Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl will keep much-loved classic feature

Brent Koepp
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Team Galactic battle

A new leak has revealed major details about Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl. The Sinnoh remakes will reportedly keep a classic feature that will make it one of the series’ most challenging games in years. 

Despite releasing in November 2021, there is still a lot we don’t know about Studio ILCA’s take on Pokemon Gen IV. Although initially being marketed as “faithful” recreations, trailers from July have shown a flurry of modern changes coming to the RPGs.

A new leak in September has possibly revealed one major feature from the 2006 titles that will be sure to please hardcore fans of the Game Freak series if true. The classic game design will make Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl a challenging experience for Trainers.

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Gym Leader Roark
The Sinnoh remakes will reportedly include a challenging classic feature.

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl leak reveals classic feature to return

Pokemon insider KeliosFR revealed the feature after spotting the game’s new description listing to multiple retailers. According to the French outlet, Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl will keep the same difficulty level as the original DS titles from 2006.

“In the new descriptions of merchant websites for PokemonBDSP, it’s specified “Dialogue, level of difficulty, camera and proportions of the map, all this has been preserved”. For the difficulty level, it’s cool!” a Google translation of the tweet read.

The insider added that he was “afraid” the 2021 Nintendo Switch remakes would lower the level of the Elite Four, as well as the Sinnoh Champion Cynthia – however, the latest leak seems to confirm that ILCA is keeping the difficulty level completely faithful to the original.

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl tweet Kelios FR

While BDSP preserving the original difficulty level might not seem like a major feature, the Pokemon franchise has become notorious for being “easier” over the last few years. Past remakes such as 2018’s Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee received backlash from fans after altering Gym Leaders to make battles more accessible.

However, according to the latest leak, Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl will be just as challenging as the original Gen IV game’s from 2006 – which is a pretty big win for hardcore fans of the series yearning for the retro titles’ game design.