The fact that you can command three different pikmin armies at once is really cool, I just wish that you can instruct them to run around the map which would make the game better for me. The added Pikmin are pretty cool and I enjoy using the flying pikmin. I sadly never got to finish the game because I got to the last couple areas and never had the motivation to finish it. But even though I haven't finished it, I still think it is a fun game in the Pikmin series and holds up well. Just I still prefer Pikmin 1 the most because gathering the parts is more fun. The worst part of this one is the fact that you don't necessarily need to get a lot of the fruits and just have to progress, there is no checkpoints unlike in the original.

Pikmin 3 takes the enjoyable chaos of managing 100 tiny soldiers with different abilities and multiplies it by three. The player is tasked with rescuing the rest of a scavenging crew after a failed landing. As per usual with the Pikmin series, the player must forage for food and escape by nightfall in order to survive. Aside from the other crewmates and a surprise Hocotatian, new friends include the Rock Pikmin and Flying Pikmin, which can each be used to solve puzzles. Multitasking has never been easier with the minimap on the gamepad, allowing for seamless switching and auto-directing of the three party members. Overall, it’s Pikmin but with three characters and stunning water effects.

I don't know what I'm going to pretend to be excited about now that Pikmin 4 is actually real and coming out

I bought the Wii U version of this and did a replay before 4 drops because I have a problem. Going back to this again and having the perspective of the whole series, this is definitely the 2nd best, it's NEARLY as good as 1, but they excel in different areas. I like all the characters here more than 1 (albeit 1 was just olimar and he was great, but I like all the captains interacting.), having more than one captain to control is better, the boss fights are better, and I like fruit as a concept a lot. 1 has the better esthetic, collectibles (sorry fruit is cool and makes for a cool idea, making your own time limit and all, but ship parts are way better), pacing, replay value, and has swarm. This game has it's flaws, Blues aren't useful basically at all, it's railroaded and very linear, and kinda easy. But man, is it still damn good. I love pickedmen <3

While I appreciate what Pikmin 3 tried to accomplish, I like to think of this game as "Baby's First Pikmin." The gameplay, while still entertaining, feels TOO redefined and dumbed down for my taste. While the new charge command was definitely helpful in combat, having it replace the "Swarm" function overall was a weird choice, as I found it more annoying than useful.

The Rock Pikmin are the Purple Pikmin of this game, except they somehow break the game even more, mainly because of the dumbed-down difficulty. Bulborbs, common enemies that can be challenging when you don't know what to do, are now absolute cakewalks, as they can quickly be defeated even by a few amount of Blue Pikmins, and not even mention the insane damage of the Rock Pikmins.

The game gives you access to 3 total captains to play as, and the best part of the game is easily the cooperative-style puzzles you can solve with your characters. However, the main collectibles of the game, the fruits you find for survival, didn't feel as satisfying to collect as in the other games. When a game about "doing your best to survive off of limited resources" is so easy that you are able to collect 5-7 days' worth of food in a single day of work, it doesn't feel as satisfying to obtain them. There is also no proper "incentive" to collect them because if you've already collected a massive amount of food for extra days, there is no need to hunt every single fruit in an area.

The bosses, while very cinematic, felt very dumbed down, once again feeling too easy to beat with the help of Rock Pikmin, as well as feeling uninspired in terms of design (Except for the Final Boss and the chase, easily the coolest part of the whole game.)

I think the game's biggest letdown is the presentation. The cartoony and wacky charm of the first two games feels absent, as the game aims towards a more "realistic" presentation of the world, which ends up making the game look less interesting. The main ship and the new Onion design feel very "modern Sci-fi movie"-y for my taste, losing the charm that made them unique in the first two games.

The side campaigns with Olimar were the highlight for me, as they were kinda what I was expecting from a Pikmin 3, giving you time missions to complete, and it feels satisfying to earn a Platinum for them.

Overall, while still an enjoyable experience, it felt like a massive downgrade compared to 1 and 2.