Pikmin 4: A Peak Game With Some Minor Flaws
August 14, 2023
I've finally beaten my most anticipated game release of this year, Pikmin 4, and with it beaten I can definitively say this game is the absolute peak of the series... But even then it still has some flaws. I find that this game feels too easy - like it keeps trying to help out the player in places where it would be more fun to allow them to explore and discover for themselves.
I'll start with the biggest and most glaring hole, the rewind feature. If you suffer a massive loss of Pikmin, you can just rewind a minute or two and undo the loss. It sounds extremely overpowered, but technically this was doable in every previous game simply by restarting the console, this is just an in-game way of doing that. But by including it in the game itself, it feels like the developers are endorsing the usage of it, the usage of just easily undoing any mistake at a button press. I surely abused the hell out of the feature, rewinding when I suffered even the smallest of losses. I didn't realize what I was doing until near the end of the game, but by then it was far too late. I think I would've enjoyed the game more if I allowed myself to suffer the consequences of my own mistakes.
One of the next big issues is actually with the dog, Oatchi. He starts off being pretty weak, only able to carry about three times what a Pikmin can, but by the time you upgrade him, he becomes immensely overpowered far too quickly. You'll upgrade him to be able to carry what 10 Pikmin can quickly, and then it gets boosted to 100 - a full party of Pikmin. His Rush ability already damages enemies and also throws every Pikmin riding on him at the enemy instantly. But if it's upgraded to Mega Rush it can also stun them. This ability turns even the late-game boss rush cavern into a complete joke.
This one's a bit of a smaller complaint, but the availability of Wild Pikmin in caves feels like an underutilized idea. It's great in concept. You go into a cave and find some extra Pikmin in there - sometimes of a type you don't have the ability to propagate just yet. It makes those special types of Pikmin feel even more special because you truly are limited in how many of them you have. And it really does feel interesting, since for a while it's your only way of getting the more unique types of Pikmin. But outside of caves, it feels like this feature is just not considered. There aren't any obstacles in any areas that require you to have any of those special types of Pikmin... At least, not until you get to the areas where you coincidentally also acquire their Onions and are now able to make more.
And if we're speaking about types of Pikmin... Each level is quite clearly designed in such a way that only need three specific types of Pikmin in each area. Maybe there are one or two small things that require a different type, but otherwise, it's all designed around you having these three specific types for this area. This could be interesting if the game actually encouraged you to go and explore to find out what obstacles are in each area and figure out for yourself which Pikmin you need, but instead the game just outright tells you which ones you need when you build up your party.
There's also the final boss, which while being a good fight just feels so out of place for a Pikmin game. You have to wait for it to expose itself so you can make it vulnerable, and only then can you attack it. And it's constantly moving around, forcing you to dodge it. This feels more like a boss from a Mario game rather than Pikmin. Even down to the music - which just makes me think of the Mechawiggler fight from Super Mario Odyssey - and even having multiple phases rather than just the single health bar every other boss has. You're also clearly forced to ride on Oatchi, since otherwise there is quite literally no way to dodge some of the boss's attacks without being able to jump over them.
Despite these issues, I think this game is still by far the best in the series, I just feel like it tries to hold the player's hand too much throughout it. And that feeling is encouraging me to give it another playthrough, this time restricting myself more in the hopes that maybe that will be more enjoyable.