It has been 14 years sincePokemon DiamondandPearlreleased for the Nintendo DS, starting off the 4th generation ofPokemongames and taking players to the Sinnoh region. The region before sawPokemon Ruby, Sapphire, andEmeraldintroducing players to Hoenn region, but it also brought players back to Kanto with the firstPokemonremakes:FireRedandLeafGreen.AfterDiamondandPearlreleased, players wentback to Johto inHeartGoldandSoulSilverin the core series' second set of remakes. But the question that remains on many fans' minds is: where are the Sinnoh remakes?
Two generations afterPokemon DiamondandPearl, Hoenn got its own remakes in the form ofOmega RubyandAlpha Sapphire.Pokemon Yelloweven got a remake the next generation, withLet’s Go, Pikachu!andLet’s Go, Eevee!. The main focus of the current generation, Gen 8, seems to be on creating DLC forPokemon SwordandShield, a new approach for the games.Pokemon Crystal, Emerald, Platinum, Ultra Sun,andUltra Moonall provided additions to features and storylines for their main game duos, but so far,SwordandShieldhaven’t seen an upper version.
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DiamondandPearlgot a third version in the form ofPlatinumthree years after the duo released, and some people liked it even more than the original Sinnoh games.Platinumadded the Wi-Fi Plaza for multiplayer use,more Pokemon for the Pokedex, the Battle Frontier, and an expanded storyline and endgame. Yet no remakes have been announced or even hinted at, and many people are growing impatient, and some players have even gone so far as to say the remakes will never happen. While there’s no way to know the future for sure, here’s why theDiamondandPearlremakes remain a very real possibility.
2021 is a Big Year for Pokemon
By doing the math, one can see that it took 2 generations each to remake the Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn games, with each having a full generation between the original games and the remakes. Yet the number of generations has doubled since the Sinnoh games, with no remake on the horizon. As each generation comes and goes without a new version ofDiamondandPearl, some people are beginning to lose hope. Yet there is still hope, because as each generation passes without any news of Sinnoh remakes, anticipation grows, and the expected reveal would have to be huge at this point to make up for all the time. From many people’s points of view, thePokemon25th Anniversary Celebrationis the perfect venue to revealDiamondandPearlremakes.
Crown Tundrais set to be the final DLCforPokemon SwordandShield, which means that the core series will most likely either focus on moving on to Generation 9 and introducing a completely new region, there will be a third game set in Kalos announced, or Nintendo will release a remake. It’s been just over a year sincePokemon SwordandShieldreleased, so if this generation did end with just those two plus their DLC, most fans would no doubt complain about how little time was spent on Gen 8. And many people believe that the DLC are a replacement forSwordandShieldbecoming a trio, especially after developer comments, although there is always the possibility for a surprise pivot there.
The most likely option for continuing Gen 8 is to introduce a remake. Every other region introduced before Sinnoh has seen a remake, and given the appreciation and nostalgia for Sinnoh, it would be a very odd move for Nintendo to skip over Gen 4’s games entirely and jump right intoremakes ofPokemon BlackandWhite.
Another option is that the remake would be of a game other than an original generational duo, like howPokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu!was a remake of Kanto’sPokemon Yellow.But remakingPokemon CrystalorEmeraldon their own just isn’t as likely, sincePokemon Yellowwas arguably more different and innovative than its generation thanCrystalandEmeraldwere to theirs. And, expanding on theLet’s Goseries would arguably please less fans, as it has less of afollowing thanPokemon DiamondandPearl.
Diamond and Pearl Would be Perfect with Modern Tech
InPlatinum, the Wi-Fi Plaza and Global Trade System were innovations that madePokemonmore friendly to multiplayer and online connections than ever, something many fans take for granted withPokemon GO’s multiplayer functionalities. While many people are asking for aPokemon MMORPGand increased capabilities for trade and trainer battles inPokemon GO,some of the strides Nintendo has made in allowing players to connect with each other could be showcased in Sinnoh remakes. After all,Diamond, Pearl,andPlatinummade a big point at the time of hyping up their capacities for online use and connection, and putting them on the Switch with its online subscription service would be a huge homage to the original games.
There are major lines to draw betweenBlack 2andWhite 2’s Pokemon World Tournament andSwordandShield’s Star Tournaments. The Pokemon World Tournament allowed the Unovan player’s trainer to battle against gym leaders and champions from regions including Sinnoh. There’s been an increasing demand from fans to make a truly massively multiplayerPokemonexperience, which is partially reflected in unofficial competitions in the meta online.SwordandShield’s gym challenge system references this desire by pitting the player against gym leaders in giant crowd-filled stadiums.
Pokemon DiamondandPearlremakes have a lot of interesting lore with the gym leaders that could be interesting to see in a truly multiplayer gym league challenge or endgame battling experience. What if players could fight each other in-game for gym badges? Of course, theDiamondandPearlremakes could be amazingeven without that. SinceSwordandShielddoesn’t have all 800+ Pokemon, there are plenty of Sinnoh Pokemon players still want to see in the level of detail and graphics quality that is available in Kalos.
Simply put, there is an incredible amount of nostalgia and hype surrounding the Sinnoh games and their potential remakes. With the upcoming 25th anniversary, current position in the beginning of a generation, and the level of new technology, 2021 could be the perfect time to announce and release the new versions ofPokemon DiamondandPearlso many people want to play.
