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Pokémon Platinum
After a brief sojourn,
the Pokémon franchise once again arrives in a new title called Pokémon:
Platinum that is reminiscent of the game from several years ago called
Pokémon: Diamond. The gaming mechanics behind this current title
is a classic Japanese role-playing game set in the Pokémon universe that
includes turn-based battles, character levelling and exploring of the
gaming universe. Compared to the previous game, the universe is
considerably larger.
The RPG element of Pokémon: Platinum is quite strong as players explore
the gaming environment, however where the title does come into its own
is when you encounter the new gaming area called the Distortion World
which is almost an Escher like experience and revolves around a variety
of puzzles and some ancient and new Pokémon creatures that you must
collect.
The battles is where the game adds something interesting and by finding new monsters or
critters to train, this gives the gamer a variety of ways of challenging
in defeating the almost endless supply of enemies that you will
encounter. The battles are also quite brief and are not drawn out too
long.
Amazingly enough there are almost 500
different creatures available to the player, however not all of these
are accessible in the single-player game as the player must join with
other gamers to access them which is done through trading. That’s right,
just like the Pokémon card games.
The control system of the game is quite sturdy on the Nintendo DS that uses the D-pad for
movement, face buttons for running, using items and interacting with the
environment and the touch screen used for issuing commands during
battles. The learning curve is a tad steep for newcomers, however most
gamers will be able to master the controls after a few good gaming
sessions.
The biggest difference between this
incarnation of the Pokémon and the previous title is the engaging
multiplayer options which include some mediocre mini-games but where it
does shine is through the battle modes with other players. These include Battle Frontier,
Battle Tower, Battle Hall, Factory, Castle and Arcade. You can even
upload your battle videos with other players and is quite interesting to
see how others strategies work. Add in a great ranking system and
bragging rights are yours.
Graphically, the title is quite reminiscent of the previous version with
those classic colourful sprites. Even though graphics has never been a
strong point with Pokémon, it would have been nice if the developers
performed a full makeover. Here’s hoping that some developers will
eventually use the innovative features of the Nintendo DSi soon. The
music is pure Pokémon as are the sound effects that only adds to this
strange and addictive world of trading, RPG’s and exploring.
In conclusion Pokémon: Platinum doesn't
add anything new to the single-player gameplay which is a shame, however
the multiplayer options
are quite interesting and really centers on trading, battles and the
like. It's definitely a step in the right direction for the franchise,
shame about the graphics though. |
