Pikmin 3 Is (still) An Overlooked Masterpiece

A look at the greatest Wii U game ever released

Click here if you want to help support what I do:

00:00 Intro
00:45 Presentation and Mechanics
11:16 Areas and Bosses
20:55 Conclusion

#pikmin #pikmin3 #pikmin3deluxe

[lasercraft]

The Quagled Mireclops is by far the most visually imposing boss in the series. Even though its deceptively less dangerous than it looks, it just _feels_ like a force of nature rather than a regular animal. The way its attacks literally change the terrain and create pockets of water that are deadly to all Pikmin except Blues and Wings... Its tongue attack is terrifying, and it feels alien. There's no other Pikmin boss quite like it.

[aidankocherhans]

Honestly, the side modes alone are enough to make this my favorite pikmin game. Tackling the challenge mode stages repeatedly to get faster and faster times is super fun and satisfying, and bingo battle is my favorite multiplayer side mode in any game. A majority of the time I've spent with the game was outside the story mode

[barelyhere]

I like how short the game is. Makes it really replayable however I do think it should’ve had one more area. You get blue pikmin so late in the game that you really don’t even get to do anything with them. There was actually an entire area that was cut from the game that you were supposed to go to before the formidable oak

[hadesKIU]

I haven't played Pikmin 4, but I assume this holds true for it, too.

There's no other series of games I've played that embodies "comparison is the thief of joy" quite like Pikmin.
Every game is different enough that to compare them to one another only hurts the player. I see them as the same "family" but if I try to compare them to each other, I just feel worse about all of them.
Pikmin 1 is designed to be this intimate experience that, to me, lets you get in-tune with the world and it's character. The ability to speedrun it mechanically is just a bonus in my opinion.
Pikmin 2 is designed to be this larger than life task - not necessarily a whimsical adventure, but one where it's big enough that you still want to take your time - like a moving trip. It's such a huge undertaking that speeding through is to wallow in defeat, but despite it's unfun premise it still brings out a memorable and satisfying, experience seeing this large project come together.
Pikmin 3 is like a fun business trip - there are beautiful sights to see (courtesy of its superior graphics), but the power is in your hands. You make more decisions than ever, with contentious "best combat types" (before it was reds, yellows with bombs, and for 2, purples. Now it could be reds for higher damage, rocks for their specific use cases, or wings for their spicy spray synergy and versatility against water) and the management of three captains with more control over them than ever before. The stakes are the highest, but you're not alone and you know that you can succeed even if the numbers aren't initially on your side. You had "help" in 2, but that was more "2 people doing their own that happen to share a goal" (emphasized by the fact that every character's text, while chock-full of sald character, is self contained, with nobody interacting with each other 95% of the time. Even everyone had separate motivations, with Olimar just trying to get the job done for the sake of rest, Louie being there out of obligation by Chacho and other mysterious motivations, and Chacho's sole motive being cash money. Also your help was either Louie and greed incarnate, so... Is it _really_ help?). Now, everyone interacts with each other both in story and in gameplay, with the same ultimate motivation. It won't last long in the grand scheme of things and isn't always the most intimate, but it's tightly knit and a story worth telling nonetheless.

Pikmin 1's intimacy contrasts with 2's cold unpersonability (in a good way). 2's scope contrasts with 3's focus. 3's community and beauty contrasts with 1's solitude and simplicity.
To compare each game is to ignore their unique, incompatible strengths, leaving you with their "weaknesses" that are only flaws under a universal standard. The sum lf Pikmin's parts are ironically (in a good way) better than the package as a whole.

[theghostwiththemost]

I absolutely love pikmin 3. The story mode is short and sweet just like the first games making it infinitely replayable. I especially love the bosses. All of them are these massive spectacles and I love it and they’re all super fun to fight. And bingo battle is incredible. Bingo battle could literally become its own spin off series. That’s how good it is

[michaelr]

"Wings are the worst at combat"
Spicy spray would like to have a word with you

[lasercraft]

The complaint of Pikmin 3 being short is invalid because Pikmin 1 (often regarded as the best game in the series) is also incredibly short. Pikmin 3's length combined with its somewhat easy difficulty also makes it a nice relaxing game to replay when you just want to chill and play some Pikmin without the stress of having to have maximum Dandori (but if you like maximizing your Dandori skills, its also great to speedrun, and the Challenge Mode has the most potent Dandori challenges in the series if you're going for platinum).

[thefizzwizz]

Pikmin 3 is by far my favorite of the games. I do love Pikmin 1 and I really enjoyed Pikmin 4 when it came out. The less I say about Pikmin 2 the better...

Imo, Pikmin 3 is a refined, less janky, more streamlined and evolved upon execution of both 1 and 2. I do think 4 took a few small steps back but it very key aspects so to me, 3 is that perfect little middle ground and fun, exciting and puzzling.

[geoffingoff]

Despite its greater content, I was actually really disappointed by how Pikmin 4 forwent Pikmin 3's sense of cinema for smaller, more generic/repetitive bosses. I also really preferred Pikmin 3's story to 4's actually. Overpopulating PNF-404 really broke the lonely feeling of exploring a foreign planet for me, the timelines became really confusing, and I didn't care at all about the dogs which felt very shoehorned in. (Just make Nintendogs Switch if you want to make bank on canine cuteness, Nintendo!) While you're right the characters could've been deeper in 3, I thought there was a lot of exciting mystery and intrigue as these new characters pursued Olimar only to encounter such a bizarre and inexplicable creature. If they just could have managed to keep in the cut level where you were supposed to discover blue Pikmin, I think Pikmin 3 would get a lot more of the respect it deserves as one of the best (or in my opinion, the best) in the series.

[enderallygolem]

"The plasm wraith forces you to use different kinds of pikmin types"

> Shows clip of using all rocks

[misterclubs]

i agree full heartedly, first pikmin game and my favorite for 10 years

[thesmoldragon]

Never played it but really want to try it

[UphillBridge]

I love this game too, definitely going into my top 1 games tier list

[OChunks]

I believe you, but as a Pikmin beginner I'm still perfectly content having played 4 and have no interest in playing 3.

[NkoKirkto]

Also the Frutiger Aero Esque aesthetic is by far the best of the entire series. And im so sad Pikmin 4 butcherd it.

[mcgogyDKCR]

to be fair, out of 1, 2, and 3, I enjoyed Pikmin 1 the most and Pikmin 2 the least

[hoverdam]

(Scratching his balls and sniffing his finger three times)

[static]

I have to personally disagree, it’s to easy and short compared to the other games. It gets a lot of things right like the big areas, multi tasking, and new pikmin. But i can’t stand the charge mechanic instantly killing enemies in 2 seconds, there’s no challenge till the end at the forbidden oak. I like the time limit added back but it’s almost irrelevant if you know what to do. It gets a lot of things wrong and right but i’d hardly call it a masterpiece. You do you though.