It's been said a lot but this game really is to Pikmin 2 what 3 was to 1.
Happily, 4 resolves a lot of my issues from Pikmin 2 - cave levels are now curated, things that fall from the ceiling will happen at the same place each time round and the treasure tracker no longer sounds like a banshee screeching in my ear. Also thanks to the overworld being much larger, I no longer felt like I was running around a glorified menu selection screen, though it would have been good to have a few more environmental puzzles.
Sure, I do still miss there being some kind of time limit in the caves - I know time is meant to pass 6x slower there but there's no real risk as the day will never end while you're spelunking. I reckon a happy medium for me could have been having it pass 3x slower with the gauge still visible and still have that little bit of resistance to encourage Dandori, especially as there's a level select when/if you do return to the cave in the future.
I have some other small nitpicks (lack of respawning enemies in the overworld, auto lock-on issues, lack of bingo battle) but otherwise Pikmin 4 is a treat. Visually stunning for a Switch game, some great Dandori challenges, a bit of fanservice and the usual tonka-truck full of charm to keep you smiling through the story. From the demo I thought Oatchi would be overpowered and trivialise the need for Pikmin themselves but that noseless pup fits in a lot better than I expected.
Pikmin 3 remains my favourite as it's a bit more accessible for replays (both story and mission), but I'll still return to 4 to try and perfect Dsndori.
Happily, 4 resolves a lot of my issues from Pikmin 2 - cave levels are now curated, things that fall from the ceiling will happen at the same place each time round and the treasure tracker no longer sounds like a banshee screeching in my ear. Also thanks to the overworld being much larger, I no longer felt like I was running around a glorified menu selection screen, though it would have been good to have a few more environmental puzzles.
Sure, I do still miss there being some kind of time limit in the caves - I know time is meant to pass 6x slower there but there's no real risk as the day will never end while you're spelunking. I reckon a happy medium for me could have been having it pass 3x slower with the gauge still visible and still have that little bit of resistance to encourage Dandori, especially as there's a level select when/if you do return to the cave in the future.
I have some other small nitpicks (lack of respawning enemies in the overworld, auto lock-on issues, lack of bingo battle) but otherwise Pikmin 4 is a treat. Visually stunning for a Switch game, some great Dandori challenges, a bit of fanservice and the usual tonka-truck full of charm to keep you smiling through the story. From the demo I thought Oatchi would be overpowered and trivialise the need for Pikmin themselves but that noseless pup fits in a lot better than I expected.
Pikmin 3 remains my favourite as it's a bit more accessible for replays (both story and mission), but I'll still return to 4 to try and perfect Dsndori.