Pikmin 4 From a Newcomers Perspective | Review
Pikmin 4 From a Newcomers Perspective | Review
Pikmin 4 is the first Pikmin game I have ever played. Here are my thoughts.
Music used in this video:
Title Theme (Pikmin 4) Kenta Nagata, Asuka Hayazaki \u0026 Soshi Abe
Forest of Hope (Pikmin)- Hajime Wakai
Grasswalk (Plants VS Zombies)- Laura Shigihara
Tonights results (Pikmin 4)- Kenta Nagata, Asuka Hayazaki \u0026 Soshi Abe
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My second channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Casualbemwu/…
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Content
0 -> As someone who's never played a Pikmin game,
I've always been interested to see what all the
3.18 -> hype around the series is about, but just
never really got around to playing any of
5.94 -> the games. Until now of course. Good
people, I played Pikmin 4, and had my
9.72 -> first ever experience with a Pikmin game. And
today, I’m here to talk about it. Let's do it
25.26 -> The atmosphere of Pikmin 4 is very unique and
refreshing for a Nintendo game, and this is
30 -> apparent right from the start. Opening the game
brings us to a relaxing Piano solo that plays
33.84 -> while showing footage of various environments in
the game. When I first got to this, I just sort
37.38 -> of watched and listened for a while. It's soothing
and calm. The first thing you’ll probably notice
41.22 -> is that this is a gorgeous game. Maybe it's
just because I’m used to Pokémon games but
44.58 -> I think these graphics look absolutely beautiful.
The detail and realism in everything, the plants,
48.78 -> the dirt, even the backgrounds were just stunning.
Taking place on planet earth long after humans
52.5 -> have gone extinct provides for a really unique
aesthetic, as well as really interesting
55.38 -> designs for all of the areas you explore. Not to
mention, a lot is done to make the world feel more
59.1 -> unfamiliar and alien for the player. The various
creatures all have really creative and interesting
62.82 -> designs. Not only in their appearances, but also
in their different behaviors and attacks. Though
66.96 -> most of them are pretty consistent in being
eldritch horrors that make me want to talk to
69.96 -> the guy who came up with them to see if they're
ok. I mean, these creatures are insane looking.
73.5 -> Burrowing Snagret’s pop out of the ground
to give you a heart attack when you walk by,
76.8 -> these frog things camouflage as daisies, theres
the Pyroclasmic Slooch, a sort of lava slug with
81.9 -> a giant mouth and tongue it uses to eat Pikmin,
these Araquanid looking guys run across the water
86.22 -> so fast that they can be hard to attack, the downy
snagrets are really cute even when they’re eating
90.3 -> my Pikmin I love them, the Shockcake just sits
there until someone comes near then, just so
93.18 -> it can roll over and crush them The Waddlequaff
straight up inhales anything it sees, the Bearded
97.68 -> Amphrat appears to be some kind of electric
monster rat that walks around under blanket of
101.64 -> its own skin growing off of it, by the way, these
are just a few creatures from the first three
105.84 -> areas. I could go on, but we don’t have all day.
Moving on to the controls, they’re great. You’ll
110.1 -> probably notice that there are a lot of HUD’s on
screen. This takes a bit of time to get used to,
113.46 -> but all of it is surprisingly intuitive and easy
to understand. On the left you see the clock for
117.24 -> the day, the treasure tracker that goes up as you
go closer to something you should collect, as well
120.78 -> as you and Oatchi’s health bars. On the top right
is the amount of raw material you have, the amount
124.74 -> of sparklium you’ve collected from treasure
so far (Sparklium is essentially the value
128.1 -> of the treasure), and your tablet which you can
open for more data. On the more middle right, is
131.58 -> the controls, showing you some of the things you
can do, and on the bottom right is how many Pikmin
135.42 -> you have out in the field, how many you have on
hand, how many are currently standing around doing
138.66 -> nothing, and a wheel which you can rotate between
to select who you need at moments notice, between
142.38 -> Oatchi and the different Pikmin you have on hand.
But, one small thing I should mention, this game
146.64 -> also has motion controls. Motion controls
in Nintendo games are generally a mixed bag.
151.56 -> Sometimes they’re a great edition, but other
times they’re a genuine inconvenience. So how
155.76 -> does Pikmin 4 use them? Honestly, this is one of
the best implications of motion controls I’ve seen
160.5 -> in a Switch game. See, the purpose of motion
controls should be to give the player options
163.98 -> that wouldn’t be possible with just the buttons on
the controller; And Pikmin 4 completely understood
167.82 -> this. Usually in gameplay, your whistle range is
limited to a certain distance in front of you.
171.42 -> This makes sense, because the stick that controls
the location of this whistle also controls your
174.96 -> walking, so the only way to move it around is by
walking. Except, if you hold the whistle down and
179.1 -> start moving the controller, you suddenly have
way more liberty in your whistles movement and
182.64 -> range. This is fantastic. Allowing this kind of
movement on the control stick would lead to the
187.02 -> whistle going all over the place any time you
walk. This is really the best way to do it.
190.56 -> You can also move your controller to change
where you throw Pikmin. This doesn’t change
193.86 -> as much as the whistles motion controls because
the range of the Pikmin toss remains the same,
197.34 -> but its still great to have as an option.
Another big area this game excels in is
200.82 -> how natural, and logical all of the tasks and
limitations are. Even in the small things. For
203.52 -> example, you can only have a limited
amount of Pikmin out from your onion
206.22 -> at a time. This is explained to be a way the
Pikmin have evolved to keep the species from
209.46 -> being completely wiped out. When I was first
walking around for a bit, I thought it was
212.76 -> weird that I couldn’t run very fast, climb up
or jump to some really small ledges without
216.42 -> Oatchi. I thought it was that whole Pokémon
thing where “the tree blocks your path”. But
219.06 -> then I remembered that the characters, are built
like Funko Pops. There's no way they’re physically
222.42 -> capable of much. And the Pikmin are willing
to help you because they’re kind of stupid,
225.48 -> and they need a commander to tell them what to
do, for their own protection. Then there's the
228.84 -> big obvious example of turning simple logic into
gameplay mechanics. The day system. Essentially,
233.22 -> you have all day to collect resources, grow
more Pikmin, explore, rescue castaways,
237.12 -> and anything else you want. As long as you and
your Pikmin make it back to the ship before
240.48 -> sunset. Once sunset hits, you will be taking off
and heading back to base. And anyone left behind
245.1 -> is going to end up as dinner for some monster.
Honestly I’d say that the main appeal of this
248.88 -> game is the real time strategy element of the
gameplay. And let me tell you, this real time
252.6 -> clock is finely tuned to perfection. Each day
is about 15 minutes. Enough time to get a good
256.86 -> amount of tasks done, but still short enough to
where you have to optimize your strategy to be
260.58 -> efficient. In the subterranean areas, the clock
moves at one/sixth the speed. A good decision
264.54 -> because these can take quite a while to explore,
and players would definitely be less willing to
268.02 -> thoroughly explore them if the clock was moving
at full speed. The clock also doesn’t move at all
271.8 -> while in things like the map and menu, meaning you
have all the time you need to plan and strategize,
275.52 -> but the challenge comes in execution of it. Multi
tasking and organizing your team is essential,
279.9 -> and extremely satisfying. Oh, and the
tension when you’re running out of
282.96 -> time and you're scrambling to round up your
Pikmin making sure everyone is accounted for
286.02 -> and gets back to the ship before nightfall!
It's so anxiety-inducing! And it's great!
289.92 -> And the game really makes you appreciate and love
these Pikmin. You don’t just think of them as
293.64 -> tools or objects. They feel like little helpers
that care about you, and you want to take care
297.06 -> of. Their animations are just silly and charming,
in everything from the way they run around when
300.66 -> panicked to the way they flail when you’re about
to throw them. Their squeaky voices are so cute,
304.2 -> and they have quite a variety of lines. A
very nice touch considering you’ll often be
307.5 -> triggering the same sound cue over and over.
Different objects that you can carry back to
310.86 -> your ship will have a required minimum number
of Pikmin to carry them back to ship, but can
313.98 -> be carried with more than that amount of Pikmin to
increase the speed. This presents an interesting
317.52 -> set of options. Do you max out the Pikmin on that
object to speed it up, or do you further spread
321.42 -> your Pikmin across more items? These kinds
of strategic options come up all the time,
324.72 -> and are one of the things that make every day so
distinct. You really start to appreciate the value
328.56 -> of these little guys, and it makes you want to try
your best to keep them safe during your missions.
331.86 -> “No Pikmin left behind” was a motto I would
constantly repeat to myself, but of course,
335.64 -> it doesn’t always work out that way. The hardest
part about this job is, you can’t always save
337.189 -> everybody. On my third night, I barely got back
to my ship before sunset, and accidentally left
341.16 -> a couple of Pikmin behind: And the game is
really really good at making you feel really,
344.88 -> really bad about leaving Pikmin behind. 5 You have
to watch this sad cutscene of them struggling to
349.38 -> get back to the ship, but then being caught and
eaten by creatures. I felt so bad for not being
353.1 -> able to save them. I messed up, and- oh.
Right, so now it's time for the problem
359.22 -> with this real time clock system. A problem made
way worse by the fact that it was so, so easily
363.84 -> avoidable. If you leave any Pikmin behind at
the end of the day, the game offers to let
367.86 -> you “retry” from any point back in time, and
remedy your mistake. Oh! And not only that,
372.06 -> I actually always have that option. If at
any point during the day I make a mistake,
375.72 -> I can just rewind time and undo it. That's so
nice and forgiving to let me do that. Except
379.98 -> now you have less motivation to try as hard on
everything you do and optimize your strategy. Also
382.56 -> every Pikmin loss is cheapened because you know
you can just go back in time and save them. Also,
386.1 -> opting to not go back in time to save your Pikmin
makes it feel less like you were trying your
389.46 -> hardest but failed, and more like you deliberately
taking the lazy option and letting them die. Also
393.42 -> its immersion breaking and makes the day system
which originally felt very natural feel way less
397.2 -> realistic. Also why is the game encouraging me
to not face the consequences for my actions?
401.34 -> Now It's my job to decide if I want to take
the honest way out, or if I want to take the
405.18 -> cheap route and undo mistakes by time traveling.
That should not be a choice I have to make in a
409.26 -> real time strategy game like this. I understand
that sometimes you can lose a bunch of Pikmin,
413.04 -> and sometimes it doesn’t feel completely
telegraphed or fair. But the solution to that
416.58 -> isn’t letting the player cheat. My Pikmin died as
warriors. They were heroes, and their sacrifices
417.643 -> will be honored and remembered. I refuse to make
use of such a cheap, immersion breaking feature
417.74 -> to pretend their deaths never happened.
I want to learn from my mistakes, and not
419.58 -> just rewind time whenever I mess up.
6 Ok rant over. Let's talk story. Pikmin 4 opens
423.96 -> by letting you play as Captain Olimar, in a human
sized living room. He's crash landed on earth
427.68 -> once again, this time with a weird dog thing.
Unfortunately Olimar's Pikmin have scattered
432.36 -> across the room, so you need to round them back
up, then get Olimar's communication device so
436.02 -> he can call for help. This is a great way to get
the player used to the controls, and get a general
439.86 -> idea for the story and setting before things
are fully explained and put into motion. After
443.52 -> finding Olimar's communicator, he sends out an SOS
message to the rescue team. It takes months for
447.9 -> this message to reach them. But when it finally
does, they set out to planet earth to rescue
450.9 -> Captain Olimar from Earth and they crash land
on the planet too. That's just perfect honestly.
456 -> Now you, still back at base, are the last hope
to save Captain Olimar and the rescue crew.
462.12 -> You actually get a decent amount of character
customization as well. You can choose your name,
465.78 -> then your body shape, where you have the
choice of being an Alph, a Louie, a Brittany,
468.72 -> or a Charlie. I named each of the body types
arbitrarily. After that you can choose hair,
472.32 -> eyes and outfit. You land on earth successfully,
then encounter Oatchi, a member of the rescue
478.2 -> team who is basically just a less cute
version of Poochy. Surprisingly though,
480.96 -> I actually enjoy Oatchi’s help, in the trailers I
thought he looked like just a pointless addition
484.32 -> to have a marketable animal buddy. But he
actually introduces another layer of depth
487.68 -> to all the strategy that there already is.
Oatchi has the strength of multiple Pikmin,
490.14 -> so he’s helpful when it comes to moving things,
but also has his own capabilities when it comes
493.74 -> to things like attacking or just running around.
Anyway, after finding Oatchi, you discover the
497.52 -> Pikmin themselves, find Collin and Captain
Shepard, and the squad establishes a base.
501.18 -> You discover a gameboy advance and feed it to
the ship for fuel, then Captain Shepard sends
505.14 -> you off all on your own to collect more treasure,
and find the rest of the rescue team, as well as
508.74 -> captain Olimar. After a while though, you start
to find more people that aren’t from the rescue
512.34 -> team. In fact, nobody recognizes them at all. The
crew soon discovers that they weren’t the only
516.72 -> ones to receive Olimar's signal. Tons of people
from different planets received it, and went to
521.1 -> earth for their own reasons. Some in search of
treasure, others just out of curiosity, and of
525.06 -> course all of them crashed. Now, you have no clue
just how many people are stranded on this planet.
528.78 -> But you resolve to save as many as you can. Every
day you set out to collect treasure, and find more
533.52 -> crewmates. And at the end of every day, you come
back to base, and hear the beautiful and relaxing
537.12 -> end of day theme to wind things down.
To my surprise the characters all have
540.3 -> their own really charming dialogue and
personalities, I enjoy talking to them,
543.3 -> and It makes me really excited when I find
someone new and save them; And even aside
546.72 -> from just progressing the story, there's a
technical benefit to saving them as well,
549.66 -> as they can all assist you in their own ways. Russ
helps by inventing different tools you can use on
551.207 -> the field if you bring him the resources (I love
him), Captain Shepard helps train Oatchi and grow
551.306 -> his abilities. Dalmo shows you the Piklopedia
and lets you practice against different enemies
551.4 -> As the days go by though, the characters
start talking more and more about themselves,
554.7 -> their families, their dreams, or just simple
cute banter. Most of it just sounds like
558.36 -> throwaway dialogue. But over time you start
to get more of a feel for these characters. I
562.08 -> actually started to kind of care about
them, and want them to make it home.
564.72 -> I won’t go over every character of
course, but I do want to talk about
567.66 -> the ones that stick out to me. Russ is probably
my favorite, I can’t even really explain why,
570.6 -> he’s just goofy. His love for inventing things is
surprisingly really charming, and unsurprisingly
574.68 -> really helpful since he gives you different
inventions to use on the field. Dalmo is great,
576.36 -> he catalogs every creature you discover and lets
you interact with them, also its my headcanon that
580.26 -> his voice sounds exactly like Korekiyo Shinguji
from Danganronpa V3. Captain Shepard is a great
583.14 -> determined leader. She really loves Oatchi. And
she’s afraid of Pikmin for some reason and that's
586.92 -> funny. Then there's this Louie looking guy named
Dingo. When we first met him I thought he was
590.64 -> fine. Until I realized he’s actually a lazy little
ingrate that actively tries to avoid helping us.
594.9 -> He spends the first couple nights with us acting
all weak and sick so that he doesn’t have to do
598.44 -> anything. Then when he finally “feels better”,
what does he contribute? He tells me that I
602.88 -> should go and 100% an entire area. BRO. He’s
a part of the rescue corps by the way. He’s
608.22 -> supposed to specialize in solo missions. Why
am I the only one they’re sending out into
611.46 -> the field if he’s here? Even the random people
that we just met are helping out in some way,
612.312 -> and I don’t even expect anything of them. And
then Captain Shepard goes and tells *me* “no
614.28 -> slacking”. Captain, go make Dingo do something.
Anyway, I want to briefly mention Dandori battles.
618.24 -> Sometimes you will encounter a stranger who gives
you a specific challenge, in which you need to
621.54 -> carry a certain amount of weight in items back
to your ship. The rules vary every now and then,
624.36 -> but these are consistently pretty fun, and pretty
challenging. That feeling of when your just short
628.08 -> of the amount of sparklium you need collected,
your in the last few seconds trying to make the
631.26 -> most of it hoping your Pikmin can get it back in
time! Its so anxiety inducing! And its great!I
635.88 -> actually lost every now and then
and had to rethink my strategy to-
639.9 -> Oh wait, what? Oh. That's what he does. If you
lose a Dandori battle, you actually have the
643.38 -> option to let Dingo do it for you. Hey, at
least he’s finally contributing something.
648.36 -> Wait that's even *stupider!* Why would the game
let me skip through this part? And why is it
652.26 -> that when I tell Dingo I don’t need his help, he
mutters something about how he didn’t even want to
655.68 -> help me anyway. What is wrong with this guy?
Ok lets talk about Yonny. So, as we save
659.1 -> more crewmates, we discover some who have
been essentially infected, and turned into
662.22 -> leaflings. Luckily, Dr Yonny being the absolute
CHAD that he is, knows how to get the cure,
666.66 -> he just needs you to do it for him. See, at night
time, out come the Glow Pikmin, who live in these
670.68 -> glowing dirt mounds called Lumiknoll. Every
morning, the Lumiknoll will produce a liquid
673.86 -> that can be used as a cure for this leafling
disease. But obviously if the mound is destroyed,
677.58 -> it won’t produce anything. So you have to
protect the Lumiknoll, and make sure they
680.7 -> make it to morning. The problem? Lumiknoll glows.
And the creatures out at night, are attracted
685.44 -> to glowing light (Meowth that's right). Which
means soon after the sun sets, all the monsters
688.38 -> in the entire area become aware of your exact
location, and begin heading toward the Lumiknoll.
692.52 -> Every time I think I’ve seen the extent of the
gameplay here, the game surprises me. I absolutely
696.72 -> love tower defense games, and the mechanics of
Pikmin lend themselves extremely well to that
700.68 -> genre. It's just such a blast to employ different
strategies to defend your Lumiknoll. It actually
704.76 -> gets pretty challenging too. Sometimes there
are multiple Lumiknoll you have to defend, and
708.12 -> you can command Oatchi to defend one as well. You
can also extend your base area by claiming smaller
712.44 -> Lumiknoll called Tricknoll. Of course, the only
Pikmin you have to your side are the glow Pikmin,
716.04 -> which you can get more of by collecting star bits
and bringing them to a Lumiknoll or Tricknoll. I
720.12 -> love the design of the glow Pikmin, and
its so cool how they can float around,
722.76 -> and can come to your side right after
spawning no matter how far you are.
726.24 -> The atmosphere of these night expeditions is
also great. The music is bizarre and warped,
730.44 -> the creatures all have glowing red eyes, and
appear as red shapes in the distance. And when
734.16 -> you get back to base at the end of a night
mission, the end of day theme becomes this
737.46 -> really nice Lofi sort of beat. Ooh, and if
a Lumiknoll gets attacked, this really loud
741.48 -> alarm starts blaring, and the music starts
getting more intense as the Lumiknolls health
744.96 -> goes down. You're running back to it praying you
can make it in time and take out that creature
748.62 -> before it completely destroys the Lumiknoll!
Its so anxiety-inducing! And it's great!
752.58 -> To finish things off, the ending was pretty cool.
Basically what you’d expect. And while I haven't
756.6 -> gotten very far in the post game yet, I’ll say
that finishing up the area’s you’ve explored is a
760.14 -> good time, the new areas are great, and Olimar's
mission calling back to Pikmin 1 is awesome.
763.98 -> Pikmin 4 is a fantastic game. If you like real
time strategy and puzzle solving, this is the
768 -> Switch game for you. Pikmin 4 genuinely shocked
me with how much enjoyment I was able to get out
772.08 -> of it. The Pikmin series has always looked
really cool, but now I can finally say, I
776.52 -> get it. I have experienced it. I guess that
makes me a… a Pikmin fan? I kind of like the
782.82 -> sound of that. I am a Pikmin fan. Now if you’ll
excuse me, I’m off to go play Pikmin 1 and 2.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aakNvV5K9g