Easily my favorite of the original trilogy. The mechanics, being updated for a modern age of gaming, feeling so smooth and fun to control. Everything about the gameplay feels so fun with the lock on and charge additions being extremely useful, although it does make the game much easier, so playing on a harder difficulty is recommended in my opinion. The level design is a huge step up from Pikmin 2, feeling less empty and, in contrast, has a plethora of unique natural obstacles to get through, with the formidable oak perhaps being my favorite level in the franchise thus far from a level design perspective. The story, while not having the same tone as Pikmin 1, is still very entertaining and the 3 protagonists are characterized very well. Along with this, the graphics are beautiful and music is wonderful. The side content and missions are a delightful add on that really make this feel like a Deluxe package of Pikmin 3. I could not recommend this game enough to anyone interested in Pikmin.

I don't know why this game just doesn't hit as it should for me. Pikmin games are so beautiful and I have such fond memories watching Pikmin playthrough's growing up, but this game was a tad boring for me. While gathering the treasure in a time restraint and the delegation aspect of the game is very fun, the combat is honestly not great.

Music goes absolutely nuclear tho. That final Louie level was a blast, but not as good as the Water Wratih in Pikmin 2. Character's are so weak in comparison to Pikmin 1 and 2. I will say I thought it was so fucking satisfying the way they made juice.

Pikmin 3 is the game I wished pikmin 2 to be. the game emphasises the real time strategy elements present in the first games design, but iterates on the formula making a players skill level determine the time limit. Even for a beginner the time limit should not be much of a issue as the game is generous as the fruit to increase your time limit is plentiful. Pikmin 3 is the easiest of the 3 games as not only does it ease up on the time limit it is also a far easier game than its predecessor's, with hard mode being a breeze for a player of the other entries(There is an additonal difficulty mode unlocked after beating the game that I look forward to playing on my next playthrough). The game still appeals to hardcore players through the returning focus on completing the game in as little days as possible, as well as introducing new mechanics to widen the skill celling in comparison to the original. Multiple captains return from 2 but with most of the game spent in non time based caves and no time limit at all multi-tasking was not emphaised or not really possible in that game. The philosophy is the complete opposite in 3 as it encourages players to split up the captains into multiple squads to complete multiple tasks at once. The go here mechanic is also a brilliant addition allowing you to send captains to areas filled in on the map adding key layers to the players strategic options. Resource management becomes key as you need to know how to split your limited pikmin between each of the captains to complete tasks as efficiently as possible. There are also cases where you need multiple captains together so you can throw them to higher areas adding a risk that you may reach a dead end if you split your resources to thin wasting time. This sort of design encourages replayability as prior knowledge of the games area allows you to increase your efficiency, which I love. The game's campaign is also a good length for this design as its a bit longer than the first but far shorter than the second.
Outside of the campaign Pikmin 3 has plenty of content to satisfy players that aren't into replaying the game multiple times. Mission mode challenges players to collect treasure or kill all enemies under a time limit. This mode really emphasises the importance of multitasking as going for the pesky platinum medals require expert management of the missions limited resources. Bingo battle is an incredibly fun competitve multiplayer mode tasking players to complete a row on there bingo card before the other player to win. It's a real shame there is no online option as it would allow more people to experience it.
New to the deluxe version is side stories where you play as Olimar and Louie in mini campaigns. In essence they are a campaign of missions like mission mode but are far easier with only one or two of them being anything new. Probably the weakest part of the package but they are short and inoffensive.
Overall Pikmin 3 is almost the perfect pikmin game in my opinion. It returns to the originals design philosophy, while adding all the gameplay improvments from 2 and adding more on top of it. I just wish it was a little harder