I didn’t know quite what to expect from Pikmin 4. In the decade since the series’ last entry, a lot about the gaming landscape has changed. The vast popularisation of games like Dark Souls, the explosion of the battle royale, a literal pandemic causing seemingly everyone to pick up Animal Crossing at some point, as well as the industry’s infatuation with, and subsequent recontextualisation of the open-world genre following not one but two genre defining masterpieces in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, not to mention Elden Ring. In some ways, Pikmin 4 fits neatly into the space the industry has carved out for it, but in a lot of ways Pikmin has always scratched that itch. There is something so “2023” about a game that can be neatly regimented into short, 30 minute bursts while still consistently bombarding the player with new idea after new idea, and despite a somewhat slow introduction, Pikmin 4 blossoms into something wonderful after the ball gets rolling.

It’s not very difficult to get me excited about a new Pikmin game: I’m a simple man. I see little space guys, I see anthropomorphic carrots, I’m happy. Pikmin 4 stands apart from the Pikmin of old however, taking the things that worked well about its predecessors, whilst innovating in ways that not only make it feel substantially more modern, but compartmentalises it’s challenge in a way that not only makes this feel like one of the most approachable games on the market, but still provides some truly strategic time-management focused gameplay. Gone are the strict time limits from the original, instead opting for a less stressful system, allowing more opportunity to explore the beautiful world that Nintendo has crafted here.

Captain Olimar has yet again crash landed on a mysterious Earth-like planet, and it’s up to you, a fledgeling member of the Rescue Corps to find and bring him home. Problems arise when, en-route you run into a similar issue, hitting an asteroid field and leaving you and your team stranded, and your priorities soon shift to reuniting your team. What follows is a vast mystery in finding out just what happened to Captain Olimar, leading you through some of the most beautifully realised spaces in a Pikmin game to date, in no small part to the series’ shift to Unreal Engine 4. Fallen pot plants become impassable obstacles; a sandcastle is a towering fortress. The environments remind me a lot of Obsidian’s Grounded in the best way possible.

Like its predecessors, Pikmin 4 is fundamentally about building a small army of Pikmin and commanding them around to complete certain tasks, like building small structures, defeating enemies, and carrying their corpses and other treasures back to base to propagate a larger and larger force. There are multiple different types of Pikmin, each displaying a signature trait to aid you in your escapades. Red Pikmin for example are immune to fire, whereas the game’s all-new Ice Pikmin are able to freeze enemies, or even entire bodies of water allowing safe passage for your other units. This time around, your squad is limited to just 3 Pikmin types, which might concern some series veterans, however this often leads to levels feeling much tighter and focused. In the game’s many caves, this cap is removed, still allowing for the frantic variety from games past.

“The way it compartmentalises its challenge makes this feel like one of the most approachable games on the market.”

One of Pikmin 4’s new additions, Oatchi, is an adorable dog-like character that acts as co-leader to your squad. Oatchi is a great addition, allowing easy traversal across bodies of water as your Pikmin cling to his back for dear life, and some increased mobility with his jump mechanic. He is just a good boy in general. He can sniff out hidden treasures, and even command his own squad of Pikmin, giving further depth to your division of labour and allowing for more efficiency when completing tasks. Some of the most rewarding and challenging parts of the game were when I had to switch back and forth between the two characters in order to reach specific treasures, as there are some places that only Oatchi can reach and vice versa. Oatchi brings some changes to the game’s combat also, not only able to attack himself, but having an incredibly useful charge ability that catapults every Pikmin in your squad forward, for a potentially quick takedown on most foes.

Oatchi is not the only new addition, however. Pikmin 4 introduces a brand new type of mission: a short, tower defense-esque romp that takes place at night, where you, Oatchi and a squad of newly discovered ghostly Glow Pikmin fight to defend a termite mound-esque tower from waves of monsters. This mode immediately had me hooked, stripping back some of the game’s RTS elements and putting the focus almost entirely on resource management and combat, which often became quite stressful when asked to defend multiple objectives from oncoming attackers simultaneously. The Glow Pikmin are a nice addition too, propagating much faster than their worldly counterparts and warping to your location once their tasks are complete, eliminating the need to round up idle stragglers. These missions offer some real challenge, especially towards the later stages of the game, and are a great addition overall.

Pikmin 4 truly shines when it pushes you to complete objectives as efficiently as possible. While your time on the surface often involves segregating your squad to find and recover treasures, a secondary challenge soon presents itself when you start delving into caves. Some caves are occupied by challengers, presenting you with one of two objectives. These are called Dandori battles and challenges respectively, either pitting you against said opponent in a frantic dash to collect more treasure or monster carapaces than them in the given time limit, with Mario Kart style power ups thrown in to thwart their progress. My favourite however were the Dandori Challenges, placing you in a themed cave with various enemies and treasures, and tasking you to collect as many objects as possible within a given time limit with an extremely limited squad, requiring you to use every tool at your disposal, especially in the later portions of the game. These challenges were the most memorable part of the game for me, bringing back the time crunch from earlier games in a meaningful way whilst not placing too much pressure on the player, as they can always be restarted if the situation turns awry due to a handy rewind feature, acting as a sort of “get-out-of-jail-free” card in the most dire situations, really allowing you to optimise your routes within these challenges without having to see them through to the end.

The absolute best part of Pikmin 4 however is its swath of post-credits content. After I was sure that the game was drawing to its conclusion, it opened up in a way that I didn’t expect, and thus its most interesting narrative beats and challenges are presented to you, not only introducing mechanics from games past if you so desire to engage with some optional content, but the most memorable multi-tiered dungeon in the game, offering a huge variety of different challenges that tested my time management skills more than anything before it, with genuinely meaningful rewards that altered how I played afterwards.

Pikmin games have always had excellent presentation, being Nintendo’s effort to push a more realistic art-style into their games, and the step up in visual fidelity here is impressive to say the least. This is not only the best looking Pikmin game, but one of the best looking games on the Switch since its 2017 release. Beautiful materials paired with top notch lighting, Nintendo’s art designers are really putting forth some of their best and most creative work here. A simple backyard can feel like a dense jungle, and a first for the series, an interior space feels well realised as you duck under couches and dart across a lit stove. This extends doubly into Pikmin’s underground spaces, each themed as a small and subdued interior space, such as an aquarium or bamboo garden.

The defining aspect of Pikmin’s presentation has always been its “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” aesthetic, and in this regard, Pikmin 4 absolutely delivers. The idea of exploring the world at the scale of an ant is something many imagined in their childhood, and thus seems almost universally endearing when presented in this way. A puddle becomes an impassable lake, a towering Sakura tree the size of a skyscraper, its petals fall gracefully around, carpeting the lush landscape. Not to mention the giant bugs. Pikmin has always had great enemy design, and with newcomers and enemies from old alike, the sheer variety of visual delight on display here will not disappoint.

FINAL THOUGHTS 

Pikmin 4 offers meaningful additions to Nintendo’s tried and true RTS formula, without needlessly trying to reinvent itself in the process. It slowly but surely feeds the player new idea after new idea, paced in a way that never feels overwhelming or overbearing. I was still encountering new challenges that forced me to adapt my playstyle even near the end of my 30 hour playthrough.

If I had any criticism of Pikmin 4 it would be its somewhat slow introduction, lambasting you with dialogue that seems rather unnecessary overall. That and some very minor issues with the game’s aiming reticle, becoming a bit finicky when items are placed close together. However, as soon as the game opens up and lets you loose into its world, any doubt quickly melts away cementing Pikmin 4 as something truly remarkable. This is easily one of Nintendo’s best games in years, and will be sure to delight fans and newcomers alike.