Pikmin 4

Genre: Real-Time Strategy / Action-RPG

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local), Competitive (Local Split-Screen)

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Review:

With Pikmin 4 releasing onto the Nintendo Switch in 2023, this series’ long ten-year drought has finally come to an end. The Pikmin series has technically had some releases in the last decade – there was the highly disappointing Nintendo 3DS Platformer, Hey! Pikmin, the largely ineffectual Pikmin Bloom on mobile devices, and the excellent Nintendo Switch port of Pikmin 3. However, this is the first time since the original Wii U release of Pikmin 3 back in 2013 that this series has seen a new mainline entry.

For those who have not yet played the Pikmin games, Pikmin is a family-friendly hybrid of Real-Time Strategy and Action-RPG games originally created by Mario and Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto after he was inspired gardening in his yard. As with other games in the Pikmin series, Pikmin 4 puts players in the role of a space explorer who finds themselves on a strange alien world that is basically Earth as seen through the eyes of someone who’s the size of an insect. This explorer aims to chart the various locales they encounter on this planet and collect its strange artifacts (giant-size nick-nacks like a Game Boy Advance SP the size of a truck), and they are assisted in this endeavor by a friendly local lifeform, the titular Pikmin. These Pikmin are cutesy creatures that are like a vaguely humanoid cross between an ant and a plant, and players will command hordes of dozens of the little guys, directing them to collect valuables, break down barriers, and attack hostile enemies.

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Not Just a Garden-Variety Pikmin Game

Pikmin 4 sets itself apart from its predecessors in numerous ways, and in fact this is undoubtedly the most transformative game the series has ever seen. One of the first major differences is that players create their own character rather than playing as one the game provides them with. And in addition to collecting relics and building up your army of Pikmin, you’ll also be rescuing other diminutive explorers (including the prior rescue team sent to rescue these explorers, now needing to be rescued themselves). This adds an element of progression the prior games never had, as each new explorer brings with them their own bonuses to help in your endeavors. Some will provide you with resources you can use to upgrade your abilities (more on this in a moment), some will expand the abilities that you can upgrade, and some will be needed to progress the game’s story.

Yes, unlike the earlier Pikmin games, players now have a sizable number of upgrades they can purchase using points they earn for completing in-game goals. This includes things as simple as health and defensive abilities, but also new equipment to track and summon your Pikmin, as well as new abilities for your dog, Oatchi.

Other than the new progression elements, Oatchi is probably the biggest change this game brings to the series. He starts out as basically a more-powerful Pikmin you can command to retrieve items or attack enemies, but you can also command him to break down barriers the Pikmin can’t touch, ride him to leap up ledges that are otherwise inaccessible, or swap between him and your character to multitask. What’s more, as you progress, you’ll be able to teach him entirely new abilities, such as being able to swim in water and ferry across the Pikmin who would otherwise drown. In particular, Oatchi’s ability to jump really opens up the game’s levels, almost making this more of a 3D Platformer at times (those who hate Platformers needn’t worry though, there’s little skill involved with the Platforming, and it’s not where the gameplay focus is).

Speaking of opening up the game, Pikmin 4 is the first entry in the series that gives players full control of the camera. No longer is the game’s camera stuck in an overhead position (though you can bring it up there if you like), and being able to bring the camera behind your shoulder as you direct Pikmin helps immensely to bring you into a more immersive experience, and does a magnificent job of enhancing the spirit of exploration that is a core element of this game..

Another addition in Pikmin 4 are two new varieties of Pikmin, though this is a bit deceptive. The first, ice Pikmin, is a more traditional addition to the formula, enabling players to freeze-stun enemies as well as being able to freeze bodies of water to trap enemies within and walk safely on top of the surface. The other new addition, glor Pikmin, actually represents an entirely new game mode that sees you heading out at night to fend off hostile creatures attacking the glow Pikmins’ anthill in a game mode that vaguely resembles a Tower Defense game. This game mode is an enjoyable addition that adds a bit of variety to the game overall, but isn’t well-integrated with the rest of the game.

I should also mention the return of caves, previously seen in Pikmin 2, though they’re a bit different here. In Pikmin 4, these self-contained areas within each level are not randomly-generated, but instead tend to be focused on a particular theme or game element, such as introducing players to a new type of Pikmin and its unique abilities, or building puzzles around a specific mechanic.

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More Changes Than You Can Shake a Bulborb At…

Going through all of the new additions, there are some quality of life changes that are mostly a great change for this game. For one thing, Pikmin 4 is similar to Pikmin 2 in that there is no overarching time limit staring down players – you still have in-game days requiring you to wrap things up by sundown, but beyond that you can take as many days as you want to explore. In fact, if you’re frustrated after getting some of your Pikmin lost or killed, you can even rewind time a few minutes to try something different and hopefully get a better outcome.

More diehard players of the Pikmin series may cry foul at these changes – the Pikmin games are already not especially hard, and removing time limits is only going to make the game even easier. However, as I’ve seen some others point out, if you’re a new player, removing this restriction is only going to make the game a more relaxed and enjoyable experience for you, and if you’re a more skilled player, these time limits were never anything that you were in any real danger of running past anyway.

However, those who pride themselves on their speed and efficiency have an entirely new game mode that seems designed specifically for them – Dandori Battle. “Dandori” is evidently a Japanese philosophy involving working effectively, and it’s put into practice here by giving players enclosed areas with tasks that they need to rush to complete – either they will be trying to collect as much of the area’s treasures as possible within a time limit, or they will be competing against an AI opponent (or a second player via local split-screen) to try to collect the most treasures within a time limit. These challenges are sprinkled throughout the campaign, but there are some also available from the main menu.

Being able to throw down in a strategic Pikmin battle with another player is an absolutely wonderful addition to this series, and I sincerely hope that this is a permanent addition that is included in all future installments. However, this also leads to my first real criticism regarding this game – it’s unfortunate that this mode is local multiplayer only, as it would have been amazing to be able to challenge others online.

Even worse, the absolutely stellar campaign co-op mode that was added to the Nintendo Switch release of Pikmin 3 Deluxe is no longer present here. In its place is a co-op assist mode similar to what we saw in Super Mario Galaxy, where the second player can toss rocks at enemies on-screen, but doesn’t control their own character. This seems like a terrible missed opportunity, especially when Oatchi’s constant presence seems like the perfect way to seamlessly loop in a second player. Honestly, the fact that this game ditches the campaign co-op we had in Pikmin 3 Deluxe is what I believe to be Pikmin 4’s greatest flaw.

There is one other change in Pikmin 4 that’s a bit of a mixed bag, and that’s the controls. Pikmin 3 Deluxe seemed to find an absolutely ideal mix of traditional gamepad controls and optional motion controls for aiming, and it’s somewhat surprising that these controls were changed for Pikmin 4. Now, your aiming cursor will automatically snap to points of interest around you as you chuck Pikmin toward them. This mostly makes the game much more easy to control, as you barely need to expend any effort aiming when trying to direct your Pikmin. However, it becomes a problem when multiple valid targets are right next to each other, when you’re standing close to a target, or when you’re trying to direct your Pikmin to stand near a point of interest, but not interact with it. Then, you may find the game forcing the cursor toward targets you don’t want to be aiming at. This isn’t often a problem, but it is a problem.

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Tiny World, Big Presentation

Finally, I need to take a moment to talk about Pikmin 4’s presentation. I feel like the Pikmin series has often been sadly overlooked as one of Nintendo’s most visually-stunning game franchises, and Pikmin 4 is clearly the best-looking game to grace the franchise thus far. It helps that players can now bring the camera down to the ground level to look up at the world around them or circle around objects to see them from every angle, but that’s just a part of it.

In short, Pikmin 4 is absolutely gorgeous. The 3D environments in this game are wonderfully detailed, have lots of color and personality, feature excellent lighting, shadows, and water effects, and really do an amazing job of selling the feeling that you’re controlling a pint-sized explorer fighting bugs in someone’s backyard. The 3D characters themselves are whimsical and somewhat cartoony, but animate expressively and bring a goofy, family-friendly element to the otherwise somewhat photo-realistic locales and in-game objects.

The sound is no slouch here either. The Pikmin and the various explorers you talk to all feature adorable nonsensical voices, as per usual, and there are some good subtle uses of sound, such as changes in the way your footsteps sound on different surfaces, or the way the Pikmin will happily sing to themselves as you’re traveling from one place to another on Oatchi’s back. This is joined by a soundtrack that mixes goofy and spacey synthesized themes with some really lovely piano themes that help to alternately highlight this game’s more absurd elements and its beautiful natural scenery. In particular, the piano solo Title Theme is absolutely lovely.

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A Big New World of Possibilities

Pikmin 4 is, in my opinion, the best that this series has ever been, by far, and the most accessible for newcomers. There are so many additions and improvements here that really build on the series formula to deliver a game that plays like something bigger that the series has been building toward for all this time, with a delightful sense of exploration throughout, excellent puzzles, clever bosses, and interesting game mechanics introduced throughout the game.

And yet, despite all the improvements, Pikmin 4 falls just short of perfection. The lack of a true campaign co-op feels like a step backwards in a game that takes so many other steps forward. The controls here are mostly an improvement, except when you run into problems and then they can be infuriating. The new multiplayer competitive Dandori Battles mode is an outstanding addition, but they had to make it lo make it local multiplayer only just to ensure that it didn’t meet its full potential.

Make no mistake, Pikmin 4 is an outstanding game, and one I would recommend to virtually all Nintendo Switch owners regardless of whether or not they’ve ever played another Pikmin game. It is only because this game is as good as it is, as huge a step beyond its predecessors, that I am so frustrated by the few areas where it falls short.

I am well-aware that when I reviewed Pikmin 3 Deluxe, I gave it an A. I felt that that version of Pikmin 3 was an outstanding re-release that pretty much perfected the gameplay of that game. Pikmin 4 improves on that game in countless ways, and is absolutely a better game, but it is also imperfect in ways that Pikmin 3 was not. So perhaps paradoxically, I will also be giving this game an A. Don’t take that to mean that the two are on par with each other – Pikmin 4 is without question the new standard for the series, the new high-watermark… it’s just a new high-watermark that still has a few bugs to work out. Hmm… where are those ice Pikmin when you need them…

tl;dr – Pikmin 4 is the long-awaited (10 years!) fourth mainline entry in Nintendo’s unique series of Real-Time Strategy / Action-RPG hybrid games that have you controlling an insect-sized space explorer commanding an army of ant-plant creatures. This sequel massively improves on prior entries in the series in numerous areas that both open up the game and make it more accessible, and it is visually-gorgeous as well. It’s just a shame that a few of the changes here add in some unfortunate flaws as well, and the lack of a full campaign co-op mode is a disappointing step backwards in a game that is otherwise all massive steps forward for the series. While it falls just short of Pikmin perfection, this is nevertheless an outstanding game, and one I highly recommend to all Nintendo Switch owners.

Grade: A

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2023 Game Awards:

Winner:

Game of the Year: Silver Award (Second Place) – Pikmin fans have had a very good year in 2023. Not only did this year bring ports of the first two Pikmin games to Nintendo Switch, but we also got what may well be the best game yet in the series, a game that brings us all the beauty the series is known for, all the wonderful exploration, and the great challenge of trying to most efficiently manage your pikmin to claim victory in “Dandori challenges”.

This was also a highly-accessible Pikmin game, letting players take the game at their own pace to fully explore the game’s levels, build up their troops, and take on the challenges how they wanted to. If ever there was a time for newcomers to try out the Pikmin series, it is now, with this game. And for those who aren’t newcomers to Pikmin, all those years of waiting for the series to resurface have finally paid off.

Best Strategy Game – Pikmin 4 was almost the perfect Pikmin game, only stumbling in its lack of true campaign co-op. But in every other way, this game was both the epitome of this series’ formula, and a great way to introduce newcomers to the series. The new elements here like Oatchi and the Dandori Challenges are wonderful and fit right in with the returning elements, and exploring the beautiful world within the game is as delightful as ever. These combine with some great unit management that makes this a clear choice for best Strategy game in 2023.

Best Graphics – The Pikmin series has always been far more graphically impressive than I think many give these games credit for, and with the fourth mainline installment this series goes even farther into photorealistic environments, all while still bringing us silly cartoony characters that still manage to fit into those environments, with superb animation and a lot of style, and with tons of different individual elements on-screen at a time. Pikmin 4 is one of the best-looking games on Nintendo Switch, and shows that even this late into the handheld’s life, its games can still impress visually.

Runner-Up: Best Action-RPG, Best Sequel

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