History YMMV / PokemonDiamondAndPearl

** Flint has also gotten ''much'' more brutal in this game, even though he still retains his original ''Diamond and Pearl'' issue of only having two Fire-types despite being a Fire trainer. The main issue is his Drifblim, which packs an outright cruel moveset of Strength Sap and Will O' Wisp to neuter your offense and heal itself, Minimize to make the thing harder to hit, and, most horrifically, ''Baton Pass'', meaning it can start stacking Minimize boosts and pass the evasion off to other members of his team like [[LightningBruiser Infernape]] and [[MightyGlacier Steelix]]. Competitive players may recognize this strategy as being such a GameBreaker that it's been banned from use on Website/{{Smogon}} for several generations, and it's just as annoying here.

*** Milotic has full investment into HP and Defense, on top of its high natural Special Defense. Her Marvel Scale is now activated at the end of her first turn out thanks to her Flame Orb, making her shrug off damage. If that wasn't bad enough, she packs [[HealThyself Recover]] to offset her own burn damage and your damage, plus Cynthia likes to reserve her Full Restores for Milotic just to completely eradicate your efforts. She also carries Scald, itself a TierInducedScrappy move in competitive battling and Ice Beam for coverage. And if you're thinking of using Thunderbolt or a special Grass-type attack to dance around it, it's got a little something called Mirror Coat to throw it right back at you. Arceus help you if you do a [[SelfImposedChallenge hardcore nuzlocke]] with no healing of your own because if your team can't outlast her, you're dead.

** Post-National Dex Fantina rematch. She has Pokémon that are fast (Mismagius, Gengar), annoying (Dusknoir with Confuse Ray, Banette with Cursed Body), or ''both'' and then some (speedy Cursed Body Froslass with Focus Sash). You will end up spending quite a lot of time swapping around Pokémon to outspeed her or cure your Pokémon of ailment or whatever else that will leave you fuming.
** Post-National Dex Byron. Every gym leader rematch in this game has one Pokémon who has either Sturdy or Focus Sash to waste your time or trip up your sweeping strategy, but Byron takes the annoyance factor up a notch by having ''three'': A Sturdy Skarmory with Leftovers who can set up Stealth Rock (which his Empoleon can abuse by forcing switch using Roar), a Magnezone with Focus Sash and Light Screen to offset Steel-types' notoriously low special defense, and a Sturdy Bastiodon who will murder your Pokémon with Metal Burst. Expect a lot of time lost just trying to farm him every day.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: Giratina banishing Cyrus to the Distortion World in ''Platinum'' can be seen more altruistically after events in ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'' where it turned over a new leaf to protect the world after the trainer stopped its plans to get revenge on Arceus, showing that even centuries later, it still honors its promise and memories to the trainer that humbled it. [[spoiler:Given that Volo and Cyrus share similar motives, it can even be seen as soundly rejecting the plan it previously fell for]].

* {{Sequelitis}}: These remakes notably have the lowest Metacritic scores of all the main series ''Pokémon'' games, resting in the low 70's and being the first games to be marked with "mixed to average reviews" as opposed to "generally positive reviews". Fan consensus seems to match, with many of them criticizing the lack of changes compared to the original ''Diamond'' and ''Pearl'' as well as the lack of ''Platinum'' content and new content in general, along with [[ItsEasySoItSucks the laughable difficulty]] and the various bugs and design flaws. As ''BDSP'' released in the same timeframe as the better-received ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'', some fans considered ''BDSP'' to be an "appetizer" of sorts for ''PLA'' and gave it a pass considering that it was a BTeamSequel released near-concurrently with a much more ambitious project.

** Post-National Dex Fantina rematch. She has Pokémon that are fast (Mismagius, Gengar), annoying (Dusknoir and its Confuse Ray, Banette and its Cursed Body), or ''both'' and then some (Speedy Cursed Body Froslass with Focus Sash). You will end up spending quite a lot of time swapping around Pokémon to outspeed her or cure your Pokémon of ailment or whatever else that will leave you fuming.
** Post-National Dex Byron. Every gym leader rematch in this game has one Pokémon who has either Sturdy or Focus Sash, but Byron takes the annoyance factor up a notch by having ''three'': A Sturdy Skarmory with Leftovers who can set up Stealth Rock (which his Empoleon can abuse by forcing switch using Roar), a Magnezone with Focus Sash, and a Sturdy Bastiodon who will murder your Pokémon with Metal Burst if you're not careful. Expect a lot of time lost just trying to farm him every day.

** Post-National Dex Fantina rematch. She has Pokémon that are fast (Mismagius, Gengar), annoying (Dusknoir and its Confuse Ray, Banette and its Cursed Body), or ''both'' and then some (Speedy Cursed Body Froslass with Focus Sash). You will end up spending quite a lot of time swapping around Pokémon to outspeed her or cure your Pokémon of ailment or whatever else that will leave you fuming.
** Post-National Dex Byron. Every gym leader rematch in this game has one Pokémon who has either Sturdy or Focus Sash, but Byron takes the annoyance factor up a notch by having ''three'': A Sturdy Skarmory with Leftovers who can set up Stealth Rock (which his Empoleon can abuse by forcing switch using Roar), a Magnezone with Focus Sash, and a Sturdy Bastiodon who will murder your Pokémon with Metal Burst if you're not careful. Expect a lot of time lost just trying to farm him every day.

** Post-National Dex Fantina rematch. She has Pokémon that are fast (Mismagius, Gengar), annoying (Dusknoir and its Confuse Ray, Banette and its Cursed Body), or ''both'' and then some (Speedy Cursed Body Froslass with Focus Sash). You will end up spending quite a lot of time swapping around Pokémon to outspeed her or cure your Pokémon of ailment or whatever else that will leave you fuming.
** Post-National Dex Byron. Every gym leader rematch in this game has one Pokémon who has either Sturdy or Focus Sash, but Byron takes the annoyance factor up a notch by having ''three'': A Sturdy Skarmory with Leftovers who can set up Stealth Rock (which his Empoleon can abuse by forcing switch using Roar), a Magnezone with Focus Sash, and a Sturdy Bastiodon who will murder your Pokémon with Metal Burst if you're not careful. Expect a lot of time lost just trying to farm him every day.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Considering the fact that Professor Rowan specifically studies Pokémon evolution, the game had the perfect chance to work Mega Evolution into the plot, after it being totally absent from ''Sword and Shield''.

** The Grand Underground's secret bases no longer have a purpose but to serve as your personal collection of statues to alter the hideaway spawns - capturing flags, setting up traps in the main areas and all those beloved decorations are completely gone. The statues themselves are also much reviled, as they are incredibly common but ''cannot be sold'' (whether for Pokédollars or spheres) unlike pretty much everything else you can dig up, although at least they don't take up any precious storage space.

* CaptainObviousReveal: [[SarcasmMode Who could have possibly predicted]] that the strange man who talks about how conflict has ruined the world and how they find this deplorable, is the leader of the local criminal organization that wants to replace the current universe with their ideal vision? To be fair, this is somewhat mitigated by it not being treated as a dramatic plot twist, and ''Platinum'' goes further by [[ObviouslyEvil his very first appearance making it clear that he has plans for the Lake Trio]].

** The Grand Underground's secret bases no longer have a purpose but to serve as your personal collection of statues to alter the hideaway spawns - capturing flags, setting up traps in the main areas and all those beloved decorations are completely gone. The statues themselves are also much reviled, as they are incredibly common but ''cannot be sold'' (whether for Pokédollars or spheres) unlike pretty much everything else you can dig up, although at least they don't take up any precious storage space.

** The Grand Underground's secret bases no longer have a purpose but to serve as your personal collection of statues to alter the hideaway spawns - capturing flags, setting up traps in the main areas and all those beloved decorations are completely gone.

* SalvagedGameplayMechanic: ''Platinum'' makes a conscious effort to alleviate issues fans had with the original games:
** One of the biggest criticisms of ''Diamond and Pearl'' was the fact that there were only two available Fire-types in the main Regional Dex: Chimchar, one of the starters, and Ponyta. ''Platinum'' fixes this by adding the Eevee, Magmar and Houndour lines to the main Dex.
** ''Platinum'' lowers the [[DifficultySpike unexpectedly high levels]] of the Elite Four, so that players wouldn't have to submit to a lot of ForcedLevelGrinding. At the same time, ''Platinum'' also increases the overall leveling curve, in addition to changing up trainer locations, teams, and which gym leaders to go to first.[[note]]For example, in ''Platinum'', Fantina is the third gym leader as she can be fought the moment you reach Hearthome City. Whereas in ''Diamond and Pearl'', Fantina is the fifth gym leader, as she won't fight you until after you beat Wake.[[/note]] This served as such to fans who felt ''Diamond and Pearl'' were too easy up until said DifficultySpike.
** ''Diamond and Pearl'' are somewhat notorious for having slow in-game animations, especially during battles and surfing. ''Platinum'' doesn't exactly escape this problem, but the speed of both battles and surfing were still noticeably increased.
** Despite ''Diamond and Pearl'' introducing new evolutions and pre-evolutions for no less than two dozen previous gen Pokémon[[note]]specifically the Lickitung, Tangela, Porygon, Eevee, Magmar, Electabuzz, Mr. Mime, Rhydon, Magnemite, Snorlax, Sudowoodo, Togepi, Murkrow, Misdreavus, Gligar, Yanma, Swinub, Sneasel, Mantine, Ralts, Nosepass, Roselia, Duskull, Chimecho, and Snorunt lines[[/note]], a large number of them are unavailable until post-game and exclusive to the National Dex. ''Platinum'' fixes this by adding all the expanded families to the Regional Dex, making it so that they can be obtained during the main game.
** Due to the [[CharacterSelectForcing limited number of Pokémon]] available in ''Diamond'' and ''Pearl'', many of the Gym Leaders and Elite Four members have teams that don't really fit what their preferred types are supposed to be - even ''if'' they at least gave their Pokémon moves that fit the theme. Flint of the Elite Four, for example, is a Fire specialist, yet only two of his five Pokémon are Fire-types. This can also more often than not make them difficult to battle, since you're very likely to be unprepared for how random their Pokémon can be. ''Platinum'', with the updated Pokédex, changes their teams to make them more appropriate and less annoying.
** A minor case, but the Pokétch in ''Platinum'' now has two buttons instead of just one, making it easier to go through each app rather than having to cycle through every app like in ''Diamond and Pearl''.

* SalvagedGameplayMechanic:

** Whenever you battle Swimmers, it looks like they and ''your'' Pokémon are standing on water. While the background shows a small platform for the Pokémon to stand on, the swimmers and your Pokémon are ''not'' it - the swimmers are right behind it while your Pokémon are standing on water.

** For some reason, Bidoof. It's weak, doesn't have anything that has it stand out from the Rattata clones like Zigzagoon does, and its evolution is hideous. Despite this, it's treated as being on par with things like Arceus, Primal Groudon, Mega Rayquaza, and Necrozma Dusk Mane in terms of power. This is likely due in part to Bidoof getting Moody as its hidden ability from Generation V onward, which proved to be [[GameBreaker so hideously busted]] that Website/{{Smogon}} ''seriously entertained the idea of banning Bidoof because of it''.

* {{Sequelitis}}: These remakes notably have the lowest Metacritic scores of all the main series ''Pokémon'' games, resting in the low 70's and being the only games to be marked with "mixed to average reviews" as opposed to "generally positive reviews". Fan consensus seems to match, with many of them criticizing the lack of changes compared to the original ''Diamond'' and ''Pearl'' as well as the lack of ''Platinum'' content and new content in general, along with [[ItsEasySoItSucks the laughable difficulty]] and the various bugs and design flaws. As ''BDSP'' released in the same timeframe as the better-received ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'', some fans considered ''BDSP'' to be an "appetizer" of sorts for ''PLA'' and gave it a pass considering that it was a BTeamSequel released near-concurrently with a much more ambitious project.

* ScrappyMechanic: Having to alternate the directions you stir the mix in while making Poffins returns, but there are other changes to the process that make it needlessly frustating. Poffin-making now has a time limit that determines how effective the Poffins will be. Additionally, the game [[GuideDangIt doesn't tell you]] that you're not supposed to mix in more than one of the same berries each time you cook, lest you end up with a Foul Poffin instead whatever Poffin you intended to make.

** For some reason, Bidoof. It's weak, doesn't have anything that has it stand out from the Ratatta clones like Zigzagoon does, and its evolution is hideous. Despite this, it's treated as being on par with things like Arceus, Primal Groudon, Mega Rayquaza, and Necrozma Dusk Mane in terms of power. This is likely due in part to Bidoof getting Moody as its hidden ability from Generation V onward, which proved to be [[GameBreaker so hideously busted]] that Website/{{Smogon}} ''seriously entertained the idea of banning Bidoof because of it''.

* MoralEventHorizon: Cyrus' entire plan and the measures he takes to accomplish it, all JerkassWoobie traits aside. Charon's plan for Heatran would've also qualified had it actually gotten off the ground.

* ThatOneAttack: Stealth Rock creates a permanent stage hazard that can only be removed with Rapid Spin. It reduces a Pokémon's health upon entry, dealing 25% of damage if it happens to be weak to Rock, or 50% if it has a double weakness.

** In a very similar case to what occurred with ''VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee'', the announcement of ''Brilliant Diamond'' and ''Shining Pearl'' have had pushback due to the dated visuals and attempt to replicate the chibi, grid-based structure of the overworld, especially when compared to ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus''[='s=] ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter''-esque free exploration, which was announced at the same time. It didn't help that the initial trailer didn't showcase anything resembling the new content and refinements fans have come to expect with remakes.
** As a result of his reputation in recent years and his widely derided explanation of why the Battle Frontier wasn't in ''Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire'', Junichi Masuda being announced as the (co)director for ''Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl'' has left quite a number of fans feeling pessimistic about the game's quality -- more specifically whether or not it will contain ''Platinum'''s changes or at the very least build upon the base game, and sparking fear as to what features or locations to expect to be removed or simplified. Later on down the road, the situation worsened when the official Sinnoh region map art showed only the Battle Tower rather than the entire Frontier, further suggesting that it had been axed. And sure enough- the final game lacks the Battle Frontier as a whole and only features the Battle Tower as its post-game facility. Other ''Platnium'' additions like the player's Villa in the Resort Area and battling the stat trainers in the Battleground aren't included either.

* CriticalDissonance: Review scores are just as good as one would expect from a main series Pokemon game, and even won the Global Category of the 2022 Tokyo Game Awards. Meanwhile, fans have been split ever since they saw the first trailer.