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Pikmin 3 Deluxe finally arrived at Nintendo Switch. The series, which has never sold as much as other major Nintendo franchises, had its third title originally released for the Wii U in 2013. The console was not a commercial success, but given the sales pattern of its titles, Pikmin 3 did relatively well, having passed the million-unit sales mark. Still, below the developer's expectations.
Now available for Nintendo Switch, an extremely popular platform, the game is expected to be successful. To help boost sales, Nintendo has prepared a high-quality game, definitely the best in the series to date.
What is Pikmin
Pikmin It's not exactly a very popular series, even though it belongs to one of the biggest companies in the video game industry. If you've never played or never heard of it, we explain what the franchise is all about.
Pikmin is essentially a real-time strategy game (RTS), the same genre as brands like Age of Empires, Rise of Nations ou Warcraft. In Pikmin, which in all games focuses on its story mode, the player always controls a small humanoid character who, upon arriving on a planet very similar to Earth (in Pikmin 3 Deluxe called PNF-404), finds (also small) creatures called Pikmin, which function as work units just like in other games of the genre.
These creatures, of different colors and abilities, are commanded by the character controlled by the player, and help him to perform the different tasks required in the games. Upon arriving on the planet PNF-404, the protagonist must face the fauna and flora to survive. The strategic part of the games, therefore, is to choose and use the different types of Pikmin to fulfill objectives within a pre-established time frame.
To command the Pikmin, the player has a cursor at his disposal, which he uses to define which little creatures he wants to interact with and where he wants to play them, and each location will give rise to a different action: defeating enemies, destroying obstacles, carrying materials, etc. .
Em Pikmin 3 Deluxe, the inhabitants of the planet Koppai have consumed all the food resources in the region, and explorers travel through space looking for some place with some edible matter. That's how Brittany, Alph and Charlie — the game's protagonists — arrive on planet PNF-404.
After a not-so-subtle landing, travelers find plenty of edible material, fruit. With the help of the Pikmin, the three adventurers must face the nature of the new planet and seek as many of them as possible to extract portions of juice and return home with a good amount of food. This should be done as effectively as possible, as each day (in game time) the trio consumes a glass of juice for their own survival.
excellence design
Like a good strategy game, Pikmin 3 Deluxe has level design (the way the scenarios are designed for exploration) as its strong point. In all four game scenarios (not including the final boss scenario), the player needs to think carefully about their approaches and which way they will go in search of food.
As it is not always possible to complete an activity within a game day, sometimes it is more interesting to prepare the conditions so that the next day the player can collect a large amount of fruit.
Each of the three main characters can be controlled individually, which leaves Pikmin 3 Deluxe a very dynamic game. During the approximately 15 hours of gameplay, the player will often be forced to put a character on some task, while, in another place, he solves puzzles with another character. This was already possible in Pikmin 2 (released for GameCube and Nintendo Wii), but in Pikmin 3 Deluxe the addition of a third “commander” considerably increases the complexity of the proposed challenges.
The visuals are worth mentioning in Pikmin 3 Deluxe. When released on the Wii U in 2013, Pikmin 3 was already a highly praised game for its graphics. For the new version, Nintendo has chosen to keep the same screen resolution and frame rate, which is 720p on television and 576p when in handheld mode, and in any case the game runs at 30 frames per second.
It may not seem like much, after all a game over seven years old is not running in Full HD. However, still Pikmin 3 Deluxe It's a beautiful game, and its art style makes the visuals look undated, even in 2020. Despite the resolution, improvements have been made, with changes to various textures, which have gained higher quality compared to the Wii U version. from that, Pikmin 3 Deluxe has more vivid colors, with the green of the vegetation so bright that it looked like it was running with HDR enabled — the Nintendo Switch does not support this technology, note.
The entire Pikmin series takes place with the characters in contact with nature (albeit in a fantasy environment, although similar to the real one), and the fanciful visuals of Pikmin and space travelers merge with the realism of environments with foliage, sand, puddles of water, etc. The result is a very beautiful game, albeit on the platform with the least graphic power of the generation.
As for the frame rate, it is worth mentioning that Pikmin 3 Deluxe remains constant at 30 frames per second, without the occasional drops of the original version, for the Wii U. The performance is maintained even when the game is in multiplayer, which may explain Nintendo's decision not to increase the game's resolution.
Speaking of multiplayer, the option is present throughout the campaign, with a second player being able to join or leave at any time for cooperative play. The novelty has been expected since the second title in the series and now, finally available, only adds to the fun.
deluxe edition
Happily, Pikmin 3 Deluxe brings improvements that go beyond visual and performance improvements and the addition of a multiplayer mode. Veteran players will likely notice that the Pikmin's artificial intelligence has been considerably improved in the new version.
In the three main titles in the series, it was common for the player to lose some Pikmin along the way, or the little creatures did not do the intended activity. Now in Pikmin 3 Deluxe the little colored ones stay closer to the player, which makes it difficult to lose them. Also, Pikmin respond more quickly when called upon — another factor that bothered them in previous games.
Piklopedia, a kind of encyclopedia present in Pikmin 2, cataloged every plant and creature in the game. Pikmin 3, for the Wii U, despite having a character specializing in botany, did not have the function. Pikmin 3 Deluxe, fortunately, brought back the catalog.
The function is useful for the more casual player, as it allows the description of important elements for the game, as well as enemy weak points and how many Pikmin are needed to carry it. With a quick look at Piklopedia, the player can save a lot of time when charging against any creature in the game.
As in Luigi's Mansion 3, Pikmin 3 Deluxe has its own system of achievements, called medals. Such a system is not common in Nintendo games, and does not affect anything in the game, but players who like to perform specific tasks will be happy with the various options present in the game.
To unlock all achievements, the player will have to complete the game's story at least twice, as the hardest difficulty mode is only unlocked after completing it once.
Different difficulty modes is also an addition to Pikmin 3 Deluxe. The “hard” mode is the mode present in the original game. The novelties are the “easy” mode, for players who want to focus on exploration, with no time limit, and the “ultra-spicy” mode, in which the location of enemies is modified and there is a limit of only 60 Pikmin on the map. Ideal for those who want a good challenge.
Adapted controls
When Pikmin 3 Deluxe was announced for the Nintendo Switch, one concern from fans was how the controls would be adapted. After all, considering this is a point and interact game, the Wii Remote, the controller used on the Nintendo Wii and Wii U, seemed like the perfect option, and other controls on the Wii U and GameCube required a long learning curve.
Fortunately, the Nintendo Switch adaptation shouldn't be a cause for concern for any longtime fans of the series. The Joy-Cons work almost like a Wii Remote, and even the Pro Controller has motion sensor support, which lets you direct the pointer with ease.
In addition, there is now the possibility to lock the cursor on a target, so the player can launch Pikmin quickly and without worrying about imprecise movements of the controls. This mechanic even makes the Switch version the most enjoyable to play so far.
To complete the package
Happily, Pikmin 3 Deluxe is not restricted to its campaign, and there is room for some additional modes that should give players good hours. These are modes with quick matches, but which grant missions that put the player's management skills to the test.
In challenge modes, the player is given a limited time to, on a limited map, hunt for treasure, defeat creatures or face bosses already defeated in story mode. At the end of each match, the player's score goes into an online ranking so that it can be compared to other people's scores.
These challenge missions were already present on the Wii U, but most of them had to be purchased separately. In Pikmin 3 Deluxe, all content already released for the game is included in the package.
The game also has an exclusively competitive multiplayer mode (for up to two people), Bingo Battle. In it, each player receives a card of items to capture. Whoever manages to form a sequence of four items (horizontally, vertically or diagonally) from their own card wins. This mode is guaranteed fun!
new side story
during the history of Pikmin 3 Deluxe, two characters — Olimar and Louie — appear and play a key role in the conclusion of events. However, little is said about what happened to the protagonists of the first two games.
Happily, Pikmin 3 Deluxe contains an additional side story to the original game. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite go as expected — an adventure like the main campaign.
In this new mode, the player (or players, as it can also be played in co-op multiplayer for up to two people) controls Olimar and Louie through challenge-style stages (capture treasure, defeat enemies or rescue ship parts in time). The story unfolds through dialogues before and after each mission.
Despite being interesting and fun, the best way to tell a story would be through a mode similar to the main campaign, albeit shorter — mainly because the intention is to fill in unexplained spaces in the story of Pikmin 3 Deluxe.
It's not bad, but it's also not so good as to justify more challenge missions, since there are already a good amount of them in the game.
Fun from start to finish
Pikmin is a series like no other in the entire video game industry. It shares the genre with classic video games, but has unique characteristics and carries Nintendo's signature.
Pikmin 3 Deluxe it's a lot of fun, with refined gameplay and plenty of content to entertain for more than a dozen hours, or two dozen even for experienced players. It is a “hidden gem” for the Wii U and is now available to a wide range of players on Nintendo Switch.
If you can, give this unique experience a chance, as the downside of Pikmin 3 Deluxe is that the game is over. Game much more than recommended!
Pikmin 3 Deluxe can be found for R$299 at Americanas, in digital gift card format, and can be paid in up to 12 interest-free installments on the card.
Analysis produced with digital copy provided by Nintendo.
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