Pikmin 4 was my first foray into this franchise since the release of the first game on Game Cube. I remember renting the first game, but I'm pretty much certain I never finished it. With the huge amount of hype behind 4's release I figured I ought to check it out this series again. Disappointingly, this just wasn't a game for me, with it being the first game I have abandoned in several years.
To start things out, I didn't hate Pikmin 4. The game's graphics were great, and it was quite a lot of fun to explore real-to-life environments from the perspective of tiny creature. Also, for a time at least, I enjoyed sending the various Pikmin types to gather 'treasure' that was scattered throughout the game world. I was pretty impressed by just how many different Pikmin types there were and how each type had their own utility when exploring the world or fighting enemies.
For the first 8 or so hours I found the gameplay loop to be incredibly addictive, but then the monotony kicked in, hard. I kept pushing through, wanting to see the end credits, but it felt like the game kept pushing that milestone further away whenever I believed I was getting close. I eventually lost all drive to boot the game up, which is why I chose to abandon it.
Tedium aside, there were quite a few other elements that didn't jive with me. The game begins with a slow-paced and hand-holdy tutorial, as I know are pretty common in Nintendo's first-party titles, but the one in Pikmin 4 dragged on for much longer than it needed to. The game's character creator was severely limited too, leading to me to create an uninteresting character that I felt no real attachment to. I also disliked the game's combat as it felt pretty sloppy and underbaked, especially as the "challenging" battles that generally boiled down to rushing all Pikmin at the enemy, letting them whittle its health down a bit, blowing my whistle to return the group to me, then repeating the process until victory was achieved. It just wasn't a fun system, in my opinion. Lastly, I REALLY disliked Pikmin 4's alternate modes, the night stages and the Dandori challenges, and dreaded being forced into them to progress the story.
Pikmin 4 is a game loved by many, and it certainly had some great aspects to it, but it just wasn't a game for me. Had the game ended sooner, say around the eight-to-ten-hour mark, I would have a much more positive opinion on it, but once the tedium kicked in my enjoyment level tanked. This, combined with all the other issues mentioned above, lead me to abandon the game, despite how much it pains me to leave it unfinished. I likely only have one to two hours left to see those end credits roll, but I have lost all motivation to get there.
To start things out, I didn't hate Pikmin 4. The game's graphics were great, and it was quite a lot of fun to explore real-to-life environments from the perspective of tiny creature. Also, for a time at least, I enjoyed sending the various Pikmin types to gather 'treasure' that was scattered throughout the game world. I was pretty impressed by just how many different Pikmin types there were and how each type had their own utility when exploring the world or fighting enemies.
For the first 8 or so hours I found the gameplay loop to be incredibly addictive, but then the monotony kicked in, hard. I kept pushing through, wanting to see the end credits, but it felt like the game kept pushing that milestone further away whenever I believed I was getting close. I eventually lost all drive to boot the game up, which is why I chose to abandon it.
Tedium aside, there were quite a few other elements that didn't jive with me. The game begins with a slow-paced and hand-holdy tutorial, as I know are pretty common in Nintendo's first-party titles, but the one in Pikmin 4 dragged on for much longer than it needed to. The game's character creator was severely limited too, leading to me to create an uninteresting character that I felt no real attachment to. I also disliked the game's combat as it felt pretty sloppy and underbaked, especially as the "challenging" battles that generally boiled down to rushing all Pikmin at the enemy, letting them whittle its health down a bit, blowing my whistle to return the group to me, then repeating the process until victory was achieved. It just wasn't a fun system, in my opinion. Lastly, I REALLY disliked Pikmin 4's alternate modes, the night stages and the Dandori challenges, and dreaded being forced into them to progress the story.
Pikmin 4 is a game loved by many, and it certainly had some great aspects to it, but it just wasn't a game for me. Had the game ended sooner, say around the eight-to-ten-hour mark, I would have a much more positive opinion on it, but once the tedium kicked in my enjoyment level tanked. This, combined with all the other issues mentioned above, lead me to abandon the game, despite how much it pains me to leave it unfinished. I likely only have one to two hours left to see those end credits roll, but I have lost all motivation to get there.