Features:

  • Worldwide battles and trading using WiFi.
  • Real-time clock feature changes the time of day based on the DS clock. The Pokemon you can catch vary based on the region and the time of day. Also, certain Pokemon moves' power changes based on time.
  • More elaborate Pokemon Contests. Players can use the accessories and dress up their Pokemon. Players make "Poffin" out of Berries to raise their Pokemon's contest stats.
  • New dual-type Pokemon, new/altered moves, and new special abilities add to the already deep strategy of Pokemon battling.
  • 3-D enviornments and updated graphics.
Nostalgia all over

Definitely felt very nostalgic buying this game again but so happy I did. Brings back memories.

The beginning of a new era of pokemon

This game in itself is awesome. For someone like me, who has played most of all 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, generation pokemon games, I know that this game, in 4th generation, along with the other games in its series, is among one of the best games in the entire pokemon collection. Although, in comparison with Platinum, this game falls behind in the rankings, this game is still very very good and very exciting. To all who know that Platinum is an expansion of Diamond and Pearl I already know this, and that is one of the reasons why Diamond and Pearl drop behind Platinum. Although, simply because of the expansion is not the reason Platinum is over this game, there are other reasons. However, as this review is not put here to talk about Platinum I'll continue. (If you want to see reviews on Platinum, or mine specifically, search up Platinum version and scroll down to the reviews or click on customer reviews on the top of the screen just below the game title and next to the games main picture.) Now, I've played through most of Diamond and found that the game in itself is amazing, as I've already said, and contains totally new things. Although, this is what you'd expect from a 4th generation game, don't entirely put it off as equal with the rest of them. The game is one long roller coaster filled with elements of different types. For someone like me, who has played 3rd generation games and below for years, I know that this game, along with the others in the 4th generation category, is a totally new experience; and to be totally frank about this, from the moment you get into 4th generation games, you'll never settle or go back to 3rd generation or below games again. In diamond you meet many different characters, some as you would expect, others, like team galactic and the new gym leaders and elite four are something else entirely. Another aspect of in-game play is the regular people and trainers as they carry new and improved pokemon that fight with new moves and talents. Best of all I've found about the pokemon battles is the graphics and the way the moves have changed. Now, the different moves are totally attached to the way their supposed to be. Like for instance is the move water gun, for all who've played all the previous games you'll know what I'm talking about, it used to fire from the pokemon as a ball, or large drop, of water, when, if anyone saw the episodes, or how you'd imagine it, the water is fired directly from the mouth of the pokemon. Like the episodes, and in a brilliant display, the 4th generation games do just that. All other moves are the same way, as they are now made to perfection and put in action in a way many of us couldn't foresee. On the issue of diamonds pokemon, the pokedex, if I remember correctly, contains around 400 species of pokemon (I'm not sure on the exact number) including past generation pokemon. These new pokemon will blow you away as they did me, believe me, as they have new abilities to. The legendaries are one of these blow-away elements, as you can find Giratina and Dialga, two ultra-powerful pokemon who fight pokemon battles like no other. On a side-note, I'd like to add a few details that will help show you some things you might want to know: 1. Like all the other games in 4th generation, there is no pokemon that has to have a master ball used on it. 2. The cloning procedure in 4th generation causes glitches to the game and by glitches I mean it is able to wipe your entire game file causing you to start over. These glitches also apply to other codes and such, thus causing the same problems or worse. (I highly recommend not using cheat codes and cloning as you really don't need them and two you really don't do much for yourself.). 3. The people in game, whether trainers, gym leaders, or not, contain info that tells you more about the game, sometimes giving it a personal side, and sometimes advice to help you or remind you of things. Occasionally there are people who will give you items. (To be honest, this game probably gives you more items than any previous game). 4. This game contains a bag that can be filled with any items you get or buy on the trip. On a side-note to this fact you will find that there is no item storage on your PC, however, you do discover that you can contain many different types of mail and decorate poke balls of your different pokemon using several different things called seals that appear in many different shapes and such. 4. In diamond, you can dress up your pokemon, play pokemon contests in a whole new manner, play in the underground where you can find many different items, and get poketch apps. In digging in the underground, know that on each of the three games (Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum) you can usually only find one type of fossil. (I'm not sure if it is possible for any of the three games to allow you to find both types of fossils that you can find in the underground). In the underground you can find many different items, such as hand-held items for pokemon, shards, and revives. You can also get accessories in the underground by trading certain items off. 5. Finally, there is one glitch I have recently become aware of, this glitch applies to Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, I think. This glitch relates to the Global Trade Station (GTS). I've recently found out from another source online that by trading over the GTS one can encounter a certain glitch which can be cured only by the Nintendo company. Although, the Nintendo company can fix it, I've heard that the game file must be erased, thus meaning, you start over. Although, I do not know what the glitch does, from what I've heard, I can infer that it probably is pretty harsh, and so, I believe it may be unsafe to use the GTS unless your game has been cleared of this problem. Side-note: You can still use local trading at the Pokemon Center to connect to other games or your friends. 6. This game can trade with Platinum, Pearl, Soul Silver, Heart Gold, Black, White, My Pokemon Ranch, Pokemon Ranger, and Pokemon Battle Revolution. You cannot trade with games not on this list. Now, you can trade with some advancements of the games on this list, I believe. (There are some games that I do not know of that might be able to trade to this game). Although, you cannot trade with 3rd generation games, you can migrate. Migration is a little different than trading as this applies to a one way trade. When you migrate, you put the Pokemon cartridge of one of the 3rd generation pokemon games into the DS's GBA Slot and click on whatever pokemon DS game you are using (this occurs directly after you click on the health and safety notice after turning on the game), and at the users screen before entering game play you will see one of the bars under continue game saying Migrate pokemon, or something along those lines. Clicking on that allows you to send 6 pokemon from your GBA game to the DS game per day. Once these pokemon are on the DS game, they cannot be traded back to the GBA game. Once migrated, the GBA pokemon will appear in Pal Park, a place not open until after beating the elite four. At Pal Park, you will have to catch the pokemon you've migrated. Don't worry, I've found out that they will be automatically caught once you try to catch them, sort of like using a master ball. Once migrating and catching of the pokemon is done, you may trade these pokemon, or train them, to any compatible trading game of the DS game you are using. Minus the glitches and such (no glitches occur unless a code or cloning is used) the game is quite wonderful. In Choosing between Diamond and Pearl, as I myself asked the question, I've found that it is really a choice of whether you want Dialga or Palkia. Yes, I've heard that there is also a difference in the timing of finding pokemon more often in grass, and I believe that this is probably true. To be honest, in playing Diamond, I think that the finding more pokemon factor occurs in this game. On a final note, I need to tell you that many of these points apply to people who have never played 4th generation or above pokemon games (Black and White are 5th generation pokemon games). Although, I don't know about all of the Legendary Pokemon in this game, I hope that others can find them for themselves and enjoy. I know that there is probably more to be said, however, I hope that many people can benefit from this review and use it to prepare them for what lies ahead in the 4th generation games. Like me, I hope others can be blown away by these games and enjoy the new world of Sinnoh. Sorry, for the length, and any lack of details you were hoping for. My hope is that this supplies a good view of the game from my point of view and also benefits those hoping to buy this game. I do hope you enjoy this game as much as I have. Thank you for reading.

Another Great Pokemon Game

There is a reason Pokemon has lasted as long as it has and is loved by so many individuals. Each game brings new challenges, new pokemon, and new gym leaders. I especially liked how Diamond and Pearl expanded on the Contest/Ribbon portion with new contest challenges and the ability to win ribbons outside of contests. Another thing I loved about this game is that you "complete" the Pokedex by seeing all 150 pokemon. You don't necessarily have to catch them to get the National Dex. It makes it a lot easier for gamers to achieve this and explore new areas. My one complaint is that I really dislike the "new safari zone" in this generation aka "the great marsh." The whole point of the safari zone in the original games was to challenge your speed when trying to get HM03 surf and offering rare pokemon. The safari zone in Diamond/Pearl offers no challenge to get the HM Defog - you get it right when you enter - and the pokemon inside are not that exciting.

Pokemon Diamond Version

Take note that this is the newest edition of Pokemon that was released on Sunday, April 22, 2007... I pre-ordered this on Wednesday, April 18, 2007, received my package with Pokemon Diamond in it yesterday (Wednesday, April 25, 2007), and... I love this game thus far!!!!!!! The graphics are awesome, the day/night scene makes a gr8 comeback,you get something called a Poketch in the game that lets you keep track of the time, the pokemon in your party, it has a calculator,etc... I could go on and on about this game for hours lol. It's actually like Ruby Sapphire Emerald, and Pokemon Crystal rolled into one game!!!!! I love it!!!!!!!! I've only had this game a day and already my Prinplup is in the mid-20's as of what level it's on! Sometime this summer or maybe even around Christmas, I may go back and get Pokemon Pearl, or after I beat this game, I might start a new game all over again and check out what the other starters are like. I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend this game! I should warn you though, it took me three tries before I defeated the second gym leader... but I finally managed to beat her... otherwise I love this game... in fact I'm gonna go back and play it right now! OK, like I said in one other Pokemon game review, I am now an eighteen and a half year old Pokemon fan, about to turn 19 in June. I guess you could call me a kid at heart, even though there are such things as adult Pokemon trainers... I don't know if I'll ever grow out of this phase... who knows, when it comes to video games, maybe I won't... I'll probably be playing games like this one for a long time!!!!!!

Very Entertaining

I've been playing these games since Red and Blue first came out and it's amazing how far along they've come. It has gone from a flat one-color world with minimal details to a 3D full color world with GREAT details. The graphics really pull you into the game. The only thing I'm not to fond of is the battle graphics. I was never happy with just seeing the pokemon bounch back and fourth and then see the other pokemon blink indicating a hit. In previous games (ex. Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and even the Game Boy Advanced) it was understandable because you can only fit so much data on those cartridges. However seeing how much more data and better graphics is able to be put on these even smaller Nintendo DS cartridges I kinda wish they started working on better battle animations. Like I said, they still just bounce around and blink or glow.... nothing all that entertaining. Now if their attacks actually interacted with each other THAT would be much more entertaining. To me it gets kind of boring (especially those long drawn-out battles that you don't think will ever end) just watching them stand there doing nothing when their attacks look much cooler in your head than in the actual game. Gameplay follows the traditional pokemon gameplay. You start off choosing one of three starters (water, fire, grass) however the way you end up choosing your starter is similar but still a little different than how you end up choosing your starter in Sapphire, Ruby and Emerald. There are a lot of similarities between Diamond/Pearl and Sapphire/Ruby/Emerald. Enough for you to be familiar with some things and not feel completely lost. However there are PLENTY of new things to keep you suprised and keep the game new. If you've played any of the older Pokemon games and liked them I strongly recomend getting this one.

Love Pokemon

More Pokemon and new places. Pick up if your a fan or a casual looking for something to play.

Pokemon-Sinnoh Series

Still playing this. Bought it around my birthday in May. So far it has been great. Close to beating it.

Awesome

My son loves it. It came in a new nice complete box/package. On time. Diamond is one of the best versions including pearl, especially with it being new gen on the DS

Really fun game!

I picked up this game because I was looking for a new DS game to play and I had enjoyed Pokemon on the GBA and GBC. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much better this game was than those I had played in the past! The graphics are much better, there are MANY places to explore, and best of all, with only a DS wireless connector, you can play with people all over the world. In addition to the challenge of collecting over 400 Pokemon, which alone will take you days on end, there are many other fun activities. There are contests to enter with your Pokemon in which you are rated in various areas, such as visual and dance (the dance competition is like a mini-DDR). You can cook Poffins, which are like candy you can feed to your Pokemon so that they will do better in competitions. You can also go underground, build and decorate a secret base, dig for treasure and play a "capture the flag" game with your friends. My only warning is that you will definitely lose track of time while playing, so make sure to keep the digital watch app of your Poketch turned on as often as possible.

Perfecting the formula

So far, the Pokemon franchise has been all about perfecting the same formula that was introduced in Red and Blue. This game is no exception. To keep it fresh, they add various gimmicks that in a sense give you a break in the "main" gameplay. "Gimmicks" would probably be a bad word to use, because in this generation of Pokemon, it's more like "gimmicks done right." The addition of the Global Trade Station, the expansion of multiplayer options (Battle Tower, Underground), transferring Pokemon from older Game Boy Advance versions blend in with the game very well and add enough spice to make this game feel fresh, despite the fact the game formula is 10 years old. Note that this game targets returning fans of the series. Also, if you are not able to take advantage of most of these features, the game will most likely seem somewhat lacking. So you're going to need a wireless access point and some friends playing the game for the best experience. If you need friends, there is always online Pokemon communities. It's not my style, but it works with a lot of people.

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