A game that optimizes optimization | Pikmin 3

After watching more and more hype surround Pikmin 4, I finally decided to dust off my unfinished copy of Pikmin 3. In the past week, I have been addicted to this game, I put in a few hours each day and have put in around 21 hours between the main story and the side missions.

Getting into the game took a minute, I had to figure out how to use my pikmin, what each one was best used for, and how I should use my multiple little explorers. Once I got into the flow of playing, it became an addiction to getting the most pikmin I could in a day. I would try to hunt down all the fruit I could, and only after a few hours of playing did I realize the map shows all the fruit locations.

Learning how to optimize the fighting was something that I was not expecting from a game like this, the begging of my Pikmin 3 journey was just me throwing all of my pikmin at an enemy at once and just hoping that I wouldn’t lose too many. As I was reading the text that would explain a bit of how the pikmin worked, I realized that there was a way to best use each type. I then started out by always throwing out my rock pikmin due to the amazing damage they had if they landed on top of an enemy. It was always a one hit squish for smaller enemies and it would break the ice shield of larger enemies.

The red pikmin tended to be my default for carrying items. And since they are really strong in battle, I would send them out after my rock pikmin. I would always try to carry a few more of these guys because I had so many.

I was a bit sad that there was a long stretch of time where I felt like my yellow pikmin were not needed. These were the ones that I would carry the least of, so I was happy when the later levels needed the yellow pikmin again for breaking through barriers and lighting up the dark caves.

The winged and blue pikmin were my favorites hands down. The winged pikmin are my favorite design, and the way I needed them to lift up gates and they could fly over rocks to bring things back to base was some of my favorite gameplay. Of course the water pikmin was a great addition because there was so much water.

This was a chill, relaxed experience for me. I would consider this a cozy puzzle game and I would also recommend playing this to anyone who is excited for Pikmin 4.

This franchise is such an oddball for me. Having the original two games on the GameCube (and now being ported to the Switch) and then having a huge gap between the next two games, both being on the Switch, is not something that is super common. I do love that this game was not thrown away and forgotten, the excitement for the newest game and the ports of the older games have really made me a huge fan. I went into Pikmin 3 with little expectation and I fell in love with it. I am thrilled to have the next game in the series coming out soon because I’m not sure how much longer I can wait to play with the new puppy. I also feel the need to get the original Pikmin 1 & 2 and play through all the games because I just need more of this style. It is so captivating that I did not notice the hours passing while I played, and I still wanted more.

After rolling credits at around 13 hours, I desperately wanted more and was so happy that I could spend more time with my little pikmin in the side missions. I ended up with a completed story and all platinum awards for the side missions in around 21 hours, which is on par almost exactly with the How Long To Beat time, and I still want more. I felt like my time was well spent, the game didn’t drag, it didn’t feel like it was cut short, but I would have loved for some more levels, more puzzles, more fruit.

The only sad thing for me was the creatures, there were a handful that were so cute that I didn’t want to kill them, they would just slump over and my pikmin minions would carry them back to the ship.

Overall, I loved this game and it has officially made me love this franchise and I have a new NEED to play all four games this year. I would highly recommend this for anyone who wants to go on a decently low stress adventure with cute little bulbs that you pluck from the ground. Bonus, if you have a friend or partner that you want to play with, there is local co-op, so instead of having to manage multiple explorers at once, the two of you can work together to get through puzzles.

Once last thought, with puzzle games, I tend to be easily confused and get lost, a lot of games will have me frustrated and reaching for Google. This game never once had me looking up answers, the level designs are great at guiding you through where you need to go, but never feel handholdy. It’s just a cozy 10/10 for me.