Pikmin 4, the latest installment of the wacky and adorable puzzle adventure series, has finally been released after a decade since the previous game. Read on to see if the wait was worth it in our review!
 |
 Buy Pikmin 4 on Amazon
|
|---|
Pikmin 4 Review and Score Explanation
Pikmin 4 Review Video
Pikmin 4 Score Explanation
| Overall | Pikmin 4 is perhaps the greatest game of the series. It strikes a perfect balance between difficulty and accessibility by providing new gameplay mechanics on top of the standard Pikmin gameplay of previous games. Vibrant environments to explore, dozens of puzzles to solve, and a wide variety of enemies and terrain to deal with; the game offers dozens of hours of pure joy that players can leisurely experience and tackle. |
|---|---|
| Story | Similar to the game's previous installments, Pikmin 4's story and development make little sense. However, there's little point in nitpicking the game for it. The worldbuilding, though mostly done via imagery, is done very well. Everything about it is wacky, from its gameplay, premise, and sound design. The game embraces this wackiness and has actually accomplished making a plot that serves this wacky world well. |
| Gameplay | Featuring puzzles as varied and distinct as the number of Pikmin in the game, Pikmin 4 promises a challenging yet enjoyable experience that players of all ages can enjoy. The game is the culmination of the lessons learned from its predecessors, taking its formula and making it better, while adding even more features on top of it all. |
| Visuals | The colorful aspect of the Pikmin is complemented by the game's vivid environments and creatures. It makes, not only the puzzle sections a treat to accomplish, but also the exploration sections extremely rewarding to play. The style also matches that wacky aspect of the game very well. |
| Audio | Pikmin 4 utilizes immersive and equally quirky sound effects to accompany your absurd activities. Everything, from how the Pikmin communicate to how the characters "talk," adds to the atmosphere of the game. The audio also goes well with the events around you, making each accomplishment audibly satisfying. However, the music scores are quite unremarkable, sometimes giving the impression that there's dead air even when music is playing in the background. |
| Value for Money | Although the game invariably takes 10-20 hours to complete, that's only surface-level stuff. There are also dandori battles, co-op, and other post-game content that players can play to entertain themselves with far after they've completed the main campaign. With a game this fun to also be chock full of content, the $60 price tag makes it feel like a steal. |
Pikmin 4 Review
Pikmin 4 Review: A Blooming Success
As a big action game enthusiast, I was never one to play puzzle games like Pikmin 4. However, it didn't even take the game an hour to thoroughly immerse me to the point where getting dinner seemed like a foregone decision.
Pikmin 4 is a genuinely great game. It features puzzles that aren't inherently difficult but are insanely satisfying to try your best at. The game's emphasis on efficiency is its primary source of challenge. That's because Pikmin 4 repeatedly drills into you the importance of what they call "dandori," which essentially means time and task management. Once players realize this, the urge to become as efficient as possible in every situation is born.
The game is an absolute joy to play. It's incredibly balanced in gameplay and presentation, both at levels of excellence that show the developers' passion. Simple yet profound, demanding yet leisurely; Pikmin 4 is undoubtedly worth the wait for all its fans, as well as worth the money for the new players just getting into the series.
So be sure to pick Pikmin as your next game on the Nintendo Switch!
Pros of Pikmin 4
| Things Pikmin 4 Got Right So Far |
|---|
 Oatchi Puzzles Are As Varied As The Pikmin The Rewind Feature Will Literally Save Lives Multitasking Feels Immensely Rewarding |
Oatchi
Let's get this out of the way immediately: Oatchi is the bestest and goodest boy in the game.
Oatchi is the name of the rescue pup that the player travels with. This cute furball possesses many skills and functions that make your life easier and more fulfilling, such as his ability to carry all of the Pikmin on his back or rush into enemies to deal tremendous damage to them. He can also skirmish against enemies by biting them and moving weighty objects on his lonesome. Oatchi is your go-to partner when things go rough, and he'll smoothen them out for you with his sloppy, adorable smile and fantastic physical capabilities.
In the beginning, Oatchi is pretty limited by what he can do. At that point, he functions relatively similar to Pikmin, with the added bonuses of being able to sniff things out for the player and doing a headlong rush to knock enemies or objects down. However, as you continue to gather your allies in the Rescue Corps and retrieve stranded individuals, Oatchi receives "Pup Drives," which are essentially skill points that you can use to unlock or upgrade skills. Oatchi can learn a variety of skills, from being able to carry many (many) times what a normal Pikmin can, swimming or even diving underwater, self-healing, and more.
These skills allow Oatchi to do more than just serve as your pack horse, they also allow him to be your all-terrain vehicle and battle buddy. Is there a big pond between you and a treasure? Oatchi can swim through it, no problem! Is there a huge wall blocking your way? Let Oatchi ram a hole right through it. He even functions as a troop carrier and can combo with your Pikmin in battle. Just let him charge into a large enemy, and once Oatchi knocks it down, your Pikmin army will all jump in to beat your enemy to submission!
Puzzles Are As Varied As The Pikmin
During your journey, you will encounter many puzzles and obstacles to overcome. These range from electric fences to destroy, large objects to push, crystals to smash, and so on. To progress further with your mission, you must be able to develop strategies against them. The game aids you by providing a wide variety of Pikmin to utilize in each scenario, each one having distinct strengths and weaknesses.
There are currently nine Pikmin varieties for you to use, with possibly more to be added in the future or later on in the game. These are:
- Red Pikmin, which are immune to fire and are good at knocking down dirt walls
- Yellow Pikmin, which are immune to electricity and can be thrown higher than others
- Blue Pikmin, which can traverse bodies of water and are resistant to water-based attacks
- Ice Pikmin, which are immune to frost-based attacks and can freeze both enemies and bodies of water
- Glow Pikmin, a nocturnal species that can fly and merge to attack enemies
- Purple Pikmin, which are ten times heavier and stronger than regular Pikmin, allowing them to carry more weight and even stun enemies when thrown
- Rock Pikmin, which are immune to physical damage and can break crystals with their hard bodies
- Winged Pikmin, which are, as the name may imply, able to fly and carry objects over obstacles
- White Pikmin, which are immune to poison, are poisonous themselves and are very quick on their feet
As you might have expected from their descriptions, the Pikmin's various immunities and capabilities make them absolutely instrumental in traversing the world to rescue your crew. The world is full of puzzles, both above and underground, that require a specific combination of Pikmin. Remember, you're under a time limit to accomplish your tasks. You won't be able to just leisurely take your time analyzing and considering your options for each puzzle. Failure can mean either, at best, wasting your time or, at worst, getting all of your Pikmin wiped out.
Fortunately, meeting with such a catastrophic failure doesn't mean the end of a run.
The Rewind Feature Will Literally Save Lives
In case you mess up in a way that makes you want to start your session again, Pikmin 4 offers a built-in method to return to certain parts of the day. This can be found in the menu at any time you want to do so.
Yes, this means that Pikmin 4 has a form of save-scumming, the act of saving your game and loading it if things don't go as you like, as one of its major features.
This is especially useful for a game like Pikmin 4, where the player's ability to make efficient decisions can change the outcome of the entire game. In your rush to get as many things done in the shortest amount of time possible, there will be times when you'll find that the day is already ending and your Pikmin are nowhere near your base. This is important to note as the game makes it especially clear that the Pikmin should not be outside the base when night arrives, as the creatures around you become more aggressive at night, putting them in undue danger. That's why one of your main responsibilities is to lead all of your Pikmin back to base before nightfall. This is particularly important for some Pikmin species, such as the Ice Pikmin, since getting fresh batches of them is difficult. Unlike the ones you can mass-produce, such as the red, blue, and yellow Pikmin, they are non-renewable to some extent.
In those situations, you might feel like stepping back and doing things over again to prevent unnecessary losses. With a built-in system like this, you won't need to feel your heart caught in your throat from the fear of your auto-saves locking you in at an irredeemable point in time. All you have to do is just swallow your pride, admit defeat, and commit to doing things better on your following attempt.
Multitasking Feels Immensely Rewarding
Multitasking is an important skill to develop to make the best use of your Pikmin within the time limit. While it may seem daunting initially, a little practice can go a long way. Once you get to the point where you can take care of multiple things at once, the satisfaction of seeing several tasks being done simultaneously is unmatched.
This is particularly true for Dandori Battles. Dandori Battle is a mode where you can match against other players or against an AI. To win, you must gather the most points in a fast-paced, multi-faceted battle of collecting treasures, gold, enemy bodies, etc. This mode is even more exciting because you share the same area as your enemy. That means the option of sabotaging your enemy's collection efforts is served on a silver platter. You can knock enemy Pikmin off the treasure they were retrieving, steal objectives from them by outnumbering their Pikmin with yours, and even sic your Pikmin against them.
Dandori Battles are perhaps the game's ultimate challenge. Matching against skilled players or difficult circumstances will sharpen your ability to multitask. And once the curtain closes and you see your score edge a win after a challenging round, the feeling of victory is undescribably sweet.
Cons of Pikmin 4
| Things That Pikmin 4 Can Improve |
|---|
|
Auto-Aim Can Be Quite Clunky Pikmin Pathing Can Be Baffling |
Auto-Aim Can Be Quite Clunky
One of the mechanics the Pikmin games that carried over is your ability to lob your Pikmin toward where you want them to be or work. In previous games, such as the original Pikmin, your throws are designated by a cursor mainly targeted on the ground. This allowed you to target specific areas to throw at, albeit with the caveat of not being able to accurately direct your Pikmin. In Pikmin 4, there's an auto-aim function to your throws. This feature allows you to command your Pikmin with finer precision, even with a screen littered with different objectives piled on each other.
However, this also means that you are basically at the mercy of the logic behind the game's auto-aim function. This can be pretty annoying whenever you've piled up objects to interact with. Instead of being able to direct your efforts towards a particular thing, the auto-aim might just deny you that privilege and point to completely irrelevant objectives instead.
While this scenario probably won't happen often, it might be more frequent depending on what kind of playstyle you adapt to make the best use of your time.
Pikmin Pathing Can Be Baffling
While sharpening your "dandori," you may encounter a case where some of your Pikmin disappear under mysterious circumstances. "That makes no sense," you might think, "I didn't send them anywhere too far." Just in case, you check the map to get an idea of where they might be. Sure enough, you see their icons right up against a wall. Try as you might, using any of the game's methods for calling them back to you just doesn't work.
Congratulations. Your Pikmin are now stuck behind a wall.
To be fair, this is an easy fix for anybody with even an ounce of diligence. And that would probably be the vast majority of players who pick up this game in the first place. All you have to do is to walk over and call them back from somewhere they can easily access.
Pikmin getting stuck on walls is an infrequent occurrence. I've found that it mostly happens when you call for them at an elevated location that they can't easily access via ramps or climbing walls. However, it does happen, and when it does at dusk, it presents a problem. That's particularly true if some of the Pikmin stuck are difficult to come by, such as the rock variants.
In fact, getting the Pikmin to jump seems to be dependent on the distance toward the target and whether you're riding Oatchi or not. If you call them at a point where they can latch onto Oatchi within one leap, they will gladly leap onto him without much trouble. However, if you do it from a distance just outside their jumping range, they will just run into the wall uselessly. And forget about getting them to jump entirely if you're not riding Oatchi. They won't.
Everything We Know About Pikmin 4
Pikmin 4 Story Plot
After crash-landing on a mysterious planet, Captain Olimar had finally managed to repair most of his ship with the help of some mysterious creatures he called Pikmin. Upon sending a distress signal, the members of the Rescue Corps immediately rushed to his aid. However, they, too, suffered the same fate as Captain Olimar, crash landing onto the planet. Separated from each other and without a functioning ship, it is up to the group's rookie to lead the crew and accomplish their mission. But what they didn't realize is that Captain Olimar's signal brought more than just their crew...
Pikmin 4 follows the same premise and general objective as the previous games, with a few differences. For example, instead of explicitly searching for parts of a ship, this time the player must look for treasures instead. Those treasures contain the energy necessary to rebuild the functions of their ship. As their ship is repaired, they'll gain access to more areas on the map to collect more treasures and rescue other stranded people.
Who Should Play Pikmin 4?
Pikmin 4 is Recommended if You Enjoy:
• The Pikmin series
• Tinykin
Pikmin 4 is the culmination of all the features that made previous Pikmin games great. The game continues to offer challenging puzzles that test the players' efficiency and forethought. At the same time, it made the game more accessible for players looking to play it in different ways by offering optional items and skills. Those who enjoyed the original series will undoubtedly find Pikmin 4 as great, if not even better than its predecessors.
Is Pikmin 4 Worth It?
It's Worth All The Blood, Sweat And Tears
Pikmin 4 is an incredible game that's only as challenging as you want it to be. The number of days to complete the main campaign imposed upon you is lenient enough for a leisurely run. Despite its laidback pacing, the time provided for each day is perfect for giving a sense of urgency regardless. Its fun gameplay, vibrant environment, and engaging puzzles are sure to tickle your fancy, especially if you enjoy puzzle games.
|
Buy Pikmin 4 on Amazon
|
|---|
How Pikmin 4 Matches Up to Recently-Released Games
| Games That Came Out Recently | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
 Jagged Alliance 3 |
Players looking for a more leisurely gaming experience will enjoy Pikmin 4 better. Also, Dandori Battles against fellow players deliver a fun experience that Jagged Alliance 3 simply cannot emulate. | Fans of military-themed games will likely prefer Jagged Alliance 3. Its gritty gameplay is something Pikmin 4's puzzle-based mechanics with cartoonish little plant men cannot deliver. |
 The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie |
Pikmin 4 is as much a co-op game as a single-player one. Dandori Battles and Co-op Mode are fun time-sinks for you and a friend to immerse yourselves in. | Unlike Pikmin 4, The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie delivers a very cohesive story that's expected of any Japanese RPG. Its gameplay is also very action-packed and has less to do with your ability to solve puzzles and more to do with the reliability of your intuition. |
 Exoprimal |
If you're more of a take-you-time-and-think-about-it than a shoot-first-ask-later kind of person, then you'll definitely enjoy Pikmin 4 more. And unlike Exoprimal, Pikmin 4 is actually worth your money. | Ever fancied shooting dinosaurs while wearing hi-tech exosuits? If your answer is yes, then you'll enjoy Exoprimal, even with all of its downsides... |
How Pikmin 4 Matches Up to Similar Games
| Games Similar to Pikmin 4 | Explanation |
|---|---|
 Pikmin |
Pikmin 4 has taken everything that made the original Pikmin great, as well as those from its two other prequels, and made them even better. It has various quality-of-life improvements, updated graphics, better puzzle variety, and a more diverse cast of wonderful characters. Pikmin 4 is arguably the best game in the series |
 Tinykin |
Despite Tinykin's very open and traversable map, the depth of its gameplay pales compared to Pikmin 4's. In the latter, the environment comes to life with the copious things interacting with itself and the Pikmin. As you progress through the main campaign and are allowed to use more Pikmin, the number of things you can do simultaneously grows proportionately. This also means that interactions between you and the environment increase. Every new region is fraught with the unexpected, which is an incredibly satisfying experience, even if you get wiped out by surprise. |
 The Wild At Heart |
The Wild At Heart is basically Pikmin, but slightly more narrative. The Wild At Heart possesses many of the Pikmin series' mechanics, such as throwing your minions (spritelings) toward objectives to carry or interact with them or engaging enemies in combat. However, it lacks a lot of that sense of urgency that Pikmin 4 possesses, which forces players to focus more on juggling multiple tasks at the same time. |
Pikmin 4 Trailer
Pikmin 4 Product Information
 |
|
| Title | PIKMIN 4 |
|---|---|
| Release Date | July 21, 2023 |
| Developer | Nintendo EPD, Eighting |
| Publisher | Nintendo |
| Supported Platforms | Nintendo Switch |
| Genre | Adventure, Puzzle |
| Number of Players | 1-2 |
| ESRB Rating | Everyone |
| Official Website | Pikmin 4 Website |
