A Long Time Coming Award : Pikmin 4
2023 In Revue
Game : Pikmin 4
Developer : Nintendo EPD & 8ing
Publisher : Nintendo
Platforms : Nintendo Switch
Release : 21/07/23
When a thing is popular and good in this world, especially in the games industry, a sequel is sure to follow. I see that there's an eighth Spider-Man film in the span of 20 years and I don't blink. Why not make a Final Fantasy XVI? And so, when Pikmin 3 came out and screenshots stole my heart in Official Nintendo Magazine I was sure a sequel wouldn't be far off, probably on the Wii U too. Considering that Miyamoto told Eurogamer it was "very near completion" in 2015, Nintendo probably thought so too.
A decade passed.
The spinoffs Hey Pikmin! (Arzest) and Pikmin Bloom (Niantic) filled the gap to some degree, as did the port of Pikmin 3 to the Switch and the Pikmin Short Movies on the eshop and YouTube, but a 2D sidescroller, an augmented reality game, an expanded port or a series promotional films do not a sequel make. When you spend half your life looking forward to something that seems less and less likely to have ever been real, your hope wavers. Maybe Hey Pikmin! really was what Miyamoto was talking about all along.
Until that one September afternoon when it becomes real. The 14th of September 2022 Direct lives in the minds of some as a farm sim showcase but I'll always remember that day for Pikmin 4's 25-second tease. Nothing more than a garden full of sleeping Bulborbs and a new series logo, but enough to keep me engaged for the next ten months. Future trailers showed off what set the game apart. Night expeditions! Ice Pikmin! Oatchi! Let's talk more about Oatchi.
If Nintendogs didn't make it clear enough, Nintendo prefers dogs over cats. The two-legged, noseless Oatchi is just their latest canine companion and serves the same purpose as Pikmin 3's Captains. Some puzzles and challenges require you to swap between your Rescue Cadet and Oatchi to reach more of the area. He's also useful alongside your Pikmin, be it stunning enemies in fights or carrying as much as three Pikmin. You can also upgrade his abilities and resistances as you rescue more castaways in the planet's caves (returning from Pikmin 2), making him a perfect pup by the end of the game and an asset in Dandori Challenges.
Dandori, as the game likes to remind you, is the principle of efficient task management - the heart of the Pikmin series. Previous games had challenge modes, but Pikmin 4 integrates them into the main game. Some of the caves you find dotted around each area lead to challenge arenas that have you compete with a "mysterious" leafling to collect more items within the time limit to take the castaway he's holding on to back to the Rescue Command Centre - the game's hub.
A summation of everything that came before it and more, I could talk about my 50 hours in Pikmin 4 for about as long. If you're interested in playing without the requisite 10 year wait, all you need to know is that it's a beautiful titles that hides a lot of challenge behind a lengthy tutorial. Can't wait for Pikmin 5.
This essay was originally written for my Twine game “2023 In Revue”, which you can play here : https://citrusityy.itch.io/2023-in-revue. Thumbnail art by Game & Burger / . I want to suggest their own review of Pikmin 4, which you can find here :
