8 years have passed since Shigeru Miyamoto stated that work on a Pikmin game was "nearing completion". Well, it's finally here and I believe it was well worth the wait. 4's biggest triumph is making a beautiful tribute to the series (as usual) but specifically to the now old second entry, bringing back many elements and concepts that until some time ago seemed destined to forever remain stuck in the GameCube era.

Wonderfully, it all generally works and the game manages to build an identity of its own despite the clear inspiration and the changes that Nintendo's brought to make the series more accessible than ever. Namely, our furry friend Oatchie introduces a myriad of possibilities that weren't possible before, such as keeping Pikmin close to you so they don't lag behind, jumping and even permitting crossing bodies of water with non-water tolerant Pikmin.

However, in desiring to reach new audiences, Nintendo has fumbled some staples, like difficulty (which frankly is quite easy until the very end), the definitive loss of the angst characters had in the first two games and the introduction of a soft-locking reticle that you can't disable.

Even so, Pikmin 4 succeeds just as its 2004 brother thanks to its collect-a-thon-like gameplay, superb visuals (some of the best in the system), an exquisite atmosphere, varied fauna and a unique and cutesy sense of exploration.

Oh, and there ain't too much Dandori despite what the leafy guys might say. That might be good or bad, it all depends on what you're looking for in a game with the lovable Pikpik carrots.

Business as usual with Monolith with 3: a titanic game with wild highs and wild lows. There are many ideas that could've worked so much better but at the very least are held together by the time sink play style the company has been known for since 2010.

When it comes to the narrative, if 2 was all over the place, let's face it, 3 has the complete opposite problem: the pacing is glacial in this game. After a wonderful first chapter, dialogues and plot progression halt from time to time due to the characters' weird obsession of repeating their viewpoints. This is a common occurrence in both the main story and side quests, and the antagonists, worldbuilding, the plot as a whole and even the voice actors' deliveries greatly suffer from it. As the story goes on, plot holes start appearing that one may or may not notice. All in all, there's a stroy to be appreciated, albeit not quite well told and somewhat disjointed and unfocused; and the good bits come in drops and occasionally somewhat discreetly, unlike the two previous numbered entries, which are known for their plentitude of epic moments. Side content stands on a similar level 2's, but nowhere near to the excellence of X's Normal Missions (which, admittedly, might as well be the main bit of that game).

On the other hand, Xenoblade is great when it comes to immerse players with worlds with large scopes and gameplay departments that can potentially skyrocket the total game time to the several hundreds. 3 is no exception, but in true Xenoblade fashion, this massive steak comes with many caveats: class customisation that consumes way more time than necessary (unlike many other class-based RPGs that have had this long sorted, like Bravely Default) and a combat with unresponsive prompts (Ouroboros summoning) and awkward controls (character switching).

All that being said, I still love 3. The "make big numbers before the critters kill you first" and prep-first approaches remain untouched for this entry, there are many Unique Monsters that are quite challenging in Hard difficulty, and for that reason the game is fun for self-imposed challenges. The cast is very endearing and is by far my favorite in the series. The soundtrack is splendid and so is the setting (I seem to be in the minority on this one), so 3 didn't disappoint where it most mattered.

Good game overall. Segiri for the win, Sena best girl, Fiona pons the pons.