Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are set to launch for Nintendo Switch on Nov. 19, but the remakes seem to missing a lot of very basic features in early versions of the games that have leaked ahead of the official release.
Most games nowadays ship with certain glitches or small pieces missing, which will then be fixed or implemented into the final version of the game via a mandatory day one patch that players will download when putting the game on their console of choice. However, that typically doesn’t account for entire portions of the game’s soundtrack or the opening cutscene.
According to data files pulled from early copies of BDSP that some users were able to obtain, the files contained on the game’s individual cartridges sits at around 4.65 GB. By comparison, the official Nintendo Switch website listings for both games show that the day one file size for the game will take up around 10 GB.
If that data is anything to go by, the cartridge actually contains less than half of the full BDSP experience, while the rest will all be downloaded via a day one patch.
That missing data likely includes finalized versions of some of the game’s soundtrack, because the music contained in the leaked early copies without access to the day one patch is all placeholder music that uses MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) synthesizers or poor quality samples. This also extends to what looks like a version of the GB (Game Boy) Sounds item that allows users to swap their game to play the original Nintendo DS versions of the Diamond and Pearl soundtrack.
However, this appears to only apply to specific parts of the game, such as specific themes and battle music. The overworld themes for towns and routes all seem to have had their final versions included in the shipped cartridges.
Another big piece of content reportedly missing from the early versions of BDSP is the game’s cinematic intro. Video and images of the starting screen shows static images, a black screen, and the game’s logo, but no cutscene or music.
A number of visual glitches were also pointed out in leaked gameplay images and videos, including multiple instances of the player’s character model missing a Poké Ball in their hands, or other small details that will likely be patched at launch.
There are also several aspects of the game, such as some events or interactions, that might not be playable or even included in the base version of the games without the day one patch. This includes data missing from what seems to be an Arceus-related event that could see players finally get a chance to visit the Hall of Origins legitimately for the first time.
Hopefully by the time BDSP is officially released, most of these missing content issues will be fixed, and the game will more closely resemble a finished product in comparison to what the leakers and dataminers have been showing off over the last several days.
