Pokémon Diamond and Pearl exist in an incredibly awkward spot in the franchise's history. It's a generation that brought some incredibly important mechanical improvements, but also that was completely overshadowed by, well, every other Pokémon game surrounding it.

Compared to Emerald, DP were games clearly confused about how to build on the previous generation's legacy. You can see that in stuff like contests, berries, secret bases... mechanics that attempt to replicate what the predecessor did, but in a way that either didn't fit the new game, or featured additions that actually made them worse. Also, why were there so many evolutions?

Compared to BW, they feature an underwhelming story and world design -- in fact, BW makes the art direction in DP more awkward in retrospect. Compared to HGSS, they look ugly and content light, and obviously don't have any nostalgia to them.

And when faced with Platinum, their third version counterpart, which I would still rank very low within the franchise, it is evident how barebones and unfinished parts of the original games were, especially their main plots.

The only reason these games still have a place in my heart is that they were the ones to introduce online play, which elevated Pokémon communities to a whole new level. And that was a massive boon to lonely kids all around.

At the time, I was a very depressed teenager, going through an identity crisis and having a hard time making friends. Playing Pokémon Pearl led me to people who are still my friends and I still treasure to this day. It's actually kind of scary to imagine what course my life would have taken if my teenage self had somehow grown out of Pokémon -- I would be a completely different person.

But yeah, even with all that, I would be hard-pressed to replay Diamond or Pearl nowadays. These are by far the most poorly-aged Pokémon games, and they are in dire need of a remake. Thank god there is one for the Switch, which...

....oh. Oh no. Oh god no. Why?