The Epitome of Cozy RTS Games | Pikmin 4

2023 saw a lot of amazing games, one of those being a brand new Pikmin game on Switch. I played all three previous pikmin games to prepare for the fourth game. Going into the game, I tried to stay away from as much pikmin content as possible because I wanted to experience all this new game had to offer with my own eyes. I’m so glad I did. This game is leagues above anything that was in Pikmin 3. The years spent crafting this game is crystal clear in the details of Pikmin 4.

The story is woven throughout the whole game, pushing you to explore all the areas, rescue all the castaways, and collect all the treasures. This makes a 100% run of the game feels baked in and I felt even more satisfied while also being less daunting. The world is gorgeous. And a lot bigger than any of the previous games. Still separating parts of the world into sections, each zone is big enough to have three separate landing spaces to move your ship. This small inclusion made a large impact on my playthrough, I would clear out each area and then move onto the next landing area, this gave me a logical line of progression through each section.

When the Nintendo trailers showed caves returning, I was so excited. Pikmin 2’s caves were some of my favorite parts of the whole game. The mini dungeon-like sections brought the same joy as the second game. holding the same tension by having the amount of pikmin you enter with, being the amount you are stuck with. For most of the game, caves are then main way to obtain a majority of the pikmin types (until you collect your onions). The caves in the later half of the game became increasingly more challenging (mainly because I made myself do them on a single run) and I love that this game was not afraid to make the players struggle.

The amount of options they put in this game means that I can swap modes and never get bored or feel like my gameplay is getting repetitive. The normal gameplay, plus both forms of the dandori battles, AND that night time tower defense give three similar yet different enough to keep things interesting. With over 40 hours in this game, I took to doing two days exploring, start getting platinum medals for the dandori battles, then I would do a level or two of the night mode. This seemed to be the best way to not get burnt out.

I can’t talk about Pikmin 4 without talking about the best addition. Oatchi. This little guy is a literal game changer. Being able to swim, carry enemies and pikmin, and breaking down walls changes how you can play this game compared to the previous ones. The way this creature saved my playthrough so many times, he killed so many enemies for me, broke so many walls during time trials. Being able to level up Oatchi’s skills made it feel like he was growing with me (and also encouraged me to rescue everyone to get more pup points).

Everything about this game is perfect. This is hands down the best Pikmin game to date, it took everything that made the first three great and added more. The wait for this game was well worth it and I will be patiently awaiting Pikmin 5.