A few weeks ago, I shared my mixed thoughts on Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl after the Gen 4 remakes were revealed. While I appreciated the developer's intention to keep the games faithful to the originals, the art direction and graphics felt underwhelming.
I did express that I would forgive the graphical shortcomings as long as the remakes do not skimp out on the content. But when I came across reimagining of the Gen 4 remakes by millenniumloops, I couldn't help, but wish his version is the real thing:
The first identifiable difference is the shift to a more "to-scale" artstyle. Dawn (or Hikari, in Japanese) resembles more of her anime counterpart. Other notable differences in this shot are the better lighting and more vibrant colors.
The rendition of the suitcase revealing the Poké balls of the starters is very on point, too.
I don't recognize what town this is, but the presentation is impressive. The cel shading provides some Breath of the Wild and Ni No Kuni vibes. You have two women walking in the foreground and two children running on the opposite side of the street. On top of that, a Steelix and Staraptor appear to be having a conversation with each other in the background.
Later in the trailer, it shows the same town, but at nighttime. The lighting from the outdoor lamps give a nice sense of warmth and atmosphere. Additionally, there is a female trainer walking with her Luxio.
The reimagined trailer also features a bunch of Pokémon in their natural habitats. You have a group of Budew under some trees, Zubats flying through the Underground, an Abomasnow at Mt. Coronet, and a Shinx happily skipping through a grass field.
If this trailer represents the real remakes, then we would be getting the return of follow Pokémon as shown with Empoleon following Dawn at Mt. Coronet.
The trailer also shows a badass scene of Champion Cynthia entering the arena with her Garchomp behind her before her Pokémon mega-evolves into Mega Garchomp.
To be clear, I'm not saying that Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl will be bad remakes. However, to see this person put together this reimagining in a week leads me to believe that the remakes (and the mainline Pokémon game series, in general) are absolutely capable of so much more. The Nintendo Switch can run some graphically impressive games like Dragon Quest XI S, Xenoblade 2, and already referenced Ni No Kuni. As a result, I don't think my expectations are unreasonable.
Anyways, I highly recommend watching millenniumloops's entire video.
