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Pikmin 4 (Switch) Review
Image Credit: Nintendo
Loading...” />After an upgraded edition of Pikmin 3 (Deluxe) on Nintendo Switch, Nintendo has finally released the next entry in the franchise with Pikmin 4.
The latest entry starts with you making an avatar before dropping you in to a new land to find Captain Olimar and his crew before finding a way off the planet.
The standard Pikmin formula is still in play during the game. You’ll use the Pikmin you find throughout the lands to help you take down obstacles, defeat enemies and recover treasures to help expand the areas your ship can explore until you finally can leave the planet.
One of the biggest advantages the game starts you off with early on is a dog-like creature, Oatchi. Oatchi starts off being able to fight enemies and carry items. However, as you upgrade it throughout the game, it can grab bigger items, carry Pikmin and even be ridden on. It’s a great addition and fun to play with throughout the exploration.
As in the other titles, there are different types of Pikmin to find. There are standard Pikmin, ones that are water-resistant, ones that glow in the dark and more. Each can help play a role in defeating certain enemies or getting to specific areas, and a good balance is needed to make sure you have the right types for the right situation.
The Glow Pikmin also are key during some nights because of raids on your home base by creatures. During these raids, you have to have some strategy in mind to use the Pikmin and Oatchi to the best path to make sure all creatures can get taken care of quickly. There aren’t many of these missions, but they are an interesting break.
Pikmin 4 also has smaller Dungeons littered throughout the main world to explore, each with different objectives to clear them. Some Dungeons are time trials, others just task you to clear out all enemies in the area, while others still are just puzzle solving explorations. While in Dungeons, time moves much slower, so you don’t have to worry about wasting a full day just to see one Dungeon.
Interestingly, while the time mechanic is still in the game for each day, it never seemed to stress me out like in the past. I never felt like I was in a rush to try and get everything done before nightfall, and even if I missed something it was easy to go back the next day to wrap things up. Plus, the game also has a rewind feature, in case you need to go back to save some Pikmin you may have accidently lost.
Unfortunately, the one section I didn’t get to spend much time in was multiplayer and co-op. Gone is the Bingo Battle, and replacing it was Dandori Battle, a competitive mode where you try to get the most items to win, while watching out for Bonus Points that give higher totals. It can be a simple distraction (and even comes with CPU battles for those with no local friends or family to play against), but it’s a distraction I didn’t find myself coming to often.
Also, Co-op has been whittled down substantially from what it was in Pikmin 3. Gone is the full second character for your partner to play as. Instead, they just throw rocks around and use items here and there, similar to the second player in Mario Galaxy. It’s not bad, but for fans of the last game it’s a far cry from what they previously had.
