Pikmin 3 was a lot of fun to play. I'm not what I would call a pikmin enthusiast but these definitely hold a certain charm that makes it hard to dislike them. I would say 3 is probably my favorite as in my mind it just feels the most perfectly balanced out of the current trilogy maybe 4 will dethrone it when it comes out who knows. But as of right now 3 just kinda feels like a better 1. Now that's not to say I think there's no reason to play 1 with 3 around as I feel 1 still has plenty of it's unique spin on things to offer but both games do scratch the same itch for me and do a lot of the same things just replace ship parts for fruit. But yeah pikmin 3 is a good game and one I highly reccomend.

Pikmin 3, a brilliant and expansive sequel that is ultimately undone by the ease with which you can defeat its main premise.

I won't dwell too much on positives this time because the improvements are plain to see. The world is gorgeous and fully realised, level and enemy design is outstanding and pretty much everything from the last 2 games (with the exception of caves) is improved and expanded. It's debateable whether the streamlined controls are an overall positive, but they do provide a really smooth experience.

The biggest waste of potential was the fruit collection, which is this game's catalyst for the plot. It's such a non-factor for survival at such an early point of the game that it lacks any real bite. Had they put more thoght into it, it could have potentially been an even better system than the original's 30 day limit. Ideally, it could have been turned into another resource, so the time limit could also have been under the player's control instead of just a hard time limit like in the original. Something like deciding between turning each fruit into juice or saving some for cold storage to send to Koppai would have been interesting. Or better yet, what if the ultra spicy spray had to be made out of the fruits you eat. They could have had more types of sprays for Pikmin, since each fruit has a distinct juice color. This could have brought all kinds of interesting decisions.

These are clearly far from the only or even best solutions to the problem; I'm just putting in my two cents. What's abundantly clear is that Nintendo likely didn't want to limit the game's appeal for a broader audience. Here's hoping they're a little more daring with Pikmin 4, tho I'm not too hopeful, as its demo was rather underwhelming.

Waited on getting all the badges before writing this review, but now that I did I can say that Pikmin 3 Deluxe is definitely worth your time and money. There is just so much content packed into here that there is virtually no reason for you to play the inferior wii u version. While it isn't my favorite Pikmin game in the series, there's a lot of things this game does right and it's definitely still fun to play. This does feel like a beginner friendly Pikmin though despite it being the 3rd game but that's more of a nitpick than anything, getting more people into this series is what we fans want so we don't have to wait a decade for another game.
But yeah, after you buy Pikmin 4 (like you should) go back and give 3 Deluxe a chance if you haven't played it already, it's one you don't want to miss.

Unlike the first 2's "go where ever you want, just do as much in a day as possible" structure, Pikmin 3 goes for a more narrative based adventure, "Go to a specific area,It has your objective, get to it as fast as possible". While you can go to older areas, and you have to to 100% the game to get fruit you couldn't before with new Pikmin you gain through story progression, I kinda prefer the way the older games did it. Everyone complains about withholding blues until the end of the game, and I think that's part of the problem. The older games, Pikmin 1 most notably, gave you all the Pikmin at the start, and while traversing the area, you have all the Pikmin you need to get to the items you need, whereas with this game if you see a lemon in the water, you have to go out of your way to come back later. It feels a bit cheap.

Anyway, if your wondering why I rated this game so highly, theres a lot of improvements made to the basic gameplay, like being able to throw captains and the "Go here" system. Really improving the multiple captain system from 2. That and the side content with the same basic gameplay, kinda gives me what I want from a Pikmin game more than the main story does. Namely Treasure Hunt.

The easiest of the mainline pikmin games and also my first one back in 2013. This game is still just as fun as it was 10 years ago on the Wii U. The ai of the pikmin is such an improvement from the other games and the game looks incredible. I would've preferred if it was a bit more challenging at times but maybe my opinion will change once i play the ultra-spicy mode.

Being the first game I played in the series I am bias towards it but I enjoyed the challenge of pikmin 1and especially 2 more than I enjoyed the easiness of pikmin 3. Great starting point for newcomers I think.

Great game. This is the first pikman game i have played so its hard to really say what is truly new here but on its own this game is just excellent. The way each element is introduced and slowly teaches you the importance of basically every part of this game is masterful. The way fruit works as both a time limit and as micro goals is wonderful. The number of times i would get to the end of a day and have an idea for how to optimize or just do it better and then reset was high, and at no point did it feel like a chore to redo things. There is a real great feeling in just slowly optimizing days or tactics and yet the game works even if you aren't going for perfect days or every fruit. The fruit limit really feels like a perfect compromise between harsh time limits and free form high score seeking with a good amount to tempt you into exploring the levels or just pursue the main plot. All of the different pikmin feel worthwhile and trying to balance both the right ratio of pikmin while controlling and switching between the three characters is great. Can't wait to play the others

Holy shit


After the nightmare of the caves in Pikmin 2, Pikmin 3 is such a breath of fresh air, it took nine years for this game to come out and man it shows.
Pikmin 3 basically improves on almost everything from the previous 2 games, ok yeah some small things the first two games did better, like the story and the characters I liked better in first two……….that’s about it.
Can I just say, the new Pikmin they added are excellent, I didn’t much care for the white and purple Pikmin in Pikmin 2, but I adore the rock and flying Pikmin in this game, they feel much more well rounded and are used more throughout the game, in fact unlike Pikmin 2 where a lot of things could be made obsolete by the purple Pikmin, in this game everything is balanced, rock Pikmin are powerful but they can’t latch onto things, and flying Pikmin can more easily traverse areas but are weak in combat, the balance here is wonderful.
Speaking of combat, it’s been greatly improved here, the lock on is nice and in general you have more control over your Pikmin, there’s a few new enemies to face off against, but what I really want to talk about are the bosses, holy fuck.
These bosses are great, the sheer scale and size of all of them makes the battles feel far more impactful, the first fight with the armored worm thing is so nice, the bat thing in the cave is admittedly pretty easy but also fun, the sandworm thing is a great use of area effects with the constantly changing terrain and it’s satisfying to see this thing launch out of the ground after hitting it enough, the flying bug thing is neat, the fucking plant rock boss in the mud is just gargantuan, like holy shit, I was taken aback by it, and then there’s the plasm wraith, I’ll get to this boss in a bit though.
Oh my god, can I just please talk about the graphics man, they’re fucking beautiful, the first two games look good but oh my goodness, this is next level shit, the way everything looks just immerses you more into the world, which just makes it even better.
I also did both of Olimar’s side adventures, these were pretty neat, Olimar’s assignment was a nice short and simple way of showing us how Olimar explored the planet and ended up getting captured by the Plasm Wraith, and Olimar’s comeback is a nice epilogue to close out the game on.
Before I move on to the final part, let me address my two problems with this game, 1. It’s a little too easy, I mean I know I complained about 2 being hard as shit, but like that was just bullshit difficulty with all the bombs and rocks falling from the ceiling, here though, man it’s just way too easy, even the bosses go down quick (plasm wraith being an exception of course), and this leads to my other problem, 2. The game is very short, it took me like maybe 4-5 hours to beat the main stuff, maybe an extra hour or two for the missing fruit I collected and the Olimar stuff, but it’s just short man, though I guess I prefer the short and sweet route compared to the overstays its welcome route (looking at you Pikmin 2).

Now, the final level, the formidable oak, easily the best part of the game and maybe the whole series, it blends everything we love about Pikmin perfectly together, it takes some of the good elements of the caves in Pikmin 2 like the multiple layers, but adds a lot more atmosphere here, the plasm wraith feels like an excellent upgrade from the water wraith, the puzzles are more complex than some of the ones seen before, it utilizes the three captains really well, it’s long enough to be challenging but doesn’t overstay its welcome, and it all caps off with a fantastic final boss, much like the titan dweevil, it uses all elements to combat you, but adds a twist with the whole bringing down the wraith into pieces and destroying the individual pieces, also electricity doesn’t insta kill every non yellow Pikmin in the game, so that’s a plus, made the titan dweevil fight very annoying.
After all that, you get a nice ending cutscene with Olimar thanking you for rescuing him, you leave as the plasm wraith screams at your ship, and that ends Pikmin 3………(also earlier there’s an extremely funny cutscene where Louie jumps out of your ship, steals all your food supply, runs offscreen, and fucking explodes, it’s so funny man).


So yeah, that’s Pikmin 3, an excellent adventure that just improves on everything the series has done, and it’s easily one of Nintendo’s best games, if Pikmin 4 can top this game, then holy fuck we’re in for something truly special.
Now one last thing before I finish this review off, I played this game once back in 2020 when it first came out on switch, and it’s weird cause I did not remember a fucking thing about the game when I replayed it this time, it’s kinda weird honestly, and since this basically a first playthrough for my brain, I’m just gonna put it on the 2023 list.


Now, we wait for Pikmin 4, just one more week and maybe the Pikmin subreddit will finally be normal again…………oh who am I kidding that place r/BatmanArkham on steroids.

This was my first time playing a Pikmin game and it was great. I’ve never played anything like it and had a blast the whole way through. For me this is perfect way to blend exploration, collectathon, and strategy. I really dug the art style and the simple story and goofy characters.

I’ve been getting so worn out on long 40+ hour open world games. This was such a breath of fresh air and I can easily see myself come back to the game to try and beat some of my previous scores. Super excited for Pikmin 4

Took me three tries to finally beat this game, not because it was hard but because I got bored. Once when it originally came out on Wii U (didn't get far), a second time for the Switch re-release (this time played in entirely in co-op which gave me the motivation to keep going), and the final time three years later right before Pikmin 4, when I realized we had stopped right before the final boss in the second time so we might as well finish the game.

Although I frequently got bored, it was a good time and has one of the best 2P couch co-op options in a first party Nintendo game. Each player can explore with their own squads independently in split-screen, but can still interact by throwing Pikmin to each other or working in the same part of the map. The only downside is the lack of mini-map and smaller screen space. For the co-op alone I'd recommend it, and the rest of the game is just a good, lightweight, exploratory affair. Often the tension was so low I would get tired or bored, but I was helped by a second player who really knew what she was doing. The tension drastically increases right before the final boss, which was a surprise and also the only truly challenging part of the game. This could definitely be unwelcoming to some expecting a relaxing experience all the way through, but if I understand it is more in line with previous Pikmin games and I kind of liked the added difficulty.

The Piklopedia is fun to read, the music and sounds are superb, and the environments are fun to explore (in spite of the graphics that feel dated already). Overall it leaves me interested in playing more Pikmin games (this was my first), but not overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the franchise.

On today's story of "how did I get here": Pikmin 4's demo was fine. I thought it was interesting, but I wasn't crazy about it. So I played Pikmin 3 Deluxe's demo as well because it was right there, and I had no choice but to continue in the full version. Never really been a big Pikmin fan, but this demo gave me enough of a push to follow through for once.

Our story begins with a crisis to end all crises: world hunger! Our trio sets sail to the farthest reaches of the universe in search of more foodstuffs, only to end up crash-landing on the surface, a fate that Pikmin protagonists cannot seem to avoid. Now stranded, they must rely on the assistance of Pikmin in order to escape PNF-404, foodstuffs in tow.

Your goals are simple. Collect fruit to survive, and track down strange wireless signals to discover new areas. Pikmin 3 aims for a happy medium between having a hard day limit and no day limit. As you collect hyperrealistic fruit, it's converted into juice rations with liquid physics that I want to chug. These bottles of juice represent your remaining days when totaled. As long as you keep collecting fruit, you increase the amount of days you have left to finish the game. Therein lies the problem, however. Fruit is everywhere, and it is pathetically easy to create a massive juice stockpile, rendering the day limit pretty moot. There's only one point in the game where it lights a fire under your ass by removing your supply, but that's only a temporary measure.

I don't really mind the time limit not being there, if only because the world of Pikmin 3 is one I want to stay in forever, territorial creatures and all. Being a tiny character in a comparitavely gigantic world is a concept I don't find explored in enough games. This game can also effectively be replayed forever, thanks to its extensive mission mode and ranking system. Pikmin 3's fantastic world design and atmosphere bring a flavor all their own. All the music dynamically changes depending on what you're doing (idling, fighting, ferrying items, etc). I wonder what flavor the Pikmin's onion tastes like. It looks like the world's most cracked fruit smoothie once you have all five types of Pikmin. I wanna ride down a river on a lilypad. Show me a Bulborb irl, I wanna throw hands.

It's hard to describe exactly why, but even in the most perilous situations, Pikmin 3 brings a smile to my face. Not many real-time strategy games are as approachable as Pikmin, nor as charming. This game has successfully Pikmin-pilled me. It's planted the seeds in my mind. Someday I'm truly going to lose it and try bossing the plants in my front yard around.

ok so we can all agree that this is by far the best one right? You can argue that the Pikmin 1 had a better story, or that Pikmin 2 had more to do, but come on. the new pikmin types are awesome, the new QOL stuff is incredible (LOCK ON AHHHHHHHHH), the game just LOOKS gorgeous, the boss fights are the best in the series, the pikmin aren't nearly as stupid as they were in the first two, and it just plays better overall. I just wish it was a bit longer, but tbf there's still the side story stuff. hype levels are at a max for Pikmin 4, here's hoping that game is as good as it looks.