Author’s Note: I wrote a decent chunk of this prior to 4’s release.
Introduction:
The year was 2013 and Pikmin was at a bit of a standstill. Only motion control centric re-releases were present on Nintendo’s biggest home system since the NES and it was nowhere to be seen on Nintendo’s lucrative handheld line. Whenever asked about Pikmin in interviews, series creator Shigeru Miyamoto would always give a vague promise of a third game coming “soon”. Pikmin 3 would ultimately release in North America on August 13 of that year (almost a full decade removed from its predecessor) on the failed experimental console known as the Wii U. Flash forward to 2017 the Nintendo Switch is a huge hit and Nintendo has a giant back catalog of Wii U titles that will effectively feel like new releases to the less informed public that just thought the Wii U was some failed controller add-on like the UDraw Tablet. Porting to recoup expensive HD era dev costs and build brand recognition for the more nicher IPs of the Nintendo stable on the cheap is just good business sense. Enter our primary subject for today: Pikmin 3 Deluxe. An expansion on the “hit” Wii U game that adds two additional stories, revamps certain mechanics, and includes all the extra DLC of the Wii U release. Is this a release that trends in the quality direction of Pikmin 1 or 2? Let’s find out!
Before We Begin:
I will assume you have read my Pikmin 1 and Pikmin 2 reviews before reading this review as I go into much of the series core structure in those writings. Also please keep in mind I played both versions of this game for the purpose of getting a feel for how certain mechanics and stylistic choices might have been impacted by the Wii U’s uhh.. “unique” tablet controller setup (Cemu in a two screen side by side setup for base game + Yuzu for Deluxe). I also went into the challenge mode a tiny bit more this time around as it felt high enough in production value to merit the extra effort. I also played through the additional Captain Olimar stories in Deluxe for the purposes of being thorough and to see how the main storyline plays in a more intense “arcadey” setting like the dandori battles coming to Pikmin 4.
Story:
Pikmin 3’s main campaign breaks series tradition by introducing 3 new protagonists instead of series alumni Captain Olimar. These player avatars are ship captain Alph, botanist Brittany, and military general Charlie. They aim to save their planet from malthusian collapse by examining the dangerous PNF - 404 for fruit that can serve as a source of food for their planet Koppai’s growing population. There's a decent goofy adventure here with decent banter between the three protagonists and some okay cutscenes before and after each boss fight but you probably aren’t gonna play this for the story.
Presentation:
This is probably going to be an unpopular opinion but the graphics here are leaving a lot to be desired. Pikmin 3 was the first HD Pikmin game and I feel like in spite of that its Wii prototype roots show. Lots of uncanny valleys in the environment design with low res textures in the first half of the game. I also feel like Formidable Oak reusing the cave sub areas assets for a majority of its runtime after giving you this great looking american southwest desert for outside area is incredibly disappointing. I get they likely used the dark cave aesthetic to gel with the slight genre shift to soft horror game with the Wraith chase sequence but I don’t think it was impressive enough to sterilize the personality and identity of the final area graphically.
Sonically the music and sound design fares much better with the boss theme being different based on the game state changing and the sound effects returning as a form of party management with regard to hazards and enemy attacks (see my Pikmin review for more details). The former has a pretty good explanation by the Youtuber “Scruffy” that’ll link in the end of this review as it goes into this from a musical composition angle much better than I can go into as someone not that versed on composition or music theory. Ultimately like the first game I think the music serves its purpose as a mood setter but isn’t super memorable on its own outside the aforementioned boss music.
Gameplay:
Pikmin 3 is a return to form gameplay wise as the time limit returns albeit in a less harsh form. Everytime you grab a collectable fruit your crew will juice it at the end of day and add to a total supply. Each day uses one unit of juice and running out of supply results in the game’s bad ending. This is a good idea in theory, it gives folks a sense of tension present in the late game of Pikmin 1 while also giving players a catch up mechanic but in practice I feel it comes into conflict with the game’s choice to be more linear and cinematic in its design. Since vast swaths of your time are assumed to be taken up by opening the singular path to each area boss the game pretty much has to leave a decent chunk of each area’s total juice supply out in the open. This leads to the mechanic feeling very tacked on sans one set piece in the game’s midpoint where you lose your juice supply. This is made even worse in a 100% run I have to imagine as the fruits on the linear track to the boss that are rather low effort acquisitions such as the plums underneath the pink flowers in Twilight River likely come off as filler content. Combine this with the further simplification of the combat via automatic lock-on and you have probably the easiest game in the series. In a strategy game where the brunt of the appeal is coming up with novel solutions to problems (in my opinion) I think an overly low difficulty is a problem. I think really two things save this game from being completely mindless: the three captain “go here” system and the robust suite of challenge maps that double down on the time scarcity aspect of the game’s design.
The concept of captains multitasking has received a great glow up from 2. The presence of three remotely controlled captains and the concept of captain throwing means both actual incentives for multitasking as well as vertical level design are added to the game allowing for you to think about your squad compositions on several additional levels. Should I keep a captain at base to ensure quick squad plucking or send them as insurance in case I run into a captain throwing section? How should I divide my Pikmin colors among the two to three squads? Should I keep a squad free for backup if something unexpected comes up or press on for quicker progress? Etcetera etcetera. Add in the intuitiveness of having go here mapped to the tablet touch screen on Wii U (in fact I’d say that change from tablet screen to a pause menu is the biggest downside of Switch over the failed console) and you have a very satisfying set of mechanics. While the aforementioned simplistic campaign design prevents this feature set from reaching its apex, the Olimar side stories and challenge mode map more than make up for this.
In Pikmin 3 Deluxe after learning about Olimar being kidnapped by a creature known as the Plasma Wraith you unlock a prequel story detailing how that scenario came to be. This is further complimented by a post game epilogue about Olimar repairing his ship. Both these stories are effectively “storyfied” challenge mode missions centered on beating a set of goals like growing Pikmin, collecting treasure, killing enemies, escorting a ship part, or reaching a point on the map in a time limit. Every mission is ranked on a bronze to platinum scale just like the typical mission mode segments elsewhere in the game. You also gain access to the two underground Pikmin species from 2 otherwise not accessible during the main game. Going for the platinum in these missions is some of the best time I had in the series up to this point with each segment of the level path needing to be optimized to a high degree for the coveted platinum rank. These three modes were the only part of the game that really kept the flow state you can get into in the original game. It's a shame that I can see less patient folks bouncing off this game before they get to this part given the earliest ones available are at the midpoint of the experience but as someone that unironically defends the slow burn beginning trope a lot of games use (JRPGs mostly) I’m not gonna be phased by the pacing much.
Conclusion:
If Pikmin 1 is the perfect bite sized game and Pikmin 2 a lesser sum of its parts perhaps Pikmin 3 DX can best be described as meeting someone with a prickly personality out in a public space and getting a very superficial vibe on their life only to be surprised when you start to learn more about them after a chat. Lots of depth under the surface if you put in the work.
LINKS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaBJ2C7Am6E
Introduction:
The year was 2013 and Pikmin was at a bit of a standstill. Only motion control centric re-releases were present on Nintendo’s biggest home system since the NES and it was nowhere to be seen on Nintendo’s lucrative handheld line. Whenever asked about Pikmin in interviews, series creator Shigeru Miyamoto would always give a vague promise of a third game coming “soon”. Pikmin 3 would ultimately release in North America on August 13 of that year (almost a full decade removed from its predecessor) on the failed experimental console known as the Wii U. Flash forward to 2017 the Nintendo Switch is a huge hit and Nintendo has a giant back catalog of Wii U titles that will effectively feel like new releases to the less informed public that just thought the Wii U was some failed controller add-on like the UDraw Tablet. Porting to recoup expensive HD era dev costs and build brand recognition for the more nicher IPs of the Nintendo stable on the cheap is just good business sense. Enter our primary subject for today: Pikmin 3 Deluxe. An expansion on the “hit” Wii U game that adds two additional stories, revamps certain mechanics, and includes all the extra DLC of the Wii U release. Is this a release that trends in the quality direction of Pikmin 1 or 2? Let’s find out!
Before We Begin:
I will assume you have read my Pikmin 1 and Pikmin 2 reviews before reading this review as I go into much of the series core structure in those writings. Also please keep in mind I played both versions of this game for the purpose of getting a feel for how certain mechanics and stylistic choices might have been impacted by the Wii U’s uhh.. “unique” tablet controller setup (Cemu in a two screen side by side setup for base game + Yuzu for Deluxe). I also went into the challenge mode a tiny bit more this time around as it felt high enough in production value to merit the extra effort. I also played through the additional Captain Olimar stories in Deluxe for the purposes of being thorough and to see how the main storyline plays in a more intense “arcadey” setting like the dandori battles coming to Pikmin 4.
Story:
Pikmin 3’s main campaign breaks series tradition by introducing 3 new protagonists instead of series alumni Captain Olimar. These player avatars are ship captain Alph, botanist Brittany, and military general Charlie. They aim to save their planet from malthusian collapse by examining the dangerous PNF - 404 for fruit that can serve as a source of food for their planet Koppai’s growing population. There's a decent goofy adventure here with decent banter between the three protagonists and some okay cutscenes before and after each boss fight but you probably aren’t gonna play this for the story.
Presentation:
This is probably going to be an unpopular opinion but the graphics here are leaving a lot to be desired. Pikmin 3 was the first HD Pikmin game and I feel like in spite of that its Wii prototype roots show. Lots of uncanny valleys in the environment design with low res textures in the first half of the game. I also feel like Formidable Oak reusing the cave sub areas assets for a majority of its runtime after giving you this great looking american southwest desert for outside area is incredibly disappointing. I get they likely used the dark cave aesthetic to gel with the slight genre shift to soft horror game with the Wraith chase sequence but I don’t think it was impressive enough to sterilize the personality and identity of the final area graphically.
Sonically the music and sound design fares much better with the boss theme being different based on the game state changing and the sound effects returning as a form of party management with regard to hazards and enemy attacks (see my Pikmin review for more details). The former has a pretty good explanation by the Youtuber “Scruffy” that’ll link in the end of this review as it goes into this from a musical composition angle much better than I can go into as someone not that versed on composition or music theory. Ultimately like the first game I think the music serves its purpose as a mood setter but isn’t super memorable on its own outside the aforementioned boss music.
Gameplay:
Pikmin 3 is a return to form gameplay wise as the time limit returns albeit in a less harsh form. Everytime you grab a collectable fruit your crew will juice it at the end of day and add to a total supply. Each day uses one unit of juice and running out of supply results in the game’s bad ending. This is a good idea in theory, it gives folks a sense of tension present in the late game of Pikmin 1 while also giving players a catch up mechanic but in practice I feel it comes into conflict with the game’s choice to be more linear and cinematic in its design. Since vast swaths of your time are assumed to be taken up by opening the singular path to each area boss the game pretty much has to leave a decent chunk of each area’s total juice supply out in the open. This leads to the mechanic feeling very tacked on sans one set piece in the game’s midpoint where you lose your juice supply. This is made even worse in a 100% run I have to imagine as the fruits on the linear track to the boss that are rather low effort acquisitions such as the plums underneath the pink flowers in Twilight River likely come off as filler content. Combine this with the further simplification of the combat via automatic lock-on and you have probably the easiest game in the series. In a strategy game where the brunt of the appeal is coming up with novel solutions to problems (in my opinion) I think an overly low difficulty is a problem. I think really two things save this game from being completely mindless: the three captain “go here” system and the robust suite of challenge maps that double down on the time scarcity aspect of the game’s design.
The concept of captains multitasking has received a great glow up from 2. The presence of three remotely controlled captains and the concept of captain throwing means both actual incentives for multitasking as well as vertical level design are added to the game allowing for you to think about your squad compositions on several additional levels. Should I keep a captain at base to ensure quick squad plucking or send them as insurance in case I run into a captain throwing section? How should I divide my Pikmin colors among the two to three squads? Should I keep a squad free for backup if something unexpected comes up or press on for quicker progress? Etcetera etcetera. Add in the intuitiveness of having go here mapped to the tablet touch screen on Wii U (in fact I’d say that change from tablet screen to a pause menu is the biggest downside of Switch over the failed console) and you have a very satisfying set of mechanics. While the aforementioned simplistic campaign design prevents this feature set from reaching its apex, the Olimar side stories and challenge mode map more than make up for this.
In Pikmin 3 Deluxe after learning about Olimar being kidnapped by a creature known as the Plasma Wraith you unlock a prequel story detailing how that scenario came to be. This is further complimented by a post game epilogue about Olimar repairing his ship. Both these stories are effectively “storyfied” challenge mode missions centered on beating a set of goals like growing Pikmin, collecting treasure, killing enemies, escorting a ship part, or reaching a point on the map in a time limit. Every mission is ranked on a bronze to platinum scale just like the typical mission mode segments elsewhere in the game. You also gain access to the two underground Pikmin species from 2 otherwise not accessible during the main game. Going for the platinum in these missions is some of the best time I had in the series up to this point with each segment of the level path needing to be optimized to a high degree for the coveted platinum rank. These three modes were the only part of the game that really kept the flow state you can get into in the original game. It's a shame that I can see less patient folks bouncing off this game before they get to this part given the earliest ones available are at the midpoint of the experience but as someone that unironically defends the slow burn beginning trope a lot of games use (JRPGs mostly) I’m not gonna be phased by the pacing much.
Conclusion:
If Pikmin 1 is the perfect bite sized game and Pikmin 2 a lesser sum of its parts perhaps Pikmin 3 DX can best be described as meeting someone with a prickly personality out in a public space and getting a very superficial vibe on their life only to be surprised when you start to learn more about them after a chat. Lots of depth under the surface if you put in the work.
LINKS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaBJ2C7Am6E