Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl are headed to Nintendo Switch, Game Freak announced during its eagerly anticipated Pokémon Direct stream. The titles will arrive later this year, no doubt just in time for the holiday shopping season.
As usual, the two games are set within the same region: the Sinnoh region. If all of this sounds familiar, it's because you've probably played through the original versions, released on the DS way back in 2006 (2007, in North America). Has it really already been that long? Yes. Yes, it has.
The developer promises that the game's original sense of scale and its routes have been preserved, but that for newcomers, "plenty of new encounters and surprises await." And even though I played a fair bit of Pokémon Pearl back in the day (it's the first Pokémon game I played, actually), I'm sure there's a lot that will feel fresh to me. Getting old sucks, but at least my failing memory does mean I get to enjoy new experiences I've already had!
In Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl, your starter options are the Leaf Pokémon Turtwig (who has a name that is one unfortunate typo away from "turd wig"), the Chimp Pokémon Chimchar and the Penguin Pokemon Piplup. You may also stumble across the Legendary Pokémon Dialga in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond, or Palkia in Pokémon Shining Pearl.
Check out our spiffy screenshot gallery if you'd like to see first screens, or head to the official game site for trailer that provides a first look at the games in action. Is this the Pokémon experience you've been waiting for?
