How do you follow up the masterpiece that is Woolly World with... This?

The visuals are the only part of this game that's decent. And they're far lesser than wool.

The level design sucks, the backwards levels, while conceptually cool, are extremely boring, and I've practically never seen a game with collectibles that feel this tedious to collect. This game is a completionist's nightmare, not because of difficulty, but just tedium. I believe 6 playthroughs of every single level is the minimum requirement, but it's been a while at this point.

And for every single run of every single level for the entire game... You have a single, awful song grating against your ears the entire time. Yes... A single song. It's adaptive, at least, changing to fit the theme of the level... But come on...

One of very few Switch titles I actively regret buying, and every time I look at it on my shelf, I can only think, "Why didn't they just port Woolly World?"

This game is built around the concept of "dandori," yet offers the lowest dandori ceiling of any game in the franchise. From the 3 type limit to the two playable characters having different movesets, the game is limited in the types of challenges it can throw at you. Because of these limitations, it feels like there are fewer strategies for the player to come up with, and there are fewer puzzles than ever that require specific types of Pikmin.

Most bosses die so quickly that they pose no threat to your Pikmin, and you barely even get to learn their patterns. Enemies in the overworld don't respawn, and it feels so rare to actually face danger in this world. Even going for full completion, all platinum medals in the challenge stages... Is far easier than it was in the other entries.

As for caves, I like the idea that time still passes when you enter them, just a bit more slowly. It adds a bit more strategy in deciding what encounters you should dive into on any given day. However, they are far too short on average. There were numerous lengthy caves in Pikmin 2, whereas there's a grand total of one cave in 4 that goes beyond 5 floors. On top of that, fewer of them have bosses, lessening the challenge seen in 2's caves even more. Also, the rng in some of 2's caves helped add replay value, which is no longer seen in this game.

As for the story... Not only is it a reboot, not only is there more dialogue than ever... But the dialogue adds less than ever. Gameplay is more important, of course, but it's certainly a bit disappointing when the other games have all had great narratives, even if they are generally pretty simple.

This may sound contradictory, as the game is already too easy, but there are several late game upgrades that are completely pointless by the time you get them. On top of that, it was less satisfying to gain most upgrades through a "shop" instead of from bosses or exploration like in previous games.

At the end of the day, it's still Pikmin, so I still adore it, but I am a bit disappointed compared to how much I have enjoyed the previous entries. Unlike the other games, I feel like this game offers very few incentives to play through it a second time. However, I do want to praise how perfect of an introduction this game should be for newcomers to the series, and I am greatly looking forward to seeing waves of new fans experience these fantastic games.

Look, I'll be the first to admit that this is not what anyone wanted from the Banjo-Kazooie franchise. However, it is still a perfectly adequate game, and it was honestly ahead of its time in several ways. Heck, look at all the comparisons people were making when they showed off vehicles in Tears of the Kingdom. If Banjo hadn't been wrongly slapped on the face of this game, I think it would've been remembered a lot more fondly.

Give it another try if you've played it, try to play a bit more objectively, look at it from a fresh perspective instead of longing for a real Banjo game.