Pokémon Platinum

Gotta Catch’em all...again!

Posted 4 years ago By - Marko Djordjevic

You will be hard pressed to find a gamer in the last decade who has not laid their hands on a Pokémon game. The series has been a success spawning numerous portable and console games and continues to attract gamers of all ages. While the DS was graced with its own Pokémon RPG in 2007 with Diamond and Pearl, a new, third release has finally hit stores with Pokémon Platinum. Does this edition promise enough new features to warrant a purchase?

Gameplay

If you’re one of the small groups of people to have never played a Pokémon title let me give you a quick synopsis of the game. The story revolves around you, a lover of Pocket Monsters (Pokémon) who wants to become the next best trainer. In order to become that master trainer, you will need to collect and train monsters to battle other wannabe trainers along the way. To give you more incentive and to help you reach your goal, Professor Rowen has given you a choice of a starting Pokémon and in return has asked you to help him in collecting information on the Pokémon that inhabit the land.

Professor Rowen has given you a choice of a starting Pokémon

To become that master trainer, you will need to not only collect and train Pokémon, but earn badges from the various Pokémon Gyms in the different cities. If you manage to collect all eight badges, you’ll be allowed to take part in the Pokémon League and show your skills off against the best in the land.

Pokémon plays out like Rock-Paper-Scissors whereas some Pokémon are strong against certain types but weak against others. In order to be the best on the field, you’ll need to devise a strategy in order to deal with the various types that exist. Thanks to the open nature of the game, it’s up to you on how you create your team and this variety can lead to some interesting and hard fought battles both in game and against your friends in the real world.

Platinum’s story doesn’t simply have you walking around fighting and collecting, but also contains a pretty major storyline involving an organization called Team Galactic. Lead by Cyrus, Team Galactic is plotting to use Pokémon for evil reasons. It’s up to you and your Pokémon to stop them from succeeding.

The biggest modification to the game’s story is the inclusion 
of the Distortion World fairly late in the game

The biggest modification to the game’s story is the inclusion of the Distortion World fairly late in the game. This new area appears about 35 hours into the story and also is where the cover’s Pokémon, Giratina, can be fought and/or collected. The addition of the Distortion World is a nice but small addition to the game’s expansive storyline. Players of the previous DS games might not find it really necessary to play through the story again for this small section.
 
Graphics and Sound

The graphics in Platinum have not been tweaked too much from Diamond/Pearl. The game does have some different animations from what was offered in those two, but nothing too drastic or that stand out. Some nice touches include small designs on the city and location labels and cool little graphic intros to the Gym leaders. These are minor touches which do add a bit more flair to the end product. The cities and locations in the game are ok, but still seem too similar to past games with only marginal enhancements. The Pokémon designs in battles are also fair, but still lack full-fledged animations. I am still surprised that this hasn’t been addressed as the DS is capable of doing a lot better.

The Pokémon designs in battles are also fair, 
but still lack full-fledged animations

The lobbies and modes for Multiplayer makes playing with 
friends more interesting and easier to navigate