"I've always wondered, 'Why haven't they exploded more in sales even though they're so much fun to play? Why do people think they're so difficult?'”
"I get that people find it more difficult when death is a factor. But I think the franchise's strength lies in its relationship with mortality.
If something is irreversible, you need to figure out a way to prevent undesired things from happening."
-Shigeru Miyamoto
If there was one thing that was on my mind after finishing the first Pikmin game, it's
that the series has a lot of potential (to the point where I even mentioned that I hoped this
game would not disappoint me).
Pikmin 2 somehow is a clever continuation of the formula from the first game but also a very noticeable shift that to me feels like a
lack of confidence in what was going on in the first game more than anything really. I'm adding a huge negative here at the start but I actually was not
disappointed by this game, if there's one thing Nintendo got right here it's at least keeping the feeling of management/strategy even if they had to
change aspects of the game/story/etc. from the original game.
I would say there were good moves made in this game that expand on the initial gameplay concept in Pikmin. For starters, you have
Louie, a second captain that you can split Pikmin with or swap control of from Olimar which helps with managing different areas
of the map for splitting up so you don't have to run around as much which I felt added a lot of strategy for the single player campaign
especially with Louie/Olimar being able to distract enemies if you leave them on their own.
While playing the game, I noticed how there were certain levels that promoted the use of controlling a single captain without Pikmin
such as having certain enemies that could defeat other enemies if you used them as a shield, sometimes going in with all your Pikmin is just a bad idea and this game
absolutely has A LOT of moments set up to drive home that core strategy. One meh/interesting continuation from the first game
that is played kind of as a joke at times (not major to the point of justifying this) are the consistent tutorials which were definitely very
prevalent throughout the first game but because of the more linear nature of Pikmin 2 you kind of just breeze through text rather than Pikmin
1 where it can kind of continuously appear over and over again (final note: it is better than any Pokemon tutorial lol).
Rather than having a large percentage of the game continuing the the open-ended survival aspect found in Pikmin 1,
Pikmin 2 keeps that as an "overworld" but presents RPG/Rogue-esc dungeons that play into the aspect of going in with
a set number of Pikmin until you make it to the end or escape. Honestly, if I had to sell Pikmin to more people on a console
that had to compete with the PS2, RPG dungeons are a tried and true formula to keep the series going while branching it out.
Pikmin 1 vs Pikmin 2 is open-ended design vs linearity in multiple aspects from the level design to even the endings (if you can say Pikmin 2 has multiple
but then again I did see the credits at a certain point). While I replayed Pikmin 1 and got better with each
new run to where I could "master" the game and cut my time in half, Pikmin 2 (like an RPG) is a long adventure that takes thoroughness
to complete when running through every area/cave. I can't say Pikmin 2 isn't fun or really a major step down but I will say that Pikmin 1
was just a lot more unique/interesting as a video game in my opinion and the fact that it was open-ended really connected me to the environment
a lot more.
I wouldn't even say this is specific to just the game design really as now there's a greater emphasis on the planet that Pikmin live on being
essentially Earth with goofy toys/items giving you upgrades or simple jokes rather than something like the first game where each part of your
ship was something weird/interesting you were assembling while learning about Olimar, you can still learn about Olimar in Pikmin 2 with the Pikilopedia
but that is outside of collecting items directly. With Pikmin 2 I felt like I was experiencing "Pikmin the video game sequel" rather than
"a continuation of the world of Pikmin", Pikmin 2 is louder (sometimes literally with buzzing treasure reading noises), has a lot more action, and to me doesn't
feel like it wants to keep up with the nature aspects of the series but rather whatever can keeps things goofy/creepy.
I said in my original review of Pikmin 1 that it was the "uncomfiest comfy game" because I was always worried about the time, how many
Pikmin I needed, what to build, and where to go with how short the game was and how much it subtly (and sometimes loudly) guided you but Pikmin 2 lightens these aspects and brings game design patterns I've definitely seen in other games but
in the context of being a continuation of what can be done with Pikmin which is a disappointment in some regards but not such a complete departure as to make me dislike it.
"I get that people find it more difficult when death is a factor. But I think the franchise's strength lies in its relationship with mortality.
If something is irreversible, you need to figure out a way to prevent undesired things from happening."
-Shigeru Miyamoto
If there was one thing that was on my mind after finishing the first Pikmin game, it's
that the series has a lot of potential (to the point where I even mentioned that I hoped this
game would not disappoint me).
Pikmin 2 somehow is a clever continuation of the formula from the first game but also a very noticeable shift that to me feels like a
lack of confidence in what was going on in the first game more than anything really. I'm adding a huge negative here at the start but I actually was not
disappointed by this game, if there's one thing Nintendo got right here it's at least keeping the feeling of management/strategy even if they had to
change aspects of the game/story/etc. from the original game.
I would say there were good moves made in this game that expand on the initial gameplay concept in Pikmin. For starters, you have
Louie, a second captain that you can split Pikmin with or swap control of from Olimar which helps with managing different areas
of the map for splitting up so you don't have to run around as much which I felt added a lot of strategy for the single player campaign
especially with Louie/Olimar being able to distract enemies if you leave them on their own.
While playing the game, I noticed how there were certain levels that promoted the use of controlling a single captain without Pikmin
such as having certain enemies that could defeat other enemies if you used them as a shield, sometimes going in with all your Pikmin is just a bad idea and this game
absolutely has A LOT of moments set up to drive home that core strategy. One meh/interesting continuation from the first game
that is played kind of as a joke at times (not major to the point of justifying this) are the consistent tutorials which were definitely very
prevalent throughout the first game but because of the more linear nature of Pikmin 2 you kind of just breeze through text rather than Pikmin
1 where it can kind of continuously appear over and over again (final note: it is better than any Pokemon tutorial lol).
Rather than having a large percentage of the game continuing the the open-ended survival aspect found in Pikmin 1,
Pikmin 2 keeps that as an "overworld" but presents RPG/Rogue-esc dungeons that play into the aspect of going in with
a set number of Pikmin until you make it to the end or escape. Honestly, if I had to sell Pikmin to more people on a console
that had to compete with the PS2, RPG dungeons are a tried and true formula to keep the series going while branching it out.
Pikmin 1 vs Pikmin 2 is open-ended design vs linearity in multiple aspects from the level design to even the endings (if you can say Pikmin 2 has multiple
but then again I did see the credits at a certain point). While I replayed Pikmin 1 and got better with each
new run to where I could "master" the game and cut my time in half, Pikmin 2 (like an RPG) is a long adventure that takes thoroughness
to complete when running through every area/cave. I can't say Pikmin 2 isn't fun or really a major step down but I will say that Pikmin 1
was just a lot more unique/interesting as a video game in my opinion and the fact that it was open-ended really connected me to the environment
a lot more.
I wouldn't even say this is specific to just the game design really as now there's a greater emphasis on the planet that Pikmin live on being
essentially Earth with goofy toys/items giving you upgrades or simple jokes rather than something like the first game where each part of your
ship was something weird/interesting you were assembling while learning about Olimar, you can still learn about Olimar in Pikmin 2 with the Pikilopedia
but that is outside of collecting items directly. With Pikmin 2 I felt like I was experiencing "Pikmin the video game sequel" rather than
"a continuation of the world of Pikmin", Pikmin 2 is louder (sometimes literally with buzzing treasure reading noises), has a lot more action, and to me doesn't
feel like it wants to keep up with the nature aspects of the series but rather whatever can keeps things goofy/creepy.
I said in my original review of Pikmin 1 that it was the "uncomfiest comfy game" because I was always worried about the time, how many
Pikmin I needed, what to build, and where to go with how short the game was and how much it subtly (and sometimes loudly) guided you but Pikmin 2 lightens these aspects and brings game design patterns I've definitely seen in other games but
in the context of being a continuation of what can be done with Pikmin which is a disappointment in some regards but not such a complete departure as to make me dislike it.