Pokémon Distorted Platinum | ||||
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Developer(s) | ILCA, Inc. | |||
Publisher(s) | Nintendo The Pokémon Company | |||
Platform(s) | Nintendo Switch | |||
Genre(s) | Action Role-Playing Game | |||
Series | Pokémon | |||
Predecessor | Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl | |||
Age Rating(s) | E | |||
Media Included | Nintendo Switch game card Digital download | |||
Storage Needed | 16 GB |
Pokémon Distorted Platinum (also known as ポケットモンスタードラコニックプラチナ版 Pocket Monsters: Draconic Platinum Edition) is an upcoming title in the Pokémon franchise, as part of Generation 7 (Gen VII), the second standalone game in the generation. The game is a remake of the critically acclaimed Pokémon Platinum, the third non-remake title of the series' Generation 4; the remake expands many areas of the game, such as adding new locations, expanding the regional Pokédex, updating the game's story, updating the game to have mechanics introduced as of Sun and Moon, and many more changes.
The story of the game remains mostly unchanged; it revolves around the rise of the new villainous team Team Galactic, who, despite having odd mannerisms and ridiculous outfits, are serious threats to the stability of the Sinnoh region; using the unbalanced cosmic energy emitted from specific areas of the region, Team Galactic's goal is to end the current world and recreate a new one, by using the cosmic energy to summon the Creation Trio of Sinnoh.
Many of the changes in the game come from the new elements introduced between Platinum and Sun and Moon; these include PokéRide, the new Fairy type, Pokémon Refresh, Super Training, trainer customization, Z-Moves, and Mega Evolution (which is not part of the main game, due to no Mega forms being introduced in the game). The game combines these new elements with many updated pieces of the original game's gameplay, retaining elements such as the Pokétch, the Great Underground, Poffins, Contests, and the Battle Frontier.
The game is slated for a worldwide release on May 31, 2018, on the Nintendo 3DS.
Changes Between Platinum and Distorted Platinum[]
- In general, many of the newly introduced elements introduced after the original Platinum's release have been added to the game in some way. These include the new abilities and moves, Fairy type, PokéRide replacing HMs, Z-Moves, Pokémon Refresh, and, in the postgame, Mega Evolution.
- Seasons return from Generation 5, and functions how it did in BW/B2W2.
- Many areas have been updated, added on, or newly introduced to the Sinnoh region.
- Jubilife City is now home to the PokéRide Company, which first makes itself known to the player after defeating the Team Galactic Grunts in the same city. It's partnership with the Pokétch Company is made known by the people who work there.
- Ravaged Path has assorted colorful crystals spread across it's second floor, to add to its aesthetic.
- Oreburgh Mine has an extra three floors now, but these floors are only accessible after getting Machamp in PokéRide. The bottom floor is the new location of the Flame Plate.
- Floroama Meadow now has a flower-covered path of Tall Grass all the way to the east.
- The Valley Windworks is now a meadow comprised of Honey Trees and windmills, being generally much larger.
- Eterna Forest is much more ancient and ominous, with many hollowed-out trees, tiny mushrooms, and dead leaves and twigs on the ground.
- Old Chateau has a new room (hidden behind the Gengar painting), which leads to a back room where an encounter with another ghost can happen.
- The Old Chateau also has a new backyard area, the Lost Hollow, which is a sizable forested area which, despite its haunting look, is a place for small Pokémon to play.
- Amity Park has been replaced by the Poké Hideaway, a large tree-covered park which can be traversed by players to experience daily events and games to win rare prizes, like Evolutionary Stones, expensive vitamins, and even Rare Candies. There's also patches of Tall Grass everywhere.
- The Lost Tower has been replaced with the Spiritual Cove, a large underground cove where the tower was previously that has all the tombstones. It also has the Keystone Rock in the basement of the area, so Spiritomb can be accessed.
- Wayward Cave has jagged boulders all around it's hidden entrance, likely due to the Gible.
- The Backlot Mansion has been refurbished, with a fantastic redesign. The backyard still has the rare Pokémon in the tall grass, even.
- The Great Marsh has been replaced by the Pastoria Creek, which can be accessed from Lake Valor as well as Pastoria City. It has all of the wild encounters the original Great Marsh had, as to replace it's use.
- Artifact Woods is a new location north of Celestic Town that can be accessed by going through the small cavern in the town; the deepest grove can be accessed with the Unown PokéRide option, which opens up a small area where Necrozma can be seen; it flies away after noticing you, and can be found in the Cosmic Heights in the post-game to catch.
- The Fuego Ironworks now has a basement where wild Pokémon can be found, as well as a below-ground base where the director is hiding out.
- Lakes Verity, Valor, and Acuity have new larger areas around the lake, with more tall grass. The lakes can now be successfully be circled without needing to surf, but they can only be accessed with the Scyther in PokéRide.
- Route 221 is now a vast desert connected to the surfable area in Route 220. The wild Pokémon are mostly different.
- Pal Park has been replaced with a new location, Catricta Savannah, which connects to Route 221 in the west and a new town, Cartricta Town, in the far east. Catricta Town, according to its denizens, is where Sinnohian civilization began when the region first was discovered, before travelers expanded out all the way to present-day Sandgem Town. The town must be accessed to run into Charon in the postgame (though it can be accessed before the Hall of Fame) and retrieve the Origin Plate from him, a postgame-important item.
- Iron Island is a much more metallic place now, having been industrialized to be a iron-coated cavern. It also now has an outdoor area with tall grass.
- Newmoon and Fullmoon Islands can be accessed after chasing Team Galactic from Iron Island, and wild Pokémon can be found there; there isn't much to be seen there before the postgame, unfortunately, other than a few items and some rare Pokémon.
- Snowpoint Temple can now be accessed before beating the game, and it must be traversed at least once due to Candice being in there upon arriving to the city for the first time.
- The Vista Lighthouse of Sunyshore City was greatly expanded, is now mostly empty of humans, and is instead a large power source where wild Pokémon inhabit. Volkner still visits the place nonetheless.
- Turnback Spring is a large meadow now, surrounding the Turnback Lake, where many wild Pokémon run free. Apparently, the Spring is where Giratina hid out with other wild Pokémon before Arceus sentenced it to the Distortion World.
- Victory Road has been completely overhauled; it's now a large labyrinth with 18 sectors, all of which correspond to a specific type; all 18 must be accessed to unlock keys to unlock the gate to reach the Victory Road.
- Stark Mountain now has areas filled with pools of magma, only crossable with the Magmortar in PokéRide, which isn't available until the post-game.
- The Flower Paradise is now its own relatively decent-sized route, and Wild Pokemon can now be found.
- North of the Survival Area is the Cosmic Heights, a crater-filled meadow leading up to a rocky hill; here, Necrozma can be caught after encountering it in Artifact Woods earlier in the game.
- All of the routes have updated Wild Pokémon lists, to correspond with the new Sinnoh regional dex.
- All of the trainers in the game, including story-important ones, have updated teams to correspond to the new Sinnoh regional dex.
- The Honey Trees return; smother honey on them, and Pokémon will come eventually. This time, however, the Pokémon that can be found depends on how long the player waits, and where the tree is.
- The "How To Catch Pokémon" tutorial, for the first time, is completely optional for those who have played a Pokémon game before. This also includes any other tutorials.
- The method to catch Spiritomb is now different; in the game, after digging at the Dig Spot in Spiritual Cove, you must dig in five walls with wispy smoke leaking from them. Digging from all five releases the smoke entirely, bringing the wispy smoke to where the Odd Keystone must be placed. After the Keystone is placed and the smoke is released, Spiritomb can be found.
- The player has the Running Shoes from the very beginning of the game.
- The Great Underground returns, with some changes;
- It can now only be accessed from specific "Dig Spots", places that have minable spots to access it. These "Dig Spots" are Ravaged Path, Oreburgh Gate, Oreburgh City, Oreburgh Mines, Deep Oreburgh Mines, Wayward Cave, Spiritual Cove, Mt. Coronet, Solaceon Ruins, Route 214, Maniac's Tunnel, Route 211, Iron Island, Snowpoint Temple, Stark Mountain, and Victory Road.
- You can now access different surface areas from the underground after having dug in those "Dig Spots", allowing one to go to a different surface location despite having dug somewhere else.
- Additionally, the entire Underground is now connected, meaning digging somewhere specific isn't required to access certain parts anymore; however, you can only go to specific areas after having accessed said Dig Spot. This affects the rarity of minerals found and the Pokémon being able to be found.
- Wild Pokémon can now be encountered by digging in certain walls; their level and species depend on the area they are found.
- The Pokétch returns, with various new applications available for use, like Pokémon Refresh, PokéRide, and, in the post-game, the PokéRadar.
- Speaking of the PokéRadar, it is still received after obtaining the National PokéDex, but it can now be used while surfing and in caves, or other areas where Pokémon can be in encountered, where it formerly couldn't be used outside of in tall grass.
- Z-Moves are in the game, introduced to the player in Eterna City by Cynthia. There are 15 new Z-Moves in the game, as well as the others previously introduced in Sun and Moon.
- All of the Gym Leaders in the game after Roark have a Z-Crystal for the type they correspond to on their Pokémon's team, as well as Elite 4 Members, and even Barry (during the Pokémon League and postgame fights with him) and Cyrus. Cynthia's final team has a Lucario with a Lucarium Z, as her Garchomp has a Garchompite equipped instead.
- A new postgame story, available before one goes to the Battle Frontier Island, is now available, called The Distortion Episode. The episode follows the player, Barry, Dawn/Lucas, Looker, and Cynthia banding together to destroy the remaining Distortion Rifts scattered across Sinnoh following Team Galactic's scheme previously, following the discovery that Giratina is roaming free in the real world. These rifts can only be closed by entering them from where they are distorting the area, entering "Sub-Distortion Zones" and fighting distorted Pokémon; there are 10 of them scattered around the region. The tenth rift is located on Pillar, but Arceus, having been corrupted by Giratina's presence in the real world, tries to stop the quintet by thrusting them all into the real Distortion World once more, a story that ends by fighting a distorted Arceus. Noticeably, one cannot catch any "Distorted Pokémon", but all of the Distorted Boss Pokemon can be found in random areas of the region afterwards, except for Arceus, who will only appear when the player has received the Azure Flute from Cynthia in the Resort Area.
- The Villa in the Resort Area returns from Platinum, and replaces the Battle Cafe in a way; now, important trainers will show up to your villa based on your ranking and will even occasionally request battles; these trainers include the rival(s), the Stat Trainers, the Gym Leaders, the Elite 4, members of Team Galactic, and even some other guest characters.
- The event Legendary Pokémon that could formerly only be accessed through said events can now be accessed in the post game.
- Registeel, Regirock, and Regice can be found in their respective areas after visiting Candice in the Snowpoint Temple after beating Cynthia for the first time, in which she tells you of the legend of the Golems. Bringing all three afterwards allows you to catch the Lv. 1 Regigigas.
- Darkrai can be found on Newmoon Island by bringing Cresselia to the center, which activates an event where Darkrai traps Cresselia in a nightmare void and challenges you to a battle; you must defeat Darkrai first, then he will roam Sinnoh similarly to Cresselia.
- Shaymin can be found after Professor Oak visits your villa in the Resort Area (available at an A rank) and tells you to meet him at the Forest Paradise. The events remain the same as the original from there.
- Arceus can be found at Spear Pillar after receiving the Azure Flute (from Cynthia, after she visits the S rank Villa) and the Origin Plate fitted with the other 18 plates (the Origin Plate gotten from Charon after chasing him down to Catricta Town after chasing him from Stark Mountain.
Gameplay[]
The Great Underground[]
Storyline[]
Characters[]
Pokémon League[]
Team Galactic[]
Sinnoh Regional Pokédex[]
One of the more prominent changes between Platinum and Distorted Platinum is the expansion of the already large Sinnoh regional Pokédex; a total of 120 new Pokémon are now available in Sinnoh in the main game and are part of the regional Pokédex, bringing the grand Pokémon number in this game to 330.
New Pokémon Locations[]
This sections lists the new locations for all new Sinnoh Regional PokéDex Pokémon. If a new Pokemon is left out, it is because they cannot be found in the wild, only by evolving a previous form.
Region[]
Routes[]
Towns and Cities[]
Landmarks[]
The Distortion World[]
Major Battles[]
Rivals[]
Gym Leaders[]
Elite 4[]
Team Galactic[]
Other[]
Pokétch[]
PokéRide[]
PokéRadar Encounters[]
Technical Machines[]
Z-Crystals and Z-Moves[]
Z-Moves, a new mechanic having returned from the previous installment, is back and in full force in Distorted Platinum. Z-Moves are extremely powerful Pokémon moves that can be activated with specific crystals and, more importantly, a strong bond between the trainer and their Pokémon. Cynthia, the Champion of the Sinnoh region, first meets you before you fight Gardenia in Eterna City, and explains the idea of Z-Moves to you; afterwards, she gifts you with a Z-Ring, the accessory needed to be able to use a Z-Move, telling you to use it well. Unfortunately, the player doesn't get a Z-Crystal as part of the story until Hearthome City, where Barry gifts a Z-Crystal corresponding to your starter as a gift from Rowan. Most of the other Z-Crystals must be searched for and found across the region, or bought by someone who loves the crystals dearly.
Despite the Z-Moves' activation being a bit different in this game (to use a Z-Move, a Pokémon must fill up the Z-Meter, a gauge that fills up the more damage a Pokémon deals or receives), the idea is the same; a super powerful move used as a last resort, or just as a stylish finisher. Z-Moves can also be only activated if the party Pokémon holds a specific Z-Crystal; some Z-Crystals correspond to types (with one crystal dedicated to each individual type), while others correspond to specific Pokémon. There are a total of 15 new Z-Moves, alongside 29 pre-existing ones from the previous game.
Returning Z-Crystals[]
New Z-Crystals[]
Time-Based Events[]
Honey Trees[]
Honey Trees return from the initial game, but how they function has been changed drastically. Now, the Pokémon that appear in the tree, instead of being randomized, are determined by two factors; the location of the tree, and how long you wait after the initial slathering. As usual, after 24 hours, the honey disappears, and no Pokémon can be found unless you slather the tree again.
Trivia[]
- During the first 45 days of the game's release, a special edition Aipom carrying an Ambipium Z at Lv. 5 could be retrieved from Mystery Gift as a commemoration for the game's release. The Aipom always comes with a Jolly nature, and knows Astonish, Tail Whip, Fury Swipes, and Pursuit (one of Aipom's Egg Moves). The Ambipium Z activates with an Ambipom knowing Double Hit, allowing it to use the new Z-Move, Mastered Multitail.