Pikmin 3 Deluxe edition: A well rounded co-op take of a charming time / worker placement strategy game

 

Now, for those who haven’t played pikmin before, at first appearance Pikmin 3, with it’s cute design, young age rating and glistening fruit, appears to be a game for children that you could easily overlook. And potentially without MSQ Mings previous knowledge of the series, having been bought the original by his Mom for Christmas many years ago, we also may have thought the same and brushed passed it when looking for another game to play on switch in the Nintendo E-store. However, I’m awfully glad we did not. 

 

Pikmin 3 has a fairly simple story arch that follows on from its previous titles seamlessly, all the while without you needing to have any previous knowledge of them! 

 

You play as a crew of 3 astronauts from a distant planet Koppai, where due to greed & wastefulness, they have run out of all food & ways to cultivate the planet. 

As a result, you and your teammates have been sent out here to try and obtain more fruit to bring back to your planet and ensure your planet can continue to be fed.

 

 

 

 

As you come in for landing on this planet seemingly full to the brim of discarded edible vegetation (a place that looks rather similar to earth, albeit a sort of microscopic view of it that makes puddles and tiny streams look like vast rivers and oceans), your ship crashes and your team gets separated. You first land as Captain Charlie, who then discovers there little creatures - called Pikmin- who he can command with whistles & simply chuck them at fruit or monsters to destroy. 

You have to work with these little creatures to clear paths of monsters, build bridges, clear walls & solve puzzles in order to safely reconvene with your shipmates & collect enough fruit to then bring home to your planet. 

Along the way, you find useful hints and information through Captain Olimar's data files - a throw to the previous titles of the series, as well as discover more types of Pikmin who are capable of carrying out different items, from rock Pikmin who can smash the crystals that stand in your way, to red Pikmin who are resistant to fire and so on. 

 

The other key aspect of gameplay is that you have to grow your Pikmin supplies through collecting pellets out of flowers and gathering enemy bodies to then use to feed the ‘onion’ (the home for your Pikmin) in order to produce more. Furthermore, each ‘day’ is limited to approximately 13 minutes in time, and if by the end of the day you haven’t collected all missing Pikmin you sent out on jobs, you see your adorable little comrades brutally killed (well as brutal as it can be for a PEGI 3 rated game)  by the nocturnal predators. 

 

The story of Pikmin 3 deluxe & a large proportion of the puzzles it presents goes for the most part unchanged to it’s 2013 counterpart, Pikmin 3 for the Wii U, however, it boasts a wide range of side missions, puzzles, challenges & badges to collect, expanding the game play time by a good few hours. However, the key item to consider when looking at base game length, is the replay-ability of the main story to beat previous scores in both time and numbers of dead Pikmin. This is where really the strategies around worker tasking and placement, as well as team work development and planning really come into play, as you then aim to clear an area that once took you 3 days to do in 2 or less.

 

Myself and @MSQ Ming have enjoyed playing Pikmin in a split screen mode together, and @MSQ Ming summarized his experience as “I really enjoyed the added dynamics of Pikmin 3 by making it 2 player. It added an aspect of cooperation and teamwork that the other versions of Pikmin are lacking.”

 

Despite its slightly heftier cost (Currently in the Nintendo eShop for £49.99 / $60.00) I would say, if you are looking for a strategic and fun co-op game to enjoy and play with your family and friends this autumn, then do pick up a copy and give it a go!