Pikmin is beloved for a reason: its a timeless nintendo classic, able to express so much charm and wonder in a lot of its aspects.

But most importantly, Pikmin 2 is a game that... betrays you. It gives you multpile times a high sense of security, only to crush your hopes with an unexpected danger that will make you paranoid for the rest of the adventure. Feeling like the road is clear? Too bad, here's a spider with an exploding head that come sat you while a boulder falls from the sky.

Remember that enemy that felt really easy? She is back with an army of bloodlust fetuses that will not hesitate at destroy you.
Remember the enemies that only appear only in the toughest dungeons? They are outside your house now: have fun!

Feel like the caves are too easy and repetitive? Here's a castle in the middle of the lake.... don't worry about it, just jump in.

The amount of shocking and even horrific moments Pikmin 2 for me are able to outshine the flaws the game have in terms of gameplay, and mixes with a sense of discovery and wonder that leads to one of the most interesting experiences in a Nintendo title. An high recommendation for me.

A bit disappointing.

I've heard a lot of people rank this as the best in the series but I just can't agree. The game is practically the same as the first with an introduction of two new pikmin types, white and purple. The purple ones didn't really have any use the entire game other than carrying a heavy optional treasure thanks to their increased carry limit. Other than that I never used them as there was no need, they do have an ability to shock enemies for like half a second when you throw them since they're heavy but I don't find its worth carrying them for just that when you got red Pikmin. I did find myself using white Pikmin here and there, and thought them to be a cool addition. One of my favorite things about this game that wasn't in the first is this little detail of how the Pikmin occasionally sing when you travel with them, pretty adorable. The story is fitting, very simple involving repaying a debt through collecting treasures that resemble real life objects that were polluted, lots of Nintendo Easter eggs with these items. Overall the game is very similar to the first with less Pikmin related puzzles but more combat.

The main thing that brings this game down for me, and it's a big negative, is the only other addition which were the caves. I have no clue why they added dungeon crawling to this game and made it the prime focus. The caves have some randomness to it where floors have the same enemies and loot but the layout is rearranged every time you reload it. In theory it sounds cool and many games have done this by now but this one does not cap the bullshit. I would dive into a cave and be given a layout where a big black Bulborb is put right beside me that would commit genocide on my Pikmin before I can even react. I would then have to restart the game, load back in and hope for a better layout, this is all without a restart checkpoint or last save button so I would have to manually close the game, boot it up, and wait every time. There were some pretty cool bosses in these caves but all the bullshit with the random spawning really ruined it for me, it isn't even a skill issue just luck. Also some of them would take way way too long to finish with over 15 floors. I am very glad they took this out of Pikmin 3, I heard they do return in Pikmin 4, and I wouldnt mind this as long as they fixed this kind of thing.

Not a bad game but definitely has it's flaws, I should have stopped once I finished the main story rather than collecting every treasure. Still looking forward to Pikmin 4

Pikmin 2 builds upon the foundation of its predecessor, offering a larger, more strategic experience. You'll command hordes of colorful Pikmin to retrieve treasures, battle strange creatures, and solve environmental puzzles across a sprawling alien landscape. The removal of the original's strict time limit gives players more freedom to explore and experiment, and the addition of new Pikmin types adds tactical depth. However, the focus on underground cave exploration can occasionally feel repetitive and slow down the game's pace.

After Olimar's company ends up bankrupt, it's realised that artifacts from the previous game could get them out of debt, so Olimar sets off with newcomer Louis to find as much treasure as possible and save the company

Despite the higher emphasis on cutscenes and messages from other characters, I actually didn't like this story as much, it's more upbeat and loses the atmosphere the first game had.

Pikmin 2 is very similar gameplay wise, however now there's 2
Characters and 2 new types of Pikmin which allow for more strategy and multitasking. However you don't really need to worry about efficiency this time around, as the 30 day limit was removed. You have as much time as you want, removing the tension from each day.

Instead the focus is more on combat and dungeons, the main worlds are just as detailed and complex as before, and this is where I had the most fun multitasking. But most of the game is spent in underground caverns which are
Sort of random, the layout is often similar it just shuffles enemies around.

The dungeons are homogeneous, and even when they do get more visually interesting.. your doing the same thing on every floor, kill the enemies, find the treasure.
There's no puzzie solving down here and with no time limit, it can get mindless. Yeah the later ones get brutal, which I actually sorta liked, but the shift in focus leads to a lesser experience overall, despite being fun it it's own ways - 7/10

Pikmin 2: The Definitive Sequel

Pikmin 2, in my opinion, is the perfect example of what I call a "Definitive Sequal". Everything about Pikmin 2 is just better than anything done in Pikmin 1. Pikmin 1 was a great game, however, in contrast to Pikmin 2, Pikmin 1 just felt like somewhat of a tech demo compared to Pikmin 2. I'm glad as a newcomer to the Pikmin series that I played Pikmin 1 before Pikmin 2, I previously considered either trying out Pikmin 3 or 4 as my entry points into the series, but starting off with the first two games was the best choice I made. Pikmin 2 feels like a more, better-developed version of Pikmin 1, gameplay is expanded upon with the introduction of the Purple and White Pikmin, as well as the introduction of Louie as the second in command. Louie is kinda like the Luigi of Pikmin, while Olimar is the Mario of Pikmin, being the face of the series (outside of the Pikmin themselves).

Pikmin 2 does everything a sequel should do, improve on top of the first game, and introduce new inclusions. Pikmin 2's gameplay is the same at it's core compared to Pikmin 1, however, Pikmin 2 introduces two new Pikmin, The purple and white Pikmin, and they are fantastic additions, alongside the big three, Red, Blue, and Yellow. The purple Pikmin are heavier, compared to the other Pikmin in the game, they deal more damage to enemies and can carry items more easily than other Pikmin, but they are slower, and not immune to any hazards. White Pikmin can resist poison and can dig up treasures from the ground. I love the inclusion of these new Pikmin, the purple Pikmin quickly became my favorite Pikmin to have, due to it being one hell of a tank with damage onto enemies, as well as making it easier to carry treasures. However, I like the White Pikmin, but they were my least favorite Pikmin to use throughout my playthrough.

I didn't have a lot of them stored, so I limited my use of them, only bringing them out with I found a breakable wall with poison or needed to dig up a treasure underground. One of the differences between the two new Pikmin compared to the original three is the fact that getting new purple/white Pikmin in your party is quite limiting compared to getting any new Pikmin from the original three. You can get new Pikmin of the original three types by bringing items to each respective pod, but for the Purple/White Pikmin, you have to find rare flowers called Candypop Buds, and even then, you can only create 5 per flower, so it is quite limiting. I don't mind this, I found my supply of Purple Pikmin to be constant throughout my playthrough, but by the end of my playthrough, I had less than 10 White Pikmin. This would be a problem if Pikmin 2 kept Pikmin 1's limited day system, but thankful, Pikmin 2 has scrapped that feature from Pikmin 1, and you can now spend as much time, without worrying about wasting your day.

I love this, I liked the limited day system from Pikmin 1, and I think bringing it back, as some sort of optional game mode would have been cool to bring more of a challenge to Pikmin 2, but the exclusion for Pikmin 2's core gameplay was the best decision. Pikmin 2 has so much more replayability than Pikmin 1, even after beating the game, I want to go back and collect every single treasure, and replay it again. Of course, nobody plays Pikmin for the story, but there is a story here. After the events of Pikmin 1, Oilmar comes back home and meets with his boss, who tells Oilmar that the company is in massive debt, and now needs to pay $10,000 to get rid of it. Olimar has to go back on the planet from the first game, alongside Louie, to find treasure and repay the debt. The story doesn't do anything but serve as a reason for the gameplay to exist, and for this type of game, it works.

Olimar and Louie are charming characters to play as, and the Pikmin are cute as they were before. The OST continues the beautiful, nature-sounding OST from Pikmin 1, and it's as good as it was in Pikmin 1. Hajime Wakai's compositions add a scene of life to Pikmin 2, just as he did in Pikmin 1. Every song just sounds perfect within each area of the game they play in. As for any complaints, I found the Pikmin AI to be not too great sometimes, and this was also one of my complaints I had with Pikmin 1, but it's not as bad here as it was in Pikmin 1, so I'll give it that.

Overall, Pikmin 2 as a definitive sequel, it does everything better than Pikmin 1, improves on it, and adds new additions. I absolutely loved my time with Pikmin 2, and can't wait to play Pikmin 3 and 4 later on.

Stats:
10th game I've completed in 2024
Played on Nintendo Switch (played the HD remaster from Pikmin 1 + 2 and wrote my review here cuz backloggd's system for ports/remasters suck)
Hours into Game: 12 hours and 10 minutes
Score: 9/10 (4.5/5)
Last Statement: Pik(men)

Pikmin 2 feels living in a way rarely seen outside of dedicated simulation games. Each creature's disposition, personality, and mechanical quirks mesh with the delicate and playful level design, all perfectly scored by an organically dynamic yamaha keyboard filled soundtrack. Each graphical interface flourish, temperate rainforest ground texture, squash-stretching honey ball-bouncing animation, and gentle sway of digital foliage is raised up to its just warmly burrowed living architecture-delving game player.

I think this game is a lot more ambitious than pikmin 1, it takes a lot of the core ideas and takes them to the extreme with some mixed results. Caves are really cool, having dungeons you have fight through, making sure you are prepared with the right pikmin and managing the resources so that you can carry out the treasure. my main criticism with the game is that some of the enemies feel like bullshit, so many times I was fully wiped out by a single attack and although there's a degree of "get good" some of the attacks are very unforgiving

As a follow-up to Pikmin 1, Pikmin 2 makes an incredibly strong statement. And that statement is "we know that we're spreading ourselves thin between score attack-style survivalist gameplay and slow-burn exploration and worldbuilding, so we've destroyed the worldbuilding and put it in a little book and now the game is all about not dying in caves". It's a change that honestly the Pikmin series probably needed to take in one direction or the other, and the game commits to its more arcade-style gameplay fairly well! Without having to worry about navigating a more complex terrain in favor of labyrinths, control of the Pikmin generally feels a lot more consistent, combat challenges can be placed in a player's way methodically and deliberately, and overall the spikes in difficulty and memorable moments are a lot more controlled than in Pikmin 1. Unfortunately, the very limited exploration offered from seeing Pikmin 1 environments change does end up feeling very rote and obligatory by comparison, which makes a lot of the game's opening stretch seem pretty performatory; Pikmin 2 can't be mean enough in its opening to really grit its teeth due to needing to reteach Pikmin 1's mechanics and introduce its new ones. Additionally, returning bosses like the Burrowing Snagret, Beady Long Legs and Emperor Bulblax are shadows of their former selves due to appearing at the end of dungeons where a player can't be assured to have a full squad like Pikmin 1, creating this really unfortunate deflating feeling after clearing the first game. I'd cleared the debt and was ready to write the game off as a technically superior, but ultimately short-sighted version of Pikmin 1.

Then the Water Wraith happened.

I cannot tell you how wonderful of a turning point the Water Wraith is. Every cave up to that point (discounting backtracking to the first area's harder dungeons) could be handled with just a simple measure of patience, with taking things slowly, step by step, and throwing the right colored Pikmin at the thing they're good at stopping. Water Wraith takes every bit of that away from you, demands you scramble, puts you in the position to make mistakes, has no weaknesses for a majority of its dungeon. This is Pikmin 2 at its best: throwing you into cruel situations where one lapse in attention or assuming that your little guys will be fine will end up with a squad crushed, exploded, or eaten by a jumpscare of a bomb rock or bulbear. Where the first game had you try to figure out how to solve each creature individually, Pikmin 2 is glad to mingle its enemies together, forcing you into incredibly uncomfortable situations to try and keep your most precious fellas alive, cursing the name of the Dirigibug or anything that happens to shoot lightning as they attempt to one-shot your lil' boy army. Bosses take a significant step up, with Man-At-Legs being an especially fantastic upgrade of needing to figure out spacial awareness, positioning, and just how fast your Pikmin can duck into cover to avoid machine gun fire. The midgame of Pikmin 2 is absolutely exhilerating in attempting to expect its cruelty and react.

... and unfortunately the endgame is where Pikmin 2's flaws become most apparent. The caves that you delve into are somewhat randomly generated, with layouts tending to be similar, but a lot of enemy placements and exit placements in those rooms being random. This leads to a lot of scenarios that aren't so much difficult, but unfun, especially if something REAL dangerous like a groink or bulbear spawns directly outside your starting area and leaves you little time to react. I do think the game is significantly more fun not resetting or leaving caves, just trying to do your best with the limited resources you have (I actually managed to beat Submerged Castle on the back of seven total Pikmin remaining, and it was an absolute blast maneuvering that!), but I'll admit it's not the optimal way to play the game compared to resetting. Sitting there watching your 'min get blown over and over again because the blowy man is behind a wall you need to break while a snitchbug takes swipes every so often is hardly a fun time, and these kinds of scenarios are abundant the further you get into Pikmin 2. Add in things like bomb hitboxes extending through walls with no real indication, cutscenes for items interrupting gameplay, and treasures sometimes glitching out if at a bad angle, and Pikmin 2 ends up an experience as unintentionally frustrating as it is intentionally.

Overall, Pikmin 2 is my favored Pikmin game of the Gamecube duology. It's a wildly inconsistent game, but its peaks are utterly fantastic, its writing some of the best on the system even though it's tucked away in its own little section, and the moments it creates as you barely make it through a tough challenge or scenario are legendary. I will never forget sending my army of Pikmin to gank the Empress Bulblax while the President of Hotocate Freight personally punched out an army of her spawn with his bare hands until they could all mob her face and guarantee a win, or slowly tricking Dweevils into getting a stack up disc out of the water because I lost all my Blue Pikmin. It is not the ideal sequel to its original game, and has to sacrifice a lot to make its own fun, but what it does uniquely it does superbly, and there's a stretch of about eight hours of game in here that's utterly incredible. The other surrounding eight hour chunks on either side are still pretty good, too, just with their very obvious drawbacks!

Olimar should not dump his wife for a cool marble, though. That's weird, Olimar.

Pikmin 2 is a totally bloated experience that fails to recapture the feeling of the original. Unfortunately it set the tone for the series going forward. I like the overworld areas a ton, and a lot was repurposed from the first game. It was cool to see the older areas experiencing seasonal changes from the time since Pikmin 1. However, the caves are a total randomly generated bloat fest. There's a reason why people cite the Water Wraith as a highlight of this game, because it's just about the only divergence from the same-y structure every cave has. Still, Pikmin 2 has merit as an RTS that will be marginally different every time you play. It just isn't what I want from this series.