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Pre-Release Pikmin 4 — Pre-release Discussion (UPDATE: "Your First Expedition with Pikmin" trailer, see threadmarks)

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sanstea said:
I love the noseless dog-thing. Looks exactly like a dog in the Pikmin universe would look.
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IDK. Looks kind of wrong to me. Mammal-looking beings in Pikmin are extraordinarily rare, I think 3's Amprat was just the first one. And to make the second one look like a dog... that's a miss for me.
 
With the tragic return of CAVES in pikmin 4, should I give another shot at pikmin 2?
I loved pikmin 1 and 3 but I always disliked pikmin 2. But if this game is taking some inspiration from it should I bite the bullet and finally beat pikmin 2 in preparation?
 
Síriocaz said:
IDK. Looks kind of wrong to me. Mammal-looking beings in Pikmin are extraordinarily rare, I think 3's Amprat was just the first one. And to make the second one look like a dog... that's a miss for me.
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I mean, you're ignoring some major mammal-looking beings in Pikmin, even if they aren't native to PNF-404
 
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slide's said:
can we go inside the house...
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We better do. There is a funny boxart mock-up of Pikmin 3 that shows a cat (a big one) overlooking Olimar and a bunch of working Pikmin. I wonder if they did something remotely similar for this entry.
 
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The ice Pikmin does feel a little bit "fan created" but I'm sure it's gonna spice things up mechanically.

I also wonder if this just takes place entirely in a back yard? Or perhaps it's just one level. Also feel it might be more similar to Pikmin 1 story wise given the big crashed ship that seems to be there.
 
Kartina said:
With the tragic return of CAVES in pikmin 4, should I give another shot at pikmin 2?
I loved pikmin 1 and 3 but I always disliked pikmin 2. But if this game is taking some inspiration from it should I bite the bullet and finally beat pikmin 2 in preparation?
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I think Pikmin 2's the best in the series and one of the best games ever made. But you need to approach it differently to 1 and 3. Engage with stuff like the encyclopedia (especially Olimar's descriptions of the monsters/treasures and Louie's recipes). The caves have their own charm, they remove the time management aspect and instead allow you to break things down bit by bit, which I prefer tbh. If you still have a Wii, play that version instead of the Gamecube one, the Wiimote + Nunchuk is the definitive way to play Pikmin IMO, it just works so well.

Definitely give it another go
 
JorgenRaft said:
The ice Pikmin does feel a little bit "fan created" but I'm sure it's gonna spice things up mechanically.

I also wonder if this just takes place entirely in a back yard? Or perhaps it's just one level. Also feel it might be more similar to Pikmin 1 story wise given the big crashed ship that seems to be there.
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I don't think everything's gonna be in the backyard. This was the first proper trailer and Nintendo loves holding things back for a second trailer. Metroid Dread is a prime example for this
 
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Ok, after the trailer, I can officially say I'm really, REALLY hyped.

A couple of things I think are worth saying.

  • I think the dog will be implemented somewhat like a puzzle solving tool where, even if you don't have Pikmin, the player can accomplish some tasks as long as they can control the dog well. Think of it sort of like your base "tools" in Breath of the Wild, just less powerful since the dog wouldn't be all you need to accomplish your tasks. Or the wall mechanic in ALBW, where it's not an item but just something you have that you can use. I think this kind of thing Nintendo is doing where they add a "base mechanic" that acts as an equilibrium is great.
  • I think the dogs design is so close to being perfect, it's almost kind of triggering. I think in a way its "cutseyness" is supposed to be almost uncanny, sort of similar to Breadbugs or Bulbmin. But it just barely misses the mark imo, and worse its lack of a nose actually makes it not too cute either. Oh well! It doesn't offend me either.
  • As someone who started with 3 Deluxe and played 1 and 2 for the first time recently, I'm really, really cautious about the caves. Pikmin 2 was by far the worst. Yes I know it's divisive to say that but w/e. That being said, I trust Nintendo to do it right this time. I hope they don't just course correct by making the caves easy though if they are a major feature - bland environments and a general sameness was a big problem in them as well.
  • I wish I made a thread of what I wanted Pikmin 4 to be like because I literally thought night mode replacing caves as the harder levels would be a great idea. Well, it looks like we're getting both, but I'm still excited!
  • I can't believe it's releasing so soon!
  • I think it's really, really cool how ... different this game looks from the others. I kind of thought Pikmin would end up being one of Nintendo's more iterative series, which I was happy with, but worried about since you could easily ruin it if you don't take the right lessons from game to game. But now, honestly, with 4 looking so different from all the others, on top of 2 being different and 3 having a very different vibe from 1 ... I don't know, it's nice to know that this will be a freseh experience. I still hope it takes the best parts from the previous games, but it's cool that it won't replace what they offer, either, even if I do want some refinement.
 
The Pikmin 2 callbacks worry me, Pikmin 2 is a game that I like because I think the core of Pikmin is strong enough on its own, because honestly almost everything that the game introduced is what brings the game down for me. Now they could take the elements from 2 and make them good this time around, but that is up in the air.

It seems that now the point is to rescue survivors from that bigger ship? I hope that there is a time element with them, like they have X days before they are killed off if you don't rescue them.
 
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The thing about caves is that they are a cool idea, but Pikmin 2 overused them to the point that ~70% of the game was spent underground. I hope Nintendo understands that the core of Pikmin gameplay is exploring above ground and leaves the caves as fun diversions to add variety.
 
My 2 cents : the MC (pink girl) is actually a silent, user created avatar. The fact she never speaks in the trailer and all dialogues are from the npc makes me suspicious.
You will be able to play co-op with other player avatars.
Also Nintendo likes to push female avatars as default character in their games with no fix protag.
Game looks super promising
 
I love that it looks like night gameplay is finally in, I've been suggesting that for so long. Being able to choose to stay after night and fight harder enemies introduces a cool risk reward system.
 
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Trailer started off incredibly with that slowly revealed sense of size and place - and overall I just can't wait for this game. I can already tell I'll love it.

But I didn't like the dog at all, and am just a bit suspicious of the return of Pikmin 2 caves. Pikmin 2 is the black sheep of the series for me. The dog just doesn't fit in with the tiny army of pikmin you have following you, and doesn't have that "naturalistic" design most pikmin creatures have - looks more like a cartoon character. Ice Pikmin looked wonderful though.

Also, that first level they showed looked shockingly "open" for a Pikmin level. Lots of empty space to maneuver around in. I wonder if that's just for the first or tutorial area or if that's a new level design paradigm. They may have found that navigating tight spaces with pikmin was tricky for some players but that's what added most of the challenge.

On the negative side, this is definitely a game that makes me regret that we never got a Switch Pro or that the Switch 2 isn't here yet. Pikmin 3 was 10 years ago, and yet this doesn't look like any kind of generational jump visually. Sure, part of that was because Pikmin 3 was stunningly gorgeous (seriously), but that's a long time. Pikmin is one of those rare Nintendo games that really relies on a bit of graphical horsepower - as you have tons of tiny beings running around (so high resolution is useful, and low IQ noticeable) and you're looking a large textures up close a lot. It's just hard not to be a bit disppointed by the graphical fidelity in 2023.
 
I like Oatchi's design.

It's got some thematic continuity with the round, spotted torso (furry bulborb) but is immediately enough of a visual break that it's obviously an ally

Being able to quickly read a chaotic scene (e.g. mother Bulborb in the trailer) and know exactly where Oatchi is, will be really helpful and is surely part of their thinking
 
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The game doesn't seem to generate much hype among enthusiasts but I have a feeling it will be big in Japan. 3DX already sold 1 or close to 1 million there. It also seems to be popular among female audience and the female MC makes me think Nintendo is trying to reach that audience even more.
My guess is it could do 1,5 or 2 millions in Japan alone.
 
I have never really considered myself a pikmin fan, but I won’t lie after watching that trailer I might have been convinced.
 
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ACTUALLY WAIT

Pikmin 3 release on Wii U was July 13th 2013 yeah. BUT. The EU release was on July 26th and the NA on August 4th. So Pikmin is not really on 10 years without mainline game.
 
The new camera angle makes me perceive graphics as the same as 3 but I'm sure that's not the case. It seems OG camera will be an option / view to toggle to? A natural evolution of Pikmin 3's more cinematic moments

Also that main character SCREAMS customizable to me

is it 60fps?
 
Did anyone mention that big number 1 sign in the scene with the big alien like spider boss? It's weird cause your ship part is right there and the exit, which I assume is in the background, is also close by. It almost looks like a boss rush mode but idk. I'm probably looking too much into it lmfao.
 
totofogo said:
The new camera angle makes me perceive graphics as the same as 3 but I'm sure that's not the case. It seems OG camera will be an option / view to toggle to? A natural evolution of Pikmin 3's more cinematic moments

Also that main character SCREAMS customizable to me

is it 60fps?
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Ehh, don't think so.
 
Síriocaz said:
IDK. Looks kind of wrong to me. Mammal-looking beings in Pikmin are extraordinarily rare, I think 3's Amprat was just the first one. And to make the second one look like a dog... that's a miss for me.
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I mean, given the fact that Otachi (doggy) beams up with the Space Pod rather than the Onion, I think the fact that Otachi doesn't look like a P-404 resident is kind of the point. I believe it's from whatever planet our explorers are from and that's why it looks out of place...because it is.
 
Hocot8 said:
Did anyone mention that big number 1 sign in the scene with the big alien like spider boss? It's weird cause your ship part is right there and the exit, which I assume is in the background, is also close by. It almost looks like a boss rush mode but idk. I'm probably looking too much into it lmfao.
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Interesting. Maybe the boss contains more parts, which is why they're fighting it? Also, it seems to be in some kind of garage.

Oatchi is genius btw. A dog without a nose is the most Pikmin thing ever
 
This looks sick though. The night before the Direct I saw a shooting star and made a wish for Pikmin 4 to show up in the Direct, and of course it was the first thing to be shown off lol

Some interesting things:
-Ice Pikmin look like snowman, I wonder if there is a lore reason for that
-Also Ice Pikmin seem to not leave a corpse behind when they defeat an enemy which is a nice trade-off
-The 2 boss fights shown looked amazing, and quite challenging as well
-Were the Pikmin in the middle dancing during the disco longlegs fight?
-I wonder what the big rocket and castaways were about
-Purple, White, Flying, Rock and the 3 main types are all shown on the box art. Could they all be playable? Pikmin 3 had all playable types on the box art
-The intro theme was gorgeous, I think it's the main theme for this game, as it has a similar vibe to Pikmin 3s main theme
 
DenkeyKong said:
Interesting. Maybe the boss contains more parts, which is why they're fighting it? Also, it seems to be in some kind of garage.

Oatchi is genius btw. A dog without a nose is the most Pikmin thing ever
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Yeah it was just something weird to me that stood out right away.
 
I really hope there isn’t just one playable Captain. The multitasking with three characters was so good in Pikmin 3.
 
Heron said:
On the negative side, this is definitely a game that makes me regret that we never got a Switch Pro or that the Switch 2 isn't here yet. Pikmin 3 was 10 years ago, and yet this doesn't look like any kind of generational jump visually. Sure, part of that was because Pikmin 3 was stunningly gorgeous (seriously), but that's a long time. Pikmin is one of those rare Nintendo games that really relies on a bit of graphical horsepower - as you have tons of tiny beings running around (so high resolution is useful, and low IQ noticeable) and you're looking a large textures up close a lot. It's just hard not to be a bit disppointed by the graphical fidelity in 2023.
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I'd go a step further and even say 3 doesn't look that great as a Switch game. As someone who never played it on Wii U and was very excited to finally play the game, I was fully prepared to consider it one of the best looking Switch games but ... weirdly enough I think it's a game that really benefits from Youtube compression? Like it looks so clear and clean and then you actually play the game and the low res textures in environments are VERY noticeable.

Like I'm sure 4 will look great and be one of the better looking Switch games, but it's honestly surprising how little of a priority they've put behind ground textures that look good in HD. It made sense for 3 because it probably pushed the Wii U, but it's a little surprising in all this time they didn't take time to reflect on that with 4, especially with the new camera angle being a big focus.
 
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With purples and whites seemingly back in the spotlight again, I wonder if the ice Pikmin will also be cave exclusives as far as producing.
 
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Considering we haven't seen Ice & Blue Pikmin together yet, I'm gonna take a guess the Blue's somehow transform into Ice temporarily, maybe for the remainder of the day? Following the same thought process I'm going to guess the Yellow Pikmin will have a transformation into Light Pikmin, which will aid in the Night mode somehow.
 
From what I've seen so far I prefer the aesthetics of Pikmin 3, specifically the onion, the spaceship, the environments and the collectables. On the other hand, I like the obstacles better in Pikmin 4 and the camera also seems better.
 
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psilex said:
Considering we haven't seen Ice & Blue Pikmin together yet, I'm gonna take a guess the Blue's somehow transform into Ice temporarily, maybe for the remainder of the day? Following the same thought process I'm going to guess the Yellow Pikmin will have a transformation into Light Pikmin, which will aid in the Night mode somehow.
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It would be pretty cool if you're right about this. What would red pikmin become?
 
I think it's more likely that the footage of ice Pikmin was at a point in the story before you find the blue Pikmin since they're the last you find every time anyways.
 
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I know that Otachi is a gamechanger but I'm kinda bummed it seems like Ice is the only new Pikmin type. Other than that I'm super excited. Caves are cool but they need to be incorporated more naturally and sparingly into the game progression. I like the new characters better than 3. Also, I really hope night time isn't just a side mode, but incorporated into the campaign as well. Definitely going to play this solo first, but if there is a co-op mode (I know, it should be a given but this is Nintendo). Also hoping this game is more meaty than 3. It doesn't need to be as long as 2 though.

slide's said:
can we go inside the house...
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This is all I was thinking about during that shot, everyone else seemed more focused on the little fuzzies.
 
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