Pikmin Series Discussion Thread

[Rayze Darr]

I really am in the minority again, huh?

In my opinion, Pikmin 2 was an insult to the genius of the first game.

- No day limit
- Terribly short overworld sections
- Caves removed all time limits
- Caves were redundant and tedious (all except Submerged Castle)
- Boss battles were way too easy
- Introduces a second character, then removes all the time limits removing a need for it
- Killed any and all sense of theme, mystery, and wonder

Though I'll give it points for better enemy variety, I think Pikmin 2 is, by a long shot, the worst in the franchise. It was just, as a whole, WAY too easy. That, and the caves legitimately made me stop playing my first attempt through. The floors are all tedious, repetitive, slow-paced, and thematically off-putting. I mean, you jump down a hole to find yourself in an open-sky sandbox, with more holes leading to more of the same.

As for the theme, mystery, and wonder, the game throws it all out the window by admitting that, yes, the planet is Earth. Now go collect Earth objects. In Pikmin 1, it was a big mystery whether or not PNF-404 was Earth or not, and the world itself was lush and filled with natural wonders. Then Pikmin 2 comes along, and we're literally collecting giant pieces of garbage. It makes the world look and feel dirty and ugly.

Pikmin 3 takes what Pikmin 1 did well and expands on it. Admittedly, it's still easier than 1 was, but it doesn't hold your hand and give you as much time as you need like Pikmin 2 did. I loved the environments, I loved the new enemies, I loved the new looks of old enemies, and I loved the sense of wonder that it brought back. The boss battles were all amazing and challenging, and the Mission Mode was way harder, and more fun, than the Challenges were in Pikmin 2.

Plus, to everyone saying that Pikmin 3 is short, one playthrough took me almost 20 hours, and I almost immediately decided to do another. I beat Pikmin 2 100% in less than 18 and never felt inclined to play it again.

My first playthrough took me to 48 days, and I did a no-death run leading to 0 Pikmin lost. Amazing game, and it's a top contender for my Game of the Year.

 

[KillerDraco]

Here's a serious question for everyone who has played Pikmin 3; do you think Juice is too plentiful?

After my second playthrough, I came to the realization that despite the "time limit" per se, I was never really in any danger of ever coming close to running out of days. There are exactly two points in the game when there's even the slightest danger; the first two days (and even then, it's so easy to find fruits to get juice that this doesn't stay a concern for long), and

Spoiler: Post Twilight River Spoilers

when Louie steals all your juice

(and once again, it's so easy to find fruits once you get Blue Pikmin that it offsets this again).

So my question is... do you think fruits should have given less juice, such that there was more of a "danger" of running out? Finishing with a 70+ day supply of Juice does seem a little excessive.

 

[The Trend]

Didn't you use "Go here"?

Where you send captains to a spot? No, not enough time.

 

[KillerDraco]

Where you send captains to a spot? No, not enough time.

That actually saves time though... that's the whole point of it.

 

[The Trend]

That actually saves time though... that's the whole point of it.

Not in The Formidable Oak when I'm being chased by the plasm wraith.

 

[KillerDraco]

Not in The Formidable Oak when I'm being chased by the plasm wraith.

It especially saves time in the Formidable Oak. Use Go Here to send Brittany away from the Plasm Wraith every time it gets close, then switch back to Alph/Charlie while you break through enemies and obstacles. It makes it so you don't have to manually move Brittany, thus saving time since you only need to be in control of her for about 3 seconds before switching back.

 

[chanseychansey77]

Not in The Formidable Oak when I'm being chased by the plasm wraith.

THE TREND TALKED IN THE FIRST PERSON.

Here's a serious question for everyone who has played Pikmin 3; do you think Juice is too plentiful?

Yeah, I think that should've been made more difficult. You do feel impending disaster right after you-know-what happens, but if anything, Pikmin 3 should've made juice a bit harder to obtain, and optimally, had more fruit.

Which is why I hope there's some cool DLC in the future.

 

[Rayze Darr]

Here's a serious question for everyone who has played Pikmin 3; do you think Juice is too plentiful?

After my second playthrough, I came to the realization that despite the "time limit" per se, I was never really in any danger of ever coming close to running out of days. There are exactly two points in the game when there's even the slightest danger; the first two days (and even then, it's so easy to find fruits to get juice that this doesn't stay a concern for long), and

Spoiler: Post Twilight River Spoilers

when Louie steals all your juice

(and once again, it's so easy to find fruits once you get Blue Pikmin that it offsets this again).

So my question is... do you think fruits should have given less juice, such that there was more of a "danger" of running out? Finishing with a 70+ day supply of Juice does seem a little excessive.

If I had to give one complaint about this game, it would be that. I'm fine with there being 100 days worth of fruit juices, but they really should be more restrictive on which ones we get until near the end.

 

[KillerDraco]

Well, for nostalgia's sake, I went back and replaying Pikmin 2 again, in order to more accurately draw comparisons between the two.

Pikmin 2's favor:

• C-stick swarming's utility
• Pikmin automatically rejoining your squad after completing a task if you're close
• Much more Nectar making it easier to get flower Pikmin early on
• More enemy/boss variety
• More upgrades/collectables

Pikmin 3's favor:

• Better camera angles/camera control
• Better following AI
• Pikmin can't lose their flowers
• More intricate boss strategies
• Better multitasking capabilities

Overall they both have their merits, but I still prefer 2. But, everyone's got their own preferences.

Also I had forgotten how overpowered Purple Pikmin really are.

 

[Recon]

Played the game fr two days now, beat the third boss and now in the fourth area. I'm embarrassed to admit but it took me way too long to defeat the third boss, then again I had no idea how for a majority of the day.

I believe I'm on day 17 and I have almost enough juice to almost last me to day 50. That's a lot of time.

 

[Cloneydew2000]

The price has dropped slightly already in certain stores I think, the game shall be mine by the end of the year

 

[Cloneydew2000]

Played the game fr two days now, beat the third boss and now in the fourth area. I'm embarrassed to admit but it took me way too long to defeat the third boss, then again I had no idea how for a majority of the day.

I believe I'm on day 17 and I have almost enough juice to almost last me to day 50. That's a lot of time.

Were there many Pikmin losses?

 

[KillerDraco]

Honestly, I think the number one cause of deaths in Pikmin 3 is the Quaggled Mireclops' tongue.

 

[Cloneydew2000]

That's definitely a large factor.

 

[Colton S]

Pikmin 3 was my first game in the series, so my first game clear was on Day 70, and I lost almost 1,000 Pikmin. Now, I'm playing through again, and I'm beating a boss in at least 1 day.

 

[Cloneydew2000]

*whistles* impressive. I hope when I get the game, I can do that.

 

[KillerDraco]

*whistles* impressive. I hope when I get the game, I can do that.

I'm not sure if you're referring to a boss per day or sarcastically referencing the mass deaths.

Though now that I think about it, Pikmin 3 seems a little easier to avoid deaths. I mean, most enemies have something that will make them flinch or otherwise not eat Pikmin or even pose any kind of threat. And then there's Rock Pikmin who are literally invulnerable against certain enemies (Wollywogs for instance).

Then again, Pikmin 2 was fairly easy to avoid deaths when a constant stream of Purple Pikmin being thrown was pretty much GG for all but a handful of enemies in the game.

At the end of the day (pun intended), the original is the only one without some sort of strategy/gimmick to make enemies die really quick without any danger to your Pikmin. The original definitely made me feel the most helpless against enemies, and was the hardest to have a zero death run though the crushing death glitch made the latter significantly harder as well

 

[Dreamy]

I bought Pikmin 3 about a week ago, but I've yet to have time to crack it open, but tomorrow is the day ^_^

I've beaten 1 and 2, so I absolutely can't wait

 

[Cloneydew2000]

I'm not sure if you're referring to a boss per day or sarcastically referencing the mass deaths.

Though now that I think about it, Pikmin 3 seems a little easier to avoid deaths. I mean, most enemies have something that will make them flinch or otherwise not eat Pikmin or even pose any kind of threat. And then there's Rock Pikmin who are literally invulnerable against certain enemies (Wollywogs for instance).

Then again, Pikmin 2 was fairly easy to avoid deaths when a constant stream of Purple Pikmin being thrown was pretty much GG for all but a handful of enemies in the game.

At the end of the day (pun intended), the original is the only one without some sort of strategy/gimmick to make enemies die really quick without any danger to your Pikmin. The original definitely made me feel the most helpless against enemies, and was the hardest to have a zero death run though the crushing death glitch made the latter significantly harder as well

Not sarcasm, I meant defeating a boss in 1 day.

 

[KillerDraco]

Not sarcasm, I meant defeating a boss in 1 day.

Pretty much every boss in the game can and should be beat in 1 day. The only reason for not doing so would be if you spend too long getting to the boss, such that you don't have much time left in the day to start. The only one who might take more than a day would be the Plasm Wraith, who is still able to be 1-dayed, but due to the length of the battle, it's safer to whittle down his HP and then start fresh the second day with his HP much lower. It makes it a lot easier if you're trying to no-death him.

Every other boss though is short enough where more than 1 day is not necessary. Especially the Armored Mawdad, who can be beat within a minute, and the Scornet Maestro, who's just really not much of a danger to anyone.