Nintendo Announces Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Remakes Along With New Open-World RPG

Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have revealed several new games as part of the Pokémon franchise’s 25th anniversary.

The news came in a special Pokémon Presents stream earlier today, which included a lengthy look back at the series, from its beginnings in 1996.

One of the first announcements was that Pokémon Diamond and Pearl have been remade. The new versions of the Generation 4 games will be called Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl and will release for Nintendo Switch later in 2021.

The footage shown during the Pokémon Presents event indicates that the remakes won’t have a similar art style to Let’s Go Pikachu & Eevee as originally rumored. Instead, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have unique visuals that are distinct from anything else in the series so far.

Unlike previous remakes, this new release is being developed by Pokémon Home studio ILCA. This is primarily because Game Freak is busy working on another title.

Nintendo also used the event to unveil Pokémon Legends: Arceus. This is an open-world game that seems to take inspiration from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

#PokemonLegendsArceus takes place in the Sinnoh region long before the events of Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl.

The story unfolds in a long-gone era, before the idea of being a Pokémon Trainer or having a Pokémon League even existed. https://t.co/GPMNVvt2VY pic.twitter.com/oGia57unO5
— Pokémon (@Pokemon) February 26, 2021

Pokémon Legends: Arceus takes place in the Sinnoh region but is set during the feudal era. This is a time when Pokémon trainers and the Pokémon League don’t exist.

Players will be tasked with completing the world’s first Pokédex. They can also catch wild creatures by sneaking up in tall grass and surprising the Pokémon. The Game Freak developed title is not due to release until early 2022.