Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl feature a modern take on the affection and friendship system, making Pokemon survive almost anything.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have been out for a bit over two weeks now, and players have had enough time to test several features in-depth. The games are faithful remakes of the original Generation 4 titles, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl - excluding Pokemon Platinum, and while there are plenty of good things to come with them, fans were also quick to notice a few issues. For starters, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are quite buggy in the sense that it's not too difficult to get stuck somewhere, encounter a glitchy invisible NPC, or run into a strange background.
Another thing that didn't make players happy is the fact that some walking animations in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are wonky, to say the very least. Examples come from Pokemon that are more snake-like in shape, such as Ekans, Milotic, and Rayquaza. However, something that most players seem to agree on is that the friendship and affection system being based on more modern games makes it a tad too powerful.
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Thus, it doesn't come as a surprise that a Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl player shared a memorable experience with the affection system when battling the Generation 3 Legendary Pokemon Groudon. The Reddit user, who goes by the name of SourDuck1, said that their Milotic survived Groudon's Fissure through the power of friendship with its Trainer, which is normally something that can happen if the Pokemon were to be defeated, remaining with 1 HP instead. However, this story documents the fact that Pokemon can also survive with 1 HP against moves that normally instantly defeat the enemy, regardless of their HP and defenses.
After the Groudon battle, the Redditor went and tried the same approach against Kyogre, who also used its 1-hit-KO move in the form of Sheer Cold. In the video, Milotic resisted the attack with a single HP remaining, all out of love for the Trainer. There have been similar cases to this, although not with 1-hit-KO moves, with an example from a Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl player's Luxray surviving three KOs in a row.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl players have made checklists of what to do after the Elite 4, and most players don't mind if completing the encounters and becoming Champion involves an imbalance in battle due to their Pokemon's affection. To some, however, this takes something away from the experience, and they wish there was a way to activate and deactivate friendship's influence.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are available now on Nintendo Switch.
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Flash used to be a Key HM in older Pokemon games, but Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl players can only find it as a teachable TM.
Andrea became a gamer for life at 7, thanks to a Pokemon Red cartridge and her Game Boy. She knew she wanted to be a writer early on, back when she got a floppy disk and she wrote "My Book" on it. Her Italian lineage means she thrives on pizza and cosmic horror because that's a typical Italian Sunday. She loves games featuring deep lore, sci-fi elements, and strategic thinking. She is often found playing Destiny 2, for which she also makes guides.