Pikmin 3 Sparked My Love For Pikmin

With the upcoming release of Pikmin 4 (and now the physical release of Pikmin 1 & 2), I was reminded that I still had an untouched copy of Pikmin 4 Deluxe sitting on my shelf. This was the push that I needed to get into the game and give it a try.

It took me a minute to figure out how to best use my Pikmin and what my real objective was, but once I got going, I loved it. This game really has you perfect micromanaging once you get further into the story, the game forces you to split up and optimize routes to make sure everything you wanted to get done was completed and all the Pikman were back before sundown.

I will say, the story was decent, you get to follow these little space explorers as they move across a planet to hunt down fruit. They run into some unexpected issues and have to find each other, find their ship parts, and even help find another stranded explorer or two. I enjoyed the way you would collect and reach certain criteria to move on with the story, and how you would need to collect fruit to turn into juice for your life points equivalent. Progression felt organic and it never leaves you in the same region for too long.

Even though the story mode was great and there were fun puzzles and hard boss fights (where I lost a lot of Pikmin), I think my favorite part of the game was the side missions. I really enjoyed Olimar’s sections where there was a time limit and a challenge to complete. Rewards ranged from bronze metal to platinum metal. I spent so much time perfecting my routes and micromanaging my Pikmin to get platinum before even thinking about moving on to the next level. These levels were the most intense due to the time limits, but I enjoyed being pushed to do better because I hated missing platinum by a few pieces of gold.

This game is an incredibly comfy experience, spending your time collecting Pikmin and solving puzzles all feel rewarding, and add in that you can play it co-op, which just makes it a 10/10.