This game is a fantastic evolution for the series but has a lot of small issues and strange design choices that leave me a bit conflicted.
First off, Oatchi is way too strong. Any challenge that was present in the previous games' combat encounters is entirely gone in this game thanks to his charge, which is essentially an instant kill when you have more than 50 Pikmin riding along. Even just on his own, as you get more upgrades for him, he becomes a solo powerhouse. Their brute strength, combined with the ability to remove all Pikmin from nearby harm and trivialize all water encounters makes nearly all of the game a breeze. I love Oatchi but his inclusion (alongside the lack of respawning enemies) really makes this game too easy.
Plenty of other strange design choices bothered me throughout the game as well, such as constantly being forced to lock on when aiming, a feature which hindered me about as much as it helped me. I also don't understand why you're only allowed 3 types of Pikmin at a time in the game with the most variety. These features alongside the inclusion of the ability to automatically take out recommended Pikmin take away an incredible amount of player agency and decision-making that was a big part of the earlier games.
Despite these issues and a few other minor nitpicks I have, this game is so incredibly fun and varied that I can't help but love it. The overworld maps are the most expansive and fun to explore they've ever been, and I really like the style of caves in this game far more compared to the exhausting endurance challenges in 2. The gameplay stays interesting throughout thanks to the different fun styles of encounters present in the dandori challenges and battles, as well as the night encounters which break up the regular exploration nicely. I also loved the inclusion of Olimars mode in the post-game, being a more challenging experience following closely in style to the original game. This game looks incredible and is bursting with charm in its writing, design, and world, just like all the other games before. While I do feel it smooths away a lot of the edges and quirks I found so charming in the earlier entries and has far too easy of a main experience, this game is still incredibly fun and consistent, constantly giving the player satisfying new tasks and objectives to fulfill.
I have become the master of dandori.

Wish the actual game and story was as fun and fresh as the style and music. Gameplay is pretty satisfying, but it’s overly simplistic and way too easy. Many of the areas feel way too open and aimless, yet despite this, there's often times only a single way to actually progress through them, the mall and the island being the worst examples of this. The story starts out interesting, but quickly becomes way too dragged out, predictable, and doesn’t really have a satisfying conclusion. Style goes a long way in making a game, but I wish there was a bit more substance and polish Despite my issues though, I had a fun time, and I know I’m gonna be continuing to play the post game for a while, and I’ve already been listening to the soundtrack on repeat.