Pikmin 4 review: charming, well-rounded, cosy – and the best in the series

When you think of the blockbuster sequels to Nintendo’s major franchises, the mind doesn’t naturally jump to iteration. More often than not, Nintendo wants to do something wild and new with every major new entry in any of its major franchises, and this is exactly the sort of thing that has historically gotten in the way of things like Star Fox and F-Zero. . regular sequels. But Pikmin 4 is a shining example of what the company’s talented developers can do by taking a step back, simply analyzing and improving what’s already out there.

This is finally what Pikmin 4 is all about. Nintendo has gone to great lengths during the game’s promotional cycle to push the concept that this is an ideal entry point for newcomers to the series. Often when developers say this, they do it with their fingers crossed behind their back, but in the case of Pikmin 4, it’s true. It’s got everything you’d want from the previous games, presented from a slightly tweaked angle that makes the whole package more enjoyable and accessible to a whole new audience.

Accessibility is probably the most important aspect of Pikmin 4 that is significantly different from the previous three entries in the series. Certain traditions have been abolished entirely, such as blanket time limits. Players can now rewind their progress and undo Pikmin’s disastrous bloodbaths. The controls have been tweaked slightly and the overall feel of the game is… breezier. At least in the main story.

Much of the content hardcore Pikmin fans are used to is still around, though in many cases you’ll have to play through those first fifteen hours to unlock the true essence of the pack.

However, the core of the game will be familiar to even those with a cursory knowledge of the series. You will guide your little adventurer, this time created by a player, through familiar environments of the real world. Pikmin 4 even gives us a look at Pikmin inside a human residence. Day by day, you must organize your Pikmin to gather resources and forge new paths through the world.

Nintendo has made it clear that they don’t want us to spoil any surprises, but this plays out pretty much as you’d expect. Pikmin 4 gently eases both new and veteran players into their experience…and then, after an opening story that pretty much makes for a lengthy but also very satisfying tutorial, the gloves come off. And, to some degree, they knuckle down.

The first half of Pikmin 4 feels like a whole game unto itself: breezy, cozy, a lovely experience that you can sit back and enjoy with relatively little stress. Upon completion, you will feel satisfied and the credits will start to roll. But then there is more. The second half also pretty much feels like a low-key game in its own right, except it’s the hardcore sequel that the most dedicated fans of the first three titles wanted. In this sense, it is truly a ‘game of two halves’.

This is not to say that the game will simply hit you with more complexity, of course. Mechanics overlap over time: upgrades, new abilities, and of course, unlocking new Pikmin variations. The complexity is spread out and the way the mechanics are introduced is the very definition of a smooth and well designed difficulty curve. A curve isn’t always smooth, it can start off smooth and build in intensity, like a roller coaster that turns into bigger and bigger loops, and Pikmin 4 achieves this by saving its most intense wrinkles for the late game.

Some changes are present from the start, most notably Oatchi, a new canine companion. Oatchi basically functions as your custom protagonist’s second-in-command. He can be used as a Pikmin to interact with the environment directly on command, but can also assume command of a separate group of Pikmin and head out alone to other areas of the map, either under his direct control or supervised by him. an AI.

Exactly how you use Oatchi is very much up to the player, with mission design structured in such a way that any of the above approaches is mostly applied to any given mission or exploration, which in itself feels like a nice nod. to the different ways Pikmin 1- 3 each played. All three playstyles (solo, split protagonists, and RTS-style micromanagement) hold true here, or more likely, a new combination of all three.

Oatchi is the poster child for a game that is packed with clever additions and changes. To me, so is rewind, a mechanic I would have despised on paper (that’s cheating, I’d protest), but found tremendously useful and interesting in practice. Rewinding also becomes more vital than you might have imagined as the game ramps up in difficulty, allowing you to experience its most fiendish challenges without having to engage in a harrowing grind to get more Pikmin. This feeling that additions are better in reality than on paper is in fact the case for much of the game, such as Ice Pikmin, which sounds like a relatively boring elemental addition until you experience the use cases for converting liquids. in solids in this big little world.

It’s honestly a hard package to criticize too ferociously. I found the night levels relatively uninspiring, for example, but they form only a small part of the package. Some will likely miss out on some of the multiplayer options above, but many won’t at all. For some fans, the soft start to the game and the very gradual pace at which repurposed enemies and mechanics from previous titles are introduced will no doubt be frustrating. I felt it too, actually, but I also understood, as I got deeper, that this pacing was vital to the mood and vibe Pikmin 4 was going for.

That frame of mind is one that brings together established and new ideas to create a Pikmin that is, I think, absolutely the most comprehensive title in the series. It takes a series that for its second and third entries I appreciated but didn’t love, and brings that adoration back. It’s a revitalizing sequel, though it’s also exactly the kind of entry that will be hard to follow.