Pikmin 4 review: Collecting is now even more enticing

Exploring the garden Pikmin 4, I found a tube of something called “Sawayaka Goo”. When I instructed the small army of Pikmin, the flower-headed creatures who helped move things around the world, to bring it back to my spaceship, I wondered what it might be — toothpaste? ? I later read the in-game log for that item and realized it was actually blue paint. The record explained: “It’s neither the color of the sky nor the color of the sea. It’s closer to both, though.”

Pikmin 4 is a game for people who like to take small things seriously. This has been the case throughout the series, which has always ignored its original appearance as a children’s game focused on exploration. The first game was hardcore. Before space explorer Olimar consumes his 30 days of oxygen on an alien planet, Pikmin had to be instructed to complete a collection mission. Each new game followed the same formula, but with each iteration less tension and less time pressure. first time, Pikmin 4, you play not as Olimar, but as a recruit to the space program sent to rescue him. Explore new levels to collect treasures that will give you Sparklium, the substance that fuels your spaceship. As you collect more treasure, more areas will be unlocked, and castaways, sometimes members of the research team as well as Olimar, hope to shake up their lives with new discoveries on this planet. You can also meet tourists who came to

Pikmin 4 In addition to easing the daily in-game timer by circumventing the first game’s time limit, we’ve also added improvements to help you track what you’re doing more efficiently. There’s a rewind feature, a ‘go here’ button that takes you directly to your destination on Google Maps, and the ability for your canine companion Orch to sniff out treasures in your area. It also includes an app that summarizes the story and shows you side missions you haven’t completed yet, making the main attraction of Pikmin, collecting items, even easier.

there is so much something to collect. Every mission, side quest, and colorful area has a percentage counter with subheadings that tell you how much you have to find. You only need to collect about half of what’s in a given area to progress, but watching the percentage go up (and giving interesting and sometimes emotional item descriptions of the treasure you find) reading) is a reward in itself.

mechanically, Pikmin 4 is a real-time strategy game that plays like a management simulation. Your task is to collect as many objects and people (drifters) as possible within the time limit of the day. With enough Pikmin in your team, you can work almost independently of yourself, similar to automating supply lines in games. Factorio. In space, this concept is introduced as: Dandri, prioritizing mission efficiency. On Day 4, I was running multiple jobs simultaneously while walking back and forth in the map. But even as I pursue more efficient ways to obtain treasure, I find myself distracted from the beauty of the world, lovingly painted with special attention to textures like the surface of water and petals. could not.

It was the combat that distracted me, taking part in battles scattered across the map. Combat is usually just about overpowering enemies with Pikmin, but it gets repetitive when you just win battles to solve the many puzzles in the later stages. And unfortunately, I run Pikmin expeditions relentlessly. That meant regularly hearing the screams of my dying soldiers and the antics of my in-game colleagues for my actions.Night expedition, first tower defense level Pikmin 4, which is more compelling than the RTS-esque scenario, but the basic problem is the same. The best strategy isn’t to know the region or use a particular Pikmin type, but to fail on the side of overwhelming numbers.

Image: Nintendo EPD, Eighting/Nintendo via Polygon

Another big (but good) challenge in the game is the Dandri Trials. Dandori Trials require you to collect specialty level treasures within a set time limit. Unlike combat encounters, these trials were fresh, intense, and my favorite part of the game. Winning the bronze medal in my first attempt at the Dandori Trial felt like winning the Pikmin Olympics. My first run was an opportunity to get to know the arena better, but the second and subsequent runs (which will probably take more than one try, these are hard!) are about completely collecting everything in the level. It was a real attempt to Dandori Trials is a perfectly constructed escape room that offers a time pressure that is mostly avoided in the main game.

These tense mini-games were freed from some of the frustrating micromanaging in other areas of the game. There are also useful features for younger players, such as an action guide that pops up 2-3 times after repeating an action. Less appreciated was the reaction of the rescue team, who, once you’ve failed a few puzzles, would tell you the solution instead of trying to figure it out. On the other hand, some things are not directly explained, and you have to comb through the expedition records or wait until the research team happens to explain them. For example, the special properties of a particular Pikmin color may not be explained until long after you discover that color through trial and error. The information you need is usually out there somewhere, but rarely consistently. Tutorials either show up long after the welcome, or in places you don’t expect them at all.

Image: Nintendo EPD, Eighting/Nintendo via Polygon

As the game progressed, these issues started to bother me more and my mistakes became punishable in combat, and I had already heard the same pop-up suggestions dozens of times. As paradoxical as it sounds, games are fun if they’re focused entirely on exploration and puzzle-solving, or if you’re given limited goals with a set time limit. In the early stages, Pikmin 4 Combat and puzzle solving are largely separate. Both halves of the game suffer when it brings them together.

But despite this frustration, the world Pikmin 4 It was full of cuteness and style, and I was never dissatisfied. Every time I hear the cries of Orcchi running to meet me, or the joyful chatter of Pikmin sucking the nectar from their eggs, I always have a smile on my face. In the basic gameplay premise of the collection and the small touches that make that premise even more attractive, Pikmin 4 Observe life on Earth from an optimistic perspective.What if advanced alien explorers found joy and utility in the little things we routinely forget, instead of what we have here, the best technology? I was fascinated by collecting the treasures of Pikmin 4 Not just because I wanted to fill out one of the many checklists, but because I wanted to see a reinterpretation of the Human Object game, a catalog full of not only jokes but also deep gratitude. and in this way, Pikmin 4 It probably accomplishes the best the media can do. The real world will start to look even better than before.

Pikmin 4 It will be released on Nintendo Switch on July 21st. This game was reviewed on Switch using a pre-release download code provided by Nintendo. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, but Vox Media may earn a commission on products purchased via affiliate links.discoverable Additional information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy can be found here.