Pikmin 4 - Nintendo Switch

After alkost a decade, the game that was "almost finished" in 2014 is now among us. And luckily for everyone, is a good game!This entry in the Pikmin franchise brings some core changes to the gameplay and feel of the traditional games. The camera perspective is behind the main character, making it feel more like a traditional 3rd person adventure, even though you have the freedom to move it and change the angle. Another festure is the addition of Oatchi a dog-like creature that aids us in the adventure like a second user you can switch to, a mega strong pikmin, or a mount that lets you move faster and jump throughout the map.With no obligatory and precise motion controls like Pikmin 1 and 2 had for Wii, and without the added features and ease of use of the Wii U gamepad for Pikmin 3, Nintendo had to re invent the control scheme for Pikmin with standard controls. In a way, it was a challenge to go back to gamecube era Pikmin and re-think how could they modernize the franchise without striping all their main characteristics and making it a mess to play. How could they bring new and old audiences together in a product that feels both modern and true to the franchise? Well this comes as a control scheme change and how you aim, having now to use two analog sticks one to move snd one to aim with an auto-aim feature that snaps to near-by targets. You can break away of this and aim with more freedom, but this new feature comes handy for the new perspective, controls and dynamic aspect of this game.The level structure now brings open ended areas with a lot to uncover, and returning from Pikmin 2, many caves with mini adventures, puzzles to solve and bosses to fight.This is probably the longest Pikmin game, with an end game that is almost like a new game entirely. Multiple npcs, upgrades and side missions to complete, make this game the most complete and feature fledged game in the franchise to date.The new additions like the ice pikmin (allow you to freeze enemies and ponds), and the only-at-night glowing green pikmin are amazing and offer enough variety to the gameplay, the green ones even bringing an entire new game mode with them: night incursions.That's right, this time and for the first time ever you can play during night time. It is an entire new mode that works like a tower defense game, where you have to protect some sort of nests that produce a substance to heal characters. You'll have a window of time to protect these nests against waves of enemies. And the only available pikmin are the green ones. A great break from the traditional levels, and a fun distraction although a little repetitive.Story wise, the game does a great job maintaining the suspense, bringing new and old characters to the table, while even attempting to re tell some of the classic storylines of the franchise.In terms of presentation, this game was made using Unreal Engine, and this brijgs a slight change in style especially for lighting compared to previous games. It really is a nice looking game, and the light and materials look amazing for a tablet with 2015 tech inside. Music and audio are great, with really nice compositions and melodies that are instantly recognizable. Sound cues that help you navigate and understand whats happening around and near you.In conclusion, this is the best entey in the franchise in terms of sheer content and quality. There's never been another Pikmin game this fleshed out and with so much intention to make it a game for everyone. Visuals, music, sound, story and gameplay come together in a complete package that feels modern, and offers over 20 hs of gamplay, or more if you want 100% completion.A must have for pikmin fans, nintendo lovers, and every gamer that is looking for a charming and fun strategic adventure.

I loved playing Pikmin 1-3. It's one of my favorite franchises. I played through Pikmin 3 twice - once on my own on the WiiU, and once on the Switch co-op with my boyfriend. We had an amazing time.When I learned Pikmin 4 was coming out, I was sad to hear it wasn't going to have that same option for multiplayer. It has been replaced with something similar to Super Mario Galaxy 2 where it's just a controller for someone else to hold and occasionally toss things at enemies.That said, I knew this when I purchased it and discussed it with my boyfriend. He was aware and has been playing his own games and admiring the game while I play it just fine. This is something that was pretty clearly advertised on Nintendo's site and other resources, so the barrage of 1 star reviews for this game *just* for that are super uncalled for.Especially because this is my new favorite game in the series.First, the game itself is absolutely GORGEOUS. I never imagined these kinds of textures could be on the switch. The title screen itself shows you a gorgeous preview of the landscapes you end up exploring and can be left on in the background as just a gorgeous slideshow. The locations you go to are more explicitly part of the earth and you really get the feeling of scale of yourself and the Pikmin compared to the world at large. Every area I arrived at I just marveled at how pretty and detailed everything was and enjoyed looking around as I ran around with my pikmin collecting treasures and building bridges.The gameplay itself has so many subtle quality of life changes that any new player might not notice, but for veterans of the series:-Pikmin who are collecting multiple items in a stack will stay at base once they know the pile will be empty when they get there (no need to worry about grabbing them before sundown!)-If Pikmin are building a bridge or other structure, they'll wait at the structure once they're done so you can grab them and continue exploring-Instead of having to find what pile works for what bridge, you make the materials from your own stash of "raw materials" so you always know if you'll be able to build it.-You can move your spaceship and onion's location in an area to several other "base" points so your pikmin don't have to trek the entire map for one treasure.-You can *rewind time* if you mess up or if your pikmin get stuck somewhere it's hard to find (and the game will actually offer this to you if you end the day with pikmin left behind!) This happened to me once and I was able to go back in time 4 minutes and prevent their deaths.But perhaps the greatest QOL update is in your new doglike friend, Oatchi.Oatchi, aside from being cute, is almost another captain on his own. You can train him to be stronger and do more things, such as:-Going and collecting any "idle" pikmin (I used this ALL THE TIME. I mapped it to a shortcut. His pikmin retrieval makes it so I can focus more on finishing tasks and less on checking my map for where that lost pikmin went!) This also made it so I almost never left pikmin behind.-Sniffing out basically anything you're hunting for (Looking for that last treasure on the overworld in an area? Can't find a cave entrance? Ask him to sniff it out and you can follow his trail right to where they are, even if they're hidden!)-Carries you and your pikmin around (even through water!!!)-Can help carry things (increasingly heavy things if you train him!)-Can help attack enemies that your pikmin may be weak to (especially helpful in dungeons where you're restricted to certain kinds of pikmin!)-Can be told to guard an area when you're in a defense mission!-Can ram into walls to knock down things teetering off the top of them!-And many more!Oatchi's AI and all the things he can do is probably why we don't have two player story co-op in Pikmin 4 and honestly? I'll take that trade. He is AMAZING and makes the game so much more fun.The game also introduced a little hub area before you head to explore every day! This little hub is simple but great for collecting sidequests, helping castaways, and even increasing your pikmin numbers before the day and timer starts. It's also where you can train Oatchi and buy upgrades from the lab. It's a brief stop every morning but always leaves you with something to do or upgrade for the upcoming day!Overall, Pikmin 4 is an AMAZING addition to the pikmin franchise and I hope we continue to get more going forward. The details and QOL changes here are extremely promising and I can't wait to see what we get next time.tl;dr: Pikmin 4 improves on previous games a TON and delivers a wonderful single-player experience for fans of previous pikmin games (Especially Pikmin 2!).

Brand new in packaging. Pikmin 4 is an amazing game. It pays tribute to previous games in the series. Great mechanics, graphics, and game loop. I love collecting treasures. There are tons of treasures to find. If you have a switch and you don't have this game, you are certainly missing out.