The music, being dropped into an unknown landscape, unusual species, the timer until you ship runs out of breathable air, muddy and dark visuals all contribute to this sense of danger and foreboding. It was overwhelming as a kid but exciting and tense now that I’m older. The UI all has this bubble rounded appearance to try and lessen the scary and tense vibes. All the sound effects are easily identifiable and appealing.
Using your pikmin is exciting and they give you many quickly to avoid the downtime of waiting for them to break down structures and carry items. Kind of feels like a gardening game when you have to wait for the Pikmin to sprout. There’s a lot of waiting in this game but I don’t really mind because I feel like there’s always something else to do or things to plan for.
Pretty linear initially. Sense of progress by showing the change in the total population of Pikmin and the number of ship parts you found. Small body of water nearby to tell the player early on that water kills Pikmin. Captain Olimar commenting on ship pieces and behaviors of the different pikmin helps you start to care for the character. The annoying thing is that part of its difficulty comes from its janky controls. Might just be the Wii motion controls though. The writing is surprisingly adult for a game for everyone. The music is phenomenal (besides final area) and adds to the foreign and dangerous atmosphere. Especially the take off music is so catchy and I couldn’t help watching cutscene over again to just to hear it (even though I’d seen it 20 times at that point). Loved revisiting it and finally playing it with fresh eyes. Such a fun little intro to real time strategy games if a bit janky. They frame your relationship with the pikmin as symbiotic; you help the pikmin grow their numbers and survive (since they can’t pluck each other from the ground or attack strategically) and they help you fix your ship to get home.
Using your pikmin is exciting and they give you many quickly to avoid the downtime of waiting for them to break down structures and carry items. Kind of feels like a gardening game when you have to wait for the Pikmin to sprout. There’s a lot of waiting in this game but I don’t really mind because I feel like there’s always something else to do or things to plan for.
Pretty linear initially. Sense of progress by showing the change in the total population of Pikmin and the number of ship parts you found. Small body of water nearby to tell the player early on that water kills Pikmin. Captain Olimar commenting on ship pieces and behaviors of the different pikmin helps you start to care for the character. The annoying thing is that part of its difficulty comes from its janky controls. Might just be the Wii motion controls though. The writing is surprisingly adult for a game for everyone. The music is phenomenal (besides final area) and adds to the foreign and dangerous atmosphere. Especially the take off music is so catchy and I couldn’t help watching cutscene over again to just to hear it (even though I’d seen it 20 times at that point). Loved revisiting it and finally playing it with fresh eyes. Such a fun little intro to real time strategy games if a bit janky. They frame your relationship with the pikmin as symbiotic; you help the pikmin grow their numbers and survive (since they can’t pluck each other from the ground or attack strategically) and they help you fix your ship to get home.