Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl will soon bring players back to the Sinnoh region, as they are remakes of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl on the Nintendo DS. This raises the question of Pokémon Platinum, as the content from that game appears to be missing from Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, suggesting that it could be saved for a future DLC update.
Pokémon Platinum was the third version release of Gen IV's mainline games. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl were some of the best-selling entries in the series for the longest time. It's possible for Gen VII to outsell Gen IV, but only if Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon's sales are bundled with those of Pokémon Sun and Moon. The success of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl was likely helped by the massive popularity of the Nintendo DS itself, which is still the best-selling Nintendo system of all time. A lot of people were introduced to the Pokémon franchise through their adventures in the Sinnoh region, which is why expectations for Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are sky-high, even though the reaction to the game has been tepid so far, mostly due to the choice of art style.
It's strange then, that the additions from Pokémon Platinum seem to be absent from Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. It seems like the new story content from Pokémon Platinum would be a natural fit for the Gen IV remakes, but it doesn't appear to be present in the games. It's possible that The Pokémon Company is saving Pokémon Platinum as a DLC story update that will launch further down the road, as the company has embraced DLC in a big way for the mainline games.
When Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl were announced, everyone assumed that they would contain the new content from Pokémon Platinum. The presence of third version content has been hit or miss in the Pokémon remakes over the years. Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen lacked any content from Pokémon Yellow, but Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver did contain a lot of the new content from Pokémon Crystal, including the Suicune scenario.
In the case of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, they are complete remakes of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. This was originally hinted at the promotional footage released for the game, where the Gym Leaders appeared to use the same teams that they had in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, as they were different in Pokémon Platinum. This theory has since been confirmed via the early copies of the games that have leaked out into the wild. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have the same trainer layouts as Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, and are lacking the new story content from Pokémon Platinum, such as the Distortion World.
What's notable about the absence of Pokémon Platinum content in BDSP is how easy it would be to implement. A lot of the changes in Pokémon Platinum were improvements to the overall gameplay experience. The battle system worked a lot faster in Pokémon Platinum, while the enemy Pokémon Trainers had their difficulty changed, as players complained about running into brick walls and needing to grind. These changes aren't an issue in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, as the battle system appears to be the same as the one from Pokémon Sword and Shield, and the fact that the Experience Share is group-wide and cannot be turned off means that the story mode will be easier than ever to complete.
The absence of the Distortion World is puzzling because it was a relatively short part of Pokémon Platinum, but it was one of the best areas in the game, and one of the most inventive locations in the Pokémon series. The storyline additions with Cyrus and Giratina were also excellent, so it's strange why they wouldn't be included.
The most recent Pokémon games to be remade, in terms of a whole generation, were Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, which were remade as Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire for the Nintendo 3DS. Those games featured some elements from Pokémon Emerald but mostly stuck to their source material. This was during an era when The Pokémon Company had yet to embrace DLC. The third version had fallen by the wayside, but Game Freak still released direct sequels, like Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, updated versions, like Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, or nothing at all, like the planned sequels/updates for Pokémon X and Y. The strange monument that mentioned the Battle Frontier in Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire led fans to believe that a DLC update for the game was on the way, especially as The Pokémon Company trademarked the name Pokémon Delta Emerald, but nothing ever came of it.
Times have changed, and The Pokémon Company is more than willing to embrace DLC for its games. Pokémon Sword and Shield received an Expansion Pass, which included The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra areas to the game. The Pokémon Let's Go games managed to avoid this, but only because they were already connected to a third version, and there wasn't as much scope for DLC content. Pokémon Red and Blue were already remade, as Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, while the Pokémon Let's Go games are technically remakes/partial sequels to Pokémon Yellow, and any content relating to a new region/area would likely be saved for a full-fledged sequel.
The surprising lack of Pokémon Platinum content in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl means that Pokémon Platinum could be a DLC upgrade for the existing games. This would likely function as a new story mode that is selected on the main menu, with the player able to battle the upgraded Gym Leaders, as well as experience the Distortion World storyline. This would be a good way to fill out the schedule, as Pokémon Legends: Arceus is set to launch in January, but it's unclear when the next titles could be released. If the Gen IX games are still a year or two away, then an Expansion Pass for Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl that added a Pokémon Platinum mode, possibly with more Pokémon and extra post-game content on top, could be The Pokémon Company's big Pokémon release for the 2022 holiday season.
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl will be available for Nintendo Switch on November 19, 2021.
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