After a lackluster presentation at their Direct on Feb. 17, Nintendo has shocked a good portion of its fans with the announcement of not one, not two, but three new games in the Pokémon franchise: Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl Versions, and Legends: Arceus.
To be released for the Switch console in late 2021/early 2022, all three new Pokémon games will expand on the lore of the series’ fourth generation, which took place in the fictional Sinnoh region.
Originally released for the Nintendo DS in 2006, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl focus on (aside from catching creatures in balls and battling with them) themes of temporal and spatial awareness, as well as the peaceful coexistence of tradition and modernity.
The player must put a stop to the plans of the villainous Team Galactic, who plan on harnessing the Pokémon incarnations of temporal and spatial power—Dialga (mascot of Diamond) and Palkia (mascot of Pearl)—in order to establish their own universe.
What is particularly special about the Sinnoh remakes is the amount of speculation about their existence that had been going on since long before their reveals.
The fourth-generation remakes have been speculated on since at least 2014, when the previous generation’s remakes Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire came out for the Nintendo 3DS. Additionally, three months ago on Twitter, a French leaker known as Kelios stated, “You’re going to have your remake next November [2021], stop complaining. And you will say, ‘omg Pokémon this is the best license.’”
The news comes as a genreally positive revelation to fans, but there are some issues that have received some backlash. One of the main complaints based on the first impressions of Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl is that the graphics look somewhat childish. However, I’d argue that this “chibi” art style is actually more in line with the original four-way directional layout of the games.
Something tells me that the Pokémon Company expected this, as they announced another perhaps less expected new game.
Seeing as it’s the 25th anniversary of Pokémon, it was a pleasant surprise to hear of the development of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, a fully open-world action RPG that will feature brand new mechanics for capturing and interacting with the famously diverse creatures.
Legends: Arceus will apparently also take place in Sinnoh, however it will happen during the so-called “feudal” era of this land. Instead of the normal linear format of the franchise, this game will take an open-world approach clearly inspired by that of Nintendo’s 2017 masterpiece The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Though it’s still quite early to speculate on the plot of this new and unexpected type of Pokémon adventure, we can assume that Arceus, who is essentially the creator god of this canon, will play a vital role. Additionally, it’s likely that some as-of-yet unknown lore will be added to give even more context to all three future releases.
While it’s often perceived to be a children’s game (which it is in a lot of ways), Pokémon still has a highly-dedicated fanbase among all ages, and these three new games, at least for me, represent the continuation of a series that has been a staple of my childhood and adulthood alike.
IMAGE TAKEN from Nintendo
IMAGE TAKEN from GoNintendo.com
