Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl patch notes drop over a week before the game’s release
The patch adds online and endgame features
The first Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl patch notes are already out in the wild, revealing what features will need to be added via day-one update.
The patch notes were posted on Nintendo's official site and are largely composed of additional online features for the Grand Underground, Super Contest Show, Union Room, and Mystery Gift feature, which obviously you wouldn't miss if you never connected your Switch to the internet anyway. It will also add the newly revealed Ramanas Park to the endgame, a special area populated by legendary Pokemon which wasn't part of the original Diamond and Pearl.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl update 1.1.0 also includes the addition of "the game's ending cutscene," which is a pretty important part to leave for an update. Nintendo may have been trying to cut down on pre-release leaks by holding the ending back; as long as you download the update before you play, you won't notice the difference.
The Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl patch notes also reveal that the Union Play will have some limitations at launch, with only two players able to link up and use the Battle, Trade, or Mix Records options. A post-release update will increase the Union Room's number of supported players and add the Greeting and Capsule Decoration options - trading at the GWS in Jubilife City and using the Colosseum at Pokemon Centers will also be added after launch.
While you're getting ready to play next week, we've already picked out some early Black Friday Pokemon deals to help kit out your Switch.
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I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.