This game is great to start but ultimately I feel like it falls short of the original with its new format. Depending on your preferences you may like it a lot, but unfortunately I came to realize the cave-focused gameplay was a bit much for me. Completing a single cave is exhausting and there's just so many. Pikmin ai is improved from the last game but they also demand more from you. That means the shortcoming become a lot more obvious, like when Pikmin will sometimes become dead set on following you and need to be dismissed 2-4 times. Caves are randomized most of the time which can lead to some MISERABLE situations with monster spawns.

I really really love that Pikmin 2 evolved the gameplay of the first game and it did a wonderful job, but I just prefer the concise nature of the first game.