Pikmin 2 is my favorite entry of the Pikmin series. Pikmin 2 takes its predecessor’s base and goes all out. While it may be at the sake of feeling slightly less cohesive than the series’ first entry, the gameplay is magnified tenfold.
Pikmin 2 introduces 4 new gameplay elements: 2 new Pikmin (3 if you count Bulbmin), Caves, a second captain, and instead of ship parts you are searching for ‘treasure’ - everyday earthly items - to pay off your company’s debt.
The new Pikmin are an absolutely great addition to the series. The new gameplay scenarios that these introduce can seem endless! The addition of the purple Pikmin does diminish how important red Pikmin were in the last game, which is sad to see.
The 2 captain system opens the world of Pikmin up in ways the first game couldn’t dream of. Tasks feel like they take no time as you can accomplish 2, 3, 4 tasks at a time and still have a watchful eye with either Olimar or Louie.
Caves are a wonderful addition but do come with their drawbacks. The caves are what make this game so fun with all the treasures to find and the unique boss battles. Speaking of which the creature diversity is such a huge step up from Pikmin 1. You have over 80 unique creatures and they make the world feel loved in, diverse, and exploding with things to do.
Unfortunately Pikmin 2 can be wildly unbalanced at times, whereas its predecessor seemed to have the balance down to a tee. The overworld levels, for the most part, are fine, but the caves can be ridiculous.
Starting off: the caves are auto-generated. A lot of the time, this means nothing, but there’s that 10% of the time where the game just absolutely screws you over (looking at you Dream Den Sublevel 10). This can also lead to some caves feeling very same-y, which is not to say that there are not some very cool caves, shower room and submerged castle come to mind.
Secondly caves only allowing you to bring 100 Pikmin at a time and not giving you a chance to go get anymore, save for some Candybuds, can make the late game caves trudge on and on. For Dream Den I had to make 2 trips, as well as a cave or two in Perplexing Pool.
Finally, the removal of the 30 day time limit is something some people enjoy and some people do not. I personally enjoy it as I feel with thee vast amount of things to do it makes sense, but you do lose that unique sense of urgency that Pikmin 1 has. I do think, while I like Pikmin 2’s story, that the story of Pikmin 1 great assisted with that sense of urgency as well. You had 30 days or Olimar can never return home. Whereas in 2 you just are paying off your company’s debt. It definitely takes away from the urgency maybe even more so than the time limit itself. Perhaps if there a time limit to save Louie (as he could run out of oxygen) after you pay off the debt, I feel like nobody would be upset at the lack of of a time limit to pay off the debt.
Despite the balancing issues, I think the gameplay, boss fights, creature diversity, and treasure hunting far outshine the downsides to this game making for a special, albeit different experience that I personally prefer to Pikmin 1. I 100% completed Pikmin 2 in 33 days, coming in at exactly 22 hours of gameplay
Pikmin 2 introduces 4 new gameplay elements: 2 new Pikmin (3 if you count Bulbmin), Caves, a second captain, and instead of ship parts you are searching for ‘treasure’ - everyday earthly items - to pay off your company’s debt.
The new Pikmin are an absolutely great addition to the series. The new gameplay scenarios that these introduce can seem endless! The addition of the purple Pikmin does diminish how important red Pikmin were in the last game, which is sad to see.
The 2 captain system opens the world of Pikmin up in ways the first game couldn’t dream of. Tasks feel like they take no time as you can accomplish 2, 3, 4 tasks at a time and still have a watchful eye with either Olimar or Louie.
Caves are a wonderful addition but do come with their drawbacks. The caves are what make this game so fun with all the treasures to find and the unique boss battles. Speaking of which the creature diversity is such a huge step up from Pikmin 1. You have over 80 unique creatures and they make the world feel loved in, diverse, and exploding with things to do.
Unfortunately Pikmin 2 can be wildly unbalanced at times, whereas its predecessor seemed to have the balance down to a tee. The overworld levels, for the most part, are fine, but the caves can be ridiculous.
Starting off: the caves are auto-generated. A lot of the time, this means nothing, but there’s that 10% of the time where the game just absolutely screws you over (looking at you Dream Den Sublevel 10). This can also lead to some caves feeling very same-y, which is not to say that there are not some very cool caves, shower room and submerged castle come to mind.
Secondly caves only allowing you to bring 100 Pikmin at a time and not giving you a chance to go get anymore, save for some Candybuds, can make the late game caves trudge on and on. For Dream Den I had to make 2 trips, as well as a cave or two in Perplexing Pool.
Finally, the removal of the 30 day time limit is something some people enjoy and some people do not. I personally enjoy it as I feel with thee vast amount of things to do it makes sense, but you do lose that unique sense of urgency that Pikmin 1 has. I do think, while I like Pikmin 2’s story, that the story of Pikmin 1 great assisted with that sense of urgency as well. You had 30 days or Olimar can never return home. Whereas in 2 you just are paying off your company’s debt. It definitely takes away from the urgency maybe even more so than the time limit itself. Perhaps if there a time limit to save Louie (as he could run out of oxygen) after you pay off the debt, I feel like nobody would be upset at the lack of of a time limit to pay off the debt.
Despite the balancing issues, I think the gameplay, boss fights, creature diversity, and treasure hunting far outshine the downsides to this game making for a special, albeit different experience that I personally prefer to Pikmin 1. I 100% completed Pikmin 2 in 33 days, coming in at exactly 22 hours of gameplay