crossed my fingers that this one would cross the best aspects of pikmin 1 and 2 into a single game, and I'm pleased to say they effectively nailed it. this series benefitted greatly from a decade off to reflect and redesign, smoothing out some of the ragged edges of the series in the process.
the first game played the most like a proper RTS: resource and time management where choosing preferred solutions yielded good results even when not optimal. the second game did away with the frustration inherent to the debut's strict time limit but in the process featured puzzles and problems with rigid, simple solutions. the third game attempts to triangulate a happy medium by adding in a heavy exploration element that could only be accomplished with more powerful hardware and expanded level sizes.
each area feels less bounded and instead generally features multiple winding routes with objectives that can often be handled in parallel. the second game rarely made effective use of the two leaders, while this game often encourages using all three at once to accomplish tasks simultaneously to optimize time. running around from place to place with a single squad would simply take too long, and the game pushes the player to maximize efficiency by fixing their days remaining on the planet to their juice supply, which requires consistently bringing new fruit back to the ship alongside moving the story forward. most people will not struggle to keep their juice supply up, rendering the pressure somewhat irrelevant, but the drive to collect fruit helps flesh out the experience.
the speciality pikmin from the second game have now been replaced with rock pikmin and winged pikmin. rock pikmin break combat much in the same way the purple pikmin did, except they now can smash through glass barriers. winged pikmin are completely new, and can both hover over water as well as open and lift certain objects other pikmin cannot. neither requires the dreadful dungeon grinding in the second game to obtain and instead can be farmed by regular means. they still fall into a lot of the same lock-and-key puzzles of the first game, but thanks to the greater amount of multitasking, this becomes less of a chore to deal with.
most of my issues with the game come down to nitpicks with the changes made with the jump to wii u. the touchscreen controls are great but strained my hand a bit during boss battles where a lot of tapping was required, and the loss of the whole right side of the controller is a bit of a sore spot for me. thankfully pikmin type switching is very easy to do now, and most of the other functionality can pretty much be handled with the new apps selection on said touchscreen. I also feel like the pikmin are somewhat less self-sufficient than they previously were, with my most deaths of any game in the series from leaving pikmin unattended near minor enemies such as the little bugs that burrow from beneath the ground. nothing too game-breaking, but still unpleasant for sure.
the final area really surprised me with its novel concept that really focuses on keeping track of multiple things at once. it initially frustrated me (especially early on when there weren't as many routes to take during the chases) but later on I really settled into the rhythm of routinely swapping between all my leaders to make sure they were on task. the ability to send a leader and their pikmin to a predefined location is exceedingly useful in this game, and would've really made the difference in the second one to improve the multitasking functionality in that game. it also helps that this game allows you to tackle bosses on multiple days with no penalty, which radically decreases the frustration of having a wipe on a first encounter with an unfamiliar boss.
certainly the most enjoyable time I've had with any of the three games in the trilogy. I feel like I may have missed out on part of the experience by not collecting all the fruit, but it was a good enough time as it stands. after all, I can always come back another to attempt a proper 100% run, which certainly seems less rote here than it did in the second game.
the first game played the most like a proper RTS: resource and time management where choosing preferred solutions yielded good results even when not optimal. the second game did away with the frustration inherent to the debut's strict time limit but in the process featured puzzles and problems with rigid, simple solutions. the third game attempts to triangulate a happy medium by adding in a heavy exploration element that could only be accomplished with more powerful hardware and expanded level sizes.
each area feels less bounded and instead generally features multiple winding routes with objectives that can often be handled in parallel. the second game rarely made effective use of the two leaders, while this game often encourages using all three at once to accomplish tasks simultaneously to optimize time. running around from place to place with a single squad would simply take too long, and the game pushes the player to maximize efficiency by fixing their days remaining on the planet to their juice supply, which requires consistently bringing new fruit back to the ship alongside moving the story forward. most people will not struggle to keep their juice supply up, rendering the pressure somewhat irrelevant, but the drive to collect fruit helps flesh out the experience.
the speciality pikmin from the second game have now been replaced with rock pikmin and winged pikmin. rock pikmin break combat much in the same way the purple pikmin did, except they now can smash through glass barriers. winged pikmin are completely new, and can both hover over water as well as open and lift certain objects other pikmin cannot. neither requires the dreadful dungeon grinding in the second game to obtain and instead can be farmed by regular means. they still fall into a lot of the same lock-and-key puzzles of the first game, but thanks to the greater amount of multitasking, this becomes less of a chore to deal with.
most of my issues with the game come down to nitpicks with the changes made with the jump to wii u. the touchscreen controls are great but strained my hand a bit during boss battles where a lot of tapping was required, and the loss of the whole right side of the controller is a bit of a sore spot for me. thankfully pikmin type switching is very easy to do now, and most of the other functionality can pretty much be handled with the new apps selection on said touchscreen. I also feel like the pikmin are somewhat less self-sufficient than they previously were, with my most deaths of any game in the series from leaving pikmin unattended near minor enemies such as the little bugs that burrow from beneath the ground. nothing too game-breaking, but still unpleasant for sure.
the final area really surprised me with its novel concept that really focuses on keeping track of multiple things at once. it initially frustrated me (especially early on when there weren't as many routes to take during the chases) but later on I really settled into the rhythm of routinely swapping between all my leaders to make sure they were on task. the ability to send a leader and their pikmin to a predefined location is exceedingly useful in this game, and would've really made the difference in the second one to improve the multitasking functionality in that game. it also helps that this game allows you to tackle bosses on multiple days with no penalty, which radically decreases the frustration of having a wipe on a first encounter with an unfamiliar boss.
certainly the most enjoyable time I've had with any of the three games in the trilogy. I feel like I may have missed out on part of the experience by not collecting all the fruit, but it was a good enough time as it stands. after all, I can always come back another to attempt a proper 100% run, which certainly seems less rote here than it did in the second game.