Pikmin 2 (Pikmin 1+2) (Switch)

Attack of the Lobster!

Continued with the second game in the series. Olimar returns home, but due to a shipment being destroyed by a lunar bunny according to Louie,  the other pilot for the Olimar's company, the company is now in deep debt. Their CEO has to sell Olimars ship, but Olimar drops a capsule cap that he brought with him from the Pikmin planet and it is apparently worth a lot of money. The CEO sends Olimar and Louie back to the planet to find treasures to pay off the debt. 

So back in action Olimar and Louie search the planet for stuff to collect and finding a couple new pikmins, the purple and white one. After getting enough treasure they head home. but oops, Olimar left Louie behind. Credits roll and afterwards Olimar pays of the company debts and the CEO and Olimar returns to find Louie. Which I didn't do this time. I cleared the last area and went through the final dungeon, but when I lost all but 5 pikmins I just got to the first out and quit pretty much. The newer games clearly is superior. The ability to replay a level of a dungeon if it went sour speeds up and don't cause as much stress, especially when you have to survive a bit of an ordeal to get to some of them with the respawning monsters. The fact that grinding white and purple pikmins is a hassle also add to the stress... or maybe more accuratelly, waste your time pretty much. I have more games to play!

Now, some might think I left Louie in the ditch, but really? Who likes Louie? That space bunny that ate the shipments? Was him all along! And then we have the damn dogs he sicks on me in 4, or when he stole all my food in 3. No, Louie can be left behind with no remorse. The CEO is at least symphatetic as he is hunted by the debt collectors and lives together with animals under a bridge.

Didn't get the Gamecube original, but got the Wii version and finished it ones, not 100 % since the dungeons is past my abilities it seems. So that concludes the reason people love the newer game is that it is easy enough and I prefer them.

Pikmin (Pikmin 1+2) (Switch)

 

Feeling Hungry?

Due to releasing Pikmin 4 they also released Pikmin 1 and 2 for the Switch and it also came in a physical collection... a month or two after the digital release, but I gotten a lot more patient. So I waited and played the first game again after what must have been 10 years. I bought the original gamecube version near release, and it was one of the first game I actually went and bought myself. Still have the copy. Got the game mostly from the hype around another Miyamoto IP and a demo they had on a Super Play DVD. It looked amazing for the day and I wasn't that averse to strategy games, I played Warcraft.

Story is that Captain Olimar is on his way home when an asteroid hits his ship the S.S. Dolphin and he crash on this familiar looking planet. He has 30 days to find at least 25 of the 30 parts to be able to travel back to his home planet and meet his family again. To help him he finds the local creatures called pikmin that sprouts from onions that can fly. In the original it was the standard red, blue and yellow pikmins.

Now, I finished it once before and I think I did that in something like 25 days, this time I did it in 20 days. Dandori skills through the roof. It was fun and even if the time constraints due to the 30 day limit it was decent enough. That I finished the whole final area in one day, including fighting the final boss is kinda impressive since I think I spent a couple of days last time. Overall I felt smaller last time playing than now.

A problem I encountered though was that the improvements made in later games greatly enhances the gameplay so going back is a bit archaic. I miss switching between different pikmin's just by clicking a button. Having several captains that you can order around makes the game easier since you can multitask, here you just have Olimar that have to keep track of everyone. I didn't get the sequel for some reason until it was released for the Wii, I wonder how that will feel.

Pikmin 4 (Switch)

 

Who let the dog out?

Latest Pikmin game and for the Nintendo Switch, last game for the summer 2023 although I got and finished it after my vacation was over, still work is so slow during those weeks so I could get home after 16:00 without problem. And my co-workers doesn't do anything but talk about gardening and this is the closest I will ever get to it.

Basic story is that Captain Olimar from Pikmin 1 is redoing his adventure and this time ends up in a house on the planet where he finds a radio transmitter that allows him to send out a signal to space. The signal is picked up by the intergalactical Rescue Corp that sets out to save him... and promptly crashes themselves. So they send out their latest recruit, you, the player!

And you set off rescuing the rescue corps with the help of the pikmin you find and a dog that will help you fight and traverse the areas. But you aren't alone, other travellers have stranded as well, there is a school class, some tourists and so on. And a strange leafling that runs around with a dog himself... the same dog Olimar had in the beginning... It's Olimar isn't it?

Yes, while trying to escape the planet he unfortunately crashed back to earth and to save him the pikmins did what they could to save him, they brought him to an onion and it spat out the leafling, more or less the bad ending of the first game. Now he's obsessed with efficency and tries to bring the other stranded people into leaflings so now you gotta do that as well. To cure them you need to do nightly raids where you play sort of a tower defence game as crazed beasts attacks some luminknolls that produce a sap you need to cure the leaflings with. For help you have glow pikmins that seems to be ghost-like pikmins that are created from crystals that the luminknolls use to spew out them. Or if you have rescued Dingo the Ranger he can auto-complete the mission for you if you fail (which I used on the final mission since I was feed up by that time). You save Olimar and are about to go home, but before entering the warp hole your dog grows sick and seems to have caught the leafling bug himself and you have to go back to find a cure.

So you look for a veterinary among the other stranded, but she have been kidnapped by Louie that have taken up Olimars leafling habits. Get the veterinarian back (which is a copy of Brittany from the last game, and copies of Alph and Charlie is here as well) and she confirms that you need the cells from an unaffected dog so you look for Louie until you find him hiding in a 20-level cave with a big dog at the bottom you gotta fight. Well, before that I had to do the Sage Leafs trails to get the onions for the white and purple pikmin to have enough to get through every levels (which made me think out solutions while showering, maybe I'm a bit obsessed at the moment). And then fighting the dog was almost a complete failure. Should have gone to the level before and had diversified my army a bit, or just use red, yellow and ice since that seemed to be the most dangerous phases, especially when I got in with purple white and blue. White helped when he ate them which killed him a bit faster, but it was a really bad deal, but I managed.

Cured the dog and went home, the end! Took me 40 hours pretty much and it was fun... it felt like they changed the timer for the days. I think it was 1 hour in the original, but I still felt I made more progress in the old game. You also have a mode where you play as Olimar that got 15 days to find the 30 pieces of his ship which tells how he got here. There is a remaster of 1 and 2 on the Switch and when I get the physical version I might play that. I actually did finish the original on GameCube, and the sequel on Wii, but there is apparently a bit of QoL improvements that might it even more fun. 

Pikmin 3 Deluxe (Switch)

Love the colours!

Another remaster or port from the Wii U to the Switch. Been 6 years since last time. Did similar numbers this time. Played for 15 hours on the main game got all fruit and played it all on hard mode... whatever that entailed. Still fun, but only lasts a weekend when you know what you're doing. Same story as before. Three explorers from a planet ravaged by starvation is sent out to find food and crash lands on the world of Pikmins. How they were able to travel across space without being able to have a working agriculture program beats me, but of they go. 

While trying to regroup they find evidence of Olimar and Louie and sets of to rescue Olimar that have been kidnapped by some monster. Which I did in around day 36 this time. They also added some side missions with Olimar and Louie. First set right before the main game begins and how Olimar found the cosmic drive key and got attacked by the monster. The second set follows the story after he was rescued and how they gotta get the parts for their spaceship back on order from the company president.

That pretty much it. I gathered some people thought it wasn't enough to justify it's full price and I can see that. Still enjoyed it, but would have liked some sort of pack with all three games. I think they added something to the controls like auto-targeting since I can't recall that... but it's been 6 years so who knows.

Pikmin 3

So I finally got to play some games and I started with Pikmin. Finished it in 10 hours in the first playthrough and then something similar on a second play though with 100 %. A desperate hunt for fruit in order to save a starving planet which are combined with the search for the key to escape this alien planet, which seems familiar if you disregard the strange creatures.  The differences from the last game are two new pikmin-types, one flying and one hard as a rock, and the inclusion of three separate main characters making it possible for three separate groups and micromanagement. Similar to the first game there is a time limit, but as the highest something like 90 days compared to 30 in the original. Of course I did 100 % in 33 days, the hard core gamer I am.

Really, it is very interesting with the gamepad integration as it work as a map, encyclopedia and a means of giving orders since you can set one team to go to one side of the map while doing other things with the others. Of course, the AI will get the pikmins eaten or killed by terrain hazards if they pass by, so don't forget about them. If you miss Captain Olimar and Louie don't fret since they will make cameos that any pikmin lover will appreciate. I can't say which game in the series I prefer more, finishing the first game felt as a huge accomplishment with the 30-day time limit which was lenient for a few mistakes, but nothing more. The second game had no time limit making it easier, but due to that no pressure and no feeling of wonder at winning the game. Maybe 100 % it will give you that since I only finished the first main storyline before rescuing Louie. Game 2 and 3 is probably better for newcomers if anyone asks. Fun to play and since it was, like 8 years since the last game (?), Pikmin 3 is well worth it for Wii U players.