My first Pikmin game and one that didn't stick with me back in 2015, but this time I really enjoyed it. The visuals still hold up pretty well, it certainly didn't feel like a Wii U game. The slowly unfolding levels are a lot of fun, packed with plenty of enemy and puzzle variety. Bosses can be fun too but I found the finnicky controls got in the way far too much, the final boss was a little underwhelming though, and I didn't like how it didn't thematically fit in with the rest of the world. Can't wait to try 1+2 next and then 4, but not before I collect all the fruit in this one!

Pikmin 3 definitely scratches a pikmin itch and fine tunes some of the mechanics that need fine tuning from the first two games, but it feels almost too forgiving and loses a bit of the intensity that the first two brought. I played on "Hard" mode and it was incredibly easy, only losing large groups of pikmin to certain bosses (and I do think the bosses are fun, but they almost got Mario-fied in this game). They introduced the flying and rock pikmin which I felt were fun additions, but neither are really used too much apart from an obstacle here and there. I think having a pointer on the radar that says "go here" makes this game lose a bit of that exploration element which I loved so much in the first two. Everything really was right where it told you it was, so it felt like I blazed through it way too quickly. Ultimately, it's still Pikmin and the charm is still there so I had a pretty fun time. Excited to play through Pikmin 4 when I get around to it.

Great game! An improved sequel in many ways, while also having a few things that can be considered a step back depending on what you like from this series.

The biggest improvement in this game is the presentation in my opinion. The game is beautiful - the weather effects, the audio design, the textures, the enemy designs, all top notch. Pikmin has always been shown in a realistic way compared to other nintendo games and this is no different. A lot of work clearly went into designing these areas to be both intricate and realistic to life, which I enjoyed. A true feast for the eyes, especially considering it was designed for the wii u.

The story of this game is cute as well. You need to find olimar from the first game to get a key to get back and save your planet. I like the expanded world and the idea that there is other sentient life in this universe other than Hocotate. The main trio is charming and the story was fun to watch play as you continue the game.

The areas of this game are great, intricately crafted in an interesting evolution of what we saw in the first two games. Caves aren’t long dungeons anymore, rather they are combined into the levels much more naturally. They serve as an extention of the levels rather than feeling disconnected. However, this also makes them much larger, which leads to a criticism I have. I feel like the larger maps make it a bit difficult to get a lot done in this game. Rather, I feel as though there is less time to get what I want done in a particular day. This might be a skill issue on my part but idk. The levels themselves are great however, and I like the use of the different captains to traverse the terrain, which is another interesting evolution of the dual captains idea in pikmin 2.

My primary criticism of this game is probably the difficulty with enemies. I personally really liked how difficult and even unfair the first 2 games could be, and the more accessible approach to this game’s design makes it feel very brezzy to fight enemies. Certain enemies, like the wollywog, were deadly in the first two games, and now feel like a slight pushover. It’s not the worst thing in the world, and some may like how the game is more accessible. I just wish it challenged me a bit more - although the final level was fantastic. Very challenging and fun. I wish there were more sequences like that.

Overall, this game is a wonderful evolution of the first game, while taking the improved aspects of the second. I haven’t played much of the side mode but i’ve heard good things of that as well. This one was probably my least favorite in the series thus far but I did really enjoy my time with it. Good game!

This is the third time I've played this game since I first played it back in August of this year. And each time my appreciation for the sheer perfection of this game grows stronger. This time I went on Ultra-Spicy, which wasn't as fun due to the 60-pikmin limit, but it didn't really affect my enjoyment too much. The core gameplay loop of defeating enemies and growing pikmin and gathering fruit and trying your hardest to get as much done in a day as possible is just so good. Gorgeous environments, super creative and fun enemies, adorable little goobers that follow your every command... honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if I play this game several more times next year. Please just play this game if you haven't. It's an unforgettable experience.

Pikmin 3 was my first and I'll never forget it. But playing it again, there are a lot of problems I never saw when I was a babe (13 years old) and I had no other Pikmin experience. The environments are beautiful, the music is amazing, but this is a short experience.

Despite being roughly the same length as the first game, the linear storyline structure of the main game and the much greater presence of an actual story in general makes it feel more like you're on a theme park ride than playing a videogame at times. Do this thing, go to this area next, fight this boss. It's not like you're restricted from visiting the other areas but apart from gathering fruit there isn't much incentive for exploration and completion until you finish the story.

On that, the more 'official' bosses compared to the plonk them down somewhere and let the player find it strategy of 1 + 2 is quite nice, and as usual the local fauna are so impeccably designed and brought to life, but due to the very low difficulty of the entire game they don't really pose much of a threat or a challenge. Something 3 absolutely does right here is being able to haul back every single one of the big bosses' corpses to base after you slew them.

I replayed this game on the hard difficulty (which is actually just the normal version of the Wii U game in deluxe) but still managed to beat it 10 days shorter than I did the first time round. There are a lot of things removed and brushed up on in 3 that actually added a lot of strategy and satisfaction in combat from 1 + 2 - auto-lock (not toggleable) is intrusive and can get frustrating during a tense situation when you're trying to aim at a specific enemy and you end up cycling through his friend's corpses a hundred times before you throw a single Pikmin. This whole ordeal which happened to me an unimaginable amount of times during my playthrough was very annoying considering I'd just come from 2 where the strategy is just aiming it yourself and spamming A. Another thing I noticed related to that is that the amount of spamming you can do is greatly reduced which was also very annoying.

These features are meant to sort of 'refine' the combat experience for newer players but all they did for me was get in my way, especially when there is literally no possible reason I can fathom for limiting the rate of Pikmin able to be thrown in a row. Both of these things make it harder to play a little more cautiously, holding back with your squad and taking out a bulborb with a single red Pikmin, and make it stressful in combat situations when you have to press B to try and back out of auto-lock (still not toggleable) just to be able to aim yourself at an enemy. It's annoying.

One thing I think Pikmin 3 absolutely excels at more than any other game in the serious is the atmosphere - coming from the low-fidelity smooth bulblax in the previous games to the beautiful and ridiculously high-polygon beasties and environments in Pikmin 3 is staggering. Everything in this game is absolutely stunning, and it's why I fell in love with Pikmin in the first place.

Another is the final boss fight - the Plasm Wraith. Probably in my top 3 favourite final bosses ever, absolutely terrifying and a testament to the tightly designed gameplay which is especially present in 3. Like the Water Wraith on steroids, it takes that concept and makes the Wraith following you much more of an active threat, through an interconnected labyrinth with multiple routes and shortcuts, with the actual fight at the end making you utilise all of the Pikmin types just like the Titan Dweevil. This is the best fight in the entire series, and I wish 4 took a similar route rather than making the Ancient Sirehound a watered down version of the Titan Dweevil.

I love this game, but it sucks a little.
Strong 8

Pikmin 3 is not a game we deserve as a species. It is baffling to me that a game so polished, so unbelievably amazing, has gone so unappreciated for so long. This game is an artistic achievement on every level. The level design is impeccable. The environments are gorgeous. The music is enchanting. The gameplay is satisfying. The campaign and mission modes are endlessly replayable. People often wonder why this game took so long to come out, but when you really think about it, to make a game that works this well on a fundamental level must have taken years and years of effort. Play this game. Just play it. Buy it right now and play it. I promise you will not regret it.