Game #1137: Pokemon Shining Pearl

  Shine bright like... like a pearl?

 What not many people know is that I real1y liked the Pokemon Pearl, so I was looking forward to Pokemon Shining Pearl. And just like many people dislike the original Pearl and Diamond, when the remakes were announced another bunch of people were miffed by the chibi artstyle. I wasn't. It's Pokemon, I don't need realistic character models. Well, the game is here and... Just as with most modern Pokemon games and remakes, it could've been so much more. 

 For the most part, the game is a straight-up remake, to the point that no Pokemon beyond those available in the original Pearl/Diamond/Platinum can be caught, which is rather lame. TMs are limited, once again. which is super annoying, and HMs are now TMs so you can't even rely on the unlimited use Surf. HMs-turned-TMs can now be used through the Poketech even if none of your Pokemon know the ability, which is nice as now you don't need HM slaves. So, as per usual with Pokemon, one step forward, one step backward. That said, a single cave in the game requires Flash and Flash is the only environment move you do need a Pokemon to know and have to use through the menu and not the Poketech, which is baffling to say the least. Using the Poketech is a bit awkward, since it used to be displayed on the second screen on the DS, but now you can use the R-button to bring it up, and if you are playing in handheld mode, it can be used with the touch-screen.

 The Underground was changed, and just as the above issue, one step forward, one step backward. You can catch lots of Pokemon in here, and they are leveled to match your party, at least up to level 70, and is a fantastic way to catch Pokemon not available in the originals... but the Underground Bases were made super lame, as now you can only outfit them with statues. So boring. The minigame is back, it's as fun as it used to be, and just like it did years ago, I wasted hours hunting down loot... but best of all, it's touch-screen compatible! The game crashed once on me after I caught a Pokemon in the Underground, but it never happened again.

 They added small bits of customization, before starting the game you can pick any of four possible skin tone/hair color combinations for your character, and one city features 'styles' you can buy that changes your clothing. They are a bit expensive and you can't pick different clothing items to mix and match to your tastes, but it's better than nothing.

 We are back to random encounters, which wouldn't be too bad if only the encounter rate wasn't so ridiculously high. Sometimes, you may finish an encounter only for another one to trigger before your character takes a single step, it's ridiculous. Repels are pretty much a necessity thanks to this. Exp. Share is turned on by default and can't be turned off.... but, y'know, training your Pokemon one by one sounds like a waste of time, so... You know what? Despite how much I've complained about it before, I think it's OK... but I still think players should be able to turn it off in case they want something harder.

 The original games often got accused of being slow-paced. At the time, I never felt that was the case, but in this one? Jesus christ. They added lots of mid-battle flavor text and mini animations for when your friendship with a 'mon is high. This means lots of unnecessary padding in battles. Do I really need a line of text saying that my 'mon is waiting for instructions? Why the hell does a tiny heart have to pop over their head between attacks? Jesus, it's so annoying and it makes battles go on forever. It made it so that playing the game was better when I was doing something else so as not to notice how long battles were dragging on. And the Underground rewards? After the mining mini-game, the rewards pop up one by one. Why? I know what I found, I don't need this summary and I don't need each item to pop up one by one. Honestly, I don't understand these design choices at all.

 But even better, Nintendo has been super dumb with their games lately, turning them into physical/digital hybrids. This game is no exception. Want an intro movie and intro screen? You gotta download the patch. Want the bonus legendaries? Patch the game. Want the battle zone and figure out what happened with Barry? You gotta patch the game. Nintendo, what the hell? You used to be the good ones.

 Pokemon Shining Pearl is yet another Pokemon entry that feels like half of the game it should've been. At this point it feels like GameFreak is barely even trying. The game is still decent, mind you, but with each entry I feel less and less compelled to play the next one.

 6.5