Pikmin 4is finally here, and it’s been well worth the wait. I got to go hands-on with the full game, courtesy ofNintendo, starting witha previewof the first two areas.
Check out the overview trailer for Pikmin 4 below!
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Nintendo
Pikmin 4’sstory revolves around saving Captain Olimar, who’s been involved in yet another shipwreck and gotten himself stranded on an unknown planet. The Rescue Corps are dispatched to save him, only to be involved in a crash landing of their own, scattering its members across the planet.
You’re then prompted to create your very own Rescue Corps member and embark on a mission to save your team, Captain Olimar, and any other castaways currently lost on the planet.
Character creation is new to the series, but I won’t waste too much time on it as it’s pretty barebones in terms of options. You choose your body, face, hair style/colour and space suit colour, all of which can be altered later in the game if you wish. While it’s not the in-depth character customisation you’ll find inElden RingorCyberpunk 2077, it does the job.
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They can also attack enemies, who die faster the more Pikmin you throw at them. While combat is a big part of the game, there’s not much depth to it, as most encounters, and even some bosses can be eradicated in seconds if you have enough Pikmin at your disposal. The challenge lies in actually amassing the right amount of Pikmin and keeping them alive so you have a sizeable team.
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Pikmin 4: Credit Nintendo
The aim of the game is to explore gorgeously crafted environments looking for various collectables. These include your missing crewmates, other castaways, and “treasures” to power your ship, with the ultimate goal being the rescue of Captain Olimar.
This turns the game into one big collectathon, but you don’t have to find everything to beat the game. The main method of progression lies in finding your missing crew, and the treasures, which contain what the game calls “sparklium”, a power source that’s used to fuel your ship, and unlock additional areas/levels
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The treasures were a real highlight for me, and it’s something the Pikmin games have always done incredibly well. Every treasure is an everyday object for humans, but for the explorers in Pikmin, they’re a complete mystery, often being given funny names like Child Of The Earth (Potato) or Director Of Destiny (Compass). There are loads of them scattered throughout the game, ranging from fruits, tools, and even some retro Nintendo products, like a GameBoy, which I absolutely adored.
Graphically, it’s one of the cleanest-looking games I’ve seen on the Nintendo Switch, with crisp HD visuals that make practically every part of the game a feast for the eyes. I’d often find myself taking a break from my daily tasks just to wander around and stare at the backdrops.
While I’m sure most players will want to gawp at the scenery day long, your time for exploring is limited, as once the sun starts to set, you need to grab your Pikmin and go, as the night is a dangerous time in Pikmin games. Each day of exploration takes around 15 minutes in real-time, but there’s no limit to how many days you can take to finish the game.
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Caves also return fromPikmin 2,which are basically mini-dungeons containing treasures, wild Pikmin and castaways to rescue. All caves have their own gimmick or theme and often have a mini-boss or challenge for the player to defeat on the final level. Some caves can be pretty tough, but thankfully they can be restarted at the push of a button, and save your progress so you can return to them later.
Pikmin 4: Credit Nintendo
This is a great addition, especially for more casual players or if you simply get hit with some bad luck.
At the end of each day, you’ll be automatically transported back to your ship along with all the Pikmin currently in your party. Once morning comes you’ll be able to roam your base, which grows in size as you find your crew and castaways. As you rescue more people you’ll unlock more to do in your base, like upgrading Oatchis and yourself with new gear and abilities. Upgrades can include more moves for your Pikmin like a charge ability, or protective enhancements like elemental resistances or more health.
For the most part,Pikmin 4is a very traditional Pikmin game, but there are two brand-new additions that will likely stand out for returning fans of the series, Dandori Battles and Night Expeditions.
Pikmin 4: Credit Nintendo
Night Expeditions are the next and while I enjoyed them, I didn’t see much point to them aside from beating the game 100%. As the name implies, these are short levels that take place at night, where all enemies become more hostile. It’s during these that you’re introduced to a brand new Pikmin variety, Glow Pikmin, who can only appear in dark places, and live in little nests that produce a substance called Glow Sap, which is important for the story as well as side missions. The objective is to defend these nests for a certain amount of time using only Glow Pikmin, who are very fast and can even combine into a giant energy ball that severely damages enemies and stuns them temporarily. There are quite a few Night Expeditions, which are unlocked as you discover more areas, and you’ll be rewarded at the end of each expedition with Glow Sap and some Glow Pikmin, who you can take into caves to bolster your numbers. I liked how the Night Expeditions progressively got more challenging, eventually throwing some bosses into the mix, but I didn’t find myself eager to play the next one as they started to feel repetitive after a while. Regardless, I thought they were a good addition, and it was cool to finally see the dangers of night-time in the Pikmin world with our own eyes.
Pikmin 4: Credit Nintendo
I’d callPikmin 4a near-perfect return of the series and well-worth the agonising wait for the game’s release.Pikmin 4feels like a game that took so many years to make, as it’s practically overflowing with creativity. It lovingly combines the best parts of the first three Pikmin games, whilst implementing its own fresh new ideas into the mix. There’s an astounding level of heart and charm in the game’s world, its characters, and its gameplay, and it was a joy unearthing everything it had to offer, like a real explorer discovering a mysterious new world. If I could change anything, it’d be the inclusion of an option at the start of the game to say whether you’d played the previous games in the series. Ideally this would keep the tutorials to a minimum for returning players, as well as bump up the difficulty of the enemies, like giving them slightly more health. For the most part though, the game is well-balanced when it comes to challenge, it’ll likely just feel significantly easier if Pikmin 4 isn’t your first dandori-rodeo.
Pros:Gorgeous visuals, a solid storyline, welcomed new gameplay features like Oatchi and new Pikmin types, Dandori feels rewarding, overall great for new and old fans alike.
Cons:Early-game tutorials and overall difficulty may feel too simplistic for returning fans.
For fans of:Super Mario, Zelda, Animal Crossing
9/10: Exceptional
Topics:Nintendo,Nintendo Switch
