Nintendo’s most under appreciated series put out one of the best games Nintendo has ever produced. Pikmin 4 took everything great from the first 3 games and put them together to make a special game that is easily the class of the series, which is really saying something. This is one of the most just pure fun game that I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing.

The return of caves, 9 types of Pikmin, the greatest surprise/Easter egg in gaming history (imo of course), and my favorite addition dandori challenges. I honestly would buy a Pikmin spin off game that is just a ton of dandori challenges. Also the Easter egg added about halfway through the game blew me away and made me so happy.

The art is my favorite in all of gaming. It is absolutely beautiful. The Pikmin are beautiful, the characters have a unique design, moss and Oatchi are adorable, the world is beautiful and put together so well. The feeling it gives of making you feel so small, it really makes you feel like you’re viewing the world from a bugs perspective. It’s unbelievable how good the art is.

Pikmin is one of the most replayable series ever and I cannot wait to replay this game again. If you have a switch please do yourself a favor and buy this masterpiece. It’s the first game in the series that is killing it in sales but it deserves even more to bring light to this fantastic franchise.

This game easily made my top 100. Check out where here.

https://www.backloggd.com/u/DVince89/list/my-favorite-100-video-game-of-all-time/

“The better your… Dandori… the more important… you are…”

The original Pikmin game is a novel experience like no other. If you were to ask one of its fans to describe the gameplay to you, you will be met with a different answer each time. It was the inception of a new genre of game that despite its critical acclaim has inspired few contemporaries, certainly due to the rather modest return on investment the series has made over its lifetime. You see in this world (which is one and the same as in Pikmin) there is an objective evaluation upon which your work’s value can be judged and deemed beautiful. The more efficient you are in obtaining these metrics the better the work is. This concept and its romanticization as I have come to understand it is referred to as ‘Dandori’. Pikmin despite its promise as a unique, fun, and compelling gameplay experience had failed to draw in sufficient mainstream appeal. Experimentation on the game’s format in its iterative sequels also performed mildly. As efficient use of time can be equated to money, the ever-increasing pursuit of greater attainment of Dandori becomes self-evident and demands for these inefficiencies to be expunged.

“Your Dandori…needs work.”

Pikmin 4, for good or ill seeks to do exactly this. The concept of Dandori is the focal point of the game, both in its design philosophies as well as its narrative. Pikmin 1 and 2, tells a tale of success and perseverance. How the brave space captain Olimar, whose work-ethic was peerless, was able to overcome trials and tribulations to save both himself and the company he worked for. Pikmin 4 completely dispels this preconception. It is both a meta retrospection and a reboot. Instead, in both our reality and in Pikmin’s, a different turn of events transpired. Olimar, and metaphorically the Pikmin series itself, did not escape past the stratosphere of PNF-404. He was close to success, but failed, doomed to become just another part of the abandoned wilderness, but perhaps with just a bit more acumen and acclimation towards Dandori principles he could be saved.

“Those who do not embrace Dandori cannot survive this planet… But if they grow the leaves… they will thrive”

Pikmin 4 wants to succeed. It is engineered to succeed. To do this it wants ‘you’ to succeed. Like the player carefully manages their Pikmin, the game seeks to manage the player. It does this through several ways. It limits your options, guiding you towards efficiency (having more than three Pikmin at a time is almost never optimal) and it provides you the means to easily accomplish your tasks. Most prominently of which is Oatchi, an entity that will both point you to your objectives as well as accomplish them for you. There is almost no obstacle that Oatchi cannot handle alone, but then what becomes the purpose of the Pikmin then? Therein lies the beauty that is this game. You see Dandori and its pursuit is never forced upon you. It is tantalized, endorsed, and romanticized but your adherence to its principles is voluntary. You can beat this game and all its challenges as efficiently or inefficiently as you wish. Dandori challenges, of which there is specific threshold requirement to complete, can be entirely skipped and ignored. You use the Pikmin because you want to be efficient. You want to be efficient to save time. You want to save time because it is made to feel satisfying to do so. What do you do with the saved time? Further pursue mastery of Dandori. It is a malady and madness. Which the game itself acknowledges.

“Go home!”

Not everyone has fallen for this spell. Dandori is ‘almost’ presented as NOT being inherently beautiful and meaningful. Pikmin or Captain lives and wellbeing are not factored into its evaluation. Olimar and his obsession at being an exemplary worker is not unquestionably a good thing. It is shown to take a strain upon his life and the time he would spend with his family. It is unfathomable to directly challenge the idealization of Dandori as it is not just foundational for Pikmin 4 but the culture that produced it in the first place. Yet intentional or not, Pikmin 4’s endgame is its own critic.

I recommend this game to anyone who is already a Pikmin fan, particularly for those who enjoyed Pikmin 2. While the wilderness has already been tamed four entries in, I am sure there is plenty for you to enjoy, even if the game is back heavy with the challenges. If you are foreign to the series whether you will enjoy this game depends on how much you are willing to engage with Dandori. If you are sick of hearing the term’s prominence in this review, you will not survive the game itself.

(If a game inspired me to write something about it, it gets 5 stars regardless of all other factors. Like Dandori this metric is only as real as you let it become)

There are two Pikmin 4s. There's the cozy, kid-friendly potter around gardens that lasts until the initial credits sequence, and then there's the game that creeps up afterwards. Adding full camera controls, a lock-on system, Splatoon/New Horizons character editor and a host of cuddly, chattering NPCs may worry traditionalist GameCube/Wii/Wii U fans, but they just have to hold their horses and push through the relatively brief introductory campaign.

Look, I welcome them opening up the franchise to new players. Nintendo want to explore the full potential of these mechanics and the depth of strategy that they offer, but the most important members of the audience have always been the kids. In his time as a kindly member of his local community, Miyamoto has encountered children who like Pikmin, which is evidence enough to convince him that there is an appeal for the under-8s. The harsh, ecological subtext is one of the main qualities I love the series for, and I think it's important for kids to start thinking about this stuff from a young age. I don't want them to be put off by complicated controls and stressful resource management, and if it takes a credits sequence to persuade them that they're worthy Pikmin fans, so be it.

I do want to stress that the old guys should stick with it. This is the biggest Pikmin game ever made, with the most stuff for those people. They're not littering the game with GBA and N64 references for Generation Alpha. They know we're here, and we want to play the game that Eurogamer's been teasing since September 2015.

You get a hint of this early on. Pikmin 4 somewhat obnoxiously adopts the mantra of "Dandori"; a suggestion that players should prioritise efficient planning and quick strategy in their approach. That's how Pikmin's design has always encouraged players to approach the game, but they're making it text here, and it's a fancy foreign word/compound kanji for kids to glom onto. Putting it in such focus has given the designers the freedom to explore some really taxing challenges. The Dandori Challenges themselves start out fairly easy, but there's rewards for doing them as efficiently as possible, with Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum rankings for meeting certain criteria. They're as hard as you want them to be, and the post-credits ones are often pretty bloody hard to start out with. If you want to meet every challenge the game has for you, you're going to be playing Pikmin 4 for a very long time.

The entirely distinct "Dandori Battles" are another beast altogether. Pitting you against an opponent, you have to fight them to acquire the most resources within a time limit. There's random power-ups and a lot of fluked victories. They're playing with Pikmin stuff, but they don't really feel like part of a Pikmin campaign. They feel like a silly multiplayer mode that you can play against a bot, because that's what it is, except they're mandatory parts of the main levels. I don't mind too much. They're not too much work. Just a little out of step with the surrounding design.

Again, this is a game that wants to appeal to veteran fans. 4 pulls so much from the previous games. Often in an "oh fuck, that's back??" way. Not the genuinely bad stuff, mind. 2's multi-level dungeons are back, but they're not tedious, randomly generated guff anymore. They're consistently clever, inventive and attentively designed. Series fans will be aware of how distinct each of the first three games are, and there's been real effort to incorporate as much of their appeal into one game as possible. Personal favourite, 3, gets the least attention in this regard, and I do miss just how much you were able to get done at one time with three Captains actively performing tasks at the same time, but you do get a hint of that gameplay with the big new doggy partner.

This isn't a retread, though. Acting as part of an expanding rescue operation, as opposed to fragile survivors, changes the vibe. It's not so lonely or harsh, there's no strict deadlines, and you don't feel the same gutpunch when you lose thirty Pikmin to a cackhanded decision. It's just a number that went down. It'll go up again after a bit of harvesting. Maybe that's stripping something out of the series that I love, but it makes me thankful that Nintendo are keeping the previous games relevant with Switch rereleases, and not shying away from making this a - somewhat intimidating - numbered sequel. If you want that harsher tone, play the earlier ones. They're just as easy to access. We don't need to hold the series back and keep it to ourselves. Let it expand. Let the new people in. Let it be the thing that gets new generations captivated with nature, space and science. Let it be the friendly face that subversively worms these thoughts into households that might be dismissive of them. Let it save us.

It's still a ton of Pikmin, mind. If you like that, you're in for a feast.

After 100%ing the game I can say that without a doubt that this game was a masterpiece, everything about this game is just so good the visuals, the music, and the controls is amazing there is so many QOLs added that the first 3 pikmin games were missing/needed that are amazing, there was just so much to do, upgrade, and explore that after I thought I was done there was still more to do which was good because I thought that this game was going to be shorter than usual but no it packs a lot more than you think and I loved every second of it. If you are a fan of pikmin this is a MUST PLAY. My only complaint is that there are no bulbmin in this game.

BLOOMIN' PIKMIN COCKTAIL

If you're looking for a refreshing Summertime cocktail to cap off your night, look no further than a Bloomin' Pikmin. This decadent drink is perfect not just for sipping, but pairs well with roasted Breadbugs and has a kick that will make your hairs stand on-end.

But first, a bit of history for you mixologists out there: The Bloomin' Pikmin owes its creation to my uncle Louie, who first concocted the drink using Pikmin he personally distilled using parts from his captain's marooned ship. Surely this drink helped him through such a harrowing ordeal. I fondly remember the night of Uncle Louie's return. We held a private get-together where several family dishes were shared. Uncle Louie had a saying: "Good food and good company is all you need... And some Pikmin, too." He introduced everyone to the Bloomin' Pikmin that night, and suffice it to say, it was a hit.

Regrettably, uncle Louie passed away after a long battle with disease brought on by constant exposure to cosmic rays and an appetite for the undocumented plant life and fungi he found on distant worlds. He was nevertheless a culinary genius - some would even call him a visionary - and he passed all he knew onto me, though he was at the time capable only of communicating in grunts, which I had to decipher by carefully considering the tone and timbre of each guttural sound. I will always remember those nights spent with Louie, scribbling down recipes for Pikmin pie, Snootwhacker sandwiches, and Bulbmin Wellington into a notebook which has since become well-worn. Though Louie has been laid to rest, his spirit lives on in these dishes, which I often prepare for my family as he once did. Indulging in his accomplishments and reminiscing about his adventures has become a tradition that I now share with you.

Although the Weatherby family today continues to cultivate and harvest our own Pikmin - which we use in a wide variety of dishes and drinks - anyone with access to even store bought Pikmin can get the job done. The only thing you'll need outside of the ingredients is a second glass, because you'll definitely want seconds.

Ingredients

3 measures of White Pikmin spirits
1 measure of Red Pikmin spirits
1 cube of Flying Pikmin
2 teaspoons of Yellow Pikmin syrup
1 chilled Rock Pikmin
2 fully bloomed Purple Pikmin leaves


1. Start by adding a single cube of Flying Pikmin to a mixing glass, douse with Yellow Pikmin syrup and muddle until it is fully dissolved.

2. Fill the mixing glass with Ice Pikmin, add White and Red Pikmin spirits and stir vigorously with a bar spoon.

3. Strain into a rocks glass over a single chilled Rock Pikmin.

4. Express the oil of two fully bloomed Purple Pikmin leaves, twist over the glass, then add as garnish.

5. For some extra zest, add a few dashes of red nectar or a single spritz of Ultra-Spicy Spray.

6. Enjoy!