Today was the Pokémon Presents presentation, which I had certain hopes for going into it.

To start with, no, there was no Detective Pikachu news. The additional games shown beyond the two being highlighted were Pokémon Unite’s mobile release and the relaunch of Pokémon Café Mix as Pokémon Café Remix.

But let’s get into the main features, starting with Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.

There’s still no sign of the Pokémon Platinum storyline returning in Pokémon BDSP; some ominous lines in the trailer could hint at that but are also part of Cyrus’s Diamond/Pearl plans. However, I was also worried that they might cut the Underground mini-games from the remakes… but the Underground content is in!

These remakes actually look great to me (and I didn’t even mind the trailer’s zoom-ins on the dialogue).

The Underground’s mining mini-game is one of my favorite Pokémon mini-games, so I’m thrilled to see it return. It looks like there’s even more to do in the new “Grand Underground” now, too. Secret Bases are also back, which is great.

They also showed off Super Contest Shows, using Stickers for special Poké Ball visual effects, character customization, and Pokémon walking behind you. Overall, this trailer made me pretty excited for Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl.

Then they moved on to Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Combat is turn-based, but with some new twists. Your speed stat determines how often you can attack, so it sounds like it’s more of an ATB system. You also have two different combat styles to switch between.

As for it being open world, it looks as though you’ll unlock new regions as you progress through the game and then enter a region to explore it. I think. Some people still think it’s a full open world.

You’ll accept missions at Jubilife Village, a hub area where you work as part of the Galaxy Expedition Team. Okay, the connections to Team Galactic speculated about shortly after the announcement trailer are definitely not a coincidence. Commander Kamado is confirmed to be an ancestor of Professor Rowan, so it feels like a safe bet that Captain Cyllene is Cyrus’s ancestor (although that seems weird to me considering what we know of Cyrus’s backstory, so maybe not).

Interestingly, catching a Pokémon isn’t enough to complete its Pokédex entry. Completing the Pokédex is a major goal, and you need to study the Pokémon through additional research tasks to complete its entry. Catching Pokémon also seems to have more of a puzzle element, since you approach Pokémon on the field, and large Pokémon appear capable of attacking the player directly, too.

Legends: Arceus sounds like it could be a lot of fun, so I’m definitely interested in seeing more.

What are your thoughts on the new details shown about Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl and Pokémon Legends: Arceus?

While we were still discussing romance games near the end of February, there was a Pokémon Presents live stream celebrating the 25th anniversary of the series.

In addition to an overview of the series and a new trailer for New Pokémon Snap (which looks absolutely beautiful), they also made two new game announcements.

The first was for Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl, remakes of the fourth generation games. These had been widely rumored for a while.

But then they followed that with the announcement of an all-new game called Pokémon Legends: Arceus, set in ancient Sinnoh as you work to create the first Pokédex.

Let’s talk about these games. First, while the chibi graphics of the Diamond/Pearl remakes has proven to be controversial, I don’t mind it. Yes, I was hoping to see them remade in the graphic style of the newer games, but Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl look pretty good.

There’s only one thing that has me uncertain about Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, and that’s the potential lack of Pokémon Platinum content.

See, Pokémon Platinum introduced new aspects to the plot that weren’t in the original Diamond and Pearl, and I really liked that part of the story. But since these are remakes of Diamond and Pearl, there’s a chance they’ll stick to their original storylines, like how Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire followed the stories of Ruby and Sapphire respectively.

If Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl include the Platinum story content, I’ll probably get one of them. If they don’t… well, then I’ll wait to see what else they have to offer.

(On the other hand, I admit I didn’t actually play Diamond/Pearl, only Platinum, so maybe I ought to get them even if they lack the Platinum story content, since they’d be newer experiences for me.)

Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are also being developed by a company called ILCA instead of Game Freak, which is an interesting decision. ILCA has worked in a support role on several big-name game, but it appears as though this is the first time they’re the lead developer.

Moving on, Pokémon Legends: Arceus has caused quite a stir since it looks fairly different from any past Pokémon game.

Much of the hype comes from fans who see it as an open world game along the lines of Breath of the Wild, and as someone who isn’t a big fan of open worlds and couldn’t stick with Breath of the Wild, that has me less enthusiastic.

On the other hand, they haven’t clearly said that it will be open world. The closest we get to anything official being said is the trailer calling it a “vast wilderness.” That might just mean the areas are big, without being fully open world. If it’s some sort of Xenoblade-like structure with large areas to explore and a world that opens up more as you progress through the game, I’d be pretty excited for that.

(It’s being widely reported as an open world game, but Wikipedia also thinks it’s an action RPG despite us clearly seeing turn-based or ATB combat in the trailer just because it has some action elements, so don’t take anything as fact if it doesn’t come from an official source.)

Meanwhile, there are some really interesting story theories out there due to a potential connection to Team Galactic. I’d love it if there really is a direct connection between Legends and the main Sinnoh games (or maybe even, you know, Pokémon Platinum’s story).

I was a little disappointed that they still haven’t said anything about the new Detective Pikachu game announced for the Switch, but I’m cautiously optimistic for both Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl and Pokémon Legends: Arceus. What are your thoughts on these upcoming Pokémon games, and what do you think they’ll be like?