Pokemon Diamond

OK, when I first heard of pokemon I thought it was the craziest idea and nobody anywhere would like it. And I myself doubted it would ever be fun. I thought it was just plain weird. But one day I saw my cousin catch a Buizel, and every time a wild pokemon appeared I said "Battle it! Please!" Finally I bought it and set to work, playing it for so long that I caught Dialga and was on my way to the Pokemon League while my cousin, who'd had it for a year, was far behind. I managed to guide a few people thru Mt. Coronet, and people at school ask me how to get thru the game. I will never stop playing it and NEVER sell it. It is the best game I've ever seen in my life! Pokemon Platinum has the same story except that Giratina is the main legendary, so they are both amazing, no matter what. I've been playing LeafGreen and Emerald, and neither are close to as good.

OK,when I first heard of pokemon kids my age were collecting the cards like CRAZY The're still collecting them! Back then I loved the show and I still do! But when I got my DS it totally changed me. I was starting to become a game FREAK.My starting game is the game I am talking about right NOW pokemon diamond I thought it was the sickest game ever!I thought nothing would ever come close besides pokemon pearl and pokemon platinum.

Again the same formula is applied, the scenario is even worse, the 4th generation has plenty ugly Pokémon, but the game mechanics are EXTREMELY GOOD. The physical/special is applied to moves instead of types, and strategy is on a really high level on this one. There's nearly every Pokémon from every generation, so you can spend hundreds and hundreds of hours searching them and making them evolve. It never gets old. Reading is IMPOSED to fully enjoy the title. Aside from that, everybody can play to Pokémon without minding being offensed or whatever.

I'm coming at this review as an educator second (No 13 year old kid for me, just a bunch of students), but a Pokemon player first. I've been at Pokemon since I was in sixth grade and Diamond/Pearl is the best installment in the series. In the game you play a kid on his or her journey to travel and train Pokemon in battles, but along the way you get mixed up in trying to stop Team Galactic, a cult who wants to rebuild the world from scratch to get rid of the evils of human spirit. To do this, they, sorry for the spoilers, capture and experiment upon living Pokemon. Not for the faint of heart. The violence in this game, while not as bad as the XD/Colosseum cycle, is pretty high for a Pokemon game in what happens to several Pokemon. Also, the political controversy int his game may be too much for some smaller kids to truly grasp, especially since the translators made a few links between Team Galactic's ideology and structure and that of a controversial real world religious group, whose name I am almost afraid to mention. Aside from that though, the game takes a frank look at what kind of person would join one of these evil syndicates and how a charismatic leader can induce people to do bad things. Dark themes for young kids. Maybe your older kids can appreciate it. Another thing I want to mention is Cynthia, the female champion of the game and a great role model. She's friendly, compassionate, generous, always searching for the truth, and extremely tough. As a feminist I was glad to see her included, but also the fact that she's a woman champion almost completely unmentioned by the game. If you play on the level I do she doesn't seem so great given the implications of how high her Pokemon's stats are and how she must have rejected tons of other Pokemon to get such good ones, but most players will not reach that conclusion. I love this game and I still play it regularly. It's my favorite Pokemon game and I recommend it to the oldest of my younger cousins and even my teenage students, but sometimes I worry about what my six year old cousin would make of Team Galactic and Cyrus.