Pokémon BDSP's Grand Underground Loses To Sword & Shield's Wild Area
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl's Grand Underground gameplay lacks key features from Sword and Shield's popular Wild Area exploration.
One of the few big changes made in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl's gameplay was the updates to Diamond and Pearl's Underground. Originally designed as a way for players to obtain rare items, BDSP revamps the mechanic to allow players more exploration options, including catching Pokémon. However, the changes fall short by excluding key mechanics used in Sword and Shield's successful open-world Wild Area.
Pokémon Sword and Shield implemented big changes to the Pokémon series when the game was released in the fall of 2019. Top-down gameplay was replaced with behind-the-character camera angles and Pokémon roamed the overworld instead of being limited to encounters in tall grass. One of the most innovative changes for the series was the introduction of the Wild Area, an open-world location accessed early in the game that contained regularly spawning items, Pokémon species, and berries. Players could obtain a wide variety of Pokémon types to balance out teams, offering early access to strategies that were locked into later gameplay in previous Pokémon titles.
Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl do add some much-needed improvements to the Grand Underground, like the Pokémon Hideaways that offer a wider variety of species earlier in the game. However, due to a frustratingly limited regional Pokédex, and the small size of the Hideaways, exploring the network of tunnels under the Sinnoh region can quickly become repetitive and dull. While both areas are meant for exploration outside of the main storyline, the execution of the Galar's Wild Area compared to the Grand Underground, as well as the variety of tasks, make the Wild Area a more fulfilling overall experience.
Like Pokéblock crafting and Poffin cooking in previous Pokémon entries, Sword and Shield introduced a new way for players to cook and bond with their teams. At any time when traveling through the Wild Area or a route, players can take a pause and set up a campsite. Unlike previous Pokémon snacks, which were designed to boost stats for Pokémon Contests, cooking curry is a way for players to raise friendship levels and restore the health of their companions. This is especially important when traveling through the Wild Area, as flying or running back to a Pokémon center can be a hassle.
The curry mechanic in Sword and Shield is one of the most extensive cooking mini-games present in the Pokémon series. With a long list of ingredients that can be found, bought, or gifted, as well as an impressive list of berries shaken from trees, players can craft curry ranging in quality, texture, and taste. Each Pokémon has a different pallet, making certain curries more appealing to different team members. While players can't customize their campsites, the ability to cook and interact with a team is both useful to the overall gameplay and cathartic for those weary from trainer battles and wild encounters.
Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl bring back secret bases from the original Diamond and Pearl, but these bases act as little more than trophy cases for the statues found while digging in the Grand Underground. Using the statues, players can influence the types of Pokémon appearing in hideaways. However, the secret bases miss out on the homey feel of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire's secret base options and lack any type of team interactions seen in Sword and Shield's campsite mechanics.
The lack of additions to secret bases in BDSP seems like a missed opportunity for the game, with players often needing breaks to restore Pokémon after numerous wild encounters in Hideaways while exploring. The ability to pause and cook a few Poffins, or sleep in a cozy bedroom filled with decorations found in treasure boxes, would have made Grand Underground exploration even more satisfying for BDSP players.
One of the key features of Sword and Shield's Wild Area that did not make it into Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl's Grand Underground are Raid Dens. In Sword and Shield, players can interact with numerous Raid Dens scattered throughout the Wild Area. When charged with Galar Particles, a beam of red light will emit from the den, allowing players to enter a Raid Den battle. In Sword and Shield, Raid Den battles are one of the few areas where Dynamax and Gigantamax are possible, allowing players to super-size their Pokémon to battle giant, powerful opponents in groups of four players. The Wild Area's Raid Dens have been a large factor in the longevity of Sword and Shield's success, with two new Wild Areas added through DLC, giving players plenty of options and areas to explore when looking to engage in co-op battles.
While Dynamax and Gigantamax aren't possible in the Sinnoh region due to the lack of Galar Particles, it is surprising that an altered mechanic wasn't introduced in the Grand Underground. The expanse of gridlike tunnels and Pokémon Hideaways would have been an ideal location to integrate an altered Raid Den mechanic, allowing players to take on Pokémon with heightened stats, as well as team up with friends to challenge either multiple wild Pokémon at once or take on extremely powerful species together. While players can interact through a few of the Grand Underground's mechanics, like entering secret bases or mining together with others online, the features aren't particularly exciting and can be done without the need for teamwork. This could cause Pokémon BDSP to age more quickly, with players losing interest after completing the primary story and post-game content.
While it is possible more options could be added to the Grand Underground through either paid DLC or free updates in BDSP, currently there has been no confirmation further content is in the works. Because of this, the Grand Underground will likely remain limited, with players using it as a way to farm needed items, or increase the rates of specific Pokémon when hunting for Shiny species. Despite this, the changes made to the Grand Underground in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl had improved the features present in the original games, making them more useful to players enjoying the remakes.