The fact Miyamoto thought that this would be the new Mario will never cease to amaze me. Don't get me wrong, pikmin are adorable, and Pikmin is an amazing game, but an RTS does not have the broad appeal of a 2D platformer !
On the game itself, it's amazing. The time limit isn't all that strict (a rythm of one part a day is easily attainable, and when you get good at managing your time you can even fit two parts into each day pretty easily) but it's simple presence makes everything have impact and meaning. If you lose Pikmin, you don't just feel horrible guilt because their adorable little faces are no longer there because of your incompetence, you now need to think about devoting time to bringing new pikmin to life. I had a few days were I took heavy losses in the early game, before you get enemies that give you 20ish pikmins at once, and those blows were tough and really hampered my progress. It's not as much of a problem in the endgame, but that final trial does make it necessary to have a solid number of Pikmin before tackling.
The difficulty doesn't just stem from the fights and losses though, it also comes from the puzzles. Some of the srequired progression will actually get the old grey matter going, my favorite example being how you move the cardboard box during the final trial. Every zone is harder than the last and will make you think about how you want to tackle every challenge, there is a real sense of progression in your master of the game thanks to its insistance on not treating you like a baby and actually believing that you can think for yourself. Pikmin 3, as good as that game is for other reasons, never really challenged me in this way and that's a shame because that game's gameplay really is deeper than the original's. In summary, Pikmin 1 is simpler in its core mechanics than Pikmin 3, but uses them to their fullest potential to make it a fairly challenging time (although don't be discouraged, I made it through the game in 23 days on my first playthrough) while Pikmin 3 has all the potential in the world but plays it too safe and, because of this, remains with untapped potential. Pikmin 1 on the other hand, is the best game it could've been with the tools given to the player.
The only real problem with the game is the pikmin's AI which is just so dumb. I lost so many pikmin to drowning because they just felt the urge to learn how to swim and rushed into water. Quality of life is not the best either, not being able to select a pikmin type to throw without holding A is a bit annoying, especially in the middle of a fight, same goes with having to individually send all of your Pikmin at one objective when future games just allow you to send all of them at once. But these are minor complaints really.
Overall, this is a great time that you can rush through on a long summer's day, to relax all while feeling productive.
On the game itself, it's amazing. The time limit isn't all that strict (a rythm of one part a day is easily attainable, and when you get good at managing your time you can even fit two parts into each day pretty easily) but it's simple presence makes everything have impact and meaning. If you lose Pikmin, you don't just feel horrible guilt because their adorable little faces are no longer there because of your incompetence, you now need to think about devoting time to bringing new pikmin to life. I had a few days were I took heavy losses in the early game, before you get enemies that give you 20ish pikmins at once, and those blows were tough and really hampered my progress. It's not as much of a problem in the endgame, but that final trial does make it necessary to have a solid number of Pikmin before tackling.
The difficulty doesn't just stem from the fights and losses though, it also comes from the puzzles. Some of the srequired progression will actually get the old grey matter going, my favorite example being how you move the cardboard box during the final trial. Every zone is harder than the last and will make you think about how you want to tackle every challenge, there is a real sense of progression in your master of the game thanks to its insistance on not treating you like a baby and actually believing that you can think for yourself. Pikmin 3, as good as that game is for other reasons, never really challenged me in this way and that's a shame because that game's gameplay really is deeper than the original's. In summary, Pikmin 1 is simpler in its core mechanics than Pikmin 3, but uses them to their fullest potential to make it a fairly challenging time (although don't be discouraged, I made it through the game in 23 days on my first playthrough) while Pikmin 3 has all the potential in the world but plays it too safe and, because of this, remains with untapped potential. Pikmin 1 on the other hand, is the best game it could've been with the tools given to the player.
The only real problem with the game is the pikmin's AI which is just so dumb. I lost so many pikmin to drowning because they just felt the urge to learn how to swim and rushed into water. Quality of life is not the best either, not being able to select a pikmin type to throw without holding A is a bit annoying, especially in the middle of a fight, same goes with having to individually send all of your Pikmin at one objective when future games just allow you to send all of them at once. But these are minor complaints really.
Overall, this is a great time that you can rush through on a long summer's day, to relax all while feeling productive.