I love the Pikmin series. While I think the first game is still the best, and don't love 2, I don't think any of them are bad. They do, however, have one thing in common: they're pretty short. Despite being in favor of shorter games in general, I always felt like they ended just when they were picking up steam. In particular, after finishing Pikmin 3 in about 4 and a half hours, I was not about to spend 60 dollars on another Pikman, so I rented this.
Of course, this time they decided to make it as long as every other game in the series put together.
I think this is a good thing for the most part, it's absolutely packed with stuff to do, and when you think you've seen it all, some little freak will show you an entire new subsection to complete. However, by the end I was absolutely ready for it to be done. I have Had My Fill of Pikmen, from this veritable Puckman Smorgasbord.
There are two big flaws in the game, and these were what kept from getting 5 stars: One, the night missions sssSSSSUCK ASS. They're somehow simultaneously boring and short, with no real strategy involved because you only have one type of Pickmon, and that short length causes it to run into the other major problem... The load times are BRUTAL. They're not bad when you're just loading into one of the main areas, as they're fairly large, but the loads are the same amount of time for every transition in the game. Even just your little hub area causes a lengthy load, as well as between every single sublevel of the caves you explore. I mentioned I was tiring of the game by the end, but the final cave consists of TWENTY sublevels, often one room, with a load between every one of them... I was actually getting a little pissed off.
That aside, this is Pokmun. There's not a whole lot different from the others apart from the addition of Oatchi, your horrible space-dog, which mostly functions as a way to keep your Pikumin in one place so they don't randomly fall into water and drown (you do eventually get something I've been missing since the Gamecube iterations, direct control of your horde with the right stick, but it's not available until THE VERY END OF THE GAME. Thanks...). It's also an Easy Mode for fights, because you just charge into enemies, launching all your Pokemon onto them, and they usually die almost instantly. Oatchi can also act as an extra beast of burden for carrying items.
I completed 99% of the stuff in this game. There is one treasure I couldn't get because I didn't have enough purple Porkmen, as you don't get that many over the course of the game and I did not feel like farming them. I also did not complete the Trials of the Sage Leaf, because the mechanics and Pukeman AI are still juuuust janky enough that it made them incredibly frustrating. After the third time I narrowly missed completing one because I would look and see that a couple of the little bastards I tossed directly at an object were just hanging out nearby, I gave up. Not worth the seething anger.
Despite these issues, Pac-Man 4 is a fantastic game for the most part. Maybe when it comes out on the Nintendo Wonder, or whatever the hell they call it, the load times will be better. That version will probably be 70 dollars. God, I hate Nintendo.
9/10
Of course, this time they decided to make it as long as every other game in the series put together.
I think this is a good thing for the most part, it's absolutely packed with stuff to do, and when you think you've seen it all, some little freak will show you an entire new subsection to complete. However, by the end I was absolutely ready for it to be done. I have Had My Fill of Pikmen, from this veritable Puckman Smorgasbord.
There are two big flaws in the game, and these were what kept from getting 5 stars: One, the night missions sssSSSSUCK ASS. They're somehow simultaneously boring and short, with no real strategy involved because you only have one type of Pickmon, and that short length causes it to run into the other major problem... The load times are BRUTAL. They're not bad when you're just loading into one of the main areas, as they're fairly large, but the loads are the same amount of time for every transition in the game. Even just your little hub area causes a lengthy load, as well as between every single sublevel of the caves you explore. I mentioned I was tiring of the game by the end, but the final cave consists of TWENTY sublevels, often one room, with a load between every one of them... I was actually getting a little pissed off.
That aside, this is Pokmun. There's not a whole lot different from the others apart from the addition of Oatchi, your horrible space-dog, which mostly functions as a way to keep your Pikumin in one place so they don't randomly fall into water and drown (you do eventually get something I've been missing since the Gamecube iterations, direct control of your horde with the right stick, but it's not available until THE VERY END OF THE GAME. Thanks...). It's also an Easy Mode for fights, because you just charge into enemies, launching all your Pokemon onto them, and they usually die almost instantly. Oatchi can also act as an extra beast of burden for carrying items.
I completed 99% of the stuff in this game. There is one treasure I couldn't get because I didn't have enough purple Porkmen, as you don't get that many over the course of the game and I did not feel like farming them. I also did not complete the Trials of the Sage Leaf, because the mechanics and Pukeman AI are still juuuust janky enough that it made them incredibly frustrating. After the third time I narrowly missed completing one because I would look and see that a couple of the little bastards I tossed directly at an object were just hanging out nearby, I gave up. Not worth the seething anger.
Despite these issues, Pac-Man 4 is a fantastic game for the most part. Maybe when it comes out on the Nintendo Wonder, or whatever the hell they call it, the load times will be better. That version will probably be 70 dollars. God, I hate Nintendo.
9/10
Weatherby
9 months ago