Holy cow! Pikmin is as good as they say?!
It took me only a few minutes to fall in love with everything about this game. The level design is absolutely insane! Each stage is jam-packed with goodies, baddies, beautiful scenery, and most importantly, endlessly adorable Pikmin! Working your ass off (or more accurately, the Pikmin's asses off) to collect all of the various fruits might be the most fun I've ever had 100% completing a game, and I only wish there was a little bit more content. As it stands I completed everything in the base game in a little over eight hours, and while there's a lot of fun looking side stuff to do, the core gameplay is so perfect that I can't help but want more of it.
I suppose that means I should move on to the other games in the series, I've heard Pikmin 4 is pretty good!
It took me only a few minutes to fall in love with everything about this game. The level design is absolutely insane! Each stage is jam-packed with goodies, baddies, beautiful scenery, and most importantly, endlessly adorable Pikmin! Working your ass off (or more accurately, the Pikmin's asses off) to collect all of the various fruits might be the most fun I've ever had 100% completing a game, and I only wish there was a little bit more content. As it stands I completed everything in the base game in a little over eight hours, and while there's a lot of fun looking side stuff to do, the core gameplay is so perfect that I can't help but want more of it.
I suppose that means I should move on to the other games in the series, I've heard Pikmin 4 is pretty good!
I don't know what I can say about Pikmin 3 Deluxe other than: "Game good". It certainly is better than Pikmin 2, it looks fantastic, it has co-op and the game is overall easier...Maybe too easy.
My only real complaint with this one is that they don't implement the purple and white Pikmin to the main game at all. They are only in the game for the side content, which is so lame.
If you have never played a Pikmin game, I would say that this and Pikmin 4 are great entry points to the franchise. But I think I am more likely to replay this one than Pikmin 4 actually.
My only real complaint with this one is that they don't implement the purple and white Pikmin to the main game at all. They are only in the game for the side content, which is so lame.
If you have never played a Pikmin game, I would say that this and Pikmin 4 are great entry points to the franchise. But I think I am more likely to replay this one than Pikmin 4 actually.
Pikmin 3 continues the downward slope of intrigue from the previous games. This is about the point in the series where it threw away the survival aspects in favor of a chibi robo-esque miniature collect-a-thon structure. The main merit in this game is the visuals, which are better than that of 4. The textures are beautiful and the water is the best it has ever looked. The sound and animation of the juice being squeezed into the bottle at the end of every day is shit you would see on oddly satisfying TikTok. The Quaggled Mireclops encounter was the peak of my enjoyment with this game and I wish we had more stuff like it.
While Pikmin 3 Deluxe is outdone by other Pikmin games in specific areas, like 1's narrative, 2's sense of humor, or 4's level design, it remains my favorite in the series. There are a few reasons why, but more than anything I think it's easily the most fun to master.
Pikmin 3 is, in my opinion, the fully realized version of Pikmin 1's design ethos. It's an exercise in learning the mechanics, learning the levels, and finding out how to do everything as quickly and efficiently as possible. Every Pikmin type remains useful both when completing the main objectives and when revisiting areas for cleanup. The increased size of levels and variety of objectives gives the player plenty of room to figure out what to tackle and when (Tropical Wilds especially is really fun to optimize).
And of course, the introduction of the "Go Here" command is quite possibly the best thing to ever happen to the series, opening up a world of possibilities for multitasking. It allows for simultaneous completion of multiple objectives and management of special objectives requiring multiple captains. All this, on top of managing Pikmin counts and Spicy Spray, gives Pikmin 3 a feeling of "Dandori" its prequels couldn't match and its sequel ironically refused to. It's not perfect; the timer's very lax, the balance scale puzzle in Garden of Hope is a little annoying to speed through, and placing exactly two fruits underwater in Twilight River is a bit of a dick move. But I think it comes closer than any other game in the series.
On top of all that, it has some absolutely phenomenal extras. Mission Mode is a fantastic addition that pushes your time management skills to their absolute limits. Bingo Battle is a really fun multiplayer mode, though I haven't played much of it. The option to take photos is a neat extra, especially with a game this beautiful. And the stuff Deluxe adds is no slouch either. The Piklopedia's back, complete with Louie's cooking logs. Co-op in the main campaign is a blast to play with a buddy (and is such an obvious addition I question why it hasn't been a thing since Pikmin 2). And there are so many charming Easter Eggs and little bits of dialogue that add so much to the experience. It's really good! I don't know what else to say.
Pikmin 3 is, in my opinion, the fully realized version of Pikmin 1's design ethos. It's an exercise in learning the mechanics, learning the levels, and finding out how to do everything as quickly and efficiently as possible. Every Pikmin type remains useful both when completing the main objectives and when revisiting areas for cleanup. The increased size of levels and variety of objectives gives the player plenty of room to figure out what to tackle and when (Tropical Wilds especially is really fun to optimize).
And of course, the introduction of the "Go Here" command is quite possibly the best thing to ever happen to the series, opening up a world of possibilities for multitasking. It allows for simultaneous completion of multiple objectives and management of special objectives requiring multiple captains. All this, on top of managing Pikmin counts and Spicy Spray, gives Pikmin 3 a feeling of "Dandori" its prequels couldn't match and its sequel ironically refused to. It's not perfect; the timer's very lax, the balance scale puzzle in Garden of Hope is a little annoying to speed through, and placing exactly two fruits underwater in Twilight River is a bit of a dick move. But I think it comes closer than any other game in the series.
On top of all that, it has some absolutely phenomenal extras. Mission Mode is a fantastic addition that pushes your time management skills to their absolute limits. Bingo Battle is a really fun multiplayer mode, though I haven't played much of it. The option to take photos is a neat extra, especially with a game this beautiful. And the stuff Deluxe adds is no slouch either. The Piklopedia's back, complete with Louie's cooking logs. Co-op in the main campaign is a blast to play with a buddy (and is such an obvious addition I question why it hasn't been a thing since Pikmin 2). And there are so many charming Easter Eggs and little bits of dialogue that add so much to the experience. It's really good! I don't know what else to say.
LET'S GOOOOO! THE FUNKY LITTLE GUYS RULE