Me standing outside your house with a bomb is also a trap, it’s to prevent you from having fun
This is one of the most polarizing games I’ve ever played. Even going into it, I knew this game had a reputation, but I still went in with an open mind. My objective was to collect all the treasures (and beat every dungeon by proxy). It ended up being one of the most annoying experiences in gaming ever.
To start, there are a lot of ideas here that I think are fun and make for an interesting challenge that I wished carried over to the future titles. But the remaining chunk of garbage? I’m hoping it never sees the light of day ever again.
The good? The bosses. With the exception of one boss (Empress Bulblax and her disgusting Larvae spawn), I feel every boss was fun and always had me trying to think about how to tackle them while suffering very few casualties. They all fill me with the fear and anxiety that any good horror game wish it could instill onto me. Huge highlights go to Water Wraith and Man-at-Legs. I think the inherent flaws of the game rear their ugly head when it comes to literally everything building up to the bosses.
The dungeons… This is unfortunately a concept that will not have been perfected until Pikmin 4. What we have here is, at first, a harmless means of getting treasure in secluded areas away from the Daily Timer… then you experience the latter half of the game’s dungeons. Nothing but horrible floor layouts with some of the cruelest enemy design ever and gotcha traps that only the “I love when games do that!” crowd enjoy.
I think what harms this entire concept is Purple Pikmin. There is no feasible way to replenish Purple Pikmin in this game without needing to revisit one of the game’s worst dungeons (Subterranean Complex) at a semi decent sub level every single time. It wouldn’t be so bad, however, if you’re going after every treasure in the game, you NEED a minimum of 100 Purple Pikmin to achieve that goal. Playing the game normally does not net you that much at all, meaning that you already have to repeat dungeon visits numerous times. It’s BECAUSE OF THAT that I restart my game if I lose even a SINGLE Purple because I am not trying to waste anymore time than what the game is having me do to remain “comfortable”.
“Don’t bring Purples then”, why would I not? They’re the best Pikmin in the game, no contest! This game is already asking a lot of me by tippy-toeing across every dungeon floor so I’m not blindsided by some gotcha moment that could cause me tens of casualties at once, so you’re asking me to not use the Pikmin that can take out enemies in seconds because if I don’t they’ll still kill tons of my Pikmin with ease???
I hear this game is as hard as you make it, which I agree is true, but the way it wants you to play sucks the fun out of everything. Whereas the first game asks that you slim down on time management for an exciting tense experience, this game says slow WAY DOWN because you don’t want bombs and rocks dropping on your Pikmin because you decided to play the game just a tad too fast or didn’t spend your in game days doing nothing but grinding Bitter Spray.
May Gatling Groinks never have a happy day in their life.
The only reason this game isn’t lower than 2 1/2 stars is because the rest of the game is still Pikmin. Refined from 1 mechanically and introduces so many cool elements that made the game more exciting to play. But man. The only reason I even beat this game was because I knew Pikmin 3, a better game, was right after this.
This is one of the most polarizing games I’ve ever played. Even going into it, I knew this game had a reputation, but I still went in with an open mind. My objective was to collect all the treasures (and beat every dungeon by proxy). It ended up being one of the most annoying experiences in gaming ever.
To start, there are a lot of ideas here that I think are fun and make for an interesting challenge that I wished carried over to the future titles. But the remaining chunk of garbage? I’m hoping it never sees the light of day ever again.
The good? The bosses. With the exception of one boss (Empress Bulblax and her disgusting Larvae spawn), I feel every boss was fun and always had me trying to think about how to tackle them while suffering very few casualties. They all fill me with the fear and anxiety that any good horror game wish it could instill onto me. Huge highlights go to Water Wraith and Man-at-Legs. I think the inherent flaws of the game rear their ugly head when it comes to literally everything building up to the bosses.
The dungeons… This is unfortunately a concept that will not have been perfected until Pikmin 4. What we have here is, at first, a harmless means of getting treasure in secluded areas away from the Daily Timer… then you experience the latter half of the game’s dungeons. Nothing but horrible floor layouts with some of the cruelest enemy design ever and gotcha traps that only the “I love when games do that!” crowd enjoy.
I think what harms this entire concept is Purple Pikmin. There is no feasible way to replenish Purple Pikmin in this game without needing to revisit one of the game’s worst dungeons (Subterranean Complex) at a semi decent sub level every single time. It wouldn’t be so bad, however, if you’re going after every treasure in the game, you NEED a minimum of 100 Purple Pikmin to achieve that goal. Playing the game normally does not net you that much at all, meaning that you already have to repeat dungeon visits numerous times. It’s BECAUSE OF THAT that I restart my game if I lose even a SINGLE Purple because I am not trying to waste anymore time than what the game is having me do to remain “comfortable”.
“Don’t bring Purples then”, why would I not? They’re the best Pikmin in the game, no contest! This game is already asking a lot of me by tippy-toeing across every dungeon floor so I’m not blindsided by some gotcha moment that could cause me tens of casualties at once, so you’re asking me to not use the Pikmin that can take out enemies in seconds because if I don’t they’ll still kill tons of my Pikmin with ease???
I hear this game is as hard as you make it, which I agree is true, but the way it wants you to play sucks the fun out of everything. Whereas the first game asks that you slim down on time management for an exciting tense experience, this game says slow WAY DOWN because you don’t want bombs and rocks dropping on your Pikmin because you decided to play the game just a tad too fast or didn’t spend your in game days doing nothing but grinding Bitter Spray.
May Gatling Groinks never have a happy day in their life.
The only reason this game isn’t lower than 2 1/2 stars is because the rest of the game is still Pikmin. Refined from 1 mechanically and introduces so many cool elements that made the game more exciting to play. But man. The only reason I even beat this game was because I knew Pikmin 3, a better game, was right after this.
alcamoth
2 months ago