prior to playing pikmin 2, i had only heard undying praise for it. i knew that it was a fan favorite--not a single peep about it being known as hit or miss. i absolutely adored pikmin 1, so needless to say i was overjoyed to continue experiencing these wonderfully unique games, unaware of the fact that this is the most divisive title in the series

initially, i was intrigued by the lack of the time limit that shaped the first entry's gameplay loop, but i soon realized that the absence of this feature gave me no motivation to keep moving forward--something i found to be an essential part of the first game. however, i don't think that adding a time limit to any or all parts of the game would magically improve it, as the lack of one goes hand in hand with the problems i have with its core design

where pikmin 1 chose to combine micromanagement with skillfully crafted level design, pikmin 2 takes a bold 180 and introduces dungeon-crawling. the caves are an interesting addition and quite exciting at first, having some structure but being largely characterized by random elements. nevertheless, their soulless nature quickly shows itself.

speaking as a big fan of roguelikes and games with roguelike elements, the randomness of pikmin 2's caves feels more like a shallow attempt to change the gameplay loop for the sake of change rather than a well-thought-out, meaningful shift that (better) suits the gameplay. pikmin 1 resonated with me because it has such elegantly crafted level design. both games allow for multiple solutions to the same problem but random enemy placement and level layouts feel at odds with the groundwork that the first game laid out.

the caves, especially the later ones (namely the dream den), drag on for far too long and are a great example of why i think that quantity hardly equates to quality within games.

the strong focus on caves robbed the overworld of its charm, and the lack of a time limit took away my incentive to collect (albeit cool) treasure, at least past the milestone of repaying the entirety of the debt.

towards the end of my playthrough, i was constantly audibly frustrated and desperate to move onto 3, a sharp contrast to my experience with the latter half of 1. the final boss was especially exhausting, as i beat it on my first try but it dragged on for what felt like hours

i think that the dynamic music, addition of boss music, and improvements to quality of life are all great. i love purple and white pikmin they are so soooo silly but pikmin 2 is probably the most disappointing game i've ever played because i had such high hopes for it after becoming completely enamored with 1. it polishes up some jank and adds some neat new stuff but it also strips away what makes the first game so engaging to me

i respect this game's attempts to innovate on the pikmin formula, especially when so many game series prefer to play it safe and fear taking risks, but new doesn't always equal good/better. i can kinda see the appeal of this game's design and its chaotic nature but i guess they thought it was new year's eve because they totally dropped the baaaaaaaaall

when funny man miyamoto was developing pikmin, he said that he wanted it to be “the next mario.” well that doesn’t make any sense because there’s no fucking goombas in this game

in terms of sales numbers, pikmin ended up becoming more like the next metroid, but it certainly rivals mario in terms of creativity and innovation

this game is an absolute joy to play. it tickles parts of my brain that i didn't even know could be tickled. i hate being micromanaged in real life but when it comes to games i either love or hate it and boy do i love it here. the rewind function was something i didn't think id ever use, but i found myself frequently taking advantage of it, as i was surprised to enjoy the pressure i felt that came from having to manage my time efficiently.

there are so many amazing ideas here and the way they are all brilliantly executed and intertwined together is an absolute marvel, especially considering how old this game is. every part of each area is a little puzzle that often depends on other parts of the map (sometimes even spanning between stages), all forming together to make one big puzzle, the pieces of which fit together perfectly. it is so satisfying to progress through this game and i love how it isn't linear. the fact that it is short and sweet only left me wanting more, but still beyond satisfied with the time i spent with it

this game's age does show, as the mechanics can be a bit janky at times but they're overall quite polished, and pikmin tripping or falling into the void was more funny to me than it was frustrating. it gave me a sense of realism that i didn't expect from a game like this and only immersed me more in my role as a space man with a big nose

i wish i grew up with this series as a wee lad because commanding up to 100 little guys to recover ship parts, fight goblins, and more is so damn fun. you've gotta play pikmin or else you're dumb

dave the diaper is a game that i was very excited to play after hearing nonstop praise for it on the friends per second podcast and seeing extremely positive reviews for it on steam, and after finishing the demo on switch i was itching to play the full game ASAP

for the first half of my playthrough, i was totally hooked by the atmosphere and gameplay loop--intertwining restaurant management diner dash-style (wow throwback) with deep sea exploration and simple yet engaging combat felt like a match made in heaven, but once i hit the ~7-hour mark, things started to stagnate and i found myself severely needing more to keep my attention

in a coincidence that almost feels intentional, this is when the game started introducing more new mechanics, but it somehow managed to feel like an overwhelming number of features to introduce at once and simultaneously too little too late

this came off as a desperate attempt to reel me back in at a point where i was just about ready to disappointingly stop playing this game, and i did

its fun for a few hours, but once you play any more than that, the cracks in the game's design become glaringly obvious

so yeah, despite not winning the award, seeing this game take the spot of another actual indie game during the game awards and be so highly rated all across the board leaves me feeling perplexed (and honestly, angry), because im struggling to see how so many people see this game as more than mediocre
i think that GutterTrash's review puts it best, "The game's just a perfectly adequate AAA puppeting the skin of an indie game."