With a rather puny library of games and disappointing quarterly sales, it would be a vast understatement to call the Wii U’s first year a rocky start. While the Nintendo consoles lineup will prove to pick up steam later this year, the console’s “killer app” might already be here in the form of “Pikmin 3.”
Developed by legendary game wizard Shigeru Miyamoto (Mario, Zelda, etc.) and hotly anticipated for years, “Pikmin 3” is the kind of polished, unique and engaging experience the Wii U desperately needed, the kind of truly enthralling adventure that sucks you into its world like few other games in its class.
The game centers on three space explorers (Alph, Brittany and Charlie) who venture to the fictional planet PNF-404 on a quest to find food for their home planet of Koppai. There, they gather hoards of tiny, vegetable-like creatures known as pikmin and use them to gather fruit, fight intimidating beasts and locate lost ship parts to ensure a safe, and fully stocked, trip home.
Fans of the series will feel right at home with “Pikmin 3,” as the core mechanics of the game really haven’t changed. For those who are uninitiated, “Pikmin 3” is essentially a strategy game with a unique adventure/puzzling twist. Players are required to complete a variety of tasks within a set time limit each day, from building bridges and gathering fruits to fighting giant bosses and hauling their dead carcasses, utilizing a variety of pikmin with different abilities and weaknesses.
It sounds quite hectic, especially with your daily clock ticking away at all times, but the beauty of “Pikmin 3” is the way it gives players the freedom to play at their own pace. Though there’s some linearity in the way you discover new areas and pikmin species, you ultimately decide your daily goals and objectives. If you want to spend a day just building up your pikmin army, that’s fine. If you want to take on some of the toughest bosses right off the bat, more power to you.
This is helped by the fact that, unlike the first game, there is no limit to days you can play. As long as you can store up enough rations based on the fruit you collect, you can play as many days as you desire. This really makes “Pikmin 3” a unique experience for anyone who plays it. Your day 20 could be entirely different from someone else’s, and while I took my time and took about 50 days to complete the game, more competitive players can easily achieve all the same in about 30.
Also, unlike other Pikmin games, “Pikmin 3” offers three playable protagonists that can be split up into three teams, allowing you to manage your time and complete tasks in all new ways. I’ll admit, I mostly kept my team together, save for some level-based puzzles that required a split team. However, if you’re clever enough and up for the challenge to multitask, you’d be amazed how quickly and more efficiently you can get things done.
Yet I would suggest taking your time because the detailed world of “Pikmin 3” is truly something to explore. Filled with a variety of lush, garden-like locales, “Pikmin 3” has environments that are as vibrant, expansive and as intimate as they get. Each one of the five unique locales are endlessly explorable, and you’ll often find yourself returning to old areas again and again to search areas you missed the first time, allowing you to really grow into each level as it unravels further and further before you.
These lush environments would be nothing without the wildlife that populates them. It’s safe to say that “Pikmin 3” has some of the most bizarrely designed creatures ever seen in a video game. Miyamoto has always been one of the most imaginative minds in gaming when he wants to be, and the variety of monsters here are a perfect example of this. While even the most insignificant of beasts will grab your attention, it’s the beautifully designed boss creatures – which include everything from a giant, crystal-plated worm to a neon-lit beast, to a freaking island with legs – that will leave you truly dazzled.
Of course, the level and character design is made all the more impressive thanks to the game’s beautiful HD graphics. I wouldn’t say that “Pikmin 3” is the most impressive looking game on the market, as it does occasionally lag during some busier moments, but the game is still undeniably beautiful and feels like the perfect kind of game to show off the Wii U’s graphical capabilities early on.
Some of the most interesting things about “Pikmin 3,” however, are the pikmin themselves. With the ability to grow as many as you please, it seems like the little pikmin would operate mostly as disposable currency. Although it’s hard not to feel bad when watching a pikmin get eaten by a monster or drown in the water, and even harder when you leave them behind at night to their demise. While losing a few might be a worthwhile trade for victory, I dare you not to restart a day after losing a large group all at once, with their ghostly bodies and sad cries further cementing your mistake.
“Pikmin 3” offers multiple control schemes. While the game is for a console that sports a very unique touchpad controller, I found using the Wii-Mote and Nunchuk controls preferable. The controller’s motion controls come in handy for pointing at the screen and making commands.
Aside from that, I feel that the game could have taken more advantage of its touchpad controller, though it does come with a unique and helpful map function which allows you to plan your day out easily.
The lasting appeal of the game depends on what kind of player you are, as some people will clear through the game much faster than others. Whether you beat the game in ten hours or 20, the overall experience is engaging and densely packed enough to make it a worthwhile for your time. And for those who crave more, the game offers a challenging mission mode for those in need of an extra challenge, and a unique and quite fun bingo mode to play with friends.
Overall, “Pikmin 3” is easily your best reason to own a Wii U this early in its lifespan. It has enough charm, challenge, and imagination to satisfy even the most hardcore of gamers. If you own a Wii U currently, I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t be playing this game. In fact, if you’re reading this review and are one of those people, put this paper down right now and buy it. I mean right now.
PHOTO TAKEN from wiiudaily.com
