This review contains spoilers
Achieving the zenith in a series is often a lofty goal and realizing the true potential of anything can be a challenge. It’s great when you can reach a culminating point in a project while also achieving greater heights. When considering a series like Pikmin, it’s easy to dive into the philosophies and central themes but recognizing the merits of their innovative systems and the way they compel you to participate in them is a higher point for each entry. With each game building off the last, Pikmin 4 is the zenith of the series. While it’s not without fault, Pikmin 4 is the ultimate culmination of every concept achieved throughout the series thus far. With a strong compelling narrative, and fluid, cohesive gameplay, matched with stunning visuals, Pikmin 4 offers the most comprehensive and engaging experience of the series.
The introductory sequence is shaky with many cutscenes and tutorials that disrupt the flow of gameplay. Once you make it through the first couple of days of exploration you are given the freedom to approach the available areas in whichever fashion you deem appropriate. With all previous Pikmin types returning, the game brings about big changes to the formula for expanding your capabilities. The first thing they do is introduce you to the biggest new feature, space dogs! Instead of having extra leaders to do tasks with, you have a trusty companion who works independently and cooperatively with your self-made main character. Oatchi has a lot of unique capabilities like being able to take treasure back to the ship and return to you without having to take control of him first. You can also ride on his back with your Pikmin and carry them for more accurate navigation around hazards or enemies. This allows for different obstacles and pushes you to form a cohesive plan on what you want to accomplish before nightfall.
Nightfall brings a brand new type of mission where you go out and take on creatures that stir up at night. You are introduced to a new Pikmin type, Glow Pikmin, that are immune to hazards and have a neat ability to immediately return to the player. These Pikmin can only be found during these night missions where your goal is to protect a plant-like structure called a Lumiknoll. The missions in the first few areas are pretty straightforward, you collect crystals and kill enemies as they make their way to the Lumiknoll. As things go on, you eventually are tasked with protecting two Lumiknolls at a time during certain missions which challenges your ability to change focus between two defense points. Your reward for surviving until daybreak is this sap that’s excreted by the Lumiknolls so long as they survive the night. With this sap, you’re able to generate medicine for characters that have been infected with a condition that has been plaguing people who crash-landed on PNF-404.
Leaflings are people who have been infected with a condition that covers their body with leaves and makes them obsessed with Pikmin 4’s (along with the entire series) most present and consistent theme. Dandori is the art of organizing tasks strategically and working effectively to execute a plan. While this idea and concept has been present in every game prior, Pikmin 4 is the first to use the term explicitly. The main idea is to make the most of your time and resources. Your character is part of a rescue organization that was sent after receiving Captain Olimar’s SOS signal at the beginning of the game. Upon arrival, you learn that many people have crash-landed on PNF-404 and they all need rescuing. Leaflings are mixed in with several of these characters and the only way to cure them is with the Lumiknoll sap. So during the day you are finding and rescuing castaways, and at night you are finding the materials to cure the castaways that have been turned into Leaflings. Most of these leaflings demand that you demonstrate your Dandori abilities before they can be brought in for treatment.
These challenges consist of a variety of objectives that include retrieving as many treasures as you can or defeating as many enemies as you can within the time limit. Each area has a few of these challenges along with one Dandori Battle challenge. The Dandori Battle challenges are how the game incorporates multiplayer battle into the core gameplay where you’re tasked with collecting more treasure than your opponent. It’s a nice way for players to learn how Battle mode works without the stress of having to compete against real people. In the main story, your opponent is a leafling that looks strangely familiar. He consistently has a castaway hostage and always turns them into a leafling. The battles themselves are fairly easy as the opponent seldom tries to interfere with your gathering so most often you can bully him by just stealing whatever his Pikmin are carrying by outnumbering them with your own. Later in the game, they introduce new battle mechanics like a bomb that can make the opponent lose some of their points in the form of stealable treasures, a golden pear that’s worth a large chunk of points, and a bonus multiplier that changes throughout the battle that indicates collectibles worth double points. All of these challenges are designed around the central philosophy of Dandori. So much so that once you’ve beaten the game you unlock a series of exceedingly difficult challenges.
Immediately after beating the main story, the post-game grants access to Olimar’s Shipwreck Tale. This is a condensed callback to the first Pikmin game where you are tasked with collecting the thirty missing ship parts before Olimar’s oxygen depletes. In the original Pikmin, you had thirty days to complete this task. This time around you only have fifteen days. While this remains ample time, it leaves less margin for careless use of your time like the main narrative affords you. Once you complete this segment you are granted access to the Sage Leaf Trials. This gauntlet consisting of ten of the most difficult challenges present in the series truly puts your mastery of Dandori to the test. Most of these challenges took me several tries and gave me the impression that they are meant to be completed once you’ve finished the post-game narrative. These challenges operate on the assumption that you have obtained all of the upgrades for Oatchi and yourself and it necessitates the implementation of all that you’ve learned. The rewards you get for completing these challenges are appropriate for the difficulty presented. Still, by then you’re playing more for the satisfaction of beating the challenges than what the game has to offer. The way these challenges are positioned in the game and how they are presented, make for a great capstone of what it means to play Pikmin and make for solid endgame content as a whole.
In the endgame, your team returns to PNF-404 because Oatchi seems to be afflicted by the same disease as the castaways. This brings you to explore two more areas in the game before you’ve truly beaten it. These areas were well presented much like the main areas but they were not as impressive. Serene Shores and Hero’s Hideaway were both beautifully designed areas in ways that we had never experienced before. The theming and execution of these areas feel inspired and remind you of the capabilities of the series. Paired with the caves that return from Pikmin 2, you’re given a wide berth of spaces to explore. Caves make a great return to the series. They’re not procedurally generated like they were before and they’re generally shorter. Each floor is less complex but feels more focused on what challenges are presented and of course, comes with a large cast of enemies and bosses. The enemies feel the least threatening in this game as you have so many different answers to them. The more complicated enemies are less threatening to your Pikmin and the bosses can be rushed down so fast that you’re not likely to lose any Pikmin to them either. The only way the game made any of these challenges hard was to deprive you of the space to fight the boss. Yet, at that point, you’re better off using the copious amounts of items you have access to so that you don’t even have to bother. While this doesn’t necessarily take away from the enjoyment of the game, it does reduce tension as you work your way down to the final boss.
The Ancient Sirehound lurks at the bottom of the game’s final cave. We need a cell sample so that we can create a cure for Oatchi but Louie is down there causing mayhem. The cave itself is longer than any other dungeon in the game and rehashes a lot of older bosses from previous Pikmin titles. At the end, you face off with the Ancient Sirehound. This boss was visually and thematically well put together. Mechanically it leaves much to be desired as the powers presented don’t make sense to the creature, nor do they serve as real obstacles. The boss has more health than any other boss we’ve encountered but falls short in the repetitive nature of fighting it. This is emblematic of combat as a whole being significantly less challenging than before. There’s little satisfaction to be had from defeating this beast since it doesn’t challenge your ability to employ your forces like the Plasm Wraith or the Titan Dweevil do and you never find out why Louie is operating against you and Olimar. Despite the absence of challenge, I wouldn’t say anything in this game lacks enjoyment nor do these final moments feel inconclusive to the game.
Recognizing what makes each game good while acknowledging its faults, Pikmin 4 easily boasts the most content and accessibility of the series thus far. It’s the zenith of this type of success that begs for innovation in the form of departure. While that’s certainly not the only direction the series could go, I’d be impressed if something like this could be accomplished again. Pikmin remains one of the most endearing and visually appealing franchises in Nintendo’s roster of independent properties. While Pikmin 4 boasts a great array of features and content, it doesn’t necessarily capture the spirit of the series the same way that its first two entries do. Pikmin 4 is unequivocally the best Pikmin game due to its ability to provide all that previous entries have brought before it, yet still leaves enough to be desired for more in the future.
The introductory sequence is shaky with many cutscenes and tutorials that disrupt the flow of gameplay. Once you make it through the first couple of days of exploration you are given the freedom to approach the available areas in whichever fashion you deem appropriate. With all previous Pikmin types returning, the game brings about big changes to the formula for expanding your capabilities. The first thing they do is introduce you to the biggest new feature, space dogs! Instead of having extra leaders to do tasks with, you have a trusty companion who works independently and cooperatively with your self-made main character. Oatchi has a lot of unique capabilities like being able to take treasure back to the ship and return to you without having to take control of him first. You can also ride on his back with your Pikmin and carry them for more accurate navigation around hazards or enemies. This allows for different obstacles and pushes you to form a cohesive plan on what you want to accomplish before nightfall.
Nightfall brings a brand new type of mission where you go out and take on creatures that stir up at night. You are introduced to a new Pikmin type, Glow Pikmin, that are immune to hazards and have a neat ability to immediately return to the player. These Pikmin can only be found during these night missions where your goal is to protect a plant-like structure called a Lumiknoll. The missions in the first few areas are pretty straightforward, you collect crystals and kill enemies as they make their way to the Lumiknoll. As things go on, you eventually are tasked with protecting two Lumiknolls at a time during certain missions which challenges your ability to change focus between two defense points. Your reward for surviving until daybreak is this sap that’s excreted by the Lumiknolls so long as they survive the night. With this sap, you’re able to generate medicine for characters that have been infected with a condition that has been plaguing people who crash-landed on PNF-404.
Leaflings are people who have been infected with a condition that covers their body with leaves and makes them obsessed with Pikmin 4’s (along with the entire series) most present and consistent theme. Dandori is the art of organizing tasks strategically and working effectively to execute a plan. While this idea and concept has been present in every game prior, Pikmin 4 is the first to use the term explicitly. The main idea is to make the most of your time and resources. Your character is part of a rescue organization that was sent after receiving Captain Olimar’s SOS signal at the beginning of the game. Upon arrival, you learn that many people have crash-landed on PNF-404 and they all need rescuing. Leaflings are mixed in with several of these characters and the only way to cure them is with the Lumiknoll sap. So during the day you are finding and rescuing castaways, and at night you are finding the materials to cure the castaways that have been turned into Leaflings. Most of these leaflings demand that you demonstrate your Dandori abilities before they can be brought in for treatment.
These challenges consist of a variety of objectives that include retrieving as many treasures as you can or defeating as many enemies as you can within the time limit. Each area has a few of these challenges along with one Dandori Battle challenge. The Dandori Battle challenges are how the game incorporates multiplayer battle into the core gameplay where you’re tasked with collecting more treasure than your opponent. It’s a nice way for players to learn how Battle mode works without the stress of having to compete against real people. In the main story, your opponent is a leafling that looks strangely familiar. He consistently has a castaway hostage and always turns them into a leafling. The battles themselves are fairly easy as the opponent seldom tries to interfere with your gathering so most often you can bully him by just stealing whatever his Pikmin are carrying by outnumbering them with your own. Later in the game, they introduce new battle mechanics like a bomb that can make the opponent lose some of their points in the form of stealable treasures, a golden pear that’s worth a large chunk of points, and a bonus multiplier that changes throughout the battle that indicates collectibles worth double points. All of these challenges are designed around the central philosophy of Dandori. So much so that once you’ve beaten the game you unlock a series of exceedingly difficult challenges.
Immediately after beating the main story, the post-game grants access to Olimar’s Shipwreck Tale. This is a condensed callback to the first Pikmin game where you are tasked with collecting the thirty missing ship parts before Olimar’s oxygen depletes. In the original Pikmin, you had thirty days to complete this task. This time around you only have fifteen days. While this remains ample time, it leaves less margin for careless use of your time like the main narrative affords you. Once you complete this segment you are granted access to the Sage Leaf Trials. This gauntlet consisting of ten of the most difficult challenges present in the series truly puts your mastery of Dandori to the test. Most of these challenges took me several tries and gave me the impression that they are meant to be completed once you’ve finished the post-game narrative. These challenges operate on the assumption that you have obtained all of the upgrades for Oatchi and yourself and it necessitates the implementation of all that you’ve learned. The rewards you get for completing these challenges are appropriate for the difficulty presented. Still, by then you’re playing more for the satisfaction of beating the challenges than what the game has to offer. The way these challenges are positioned in the game and how they are presented, make for a great capstone of what it means to play Pikmin and make for solid endgame content as a whole.
In the endgame, your team returns to PNF-404 because Oatchi seems to be afflicted by the same disease as the castaways. This brings you to explore two more areas in the game before you’ve truly beaten it. These areas were well presented much like the main areas but they were not as impressive. Serene Shores and Hero’s Hideaway were both beautifully designed areas in ways that we had never experienced before. The theming and execution of these areas feel inspired and remind you of the capabilities of the series. Paired with the caves that return from Pikmin 2, you’re given a wide berth of spaces to explore. Caves make a great return to the series. They’re not procedurally generated like they were before and they’re generally shorter. Each floor is less complex but feels more focused on what challenges are presented and of course, comes with a large cast of enemies and bosses. The enemies feel the least threatening in this game as you have so many different answers to them. The more complicated enemies are less threatening to your Pikmin and the bosses can be rushed down so fast that you’re not likely to lose any Pikmin to them either. The only way the game made any of these challenges hard was to deprive you of the space to fight the boss. Yet, at that point, you’re better off using the copious amounts of items you have access to so that you don’t even have to bother. While this doesn’t necessarily take away from the enjoyment of the game, it does reduce tension as you work your way down to the final boss.
The Ancient Sirehound lurks at the bottom of the game’s final cave. We need a cell sample so that we can create a cure for Oatchi but Louie is down there causing mayhem. The cave itself is longer than any other dungeon in the game and rehashes a lot of older bosses from previous Pikmin titles. At the end, you face off with the Ancient Sirehound. This boss was visually and thematically well put together. Mechanically it leaves much to be desired as the powers presented don’t make sense to the creature, nor do they serve as real obstacles. The boss has more health than any other boss we’ve encountered but falls short in the repetitive nature of fighting it. This is emblematic of combat as a whole being significantly less challenging than before. There’s little satisfaction to be had from defeating this beast since it doesn’t challenge your ability to employ your forces like the Plasm Wraith or the Titan Dweevil do and you never find out why Louie is operating against you and Olimar. Despite the absence of challenge, I wouldn’t say anything in this game lacks enjoyment nor do these final moments feel inconclusive to the game.
Recognizing what makes each game good while acknowledging its faults, Pikmin 4 easily boasts the most content and accessibility of the series thus far. It’s the zenith of this type of success that begs for innovation in the form of departure. While that’s certainly not the only direction the series could go, I’d be impressed if something like this could be accomplished again. Pikmin remains one of the most endearing and visually appealing franchises in Nintendo’s roster of independent properties. While Pikmin 4 boasts a great array of features and content, it doesn’t necessarily capture the spirit of the series the same way that its first two entries do. Pikmin 4 is unequivocally the best Pikmin game due to its ability to provide all that previous entries have brought before it, yet still leaves enough to be desired for more in the future.