Long-awaited remakes of Pokémon Diamond & Pearl are in active development and scheduled to arrive no later than this year.
That’s according to fan website Centro Pokémon, at least, which claims to have learned from sources close to Game Freak of the Sinnoh region’s return. The studio is reportedly aiming for a November 2021 launch on Nintendo Switch and plans to lift the lid on Gen 4’s comeback next month as part of a special announcement. Assuming the rumors to be true, this will no doubt take the form of a Nintendo Direct broadcast and include a brief snippet of gameplay. Unlike the spinoff Let’s Go games released in 2018, Diamond & Pearl are being billed as mainline installments, meaning Trainers can expect a full fat, so to speak, Pokémon RPG experience in the same vein as 2019’s Sword & Shield.
Regardless of their accuracy, the leaks have already ignited huge interest online, to the extent that Gen 4 recently started trending on Twitter. Just in case Game Freak required any reassurance that an appetite still exists for remakes, it needs only browse some responses already appearing on the social media site, and you can check out a sample of them below.
https://twitter.com/Tomch546/status/1349848360086331395?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1349848360086331395%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fgaming%2Fnews%2Fpokemon-diamond-and-pearl-rumors-gen-4-trending%2F
It's not working, where are my Gen 4 remakes? pic.twitter.com/gxNJVN3gzZ
— Electric 🌳 (@Bylessth) January 14, 2021
best thing is that if gen 4 comes back that means more piplup
— GhidorahStan64 (@arcthunderrz) January 14, 2021
I see Gen 4 trending, and I just want to say I ain't getting excited until I see a trailer drop.
— WildCard0531 (@card0531) January 14, 2021
https://twitter.com/Yonnitheduck/status/1349848097573269511?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1349848097573269511%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fgaming%2Fnews%2Fpokemon-diamond-and-pearl-rumors-gen-4-trending%2F
theyre making gen 4 remakes finally😭😭
— Norberto Flores III (@_NorbertoF) January 14, 2021
please let the gen 4 remakes be everything i dreamed and more
— gina is gaming (genshin) conspiracy theory (@callieicos) January 14, 2021
Gen 4 is far the best gen outta all of them don’t at me
— Jay (@ayy_jayyfunks) January 15, 2021
Gen 4 is my favorite Gen and I haven’t played it in years so I can’t wait for the remakes.
— Charles (@TartarousSZN) January 15, 2021
Some fans are clearly eager (or hopeful) enough to take the unconfirmed reports as gospel, it would seem, though as always, we’d warn against getting too excited until everything is made official. Certainly, given that 2021 marks the franchise’s 25th anniversary, The Pokémon Company will likely be wanting to celebrate in style, so expect some big surprises to make the headlines between now and the summer.
In related news, New Pokémon Snap, a direct sequel to the N64 original, recently got a fresh gameplay trailer and release date. See here for all the details.