Pikmin’s life began on the Nintendo GameCube where it would begin to gain a following for its challenging but rewarding gameplay focused on managing the titular Pikmin to help Captain Olimar escape the mysterious planet he had found himself on. The series would go on to see two more large titles and a handful of spin-offs before going somewhat dormant with its mainline entries. The promise of Pikmin 4 has been around for many years, but it took a grand total of 10 years from the third title to come to fruition. Now Pikmin 4 is here after a long wait with nothing more than rumbles that it was in the works. Fans were ready more than ever to dive into this brand new entry, so was it worth the wait?
Pikmin 4 begins with Olimar once again on the strange planet but this time in a brand new locale inside a building. He’s also accompanied by a dog by the name of Moss and quickly finds himself overwhelmed with trouble. With his emergency signal set, the Rescue Corp is deployed to find them and a large amount of castaways who got caught on the planet as well. Unfortunately on their way down the rescue corp runs into trouble and is scattered across the planet leaving the main survivor, a character created by the player, to get everyone back together and setting things right. Along the way the rescue corp meets up with their faithful pup Oatchi who quickly becomes the favored ally of the player who will find his unique abilities to their utmost advantage while exploring the planet and facing off against all manner of deadly foes.
The basics will be mostly familiar for returning fans of Pikmin, but the core loop is heading out into an unknown land and finding Pikmin. This typically begins with the iconic red kind, who can then begin to harvest plants and fight enemies to bring back to their alien-like Onion where they live in order to create more of their kind. As players progress they’ll meet even new kinds of Pikmin such as yellow, blue, the new ice Pikmin and more. The biggest difference is that at the beginning only a few Pikmin can be taken out to explore at a time as they’ll need to increase the size of the Onion using Flarlic to bring more allies along. The other big caveat is that only three types of Pikmin can leave the Onion at once, leaving players to be more strategic in who they take with them. Fortunately there are recommended Pikmin types to bring along in each area and they can be freely changed at any time by returning to the Onion.
The goal in this entry is to collect Sparklium, a special energy that comes from treasure that can found scattered across each area. This can restore the functions of the crashed rescue corp ship and allow them to seek allies out even further across the land. Pikmin can also collect and gather a new resource simply known as materials. These can be used to allow Pikmin to build bridges or even used as a currency to upgrade Oatchi and the crew’s capabilities. Oatchi also has his own separate upgrade system based on rescuing other castaways which help increase his core skills and make him an even stronger ally in the field. The main catch to exploration is that it must be done within a day cycle, as at night the enemies become hostile and any crew and Pikmin left behind can’t make it on their own. Some treasures are simply out in the open, others have been eaten or buried and many can also be found in the variety of scattered caves throughout each area.
Caves are a major returning mechanic first seen in Pikmin 2 where they were both popular and notorious for their difficulty. Part of their difficulty was due in part that they were partially randomized and frequently included enemies and bombs raining from the ceiling to wipe out unsuspecting Pikmin. Things in Pikmin 4 have settled down and caves have become one of the largest highlights. Here the caves are entirely pre-set areas with a lot of extremely creative puzzles to overcome. Much like the over world, up to three types of Pikmin can be taken at a time in caves and unlike Pikmin 2, these can be selected at the beginning instead of having to drag them along before diving in. Once inside a cave players will face a variety of enemies and treasures often accompanied by bosses of some type waiting for them at the end. Castaways can also be found here being held by monsters and will need to be rescued to bring them back. The biggest enjoyment caves offer is the sheer challenge of each one’s creative puzzles for those trying to collect everything they can. This can lead to unique challenges such as having Oatchi and the crew split up or having to change a Pikmin’s type using a Candypop Bud. No two caves are alike in their layouts or puzzles, but some are reminiscent of Pikmin 2 in creatively nostalgic (or terrifying) ways that make them a delight to discover. Also much like Pikmin 2, time from the overworld does not decrease down there, so there’s no concern about staying down there too long.
Caves are not the only type of challenge that awaits while exploring as you’ll occasionally come up against a bizarre castaway or civilian seemingly covered in leaves that challenges them to Dandori. Dandori are matches of points that require the player to either get as many points as they can in an arena or challenge an opponent to earn the most points. The first is perhaps the more fun of the two as it’s simply about the utmost management to gather limited Pikmin quickly and gather as many things as they can, if not all of them. The second mode seems clear it was trying to imitate multiplayer to a fault, as it causes the screen to be split in half. Normally this would be fine against another human player as the goal is of course to watch opponent movements and keep an eye on them. Against an AI, however, it makes the screen feel small and cramped. Fortunately there aren’t a ton of these challenges throughout, but they can be replayed later on for those who want to become a master of Dandori.
The biggest new inclusion to Pikmin 4 is night missions. In every previous Pikmin title when night struck was said to be the most deadly when no life forms were safe to live on the planet. This time around it’s worth the risk as there are mounds of glowing dirt known as Lumiknolls that produce a special sap able to transform leaflings back into their normal form if turned into a medicine. The terrifying risk is that all manner of creature wishes to attack these Lumiknolls at night and the crew can’t use their normal Pikmin here. Fortunately the entirely new Glow Pikmin are here to serve in this more tower-defense themed style of combat. Glow Pikmin need to gather star bits scattered throughout the night maps in order to increase their forces, but it’s worth doing so quickly as the night creatures will soon begin their attack.
Night missions require one or multiple Lumiknoll to be protected to earn the medicine, but the Glow Pikmin are ready to fight much like their day-time kin in order to see it through. Unlike normal Pikmin, the Glowing type will always instantly return after they’re finished with their task making them quick to reuse without having to backtrack. While night missions are not long, they can be challenging and quickly overwhelming for those who aren’t prepared. Those who succeed, however, will also be rewarded with Glow Seeds that can be used to create more Glow Pikmin. Although these are great to use at night, they can also be used while exploring caves and make for great extra assistance in harder areas especially given Glow Pikmin are immune to most ailments such as burning, drowning and freezing.
One of the most notable elements of Pikmin since its creation were its visuals. Even on the GameCube it was wildly impressive in its combination of both realism in the world and cartoony characters that fit together so seamlessly. This is still true of Pikmin 4 where it shines to an almost terrifying degree with many enemies and foes looking utterly terrifying, but the world being so grand and wonderful to look at. The music is familiar and catchy, but never overwhelming in moment-to-moment gameplay. It shows up when it’s needed most to add to the atmosphere of the world. The sheer amount of content to play with is above and beyond its predecessors, especially with no sort of time limit or restriction that Pikmin 1 and 3 had, making the adventure both relaxed and exciting to take at ones own pace. Pikmin 4 truly feels like all the great elements of every title before it finally wrapped into one massive, definitive adventure.
Closing Comments:
It’s easy to say without hesitation that Pikmin 4 is the strongest the series has ever been. It’s easy to get into from the get-go, but offers a good level of challenge for those looking for it. The amount of content available to do is far above that of the previous entries, and while its story may be simplistic much like the others, there’s so much more heart and love of the series here than ever before. Pikmin has always been that interesting Nintendo series that was perfectly successful but never carried the huge air of noteworthiness about it. Pikmin 4 feels so much different than that with such an inviting urge to pull in new players to this world where they can be their own individual and be a part of the crew looking to save their friends and allies and work alongside these mysterious plant creatures to make it out alive. The biggest accomplishment of Pikmin 4 is the fact that it’s so packed full of fun that it’s hard to stop playing. This is not a title that should be missed out on by Pikmin fans or those who have been waiting to finally try it out.
