This is literally how i felt about the game, loved it all the way through but still felt something i loved from 3 was missing. This video puts it into words

22:30 fun fact: it _seems like_ you actually can have all pikmin types in the final cave, because on the second-to-last floor you have 5 candypop buds (red, yellow, blue, white and ice). So if you came in with purple, rock and flying pikmin, you could change them into the other types and have all 8 at once, 9 if you count the glow pikmin that can also be spawned in _But then if you actually try this,_ then two of the candypop buds will stealthily have their color changed to match a pikmin you already have (in my case purple). Even with the 3 type limit lifted in a cave, the game is still physically incapable of allowing more than 7 types for whatever reason.

The one thing i wish they did in pikmin 4 is that once you are able to have 100 pikmin every flarlic after that increases the pikmin type limit instead of just giving some nectar and sprays

Oatchi is very weird in terms of multitasking because on one hand, he is an excellent second captain capable of everything you can, even more technically, but on the other hand, because you cant jump on your own, its not feasible to send him away So multitasking is possible, encouraged in some dandori challenges, but not really needed on most of the game, where as the entirety of Pikmin 3 is about that satisfaction of doing so much stuff in a single day, seriously the Christmas challenge is peak Finally, coop, i swear Pikmin 3 is the perfect starting point just because of coop

LET ME TURN OFF THE AUTOLOCK GOD DAMN IT

one thing I love about the pikmin series is how, you could say any one of them is your favorite, and it would be a respectable opinion among fans. like, even if you don't like a specific aspect about one game, you most likely still enjoyed it. the fact that this is a series spanning over 2 decades with only 4 games, makes this extremely impressive.

I feel like the Pikmin community has always been broken in half. The ones who think Pikmin 2 is the best, and the ones who think Pikmin 3 is the best. Or, in other words, it’s people who play Pikmin for time management vs people who play for exploration and challenge. Most people I know who preferred Pikmin 3 still preferred it over 4 because 3 is based on time management where 4 is like 2 - exploration and challenge.

I feel pretty passionately that the 3 type limit is the biggest flaw of 4. I could go into more detail but the main reason why is because of the way it limited them from designing the game in a more interesting way. The game will "recommend" 3 types to you for each area and they do this because they are the only 3 types you need in the area. If whites are not recommended, you won't see any poison. If yellows aren't recommended, you won't see any electricity, etc. You can bring out other types for exploration if you want, but there's really no need to. This screws over the game in ways such as you don't get to experiment with secondary abilities the types have, like rocks being immune to crushing, or yellows being fast diggers, or whites carrying things faster because you're not going to be using them very often. They also couldn't make up their mind on what they wanted to use when, so this leaves some of the types never really getting a chance to shine, mainly affecting whites and wings. I'm not really sure why they picked those two in particular, probably because they were having to prove to people that ice didn’t make blues worthless and made way too much of the game not encourage but require blues specifically, which takes a lot of design space away from other types. But some of the types barely get to be useful and it really sucks. One of the best parts of the previous games (heck even 2 had this) was having all your Pikmin with you and having to decide which type was the best to use for a situation, because they would usually allow you to mix things around as you wanted, at least once you got past certain elemental obstacles. This game doesn't really let you do that because most of the stuff that you need certain types to do is very strictly something only they can do. It's just very restrictive when it just doesn't need to be. The game does have some good improvements (like the Sage Leaf trials mode is INCREDIBLE), but there are also some massive flaws this game has that others in the series don't (most of them you mentioned in the video) but I feel like because it's so aggressively average when you combine those factors, I really agree with the overall take of your video. And I thought that one of the reasons I believe that seems to be different from your view so I thought I'd mention it

Personally i miss the big bosses of 3 being sort of mini puzzles with a bit of pressure 4s cave bosses don't really reach the same highs for me as solving puzzles in the dark with an invisible phosbat on the attack, or having to shatter the armour using your brand new pikmin type before you can even hurt the mawdad Most of 4s fights boil down to "hit it with oatchi" the only ones i really found fun were the ones that had other steps to them like that icy butterfly or the foolix Plus fighting massive creatures as a tiny guy was also just fun on it's own, mireclops is among my favourite bosses in gaming, would be top 5 if it weren't for the pools of water that stick around for just slightly too long for my taste

i kinda feel like oatchi makes the pikmin feel... unimportant. not irrelevant, but not a focus anymore. the characters dont talk about them a lot either, the pikmin are just there for the sake of being there. i find it kind of annoying when the game constantly forces oatchi onto me and the pikmin feel obsolete i also think pikmin 4 just absolutely lacks the grim yet comforting space atmosphere the first three games totally nail. many people say pikmin 4 is the best pikmin game and honestly i can agree with that.. but i could never say its my Favorite pikmin game. its a great game, it really is, but i just cannot feel the way about pikmin 4 that pikmin 3 makes me feel

I think Pikmin 4's biggest structural issue is that it feels kind of spread thin and unfocused. The first 3 games all have a unique vibe that makes me revisit each of them. 1 is the most cohesive and emotionally investing. 2 is laid back and has some of the most in-depth character building and worldbuilding. 3 is streamlined and has the most dramatic and exciting plot. 4 kind of tries to do all of the previous things at once, and while it doesn't fumble any of them, no single aspect of the world scratches those itches like the other games do for me. That combined with the weird retconned story makes it where I can't really immerse myself in it like the first 3.

What I found annoying with pikmin 4 is that you could complete an area on your first visit, in the others you got blues way later so you had to return and expore more of the area you already knew. But with pikmin 4 I kinda just entered an area 100% it then never returned it made the game feel different, even to 2.

One thing I feel needs to be clarified... _Real-Time Strategy DOES NOT mean time management!_ Pikmin isn't an RTS _because_ of the time management aspects, its an RTS because you command an army to fight enemies _in real time_ instead of having turn-based battles. In other words, what I'm trying to say, is that _just because there's less focus on time management doesn't mean that Pikmin 2 isn't an RTS game._ I feel like Pikmin fans in particular don't even really know what RTS games are by definition. Pikmin is unlike any other RTS game, its gameplay loop and time management focus is unique to the series, NOT the genre. And _yes,_ Pikmin 2 _does_ require strategy (its a lot deeper than just "bring purples" 🙄). The caves are all about RESOURCE management rather than time management. People often complain that the caves are unfair, but almost all of the traps in the game can be countered or avoided with careful planning and quick thinking. This _is_ Real-Time Strategy! (sorry for ranting, people misunderstanding RTS is one of my biggest pet peeves within this fandom. I am convinced that most Pikmin players have never even played any other RTS games before).

One of the aspects of Pikmin 4 I enjoy most is how diverse the gameplay can get with the extra 'modes'. The Dandori Challenges, night expeditions, and Olimar's Shipwreck Tale all revamp the gameplay to focus more on time management, but they all do it in different ways. With how long of a game Pikmin 4 is, those extra modes do a great job of breaking up the general dungeon-crawling gameplay loop, and I actually enjoy all three of them more than the main game. That said, it's telling that the parts of Pikmin 4 I like the most are the parts that diverge furthest from that dungeon-crawler experience of clearing through caves. Oatchi's also a part of the game I have... complicated feelings on. I think the devs figured Oatchi would be balanced out by the fact that he can only do one thing in one place at any given time, but in practice, he has too many things to do. His mobility as a second captain and his power as a one-dog Pikmin squad are mutually exclusive, and using him for either compromises the mobility of your main captain and Pikmin. Ironically enough, I preferred to just use Pikmin for everything to keep Oatchi around as a mount, meaning I barely ever utilized his strengths. The only exceptions were using him as a Pikmin squad in the Dandori challenges (where you start with too few Pikmin to *not* use him) and as a second captain in the night expeditions (where his shortcomings on his own are made especially apparent). I honestly think Pikmin 4 would've benefited from having Oatchi not be rideable and letting both characters jump, or something.

What I really liked about Pikmin 3 is that it really felt you're on earth. For the other parts, especially 2 and 4, it just seemed like a fictional world where there's just minigames and seperate levels. In Pikmin 3 you're in realistic nature, there are no liminal space-like houses or dungeons... I think it's the best one by far.

i was so disappointed in the final cave when i attempted to get all 9 types at once I hypothesized a way to get all 9 types at once using candy pop buds, as every bud exists but rock and pink in the cave, so i thought if i bring in those types and then use the buds to get the rest i can get a complete 9 types at once, but the game sadly doesn't allow that, having a cap of 6 types + glow, and just changes the color of any candypop buds that are not one of the 6 (not counting glow) types you currently have. it was really soul crushing to me tbh, had to take a small break from the game after that lol, came back and finished everything though, is a really fun game just a bit too easy and limiting at times. 8/10

i lowkey hate how 4’s crew just watches you do everything and judges, and then the excessive cutscenes and tutorials like damn man i know kids are not that dumb 😤

I know this doesn't matter to everyone, but music is really important to my gaming experience. Pikmin 3's OST is the most memorable, pleasant and consistent in the whole series.

I loooooved Pikmin 4 but I agree there were some elements that just felt.. off. Plus I actually got really mad when I got the lineup trumpet as like one of the last rewards in the game, I prefer swarm over charge but I never got to use it because i got it after I 100% each area

Honestly all games in the whole series are amazing but 3 is always be the best to me personally. It's such an unbelievably polished experience with beautiful graphics and the definitive best side modes.

I really just miss the pikmin 3 graphics they were absolutely stunning and I wished they kept it going into 4.

15:45 "Slightly overpowered" dog does literally everything in the entire game. The only thing it isn't is two places at once.

Very well-spoken. Personally I feel like Pikmin 3 struck a very good balance in regard to difficulty. It was still definitely welcoming to newer players but it wasn't as straight forward as 4 with Oatchi and the infinite time limit. Regardless 4 is still a very good Pikmin game, and I love the aspect of puzzles that they incorporated into caves. I'm not sure if its just me or not though but I REALLY dislike the artstyle change that they took from 3 to 4. Pikmin 3, maybe out of nostalgia, is personally I think the best looking game Nintendo has ever made [outside of maybe Windwaker, odyssey or the two zeldas on Switch]. It just looks so good, and I feel like Pikmin 4's more cartoony artstyle lost much of the charm that the third game held.

Imo the Piklopedia entries weren't worth reading until you'd at least unlocked Olimar's commentary. I found Dalmo's entries to be incredibly annoying and trying too hard to be entertaining, but falling flat. I basically skip his outright and go straight to Olimar or Louie's.

One thing I’m very conflicted about with Pikmin 4 is that there are a lot of tasks you can do without needing your Pikmin. Which, um, why am I playing a game called Pikmin then? A big reason for this is Oatchi. Listen, I love this little dog buddy and I really appreciate how much more platforming you can do with him. (Also, I will keep my entire squad safe on Oatchi’s back without shame.) But there are so many tasks that you can complete with just Oatchi, especially as you level up his skills-and this repeatedly takes away the need to return to areas once you have new Pikmin and larger squads. I didn’t need purples or 100 Pikmin to handle a watermelon in one area, Oatchi had it covered. I didn’t need to back-track for hidden treasures once I had White Pikmin-Oatchi can sniff out any and all objectives you require. Lots of water treasures can eventually be handled just with Oatchi. And then there is the multitude of gear Russ can provide. And sure, you can argue that players don’t have to rely on Oatchi or gear, but that’s not how the game is structured to be played if you’re trying to be optimal. As others have said, the three Pikmin-type limit + recommended type structure means that you don’t need to curiously choose between all of your Pikmin to handle an area or cave. It takes away this sense of explorative experimentation. TL;DR: I love Pikmin 4, but it feels like the game is structured in a way where I feel like I don’t need to play with the Pikmin to win.

I think you're underselling 3! 3's story had a real impact on me, I feel like it was really everpresent, and it was what egged me on to collect every single last bit of fruit on the planet! Then there's the world. The difference in the world between 3 and 4 is... Shocking. 3 is post apocalyptic, with wild, circuitous areas full of nature, and danger, with huge scale, across the entire planet. 4 drops ALL of that. The stakes are lower, and the area you explore isn't a whole planet! It's one back garden of a family who are obviously very much still alive, because someone's paying the gas bill. The difference in "vibe" between exploring a back garden of a modern, ordinary home and exploring the ruins of human civilization as nature claws it back is huge, and it makes 4 feel very limp by comparison.

I believe 4 is the most refined work. There are two perspectives to consider. The first is about "dandori" . The works from 1 to 3 focused primarily on RTA, which emphasizes speedrunning rather than strategic planning. Even with a time limit, the goal was merely to defeat enemies as quickly as possible. However, in 4, with the introduction of dandori challenges, dandori battles, and sage Leaf's challenges, true planning is necessitated. The second perspective involves resolving ethical dilemmas. Even though it's a game, forcing weaker Pikmin to fight stronger enemies for selfish reasons-specifically, with no benefit to the Pikmin-presents a significant ethical conflict. Moreover, this conflict cannot be resolved solely through the player's effort, a consideration that could be seen as a fatal flaw in the previous Pikmin series. However, in 4, the introduction of a strong 'hero' character named Oatchi allows for a division of roles, where Oatchi handles combat and the Pikmin focus on strategy. Overcoming this flaw represents a significant achievement of 4.

0:40 this literally can not be true, Paper Mario TTYD came out in 2004. It's the other way around, the Punies are references to Pikmin

I almost forgot this was about the difference of pink in 3 and 4

I actually really enjoyed that the enemies didn't respawn in 4, st least they didn't seem too. Gave me a real feeling of clearing out the zones and completely exploring them all

my favorite pikmin game changes depending on which one i'm currently playing. they all do things very differently, but i like all 4 of them.

"I will get home...or I will expire trying." -Olimar, Pikmin 1

I honestly just love all 4 main games and dont really have a fav, they just all have their own unique strengths for example: 1 has the most isolated and oppressive feel being alone and in peril if u dont succeed also being super short and sweet 2 refined alot of elements from 1, introduced alot to the series and the pikolpedia is probably the best in 2 and fleshes out olimar alot, also the toughest game for people seeking a challenge 3 is the best for micro management & multitasking, refining even more from 2 and the mutliplayer and challenge levels are great 4 for just the sear amount of pikmin content to enjoy to hold us over for the 7-12 year wait for pikmin 5 also 4 just refining even more

In my opinion Pikmin 4 perfected almost every aspect of all the other Pikmin games there are some minor things that I would change though For example a good point that you brought up are the equipment/oatchi skills that you get when you almost beat the whole game and you never get the chance to actually use them I think its a missed opportunity that they didn't gave us the option to start a New Game + were you have all these skills Also the lock on feature should be like in Pikmin 3 it is just annoying when it locks on to something you didn't want I agree on the Story part I think it could be way more intriguing nothing in the series came close to Pikmin 1 unfortunately Oatchi being to broken is also a flaw the difficulty in general is a problem and the broken items you get aren't helping But other than that, and these are some small points, I really love this game It has done so many things right The worlds feel really open and immersive like never before They brought back caves and perfected them It has the biggest diversity of creatures to fight bringing almost any old ones back and including new ones They have an Upgrade system that is included cleverly and has a strategic element to them They brought back all Pikmin types (my biggest problem with Pikmin 3) They had a great Final Boss almost as good as titan dweevil or maybe even better can't decide on that one :D The progression system in my opinion is also perfect because it's not as liniear And I also liked how they included more unique areas like the swamp and obviously the living room I think for multitasking Pikmin 4 isn't that much worse than 3 you can still multitask and seperate Oatchi and your Captain but it has drawbacks now which I kinda like because you have to think more about splitting up because you're weaker when you do so or can't do some things at all also in night missions you really have to split up and multitask more often than not which I also really liked It has the most content of all Pikmin games as well which is a win in my book All in all Pikmin 4 is my favourite game in the series I just love the little dudes Thanks for reading it got pretty long Nice video keep up the good work 👍

I feel like Pikmin 3 is the last best Pikmin game. I hate the inclusion of Oatchi. It remove the time management theme. I love the fruit = days increase mechanics. And the juice blending is the most satisfying part!

fun fact, despite it being theoretically possible, you cannot get every pikmin type in a cave in 4. This is because the candypops ill change

When will you talk about "Hey pikmin"? 🙃

First off a correction, the caves in Pikmin 2 are not randomly generated, a lot of people say this, they are partially random, only specific floors and some enemy placements are randomized, like 80% of the caves are still level designed 11:02 I think you might have heard of the Type management and Time management, on the first you don't get a time limit and the second you do, honestly I prefer Type management, and honestly I think that having a time limit isn't necessary for a Pikmin game to be a Pikmin game, also in Pikmin 2 and 4 they give you an option, if you want to do things as fast as possible you can, if you want to take your time and explore more, you also can I've never played 3 and 4, only 1 and 2, and honestly 2 feels so much better, so idk about 3 and 4 Honestly, I love Pikmin 1's story is great, and Pikmin 2's is good, specially because it doesn't retcon anything, I feel like they could continue the story in 3 and 4, instead of retconing and creating a confusing timeline

Pikmin 1 is a perfect ga- *trips.*

21:55 You never need Pikmin that aren't the 3 recommended types of Pikmin. I'm assuming you were thinking of needing yellow Pikmin in to get a thing off of a tall ledge, but Oatchi could rush into the shelf to knock it off.

I prefer 4 in general, but what really brought it over the edge for me is the fact it has a sort of mini version of pikmin 1 inside. Pikmin 1 gameplay-wise is my favorite. I like 2 and 3 just fine, but there's just something you cant get from those you get from 1. And pikmin 4 you can get some approximation of that original game.

Pikmin 2 was definitely peak Pikmin for me. The randomly generated dungeon layouts and marble-based multiplayer were fantastic. If 3 had caves like 2 it would've been the best, particularly as it had the best challenge mode levels. The non-respawning enemies in 4 made some areas feel very empty after a while. While what was there was good, the game lacked challenging endgame content. The trial of the sage leaf was fantastic but much too short. It should been presented more of the challenge mode with a hundred selectable levels to push various challenging aspects of time management/dandori.

Pikmin 2 is more of a "resource management" type of game and that's where a lot of the strategy comes from. the player asks questions like "how many purples should I bring since I only have 20?" or "should I use this spray at this time or wait until a better opportunity comes up?" Building that type of resource takes a lot more time than in Pikmin 1. Pikmin 1 had minimal resource management but a lot of real-time strategizing, and Pikmin 2 expanded the resource management while minimizing the real-time strategizing element to make it more optional and more of an accessible game.

It was a complete waste adding the "line-up trumpet" to Pikmin 4 lmao Played thru the game twice and you get it so late in the story that I forgot and never used it once either time 💀 already used to doing without it, by the time you get it.

The best thing about 4 being an introduction to so many new players is you can go back to 3, 2 and 1 and still have a blast! Leaning into Dandori was the right call. But losing Bingo Battle was a travesty.

I disliked the caves in Pikmin 4. The entire overworld has a theme; garden, shore, barbecue, and then the caves just.. don't? They're obviously designed puzzles with no in-story explanation for why they'd look or be that way. Other than that, I played the hell out of Pikmin 4 though.

The first Pikmin was tense, and prompted me to restart days. Still unforgettable. I didn't play the second one. The third one was a great experience, and prompted me to make teams and get them to multitask while I focused on other areas. (Also, if you kept the camera on certain teams, you can use the transitions to get teams to other places faster.) I've barely started playing the fourth one, and I'm not treating it like something where multitasking is necessary.

I was excited for this video because I often think about the pros and cons of Pikmin 3 vs 4, but I felt like most of the vid was fluff and you didn’t get much into the weeds about what I like and dislike about each game.

On the topic of final bosses, I like that Pikmin 4 puts more of an effort into making sure the final boss is *final* . Sure, you don't have to collect every last treasure. But the game takes certain steps to make sure you do certain things before going through the last cave, ensuring that you've done most of the meat of the game. And then once that's done, you can just end there. You don't *have* to finish any leftover loose ends unless you want to. I say this because the Titan Dweevil comes up a lot in these discussions, and for the longest time, I didn't know it *was* a final boss. Sure, it makes sense to save the Dream Den for last, because it has Louie, but that's only if you know/remember which cave he was in. Most playthroughs I went into the Hole of Heroes last, because it was farthest away. Unlike Pikmin 4, if you rescue Louie early, there's no incentive to leave or end there. You won't get the final cutscene until every other treasure is collected, the profits of Hocotate Freight demand it.

I wish they had a story of what happend to the humans and animals and how many years were they extinct before Olimar crash landed on the planet. I guess that would be a prequel. Being in that house on Pikmin 4 was the most detail of extinction but it was first introduced in Pikmin 2.and carried out in Pikmin 3 and 4.

Yup. Just the title is exactly how I felt about P4. Haven’t even seen the vid yet lol but I wanted to say I’m glad other people thought so. Imo the replay ability is a HUGE part. In P4 they just never stop talking ;-; and you never can really get to the meat of the game until you’re in like, 5th area

Great video. Very well made.

Great video!

It's interesting...I think finding the right balance between 3 and 4 is the way to go. Case in point for me are the Dandori Challenges in both (3 doesn't call them that, but that's what they are). I often found myself overwhelmed with three captains to figure out and coordinate at the same time. 4 strikes a better balance with the player and Oatchi, but they definitely become incredibly easy with a fully-upgraded doggo (Swallow itself is INCREDIBLY OP). My biggest nitpik (love the pun, btw) with 3 was that time management became broken at times because of the "in between" spaces the game created. It became really frustrating and hard to figure out when you would instantly be transported into the next loading zone, but the Pikmin would have to travel that distance in "real time" if they were carrying something.

Initially I thought of Pikmin as whatever, then Pikmin 3 happened and I became a fan of the franchise... then I waited 10 years for Pikmin 4 and now I'm a fan of the franchise again. I just hope whatever Pikmin related project happens, it doesn't take over a decade to come out.

I just wish there was some setting or way to unlock being able to bring out all types of pikmin if you so please, and they also need to add the camera mode

I think it says a lot about Pikmin 4's priorities that it doesn't even keep track of your high-scores, and Louie's sidequest at the end artificially adds several extra days, forcing you to lengthen a good run if you want a 100% run. 4 is a great game, but I've had little urge to reply it, which is saying a lot because I've beaten Pikmin 1 about 3 times and Pikmin 3 exactly 4 times. I'm just not interested in drudging through all the slow dialogue, dealing with the frustrating controls, and going through all the caves again (which hurts the pace immensely). It sucks that most of what resembles Pikmin 3 is relegated to dandori battles & challenges, which also hurt the pace of the game despite being fun. I just don't know if a blending of the two Pikmin styles exists so long as they insist caves remain a part of the Pikmin formula. I enjoyed 4 as a fan of the series, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel a little betrayed with this game, especially with how carelessly the story was written. 3 left off on a genuinely interesting cliffhanger, only for 4 to abandon that story completely. Alph, Brittany, and Charlie don't even make an appearance and instead weird, phony imitators are in their place. Why did they even do that lol? Why make nods to those characters instead of just, you know, putting them in the game? I hope the next game goes in a different direction. I respect the differing opinions of others, but it's frustrating to hear some call 4 the undeniable greatest entry in the series when many of its design decisions feel contradictory to Pikmin's entire premise as a game.

Sometimes I forget how much I love Pikmin and this video reminded me of that

All 4 Pikmin games are totally different experiences. It is really hard for me to decide if i like Pikmin 3 or 4 better. That night mode i love it and Glow Pikmin are so nice to have and use in sublevels.

I think the bigest flaw for me is the lock on, it makes fighting enemies harder(not always as most of the enemies are quite weak), and less fun. If lock on was optional like in pik3, i would like it alot more. somtimes Lock-on is helpful but in most cases i prefer a hybrid of both throwing types. imo -normal pikmin throwing is more fun, and adds an extra skill to learn. All the games are great though even hey pikmin is quite good. I Love the pikmin series.

12:08 like when you want to do purple pikmin's shockwave

My biggest gripes with it was that it felt too short for how long we waited and wasn’t really a game you can replay.

While yes there are some structural and balance based flaws in 4... I think the true worst part of 4 is the QoL and the Controls Almost every QoL feature comes with 1 theoretocal upside and one physical downside. Auto-lock on sounds good on paper, but it constantly gets in the way, was arguably uneccissary and removes any difficulty that was left when regular Lock On existed. Oatchi is a great partner! But charge is busted. The need to double whistle is more annoying than helpful, the throw limit is unecissary, the Swarm was just, absolutely murdered. I can live with 4 being unbalanced and a little weak at the beginning, but I hope to god that they add some accessability options that lets you change some of the QoL features, ESPECIALLY for auto-lock.

while i enjoyed pikmin 4 a lot. near the later gameplay, the environments started feeling very sterile with the fact that no enemies respawn, especially when combat was very samey with oachi's upgrades for a vast majority of enemies. Another thing on top of that would be that you can entirely complete an area before moving onto the next, and then you would have absolutely no reason to come back (unless doing specific side quests), and even then, when you come back its entirely lifeless because everything is still dead and theres no more unique interactions to come across with new pikmin types you got.

This video hits harder than a blue bus

music is a BIIIGGG part of pikmin and 1 2 and 3 did that perfectly but in 4 i seriously didnt care about music. also, they COMPLETELY stole music from 3 and maybe other games but I didnt notice. the background music of the other games is something that makes it fun and fills silence but in 4 its so quiet and insignificant. Pikmin 4 had no cares for music and made me really not care as much about the game.

I got a huge amount of satisfaction out of getting platinum medals in all the dandori challenges. I got my fix for difficulty that way. And oh my god, it is hard.

I just love the isolation of Pikmin 1

I really liked 4 more overall although I missed some of 3's urgency (that would have been there if 3 had any challenge). What I really don't like about 4 is that they actually made the controls worse. Motion aiming works only in some scenarios and works worse. There is a humongous amount of auto target locking (which would not have been needed if we had the controls from 3). Overall, controlling the game was a mildly miserable experience.

Pikmin 1 is my personal favorite. I generally like to go fast and I think Pikmin 1 had the perfect balance of speed and pacing. It wasn't too fast to the point my brain couldn't keep up and it wasn't too slow that it made tap my knee in annoyance. I kill the enemies, grab the Ship Parts, find a Pikmin type or two, and go, go, go. As far as Pikmin 4 is concerned, I didn't mind most of the features. It was a very fun game - a big step up from Pikmin 2, a game I personally dislike - but there was one aspect that I felt was changed unnecessarily. The enemies not respawning in the overworld. You'll get very lopsided numbers for your Pikmin types - White and Purples especially - and if you kill all the enemies and harvest their corpses, you're left with a pretty barren world. And if you're collecting those last remaining treasures, it does become a bit... boring.

I think 3 is the best gameplay wise but I prefer the vibe of 1

I’m always kinda perplexed by the “Pikmin 3 is improved Pikmin 1” take because, like, besides caves being (sorta) removed I think the apple fell much closer for me. Maybe it’s because I’m mostly indifferent about the caves in 2 and there were so many other things that game introduced that I fucking loved, which did in fact carry over into 3. Multiple captains, more puzzle mechanics like the elaborate sliders but even more complex now that there’s 3 Captains, spicy barries, time still not being an issue (I call BS when people compare fruit to the day limit, it is functionally the same as getting treasures no matter how much importance the characters try to give it it’s literally just a score at the end of the game like repaying the debt in 2), rock and pink pikmin effectively being a spiritual successor to purple + whites, and the huge sprawling overworld maps whereas 1’s were super stripped and basic. Whereas besides very surface level stuff, I don’t think 4 has that much in common with 2. The caves in this game are *completely* different to the ones before, enemies go down like nothing, no kaizo BS idk it’s why that narrative always rubbed me the wrong way. Like I came into 3 off the heels of 2 and felt it represented that progression incredibly well, I never once thought it was a step away from 2 because everything I loved was still basically there, even if under different names. Pikmin 3 will always just be “diet Pikmin 2” for me, with 4 being an even mix of elements from 1-3. Idk, am I off base here?

I'd still consider Pikmin 2 a rts. You're not managing your time as much, but you're managing your resources not time, you still need to bring the right kind of Pikmin into caves, and you need to maintain your numbers.

So true! I love Pikmin 3 so much, but 4 ended up feeling a little disappointing to me. Thanks for the insight on the dilemma. Side note: If you like a combination of story + gameplay, you should try out outer wilds. It’s a very spoiler heavy game, but it’s very good. If you like exploration try it out, I think you’ll love it!

Was sold on this video as soon as you called Pikmin 1 perfect

A couple months back I played the Pikmin 4 demo and decided to buy Pikmin 3 Deluxe

Where did you get that information that you were original controlling the Punies from TTYD instead of Pikmin? I have never heard of this, and I have heard about all sorts of obscure facts from the Pikmin series. TTYD didn't even come out until over three years later!

If I could I would change the sparklium requirement to go to a new area to be much higher

I think pikmin 1 - 4 are like a perfect franchise, you can easily see why someone may have any of the games as their favorite

I agree about 3. Four is good but it misses some of the stuff 3 had. I enjoyed the multi task and how the stuff you collected extended ur time.

Dunkey put it nicely: Pikmin 3 is the ultimate version of Pikmin 1, and Pikmin 4 is the ultimate version of Pikmin 2.

If Pikmin or actually, my children I would have 2294 children

My first playthrough of P4 was like a 10/10 experience. Second playthrough felt like a 7/10 tbh

1 has the best combat (I have played 1,2 and 4 and still never 3 so Idk there) its still fun trying to kill the big spider at the end of the final trial challenge mode years later, and in 2 and 4 all the combat is pretty easy and you can just cheese everything with purples or bombs in 4

Excellent video. I really enjoy all the Pikmin games and I had a good time with 4, but I felt that the game was a little too scatterbrained imo. Pikmin 1 is easily my favorite one, and while I liked 3 alot it still didnt quite scratch the same itch the 1st one did

tl;dr, I think Pikmin's going through a reverse Mario-Story relationship, where story is becoming less important to the eye's of the developers (notably, Miyamoto,) and Olimar crashing may be the New "Bowser kidnaps Peach." What I imagine we have with Pikmin 4 is a franchise of Miyamoto's that has come to the conclusion that story is not important. Of course, when topics like this get brought up, the easiest comparison to make is the Super Mario Series. Because Super Mario was conceived rather closely to the birth of modern videogames, everything was 1.) rather rudimentary by comparison to today's standards, and 2.) VERY costly by means of money as well as hardware limitations. So to make the game as fun as possible, Miyamoto decided that Story exists to serve gameplay, and in genres defined by gameplay specifically, should not be the focus. This idea has remained strong to present. In Super Mario Bros., King Koopa kidnaps Princess Toadstool, and it's Mario's job to rescue her. The story is simple and supplies the player with a little bit of motivation. And if not, it at least supplies context for the adventure. In every subsequent mainline Mario game since (of those that were intended to be Mario games in the first place,) This Game development philosophy has remained true, and most Mario games to this day, share the same story beats, and most notable exceptions aren't different enough to call them true exceptions. Super Mario Land swaps Toadstool for Daisy. Super Mario Land 2 Swaps Toadstool for Mario's Castle, and King Koopa (Now Bowser) for Wario. New Super Mario Bros. U Has Bowser reverse the process and Keep Toadstool (now Princess Peach) locked in her own castle. Super Mario 3D World swaps Peach for the Sprixie Princesses. and Super Mario Odyssey introduces Wedding theming, but is otherwise unchanged. Only Now, with Super Mario Bros. Wonder, has a full mainline game had a substantial change in story, wherein Bowser Uses Wonder magic to merge himself with the castle, wreak havoc, and (potentially?) make the Flower Kingdom his own. I think with Pikmin, we're seeing the reverse. Pikmin's stories have always had Miyamoto's simple touch, but now, I think they've pretty much given up on telling new stories, and may be resorting to infinite retellings of "Olimar crashes onto PNF-404, and manages to survive with the help of Pikmin." a la Super Mario. (btw, I've noticed they never used PNF-404 in Pikmin 4, maybe they also reverted to calling it "Distant Planet.") NOTE: I'd like to make aware of the other two major exceptions to the Mario story pattern, and why they're not necessarily as substantial to a change in story as Super Mario bros. Wonder. 1.) Yes, Super Mario Galaxy had a story, and a pretty good one at that, but it didn't inform the gameplay or motivation in anyway. Bowser still kidnapped Peach, that was Mario's motivation. Despite paradoxically being more substantial in narrative weight than the main story, Rosalina's story book is a subplot. 2.) Bowser's Fury was notably pretty different, the story being that Bowser Jr. accidentally made Bowser even bigger and badder, and has to resort to asking Mario for help. However, it's not a full mainline game, it's a small few-hour campaign that exists to be a bonus incentive for buying a port of Super Mario 3D World. So I Don't count it as big as Wonder either.

I was dissapointed that you only unlock the last few onion colors at the very end of the game cause at that point you dont even get to enjoy them really.

THE THE PIKMIN 4LLEN HERO TIMELINE

Pikmin 3’s story had the highest stakes of any pikmin game but the lack of dialogue, world-building and short length made it feel even smaller scale than Pikmin 1’s story. Pikmin 4 gave us a way stronger motivation by allowing us to actually meet the people we were saving. I would rank its story second behind pikmin 1 in the series.

great video! my rankings are: 2: good, but the caves (especially their randomness) arent my cup of tea 4. Great! i agree with you on oatchi and the unlockable items, but it was a blast! 1. probably my favourite. i don't really have much to say about it that you didnt say in the video. 3. 1 may be my favourite, but in my opinion this one is the best designed. I love replaying it, and i never minded the linearality. and i agree about the formidable oak!

A game being defined as *_"real time strategy"_* simply means it's a strategy game that happens in real time, opposed to say, turn-based strategy. The amount of time allotted doesn't make an RTS _not_ an RTS as long as the action is happening in real time.. I would agree Pikmin 4 isn't much of an RTS any more since it has a higher focus on its adventure elements; But to claim Pikmin 1 is an RTS and Pikmin 2 isn't simply because there is no longer a day limit, is to ignore how similar Pikmin 2's skeleton is to 1. Which is something that cannot be said about 4.

I won’t lie, pikmin 4 would’ve been the definitive pikmin game with better aim controls, a potentially nerfed Oatchi, and no pikmin limit. I’m waiting some time, but i want to do a game with almost no Oatchi except for when necessary. because bosses were too easy in most cases, which did make me a bit sad

is that some snippets from the Fluidity ost i hear?

5:48 but minecraft does have a story, and a really good one too

I'm not personally a big fan of caves; I think they kinda break the flow of the overworld activities, and I don't think the limited scope of each cave floor is all that exciting. Might've liked them better if 4 had them in a seperate mode like with nighttime exploration, though. Also, although I generally don't care as much about graphics as some people do, 3 was gorgeous, and I don't really think 4's brighter colours look as pretty as 3's aesthetic.

from your opinion on the stories of the games its clear that we dont care about the story in the same way

Do ‘Hey Pikmin! and ‘Pikmin Bloom’ count as Pikmin games?

i really did not liked the game . It's just not immersive and moody , it feels more like a mid kids cartoon where the first 2 where wierd stop motion movies and the third a sf nature documentary . Kinda like how the first Luigi's mansion was closer to monster house or courage the cowardly dog than how the sequels where closer to Scooby-Doo .

Pikmin 4 is my second favorite Pikmin game behind pikmin 2. My only problem with Pikmin 3 is how easy it is but I just run it on emulator using the true spice hack which makes enemy’s more agressive and gives 1/4 juice. Pikmin 4 only problem I have is how easy the game is but it’s still fun enough to keep my engaged. I will also just play 4 on emulator now can disable auto lock and Pikmin suggestions with mods. Also modded the game to get rock onion in area 2 and wing in area 3. The only mod i want is a hard mode mod and at that point every small annoyance I had will be fixed.

I personally like 4 much more but I think it's valid to have 3 be your favorite. As far as Pikmin being an RTS, I see a lot of people bring up time limits being the determining factor in what makes any given Pikmin game an RTS. I don't believe that to be true. When you look at other real-time strategy games like Starcraft, time limits have very little to do with it. The main factor as far as I can see is that it's real-time as opposed to turn-based. Some missions involve time limits, some don't. I think it's still debatable whether any Pikmin game is an RTS, but I don't think time limits are the determining factor there. Also, I think the day limits in 1 and 3 are more thematic than anything. 30 days is very generous for a normal run of Pikmin 1, and the fruit limit of 3 only makes a difference on the first couple days and when Louie steals your supplies. It contributes to the feel, but not a lot to the gameplay. For me, just the fact that it keeps track of how many days it takes to beat the game is enough to make me want to do it as quickly as possible. Pikmin 4 had a lot of extremely fun time management for me because I just wanted to get a lower day count. I get that some sort of day requirement is better motivation for many people, but I don't think it's necessary.