roserade is packing Toxic for added annoyance, and her Gastrodon has
been replaced by Togekiss. Gastrodon is cool, but its obvious 4x weakness to grass really
hinders its potential in the long run. What role was this thing filling that wasn't already covered
by something else? Garchomp has Earthquake, Milotic has Surf, Roserade has Sludge Bomb. It's
just not much of a threat, but Togekiss definitely is. It has Hustle instead of Serene Grace, which
is a bit of a hindrance, but it gives her flying type coverage, an electric type coverage move,
and it's more of an attacker than Gastrodon, without sacrificing too much bulk. Plus, when you
come back for the rematch after Stark Mountain, she's rocking a bit more of her previously
devastating moves like Psychic and Brick Break to spice things up a little. The reason she's able to
use this Togekiss is because Togekiss is now part of the regional dex, along with the rest of those
new evolutions and a few new returning Pokémon to round out the available roster to 210.
What does this mean? Well, it means a lot.
It means that Volkner has a team of all electric
types, with some decent coverage options against ground types with Luxray's Ice Fang. There's also
a lot of fire coverage, which seems like a cool little nod to his friendship with Flint, whose
team has seen similar improvements. He's got all fire types now, oh how my boy has grown. There's
some really good coverage here too. Solarbeam, Thunderbolt, Thunderpunch, Bounce, Sludge Bomb,
Dark Pulse. There's some really good variety here, without it trivializing its difficulty. Everyone's
basically gotten an upgrade. Aaron swaps out his Dustox and Beautifly for the omega chads Yanmega
and Scizor. Bertha swaps out Sudowoodo and Quagsire for Gliscor and Rhyperior. Lucian swaps
out Medicham and Girafarig for Gallade and Espeon. Man, isn't it great when the regional dex
actually makes use of all your new Pokémon? Even a lot of the gym leaders get a slight
buff from this. Candice shelving her completely random Medicham for Froslass; and about that
Froslass. There's an added little storyline in Platinum where Maylene shows up on your way to
Snowpoint. When you talk to her, you learn that her and Candice are really good friends, and that
Candice tries really hard to make her team of ice types competitive with Maylene's fighting types
despite the obvious weakness. That's why she added Froslass to her team: she nullifies her
fighting type weakness, giving her an edge. Gym leaders have never been particularly memorable
characters, they're kinda just there to give you difficult battles. I appreciate that Platinum
gives them just a little more depth than usual through their friendships. I really get the sense
that these are gym leaders, they all hang out, talk, spar. Your rematches with them are done at
this bar where they all hang out, presumably on their off time. You can imagine they sit down in
here, shoot the shit, try out different teams. And you get fun flavor text, like Roark talking
about his Tyranitar paling in comparison to his dad's Aggron, hinting at his dad's rematch
team. Sinnoh's League is one of my favorites.
This expansion of the regional dex
naturally offers more to the player in terms of team building options. You get
to actually use the two new Eeveelutions, along with Flareon for an additional fire type.
You can catch Houndour and Magmar, and can actually get a Magmarizer for Magmortar. Don't get
me wrong, fire types are still outclassed overall, but at least there are some options to work
with here. It's a lot easier to make a team of all new Pokémon now that you're allowed to
get your hands on these rad new evolutions.
Various speed increases have been implemented. You
get your running shoes pretty much immediately, surfing speed is mercifully quick, those
in-battle pauses have been removed. It's all a bit snappier. I mean, on the whole, HP still drains
by the frame, and there's still a sense that everything is generally just a touch slower, but
it's a big improvement on Diamond and Pearl and it's noticeable right out of the gate. You've got
other nice little touch-ups like the re-designs reflecting the more frigid climate, in-battle
trainer and Pokémon animations, and a few cute visual retouches. But that's all before getting
into the meat of the beefed up post game.
--
Part 5 - Feeling in the Zone
--
The Battle Zone is an entire island northeast
of Sinnoh. New routes, New items, New trainers, New Pokémon! I guess they're all old Pokémon,
technically. It's hard to say this is some excellent new addition. The routes are
cool, labyrinthine in design as always, a lot of secret items to find. The trainers here
use a bunch of new Pokémon made available after getting the National Dex, they're competently
leveled and hovering around the same threat level as the trainers in Victory Road, offering at
least a little bit of a challenge. Stark Mountain is a big new dungeon, where the remnants of Team
Galactic get their conclusion, coming full circle with the international detective Looker.
If nothing else, it's a fun new place to hang out, train, and find cool new Pokémon while
you prepare for some gym leader rematches or another shot at the Elite Four. You can
even fight stronger incarnations of Barry whenever you want. It's kinda cool that his
story doesn't immediately end at the League. You get to the Battle Zone and learn
that Barry's dad is a Frontier Brain, explaining where Barry's aspiration to be such
a great trainer comes from. And this is the real draw here. I could sit and talk about stuff like
being able to catch a level 100 Magikarp in the Resort Area, or the mansion someone gives
you that you can spruce up with furniture: but let's be honest here, we all care
more about the Battle Frontier.
Returning from Emerald, with a few significant
changes, this is the most difficult challenge in Platinum. Diamond and Pearl simply had the Battle
Tower, but Platinum added four new facilities to test your mettle. As usual, you'll need to EV
train and collect the best moves to survive. You might think the process of EV training
in gen 4 would be even more painful, and you're right. The slower speed will have that
effect. However, for this playthrough of Platinum, we've taken advantage of one of its features to
bring over our already trained all-stars from Emerald using the Pal Park. (Well, since we're
on emulator, and figuring out how to use the Pal Park was really complicated, and I didn't
want to accidentally screw up my save file, we just used Pokéhex to transfer them up.
Same IVs, EVs, they're identical).
Not only do you save yourself time training,
you also get the associated reputation of their past feats. This team of legends took on the
Hoenn Battle Frontier, so of course we have to transfer them up to take on the Sinnoh Battle
Frontier. They were born for this. We've got a few returning facilities here. The Battle Tower
is pretty much the same as always. Battle a series of tough trainers, build up a streak to challenge
Barry's dad Palmer. Some of the sets have shifted around due to the physical special split, and
the introduction of new moves and Pokémon, but it's still generally the same. A lot of
different berries for different strategies, a lot of really annoying sets, it's the Battle
Tower alright. If you want a series of straight up tough battles, the Tower is where it's at.
Palmer's teams can be pretty damn difficult, minus his ballsy use of Regigigas.
The other returning facility is the Battle Factory. Once again, it's got a lot of similar
sets, but changed up to reflect the physical special split, new moves, and new Pokémon. You
get a random selection of Pokémon, but this time you're directly told some of the Pokémon you'll be
fighting next. In later rounds they only tell you one or two Pokémon on the opponent's team, but
also give you some set information like one of their preferred moves. This adds just a little
more specific strategy to your team building, and encourages you to switch it up a little
more often. The Battle Factory remains the most accessible and most addicting facility on
offer. Fighting Thorton doesn't really matter, you'll have fun no matter how far you get. Though
I will say, playing on Open Level will certainly test your patience. There's a pretty good
chance you'll run I Blissey, and if you do… well, yeah. I think you can see the
pattern here. Might want to play on a lower level just to save yourself some pain.
The rest of the facilities range from pretty cool, to pretty underwhelming. What I will say, though,
is that none of them outright frustrate me. All of them at least give you the chance to strategize
and actually, you know, battle? There's no shit here where your Pokémon selects a random
move based on your nature. On the flipside, we've also lost a lot of the more interesting,
dungeon-based challenges like the Battle Pyramid and Battle Pike. The other three are simple
variations on normal battling, which while fun, can start to feel a little repetitive. The Battle
Castle is probably my favorite new addition. Here, your held items are taken away, and you aren't
healed in between battles. Instead, once you win a battle, you gain Castle Points to spend. You can
use these to heal your Pokémon, buy berries and items, or to see what Pokémon your opponent will
be using. You'll get more CP the better you do in battle, which mostly means you'll get less if any
of your Pokémon faint. I really love climbing the ranks here. You'll be limited to berries and basic
HP healing unless you spend a ton of CP to rank up your various attributes. Ranking up your healing
will let you heal PP, ranking up your items will give you more useful held items to rent, and
ranking up your opponent view will let you see their moves. I really like weighing up my options
here. Do I heal my Pokémon to make sure I have a better chance in the battle ahead, potentially
even gaining more CP as a result; or do I save my CP so I can rank up and give my Salamence a
Choice Band. Depending on what your opponent has, this choice might make a big difference.
Since you have limited PP, it also means that you can't always just spam your best
move like you could in other facilities. You really have to think about conserving your
resources. Do you switch to Salamence now, or do you wait, keep him healthy, and only bring
him out when you absolutely need him? Darach makes for a neat challenge. The guy who's been
giving you instructions along the way fights in place of Caitlinn. He uses an Entei in his Gold
Print fight, pairing well with his Empoleon and Gallade for excellent coverage across the board.
You'll really need to prepare well to best him. I do think being able to raise and lower
levels can make some fights a little too easy, especially later in streaks. But it kinda equals
out given that the Pokémon you're fighting get progressively harder, and you can't just
continually sink CP into level alterations. It's definitely my favorite new facility given how much
of your strategy is done outside of battle.
The Battle Hall has a similar thing going on. You
can only bring one Pokémon with you, and you'll be doing a monotype challenge. You pick from any
of the available types, and must reach rank ten in all of the types. Which, yes, for the Gold
Print does mean 170 consecutive battles. This might sound excessive, and it kinda is, but the
fact that all of these battles are 1v1 makes it less lengthy than it sounds. Plus, the lower your
rank in a type, and the earlier in your streak, the weaker the Pokémon. So the Battle Hall becomes
about playing around your Pokémon's weaknesses. I picked Salamence, and wanted to get rid of types
like Ice and Dragon pretty early on before they became a threat later in the streak. This won't
completely eliminate any and all opposition, though, as a lot of other Pokémon can learn
Ice and Dragon type moves. Not to mention, there are many other types which share a dual
type with Ice or Dragon, meaning there's still a chance you'll run into Froslass or Dragonite in
other type streaks. It's cool to test yourself against various different types, but it does
tend to feel like luck of the draw sometimes. Since you can only bring one Pokémon with you, if
you pick a type and suddenly there's just a hard counter right in front of you, there really isn't
a whole lot you can realistically do. While you can minimize that damage by picking problematic
types early on, you can never completely eliminate that risk. It's a cool idea, but has the potential
to be incredibly frustrating if your luck is bad. Which I guess you can say about most facilities,
but I feel like the Battle Hall has it the worst. Hell, Argenta just picks from a completely
random type, making for two out of five Frontier Brains with no pre-built team. A bit
lame coming off Emerald, if you ask me.
I know a lot of you will be saying that the Battle
Arcade should be the height of terrible RNG, and while it is my least favorite facility,
I find that it's bad for completely opposite reasons. Here, you spin a roulette to cause
various different effects. Sometimes you'll cause a type of weather, you'll give yourself or
your opponent a status condition, you'll give your opponent a held item, etc. This sounds like it has
the potential to be infuriating, but the thing is that you can time this roulette pretty easily to
land on favorable squares. Especially early on, when there are far more squares in your favor,
you can get away with several "nothing" squares, or even better, you can cripple your opponent's
Pokémon basically for free. Even if you land on things where the roulette speeds up, or get really
far into a streak, as far as the gold print even, you can still pretty realistically land on
beneficial squares. Like, yeah, there's always the potential to make a mistake, but that's on you,
not the game. It doesn't feel like falling victim to bad RNG, since the odds are entirely in your
favor. If anything, this facility has a tendency to be a little too easy on average because of
how simple it is to cripple the enemy team. You don't get to use held items, so that is a
notable handicap, but seeing as you can burn all of Dhalia's first team, or poison her second team,
or bring their HP down about a third, the odds really are in your favor unless you actively want
to handicap yourself. I wouldn't say it's entirely unfun, it's still the Battle Frontier so you're
up against pretty difficult Pokémon. It's just a bit boring and uneventful, which is kinda ironic
for a place constantly banging on about luck.
This Battle Frontier is great, don't get me
wrong. On the whole, it's way more balanced and focused than the Emerald Frontier, but
I feel like we've also lost a lot of unique concepts along the way, and homogenized them all
a little too much. I would have liked at least one or two more challenges which were structured
more like the Battle Pyramid or something, to give the player more to consider than just
battling. A lot of these facilities, while fun, can blend together a little bit, especially in the
beginning when all you're really doing is battling a bunch of Pokémon. If that's all I wanted to do,
I'd go to the Tower. It's still great, though. It's still an outlet for players who want to
tap into the competitive side of Pokémon in the main game. With a few more tweaks and additions
from Emerald, I think the next Battle Frontier will be something truly special… *ahem*
Diamond and Pearl may have had some questionable decisions, but Platinum kinda proves that this
generation had a solid foundation to begin with. All it took was a few tweaks and additions to turn
it into something truly special. I recognize that a lot of this might be nostalgia speaking, I
know a lot of people just can't put up with the sluggish pacing. A lot of it is still present in
Platinum, it couldn't be rid of that stuff in its entirety. But I like to think the brilliance
of it shines brighter than that. The quiet, calm atmosphere of Sinnoh, bleeding into its
inhabitants and core theming. A truckload of side and post game content to sink your teeth into. A
memorable set of friends, gym leaders, rivals, and villains. A fantastic new selection of Pokémon. I
just can't bring myself to hate Sinnoh. I love it, all of its imperfections included. I'll do
another playthrough any day of the week.
And if you can believe it, Platinum
isn't even my favorite Pokémon game.
