Pikmin 2 makes me feel conflicted because even tho all of its newly added content and QoL improvements would automatically make it better than Pikmin 2, it's also how those add-ons are executed that makes it a bit difficult to explain.

The game now lets you control two characters, Olimar and Louie, allowing you to split your Pikmin into two groups for some coop puzzle solving. While it's a great idea, it's not implemented to its full potential, only necessary for a few overworld treasures.

The Pikmins have also been redefined, as Yellow Pikmin are now immune to electricity, making them more useful from the first game (albeit you don't have access to bombs anymore as those are now traps and obstacles seen during the Caves). The game has also added two new types, Purple and White. While the new Pikmin are appreciated, Purple breaks the game in every possible way, able to stun almost all enemies and deal massive damage. They also render Red Pikmin useless, aside from a few fire traps, which can be taken care of by other Pikmin anyway, as long as you're careful.

The Caves are a cool new way of giving depth to the areas in the game, with brand-new enemy types and bosses waiting at the end. But their inclusion ends up affecting the Areas overworld, as they're much less interesting to explore than in Pikmin 1. Not only that but the RNG system and layout of some of the Caves can be a bit cheap, forcing you to trigger enemy traps that you have almost no time to react to, making you lose Pikmin in the process.

"Beating" the game was also surprisingly easier than Pikmin 1, thanks to the mentioned Purple Pikmin and the fact that I was able to "finish" the game and collect the debt in a very quick manner. While it had some challenging parts, a lot of it felt too basic in some parts, not being as engaging as a result.

......until you "beat" the game and gain access to the fourth final area, Wistful Wild. And suddenly, the game goes from being easy to absolutely cheap in every way possible, amplifying the unavoidable traps, more possibilities of the RNG layout messing you up for no reason, enemies that are too difficult to deal with and will guarantee you losing a good amount of Pikmin. While the game is VERY generous with saving and continuing after a save, it feels very tedious to restart a sublevel and play for 10 mins only for an out-of-nowhere "fuck you" trap to mess you up and kill half of your Pikmin, causing you to want to restart or quit the cave halfway.

Overall, while there was clearly an idea, it could have been executed better. I wouldn't say it's worse than Pikmin 1, nor would I say it's better. I'd say "Paying off the debt" is more fun than Pikmin 1, while actually "Beating" the game is worse than Pikmin 1.




AlsoLouiefuckingsuckswhytheFUCKwouldyousendthepersonresponsibleforyourcompanyfallingindebttocollectthetreasureheistheworst

I've played 1 and 3 over and over and over again, over the years. And I've been meaning to play 2 again for a long time but was always afraid of doing so because of how often I heard (and remembered) how full of shit the game is.

I was correct.

I don't know if I can bring myself to dislike Pikmin 2 because at the end of the day it's still Pikmin. It's just the least good Pikmin. Purple Pikmin make combat so trivial most of the time, but at the same time you're having to play the game like you're walking on eggshells because enemies and bombs will just drop from the ceiling unprompted. Some of which will ONLY trigger around Pikmin that are carrying something. Like I swear this game is specifically designed to make the player upset, the fuck is up with that.

As such, the difficulty curve is more like a difficulty stock market line graph. Just shooting up and down for arbitrary reasons. A cave will be a slog to get through but then the boss at the end is completely trivial. Several enemies like Bulbears and Gatling Groinks are disproportionately dangerous but also made a joke so long as you have an ultra bitter spray on you. It's just a mess.

An exhausting game that's carried by the fact that it's Pikmin.