So I consider myself a very casual Pikmin fan. I haven’t played the first 2 since they came out for the GameCube, and have only played some of the 3rd one back on WiiU. So with Pikmin 4 around the corner and Nintendo shadow dropping the first two on Switch, I figured it was time for a replay.
I just completed Pikmin 1, and what an absolutely fantastic experience. I think back when I was a kid playing the first one may have been just a bit too much strategy for me to comprehend. But now may years later, I just absorbed myself into it.
Pacing out every day to explore the areas and devise a strategy of what I could reasonably tackle, judging if I should spend the day going straight for ship parts or doing pikmin harvesting… It all comes together with such an incredible sense of flow. The 30 Day time limit really makes you consider all of your actions. And it seemed like an intimidating limit at first, but the 30 Day cycle was much more forgiving than I expected. Even if I had a rough day, I could at least put my Pikmin away and just run around and assess the areas as Olimar.
And even as just an upscale, the visuals are brilliant. I love that early GameCube era look of games like this and Luigis Mansion.The way the environments and camera are designed do a great job making you feel like a tiny man in a big strange world.
I feel like I’ve fallen in love with a franchise all over again. I’m starting Pikmin 2 tonight, and can’t wait to play 4 next month. If you haven’t tried out this series, please do yourself a favor and grab at least the first game on the eshop. It’s a perfect slice of pure Nintendo.
The problem I have with Pikmin is, that I can’t progress unless all my Pikmin survive. It makes it stressful to play and play is very slow. The time limit was a huge factor.
I like Pikmin, but have some things that push me away on the long run. It’s the kind of game I enjoyed, but can’t recommend because how stressful it is.
For me, it’s an original flaw in the design that has been kept persistent in the serie, while it could have been interesting to transform this to something else, IMHO.
Pikmin is a survival game at its core. It’s all about resource (Pikmin) and time management, so it does come with the same kind of moment-to-moment stresses of other survival games. I love it though.
The survival, time-limited approach makes the exploration frustrating. I would love to chill more.
Pikmin 2 alleviates some of that, but I get what you’re saying. Different strokes for different folks!
I only played Pikmin 3 (and 2, but briefly, never finished it), and tbh I never perceived it as stressful. In fact I would say I loved it because I found it quite zen.
It’s pretty yank tbh, but I immediately bought 2 and 3 after finishing one, I’ve truly been sleeping on this series.
How do they hold up without nostalgia to help out?
I find older games that people like to gush over, like Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time, don’t hold up for me (without nostalgia) nearly as much as it does for those with nostalgia - almost always because the camera, menu, or movement controls are so hopelessly outdated that the game is frustrating to play.
Might that apply to Pikmin 1 and 2 too, or are they pretty good to try out even for someone with no nostalgia for them?
I would say so yes! To be fair, I didn’t really have heavy nostalgia for these games myself. I had them on GameCube but they were never a big focus for me. Although I tend to spend a lot of my time playing more retro/older titles rather than new ones, so I have a soft spot for anything that has a bit of history to it. I think if you can find a groove with the gameplay loop, Pikmin can still be a lovely time. If you haven’t spent much time with pikmin in general, maybe download the Demo for 4 and see how you like it first!
It’s pretty yank tbh, but I immediately bought 2 and 3 after finishing one, I’ve truly been sleeping on this series.
One of my favorite series ever. My only issue is that the later games tended to be very short with not much replayability. I paid $60 for Pikmin 3 and beat it in a day, with effectively 0 replay value. Feelsbad
Don’t sleep on Pikmin 3 mission mode, it’s quite challenging and fun, it’s all about multitasking like a mad man.
