Pokemon Platinum Review

Image by The Master Shake Signal via Flickr

Platform: Nintendo DS
ESRB: E for Everyone
Genre: RPG
Number of Players: Single and Multiplayer
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: March 22, 2009
Official Website

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Pokémon Platinum is an enhanced remake of Diamond and Pearl in the same vein as Pokémon Yellow, Crystal, and Emerald.

The game features Giratina as its mascot and introduces its origin form, as seen in Pokémon: Giratina and the Sky Warrior. The storyline involves a disturbance atop Mt. Coronet, as a portal to the “Distortion World” is opened and Sinnoh’s climate becomes colder.

Graphics:
Graphically not much has changed from Diamond and Pearl. They’re still the great sprites that Pokémon fans have grown to love. The settings of places in Diamond and Pearl are still similar, so if you’re coming from just playing those games then you’ll have no problem adjusting. I do wish that I could see more detailed models of the Pokémon in a game, but for what it is the graphics were done well.

Flow/Controls:
I enjoy the controls, and they’re pretty much the same from previous releases. The flow is very easy to get used to if this is your first Pokemon game, and you will have no problem figuring it out.

Fun Factor:
This game, like Diamond and Peal is fun to play through. I quickly got addicted to playing through the story as well as trying to catch various Pokemon that struck my fancy. I really enjoy the gym badge fights, and they seemed more challenging this time around than they did in Pearl. I also enjoyed playing in Distortion World, which threw in some 3D elements to the otherwise 2D game. In the end I racked up some hefty hours in Platinum before I realized it, and have quite the collection so far in my Pokédex (around 397 of the 493 total pokémon). This is definitely a game I enjoy taking out while on the train to and from work, and I will be working on leveling my main group of pokemon for battles. The online play seems a bit more streamlined from Pearl, and I played a few games with random players in which I had some pretty fun matches!

Female Aspect:
You are able to choose between the normal male and female trainer, and I like the clothes this time around. My only critique would be that I’d like to have more control on customizing my character a bit.

Replay Value:
Pokémon Platinum definitely has a great replay value to it. I know for certain that I’ll be picking it up now and again to continue working to collect all of the pokémon as well as build up my main battle squad. Plus once you’re done with the main RPG storyline, you can still hang out in town and continue playing, as well as continue in multi-player. However for someone who has already completed and invested a lot of time into Diamond or Pearl, they may not want to do it again with Platnium, unless they’re a hardcore fan who likes to play through all of the games. In the end I highly recommend this game to anyone who hasn’t jumped into the Pokémon world yet.