What Makes Pikmin 4 So Good?
Nintendo Switch Game Review
Watch my Review on YouTube
If you know me, then you would know that I love Pikmin. It’s a real-time strategy game where you need to collect objects within a given time frame. Highly underrated Nintendo franchise that’s nowhere near as popular as Mario or Zelda. I covered the series on my YouTube channel back in 2015. I honestly haven’t touched the games since. Pikmin 3 is still one of my favorite Nintendo games of all time and when Pikmin 4 was officially announced, I was hyped. It seemed to be building upon Pikmin 3 while adding new and old mechanics into the mix. Did Pikmin 4 live up to my expectations? Is it actually better than Pikmin 3?
Pikmin 4 starts with you creating your own character, a first for the franchise. The options are kind of limited but hopefully they are enough to make yourself into a Rescue Corps member. Soon, you’ll meet Oatchi, a dog-like Pikmin who will help you in your adventure. As you move along with Oatchi, you discover more Rescue Corps members stranded on the planet. You were sent to help these members in their goal of finding Captain Olimar. The more members you rescue, more gameplay options open up. Some are required to rescue while others will assign side missions.
There are a ton of characters in Pikmin 4. It feels a bit over bloated. I know why they introduced more characters, to give the player more options and tools for the gameplay at base camp. The cast still have exaggerated personalities all around but it doesn’t feel the same. This is definitely nostalgia talking but I liked the smaller character line-ups of the previous games. It felt more intimate and I didn’t have to keep track of 10 other characters. At least past characters were memorable (shoutout to Alph, Brittany, and Charlie) and I honestly can’t name a single new character off the top of my head.
The new Pikmin 4 cast do serve for the gameplay, even if they’re not playable and somewhat forgetful. Then again, the story of Pikmin has never been a selling point.
The selling point is the gameplay. This is Nintendo’s real-time strategy game series and it’s the first brand new Pikmin game in over 10 years. At the start of your day, you have to explore the area as much as possible before the sun goes down. Give or take, about 20–30 minutes. As you explore each area, you’ll throw Pikmin to attack enemies or pick up objects. That’s their main role and each type of Pikmin has strengths and weaknesses. For example, only Yellow Pikmin can be thrown to high ledges and take on electricity attacks. Red Pikmin can take on fire attacks and Blue Pikmin can travel underwater. Other returning types include Purple Pikmin, White Pikmin, Rock Pikmin, and Winged Pikmin, pretty much every Pikmin type from the previous games.
The first new Pikmin type is Ice Pikmin. They’re introduced early on in the adventure and resemble Rock Pikmin. When they attack enemies, over time, they’ll freeze them, making it easy to finish the kill. While they can travel through water and freeze a body of water, they can get harmed by water attacks.
The second and last new Pikmin type is Glow Pikmin. They’re exclusively used during the Night Expeditions and can’t be harmed by fire, water, and electricity. They’ll instantly follow your character, so you don’t have to worry about recalling them back to you. You can also use them in the caves during exploration. Since you can’t call in more Pikmin whenever you want, the Glow Pikmin substitutes that and should make tough cave levels easier.
The Night Expeditions are new for the series, making the areas explore-able at night. Instead of collecting treasure, you’re tasked to protect the Lumiknoll as it collects sap to cure Leaflings, Rescue Corps members who can’t be identified. Night Expeditions are essentially tower defense levels. You have to gain an army of Glow Pikmin at the start of each level as they don’t transfer from mission to mission. If the Lumiknoll survives, the sap is collected. The later Night Expedition levels get harder as they throw more enemies at you. I haven’t played too many of the Night Expeditions levels but they are fun to break the pace from the normal Pikmin gameplay.
Now that we have a Pikmin game that uses all Pikmin types during the main adventure, I quite like it. They do limit three Pikmin types at a time on the field which is annoying but understandable. It would be hectic to manage all eight Pikmin types at once. Each area is massive for exploration. So big in fact, you can move your base of operation to certain spots on the map, cutting down time on collecting objects.
Oatchi is a massive addition to Pikmin 4. They can attack enemies, carry objects, but also act as a second captain. I only used Oatchi as a second captain during the cave sections but a cool feature nevertheless. Oatchi will help travel the area faster and more orderly because all the Pikmin will jump on Oatchi, so no Pikmin stays behind. Oatchi’s charge attack will make enemies drop like a fly. It’s really strong, especially against bosses. This doesn’t necessarily replace rushing your Pikmin or tossing them regularly but it’s a stronger attack to start off with when you’re on Oatchi.
Oatchi can receive upgrades to make him stronger. Upgrade points or Pup Drives are acquired by retrieving Rescue Corps members. For each member rescued, one Pup Drive is acquired. Upgrades for Oatchi include a better rush attack, swimming faster, the ability to jump, and more. Rescue Corps members are usually found in caves which are scattered across each area.
While there is a time limit on exploring the general area, when you enter a cave, time stops and you can explore the cave for as long as you want. The game says time moves at one-sixth the normal speed in caves but they’re just bluffing. I have never been kicked out of a cave while exploring it, so time essentially stops. Unlike the caves in Pikmin 2, they are not randomly generated and don’t have weird gimmicky level design to make it hard. Instead, the caves are more puzzle focused with each level having loot and enemies to find. You can blitz through the caves without collecting everything but where’s the fun in that? Rescue Corps members are usually on the last level of the cave as the big collectible with a boss fight to accompany it.
Aside from the normal collectible treasures and enemies on the map, another big one to find is raw materials. They’re used to create clay bridges, unlocking another part of the map. The raw materials can also be used to purchase gear or items. Don’t buy too many gear or items because if you don’t have raw materials for a clay bridge, you’re going to have to come back to it another day.
The gear and items have been expanded to offer a bunch of tools that will hopefully make Pikmin 4 more streamline. Gear like the Survey Drone allows the player to scope out the area to see what’s ahead. The Treasure Gauge is displayed below the Sun Meter, showing how close treasure is in the area and if there’s any to find at all. Really useful especially during the cave levels. Another useful piece of gear is the Idler’s Alert, bringing any straggling Pikmin to your location.
Items make a return with some newcomers. Items include the Ice Blast, Bomb Rock, and Pikpik Carrot. Honestly, I didn’t use the items a lot. I only used them when I was doing the final cave or I tried cheesing to get the Blue Onion earlier than intended. Otherwise, items are not required to use while playing Pikmin 4. The pieces of gear are super helpful and make playing Pikmin 4 an overall better experience. I can’t imagine walking around everywhere when I have the Survey Drone to see what’s ahead. Or endlessly looking for collectibles on a cave level when there’s nothing to find at all.
Another massive addition to Pikmin 4 is the Dandori Challenges and Battles. Dandori Challenges are a race against time to collect everything within the time limit. Depending on how many treasures are collected will result in the given medal. Collect everything and you’ll receive more rewards. Dandori Challenges are not required to advance the main game but are fun levels to practice your multitasking skills, especially since there’s no real punishment for “taking your time” when exploring each area.
The Dandori Battles is where you’ll put your Pikmin skills to the test. You don’t have to collect everything but you do have to get more points than your opponent. There are bonus point objects to collect as a way to come back from a point deficit. The Sneak Bomb is an opportunity to steal points away from your opponent if you’re falling really far behind. The Dandori Battles are overall a ton of fun. You will play a handful of these throughout the main adventure and they do get harder towards the end. These Dandori levels add the time management/multi-tasking element to Pikmin 4. It’s not heavily emphasized in the main adventure, so I’m glad they were able to find a way to fit it into Pikmin 4.
Pikmin 4 also has Olimar’s Shipwreck Tale. It’s an optional side story where Olimar will explore the first four areas to find 30 ship parts within 15 days. This is definitely a throwback to Pikmin 1 but with the mechanics of Pikmin 4. It’s worth checking out especially if you want to feel the pressure of the 15 day time limit.
Pikmin 4 also introduced some quality of life changes. For example, when you toss Pikmin to carry something, the game will lock to the amount needed, so you’re not over throwing Pikmin to get the task done. This is a nice addition because I don’t have to count how many Pikmin I’m throwing anymore.
Another quality of life change is the rewind feature. They introduced it in Pikmin 3 but in Pikmin 4, it’s very nice especially during Cave Levels. You can go back to the start of the day or a previous cave sublevel if you happen to mess up. Some players say it makes the game “too easy.” If you really feel that way, just don’t use it. The best feature of Pikmin 4 is that you can make the game as easy or as difficult as you want it to be. The more difficult stuff happens as you continue to play the Dandori Levels and Night Expeditions which are mostly optional and aren’t needed to get to the final boss/ending. So if you don’t want to use this rewind feature, be my guest. It will make the final cave absurdly difficult because if you lose Pikmin during the 20 level run, I guess you can’t go back to try again. This is the only time I really abused the rewind mechanic or if I started the day out by accidentally drowning all of my Pikmin.
And that’s pretty much everything Pikmin 4’s gameplay has to offer. There’s a lot here to sink your teeth into. From the main adventure to cave exploration to the Dandori Battles, Pikmin 4 has a ton of variety for its real-time strategy gameplay. My biggest complaint with the gameplay is the beginning tutorial. For the first two hours, the game will constantly be throwing prompts and cutscenes at you to make sure you know what you’re doing. Obviously, I’m a longtime fan of this series, so I don’t need to know that Pikmin will drown in water even though they accidentally step in it.
On the plus side, this is very beginner friendly for anyone wanting to come into the Pikmin series. Don’t be scared of the number four on the box, it’s totally fine to start your Pikmin journey with Pikmin 4. After the first two hours of tutorials, the game sets you free and you’re allowed to explore and do whatever levels you want, in whatever order you want. If you feel the need to 100% each area before moving onto the next, you can do that once you discover enough Pikmin types. Like I said before, the biggest feature Pikmin 4 has is letting the player decide how difficult they want the game to be. Pikmin 4 is by far the best Pikmin game in terms of gameplay, with a good amount of areas to explore that are large and full of hidden treasures. And of course, the gameplay variety is insane.
Presentation wise, this is a very polished Nintendo Switch game. Utilizing the Unreal Engine 4, the game looks beautiful. Never once did I notice any glitches or bugs during my playthrough. Pikmin 4 also doesn’t have a Day 1 patch, so you can jump right into it from the cartridge. The loading times are a bit long but hey, it’s on the six year old console that is the Nintendo Switch. From the music to the sound effects, it just feels so good to be back into the world of Pikmin.
In conclusion, Pikmin 4 is a phenomenal Nintendo Switch game. Whether you’ve played the previous games or you’re starting off here, Pikmin 4 is an amazing real-time strategy game that has plenty of variety and choice within its +20 hour adventure. It’s a lot longer than Pikmin 3, especially if you want to 100% it. The gameplay is still so much fun with difficulty being catered by how you play it. The further you move along in the levels, the harder it will get. The story is nothing to write home about but brings Captain Olimar back to the forefront. The presentation is pretty much flawless with no Day 1 patch and no bugs/glitches in sight. If you haven’t tried Pikmin before, please play Pikmin 4. There is a free demo on the Nintendo eShop, so you can see how you like it before investing into the $60 purchase. The game is chock-full of content that will last you well over 15 hours of gameplay. I cannot recommend Pikmin 4 enough as it’s currently my choice for Game of the Year. And yes, it is better than Pikmin 3.
Travis “tvsonic” Vuong
Business e-mail: travisvuong56@gmail.com
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