Pokémon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, Legends: Arceus announced

Pokémon trainers… are you ready to catch ’em all again? During today’s Pokémon Presents event, The Pokémon Company and Nintendo officially revealed the next set of mainline Pokémon remakes: Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl (based on the Nintendo DS titles), along with a new Pokémon Legends title as well as an update on the upcoming Pokémon Snap… phew, that’s a lot of Pokémon.

They are all coming to the Nintendo Switch obviously, with Snap queued up for April 30th, 2021, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl in late 2021 and Pokémon Legends: Arceus in early 2022.

Check out the announcement trailers and plenty of details for the games and the ongoing Pokémon 25th Anniversary Celebration In-Game events for Pokémon: Sword, Shield and Pokémon GO.

Return to the Sinnoh region in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl!:

Pokémon Legends Arceus: A familiar region. A new story.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl screens:

Today, during a Pokémon Presents video presentation, Tsunekazu Ishihara—president and CEO of The Pokémon Company—announced the new Pokémon Brilliant Diamond, Pokémon Shining Pearl, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus—video games coming to the blockbuster series that spans 25 years. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl will launch in late 2021, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus will launch in early 2022. All three games will be available exclusively on the Nintendo Switch system.

In 2006, Trainers were introduced to the Sinnoh region with the release of the Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl games on the Nintendo DS system. Players can once again visit the Sinnoh region in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl, which are faithful remakes of two iconic Pokémon games. Pokémon Legends: Arceus will introduce fans to the Sinnoh region of old—before the existence of Pokémon Trainers and Pokémon Leagues. It’s in this long-gone era that players will embark on an entirely new adventure to create the region’s first Pokédex.

“Trainers caught their first Pokémon in 1996 and began an adventure that has lasted 25 years. Through eight regions, many different platforms, and countless Pokémon encounters, they have strived to be the very best,” said Mr. Ishihara. “We hope that fans of all ages will enjoy creating new memories while exploring the Sinnoh region in these new games.”

More details about the highly anticipated New Pokémon Snap game were also shared in the video presentation, in addition to information about special in-game events taking place in celebration of Pokémon’s 25th anniversary.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl
Developed by ILCA, Inc., and directed by Junichi Masuda (GAME FREAK) and Yuichi Ueda (ILCA), Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl enable fans to experience the original story and game features from Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl in a fresh way. The original games have been faithfully reproduced and colorfully revitalized for Nintendo Switch. The sense of scale of the towns and routes has been carefully preserved, and fans who played the original games will recognize many familiar places. These games are updated with the easy-to-understand, player-friendly conveniences introduced in recent Pokémon core series video games, in addition to up-close-and-personal Pokémon battle scenes.

Trainers will choose either Turtwig, Chimchar, or Piplup to be their first partner Pokémon before setting off on their journey. Along the way, they will be able to encounter the Legendary Pokémon Dialga in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and the Legendary Pokémon Palkia in Pokémon Shining Pearl.

For more information about Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl, please visit https://diamondpearl.pokemon.com/en-us/.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus
The fun of exploring while catching Pokémon and filling in a Pokédex has always been a core part of the Pokémon video game series. Pokémon Legends: Arceus was developed with the desire to deliver an experience infused with new action and RPG elements that go beyond the framework established thus far, while honoring the core gameplay of past Pokémon titles.

As Trainers explore the natural expanses in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, they’ll encounter Pokémon that call these grand vistas home. To catch wild Pokémon, players can study the Pokémon’s behaviors, sneak up to them, then throw Poké Balls. Players can also battle wild Pokémon with their ally Pokémon. By throwing the Poké Ball holding their ally Pokémon near a wild Pokémon, players will seamlessly enter battle. This new gameplay angle is intended to provide Trainers with an immersive experience.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus brings Trainers to the vast Sinnoh region as it existed in the past, long before the setting for Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl was established. Rich in nature and with Mount Coronet towering at its heart, this is a Sinnoh unlike anything Trainers have experienced before as they embark to create the region’s first Pokédex.

As they start off on their adventure, Trainers will be able to choose either Rowlet, Cyndaquil, or Oshawott as their first partner Pokémon. These three Pokémon arrived with a Pokémon Professor, who encountered them on research excursions to various regions.

For more information about Pokémon Legends: Arceus, please visit https://legends.pokemon.com/en-us/.

New Pokémon Snap
New Pokémon Snap is a previously announced video game in which players will take on the role of a budding Pokémon photographer in the Lental region. There they will work with Professor Mirror, the region’s expert, on an ecological survey to photograph Pokémon thriving in nature. The game will be available on April 30, 2021, on the Nintendo Switch family of systems.

Wild Pokémon thrive on the islands of the Lental region, where environments can differ greatly, making for a variety of habitats where different Pokémon expressions and behaviors can be observed. Players will be able to get their attention by playing a melody or throwing fluffruit. They’ll also be able to use an Illumina orb (an invention of Professor Mirror’s) on Pokémon to witness something out of the ordinary. They can even use their camera to run scans, which can help them find hidden Pokémon or inspect their surroundings. As players keep researching a course, their research level there will increase, and they may discover Pokémon acting in different ways. Trainers may even encounter Legendary Pokémon or Mythical Pokémon.

A photo’s score will be based on the subjects’ poses, how large they appear, how directly they’re facing the camera, and where they fall in frame. Each photo will get one to four stars, indicating how common or rare the behavior displayed is. Players will have to take many photos to fill out their Photodex, which is their collection of Pokémon photographs.

Photos taken while conducting research can also be saved to a personal album, which is separate from the Photodex. When a course is completed, players can use the re-snap function to adjust the brightness, blur, zoom, and other aspects of their recently snapped photos. After photos are saved to the personal album, a photo-editing mode will enable players to customize their photos with stickers, frames, and filters.

New Pokémon Snap also has several online features that enable players to share photos and compete with others around the world through ranking systems.1

For more information about New Pokémon Snap, please visit https://newpokemonsnap.pokemon.com/en-us/.

Pokémon 25th Anniversary Celebration In-Game Events
Several events celebrating 25 years of Pokémon will take place in current, popular games across the franchise. Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, and even Mewtwo are appearing in Legendary Raid Battles as part of a Kanto-region-themed celebration event in Pokémon GO. In the Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield video games, a special Max Raid Battle event featuring Gigantamax Pikachu is under way. In Pokémon Masters EX from February 25 to March 17, Galar region Champion Leon and his partner Pokémon Charizard are making an appearance. And players who log in to the Pokémon Café Mix game February 25 through February 28 will receive 2,500 golden acorns during a special promotion.

For more information about the Pokémon 25th anniversary celebration, please visit https://pokemon.com/25.