Probally the best game i ever played. This game shine brighter than any diamond i have ever seen.
story:8/10
The story and premise behind Pokemon is simple. You are a young 10 year old boy who has gone off with you're friend (who later becomes the rival) to lake verity to find any legend Pokemon that lives there. But you are out of luck, Until you spot the professor and his young assistant dawn. They leave but you notice they have a small bag they left. So you and you're friend go over and check but while looking a horde of starly come and attack. So you and you're friend choose one of the 3 Pokemon in the bag. One is piplup the small water penguin Pokemon, chimchar the energetic fire monkey Pokemon and turtwig the playful grass turtle Pokemon. after winning the battle you both leave but see the professor and dawn standing and staring at you. they found out you took the pokes and they tell you to come to the lab. So once at the lab the professor notice you're Pokemon's liking to you and lets you and you're chosen Pokemon to go on an adventure with. But thats just the beginning. Later on you're journey after a few battles with the gym leaders you come across and yellow haired girl dressed in all black named Cynthia (who you find out later is the champion of the elite 4) She noticed that a crazy group of evil maniacs called team galactic have came to sin noh on a mission to take the 3 legendary elf Pokemon Uxie, Mespirit and Azelf and store them into a factory to get the energy from them to give to the all mighty creator of the planets either dialga or palkia (depending on which Pokemon game you play diamond for dialga and pearl for palkia) But you must later on in the game go to the top of mount coronet to defeat the boss of team galactic and save the world from being destroyed. And once after those epic strings of events have past you are now on you're way to the elite 4 the biggest challenge you will get out of this game...yet. If you want to know what i mean by that then beat the elite 4 and get the national Poke dex by seeing all 150 Pokemon in the regular sin noh Poke dex then you will see what i mean about a bigger challenge . So anyway it may be the same old Pokemon story but if you do pay close attention to the story you can see its different in many ways and more involved than any other Pokemon game before it which is a good task this game achieved
game play: 10/10
We all know Pokemon. catching and battling Pokemon to get stronger and evolve into even bigger and stronger Pokemon. Trading also is a big part too. And the same old rivals trying to take over the world. Well this time we have we have team galactic and there goal is to make another universe to rule. But as usual you stop them and save the day again.But apart from the old style from the other past Pokemon games we have a more advanced way of playing. With the introduction of EV training Pokemon has been becoming more competitive and more of a strategy game then it has been. Boosting the stats can be tedious but if done the right way you can get the strategy down and face the world with you're new and highly improved team. And then we come in with the breeding, yes we had breeding in the other previous Pokemon games but it hasn't been as important as the past games. Back in the simple times of gold and silver we just breed so if you're friend wanted the Pokemon you had you could give another one to them, But now we breed to get the right nature for stats and the right attacks you only get from breeding which are called egg moves that are only learned from hatching the newly born Pokemon from an egg. Well even with EV training and breeding in the mix its still the same old same old with the contests and such but its still the Pokemon game play we know and love but its fun again.
sound: 8/10
Yup its time to discuss the Pokemon sounds and music. Nothing new here. We still have the same Pokemon cries but with a bunch of new and a lot better ones for the newer Pokemon. For example some Pokemon like kricitune have crazy and well done electronic sounding cries while others like skuntank is just a bunch of loud growling and some fart noises mixed into the jumble of sounds. The sound affects in and outside the battle have a better tone to them that are more of an easy listen for you're ears. no more beeps and bops We finally have the crunching noise of you're small little character running in the vast land of snow. Oh we couldn't forget about the sounds the attacks make like the eerie tone of dark pulse and the rumbling action of the massive and deadly attack of self destruct. And for the music it's a lot more enjoyable this time around. Like the soothing sounds of snow point village or the pulse racing elite 4 challenger battle will sure make you impressed. But as usual in most Pokemon games the soundtrack can get repetitive and would make you want to turn of the volume and put some of you're own music on but really is that even a really big deal, Most games out now are like that. So yeah the sound affects and music are really good this time around. But we still hope for improvements the next time around.
graphics: 9.5/10
Wow the big jump from the game boy to the DS was a big huge improvement in the graphics engine. The world, the people and the surroundings are fully 3d now. But for the sprites they are the same as they were in the GBA version but a more fresh color and a cleaner look of design. And for the new Pokemon they have some incredible designs on them. For example lucario had lots of detail on his human like figure and the bold colors match his look. And with the legendaries they are incredibly detailed at every last bit of design with cressila's unique shape and vibrant colors across its polygonal body. Even if graphics are not a big part of gaming it still helps the feel of the game. And diamond and pearl sure do that, and a very good job of it too.
wi fi: 9/10
yes you head it right. On line is finally available for the first time in a Pokemon game, And it turned out to be an excellent experience also. Now you can battle and trade over wi fi with friends to show off you're skills or get that mew two you always wanted. But on downside is that you need a friend code in order to wi fi with someone. So you must find someone willing to exchange friend codes with you. But on line forums like gamefaqs are a great way to find those type of people who are always up for a battle or a trade. But battling against you're friend with out a link cable sure is a treat and it always feels good knowing many people around the world are willing to have some poke fun with you too, And it feels even better when you get that one Pokemon you always wanted or you just owned some person you don't even know across the globe. This is by far the best experience of wi fi on the ds so far.
Alas my long read of a review is done. As you can tell this is the #1 Pokemon game out there for Pokemon fans and beginners as well. And now for the long awaited question. Is Pokemon diamond and pearl a rent or worthy of a purchase. Well my good friend this game is well worthy of a purchase. It's my favorite game of all time and gamers of all kinds especially the Pokemon lovers and rpg fans will have a huge blast with this game. Now over 400 Pokemon to collect, trade and battle with the new vast sin noh region we have a truly precious gem of a game that deserves the title of diamond and pearl. But this game shines brighter than all the diamonds and pearls in the world and then some. Heck it probably even shines brighter than that. So if you got 35 dollars burning in you're money pocket take that money right now and rush over to you're nearest gaming store and try you're best to get these two gems. Cause as you know gems are pretty hard to find now these days. Happy diamond hunting :).