Pokemon Pearl Version

"Real Gems"

It took long enough. But finally Pokemon Diamond and Pearl have arrived on North American shores. After a release on September 28th in Japan, 206 days later on April 22nd they were released in English. While many Pokemon fans imported, due to knowing Japanese, or not caring about the text, I did not, due to me not knowing Japanese and caring about the text. But the mighty long wait was worth it. What took so long? I'm not sure. But its not important. The games are out now. And they are definitely worth looking into. 107 new Pokemon. The new region of Sinnoh. Online battles and trades. Cross-gen import features. Not to mention undeniable polish. Ahh, I love the smell of a new Pokemon game.

GAMEPLAY: 8.7/10

Pokemon is, on the surface, a simple yet fun, sugar coated RPG. Pokemon is, at it's core, the deepest RPG you will likely ever play. The game is fairly easy, but is quite lengthy, and fun. It should take you about 30-40 hours if you play normally. It took me about 50, because I took it nice and slow. The game mechanics are simple, and yet deep. You catch and raise some Pokemon, which level up, learn moves, and finally evolve. You beat 8 Gyms where you must defeat a strong trainer, become the best Pokemon Trainer in the world, and even save the world along the way. Each team member can only have 4 moves at a time, and each move can only be used a certain amount of times. The stronger moves can be used less, and weaker ones can be used more. And mix in the use of HM's, which allow you to do an action outside of battle, but take up a move slot from one of your team. Statistics grow on level ups, and after a while most Pokemon will evolve into a stronger form. What exactly makes this game so deep though? It seems simple right? Read on.

REPLAY VALUE: 9.8/10

That's pretty high huh? It deserves it. In the last section I explained the basics of the game. Now I will explain why it's deep, which is one of the reasons of the great replay value. The deepness can be explained in 4 words:

Every. Pokemon. Is. Different.

That's right. Every Pokemon has different base statistics, stat growth natures, abilities, and so on. My Lucario and your Lucario could very well play differently. Statistic bases are affected by IVs, which are the stats your Pokemon come with, and EV's, which award bonus stats to Pokemon depending on its opponents. Stat growth is affected by natures, which changes which categories will grow faster and slower. Abilities give your Pokemon special effects in battle such as perfect accuracy. There are also moves that your Pokemon can learn only from breeding, which is another huge element of the replay.

Breeding in Pokemon could be a whole game in itself. Raising parents to breed certain moves onto its children, getting abilities just right for the baby, and hatching a bunch of eggs to get the baby with the best stats possible. But only certain Pokemon can breed with certain Pokemon, and some Pokemon only come in one gender, and then throw in Dittos which can change into anything. Breeding is the ultimate in customization, and an absolute must to get everything out of the game.

So you have now raised tons of perfect designer Pokemon with custom stats, custom moves, and custom everything else? Now what to do with them? Competitive battling of course. Your team versus other teams via LAN and Wifi. Many rules to choose, from 3 on 3 singles to 6 on 6 doubles with a partner, there are MANY ways to fight.

What if you don't want to fight? What if you want to dress up your Pokemon and make them dance on stage? Then Pokemon Contests are for you. Enter your Pokemon in beauty contests where they will dance, preform moves and other things. You can mix berries to make a food for your Pokemon to improve their stats in contest categories such as Beauty, Cute, and Cool.

You can even bring in your teams from the GBA games. And if you transfered your Pokemon from the GCN games into the GBA, those can come in too.

Train your Pokemon for battle, or contests, or raise them to trade with others.

And if you think that's impressive, I still haven't even mentioned the Pokedex. A catalouge of all the Pokemon in the world, for you to complete. 'Gotta catch 'em all baby.

PLOT: 3.3/10

Absolute crap. Don't expect anything from this plot, its only a reason to battle. The plot is horrible, but irrelevant to the game. If you want plot read a book. If you want to play Pokemon, play Pokemon.

But anyways, the basic plot is you are going to be the best trainer in the world, and complete the Pokedex. Your best friend is trying to do the same. But there's an evil group of people up to no good. So you have got to stop them along the way.

It's only good for ushering along the game. That's it. Don't expect more.

AUDIO: 6.7/10

The music is slightly above par, but nothing special. Some of it is repetitive, and some of it is catchy and overall is a mixed bag. In battle, moves have sound effects, but they're nothing special either. It gets the job done and that's it. Not really much to say here.

GRAPHICS: 8.9/10

You might think this is a high score for what it is, 2-D with some 3-D effects, rather than full fledged 3-D, and is completely sprite based in battle. But honestly, this was the best route to take, if it was 3-D in the overworld, it would lose the feel of Pokemon, and if it was 3-D in battle it would just be ugly. DS 3-D isn't particularly great, being on par with N64, so in battle wouldn't be very good either. The sprites look a lot better than crude 3-D models. Not to mention the great design on the new Pokemon...

POKEMON: 9.0/10

Simply put this generation has good design for the critters. The 1st gen had basic designs, with animal based ideas. By 2nd gen, the designers were being more creative with the designs. But when 3rd gen rolled around, the designers were obviously running out of ideas, and the designs were sometimes lackluster. But the 4th gen Pokemon look very neat, and are on par with the second generation in my opinion, which is a very good thing.

ONLINE: 7.2/10

The online suffers from 1 major issue. The fact that I cannot battle someone in real-time that is not on my Friend List. The much bashed friend codes do not bother me (With FC's you can whatever name you want, instead of having to pick one not already taken). If they bother you though you can chalk up another reason. Other than that there is 1 minor issue, which has to do with the GTS - Global Trade Station. The GTS is a great feature, that allows you to trade with anyone around the world. You upload a Pokemon you want to trade, state what you want for it, and then when somebody trades for it, the system automatically gives you the Pokemon you recieved. The minor flaw is that you cannot ask the GTS what you can get in return for any Pokemon you may posess. Otherwise the GTS works great. At the Battle Tower you can also fight other people's teams, though they are controlled by CPU's. Also, all trades and battles with friends all have voice chat. A definite plus.

PROS AND CONS

+Fun main game
+Infinite replay value
+107 new creatures
+Cross-gen compatibility
+Online trading and battling
+Nice graphics

-A couple online issues
-Music is occasionally annoying and repetetive
-Lawl @ teh plot

RENT OR BUY?

Buy it. Now. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Sure the main game can be beaten without much effort, but with a rental you will not even be able to touch the replay value. Total no-brainer.

DIAMOND OR PEARL?

It doesn't really matter. Both are essentially the same, with only a few minor differences. Just pick based on the Pokemon on the cover. Do you like the cool blue and silver of Dialga from Diamond? Or do you fancy the pink, yet badassery of Palkia from Pearl? I went with Pearl, largely because its the second version of the game (Diamond and Pearl), in addition to Palkia having opposable thumbs.

FINAL COMMENTS

This is a must-own for any DS owner out there, be you a longtime fan, or a Pokenoob. It is nearly guaranteed to be one of the most played DS games you will ever have. I also recommend you get the "Ultimate National Pokedex" guide from Nintendo Power. I know it sounds like advertising but it is nearly essential for getting the most out of the game, with movelists, evolutions, and breeding information. The level of the information is not on GameFaqs or any other site, sans Serebii.net, and is a good thing to have around for quick easy reference.

FINAL SCORE: 9.6/10

My Pokeymans. Let me show you them

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 09/06/07

Game Release: Pokemon Pearl Version (US, 04/22/07)