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Pikmin 3 |OT| Starvation, Slavery, and Savage Creatures in a Cute, Colorful Package

been really busy but got in a few hours had to stop before Day 4

game looks better than I expected wow

Also the areas are shaped like countries? I hope that is not a spoiler because I love maps so
Australia's shape jumped out at me easily but the first area is a puzzle maybe Portugal+Spain?

so far I am leaving single pikmin behind not sure how I lose track of the singles but it annoys me
 

Kai

Member
Bought it this morning and played about 9 hours today (wife was not happy with me).

Nintendo makes amazing games man...

Wii U with Lego City, Pikmin 3 and Mario 3D World this year makes me happy I bought this system (gonna pick up W101, Sonic & Zelda WW HD as well).

Nintendo 1st party games just have this magic that I can't explain. NSMB U was great and the DLC was well worth the price.

Pikmin 3 itself just feels so euphoric - Miyamoto strikes again...
 
Beat it yesterday, almost exclusively with the gamepad itself. Took me a little over 15 hours with a solid 20 pieces of fruit to go.

Impressions:
- This game felt more micro-management-y than the previous entries in the series. I assume it's because of the GO HERE command and the extra captains.
- The ease of replaying days was welcome and I used it a lot, but I'm not sure if it was the best design choice. I noticed I did practice runs of almost every day and could undo "bad" days just as quickly. The older games made you commit to your mistakes more, which made exploration and mistakes feel more important.
- Really liked the boss encounters. It took me a while to understand that bringing armies of 100 was not always the best idea. Once I figured it out, I could do most bosses with relative ease. The two flying bosses were my favourites. I also saw a big hairy one over a lake early on in the game, but I didn't engage it yet.
- The new captains were fun. They had some decent scenes and having three of them just felt very convenient. When I was exploring I usually left one captain near the ship so (s)he could easily return any pikmin that came to drop something off. I usually had another captain on pellet-farming duty, while the third one would explore or hunt.
- Louie is an asshole. I hope they are putting him behind bars when they return to their planet.
- I didn't like the ending. I guess I should say I didn't like the entire sequence from the oak to the credits if I want to be accurate. The final boss came out of nowhere, had very specific goals, but pretty much nothing about it was explained. Then when it was killed, everyone bolted off the planet, abandoning the Pikmin without even saying goodbye and then you get several glimpses of the final boss still being alive. Does this ending change depending on the amount of fruit or datalogs you found?
Overall I'd say I had a good time with this and will probably go collect the remaining collectables that I have missed.
 

Yagharek

Member
Just now coming up for air after a 6-7 hour binge. Such a great a game, like many have said, it's been awhile since a game has captivated me this long for the first session (being summer doesn't hurt either). Leave it to Nintendo though to do it!

I'm sad that I'm already more than halfway done, but finding all the fruit should last some more time. Anyone know if there is a point of no return? Does it warn you at all? If not, should I just stay clear of the final 5th area, and get everything else elsewhere.

Back to it :)

No point of no return as far as I know. I'm currently up to the final bit and can still revisit the other areas.
 

kubus

Member
Anyone know if there is a point of no return? Does it warn you at all? If not, should I just stay clear of the final 5th area, and get everything else elsewhere.
No point of no return as far as I know. I'm currently up to the final bit and can still revisit the other areas.
Once the credits have rolled, and you save, you can only replay your last day and/or from an earlier day. So I suggest you collect everything before you start the last area.
 

flc

Member
Also the areas are shaped like countries? I hope that is not a spoiler because I love maps so
Australia's shape jumped out at me easily but the first area is a puzzle maybe Portugal+Spain?

Yeah, they're countries.
Second area's Australia (minus Tasmania heh). First area is Antarctica, I'm pretty sure.
 

ohlawd

Member
Once the credits have rolled, and you save, you can only replay your last day and/or from an earlier day. So I suggest you collect everything before you start the last area.

Yikes.

Is the save automatic like how it is after a day is done? Guessing yes.
 

kubus

Member
Yikes.

Is the save automatic like how it is after a day is done? Guessing yes.
I think there is a prompt asking you if you want to save once you beat the game. It comes with a warning about it overwriting your save, if I remember correctly.
 

ohlawd

Member
I think there is a prompt asking you if you want to save once you beat the game. It comes with a warning about it overwriting your save, if I remember correctly.

Sure hope it's like that, thanks.

The plan is to beat Pikmin 3 today, play ToX until I beat it twice then go back to Pikmin 3 and get everything.
 

Jackano

Member
Second run and the secret
memos gave me a different code from my first one
.
I guess this will be an ingame new menu after an update that will unlock... something.
Hoping for more content since the storyline about the golden blob and the crashes wasn't explained, and it was even mentioned again in the ending. But I try to keep my expectations low nevertheless.
 

jepense

Member
been really busy but got in a few hours had to stop before Day 4

game looks better than I expected wow

Also the areas are shaped like countries? I hope that is not a spoiler because I love maps so
Australia's shape jumped out at me easily but the first area is a puzzle maybe Portugal+Spain?

so far I am leaving single pikmin behind not sure how I lose track of the singles but it annoys me
Not that the areas themselves are, but on the planet map each area is on a different continental plate. The map corresponds to the expected positions some 250 million years in the future: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv6p48v0meE
 

kubus

Member
Not that the areas themselves are, but on the planet map each area is on a different continental plate. The map corresponds to the expected positions some 250 million years in the future: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv6p48v0meE
Well yeah, probably because Pikmin takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth!

Seems relevant:

EQYNx0f.jpg
 

jepense

Member
Well yeah, probably because Pikmin takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth!

Seems relevant:
Well of course it's post-human Earth, but the map also tells us when! It makes sense it's far future, because it takes time for new species like pikmin to evolve. 250 million years is a long time even still. Pretty durable cell phones and paper bags. ;)
 

Yoshi

Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
You have posted a picture that states the Pikmin are the only awwy things in Pikmin, but what about the red Bulborb? It's so cute, I'd love to have one myself. Also I feel bad for killing them all the time.
 

kubus

Member
You have posted a picture that states the Pikmin are the only awwy things in Pikmin, but what about the red Bulborb? It's so cute, I'd love to have one myself. Also I feel bad for killing them all the time.
Have you played Pikmin 2?

If you haven't...

Your dreams can come true.

270px-Bulbmin_group.jpg
 

kubus

Member
Of course I have :). I always was sad that I had to leave those cute Bulbmin in the caves :(.
Sorry to doubt you ;)

Yeah, Bulbmin's are super cute. I wish there was a Bulbmin plush... They're like the neglected family member of the Pikmin family :(. Even the White and Purple ones made their return in the Mission Mode.

Here's hoping the Secret Memo code will unlock Bulbmin DLC!

Believe.
 

vanty

Member
Yikes.

Is the save automatic like how it is after a day is done? Guessing yes.
After you get the credits and everything you can just replay your last day like any other and do other stuff instead of going to the oak and confirm you want to overwrite your save at the end of the day. Then when you're satisfied with having done everything go back to the oak and beat the boss again for a 100% ending.
 
Pikmin 3 is an awful sequel, but a wonderful game.

This is the conclusion I have now come to.


WOW! i couldn't have put it better myself.
the game is great, especially if you look at it as more of a re-boot.
But as a sequel it's missing so much,
and coming from pikmin 2 (possibly even pikmin 1) the lack of enemy variety is really bad.
 

Copenap

Member
Realised today that I don't have to bring Alph and Co. to the safe zone at night, that's only for Pikmin not in my squad. Mind blown.

Also unfortunately had a hard freeze today... Thought that was fixed.
 

jepense

Member
WOW! i couldn't have put it better myself.
the game is great, especially if you look at it as more of a re-boot.
But as a sequel it's missing so much,
and coming from pikmin 2 (possibly even pikmin 1) the lack of enemy variety is really bad.
I would argue a great sequel isn't afraid to drop things from previous installments for the sake of the whole. Pikmin 3 places much more emphasis on exploration and puzzles than combat compared to 2, and I think it's the better game because of it. It also sems to me even the normal enemies are more dangerous than they used to be so that even when there are fewer encounters, they are more meaningful. (Of course I may just be rusty without the super strong Purples.)

Of course if combat was your favourite part of 2, you would be disappointed.
 
I don't think it's an awful sequel at all. In fact, I think it hews way too close to previous games when it should spread its wings a bit more. Whatever Pikmin 2 did, Pikmin 3 adds +1 to that. Maybe they were afraid they had to capitalize on whatever the existing audience was with this game since it's been so long since the last one.

I would say the game is really iterative, but I wouldn't lob the "good game/awful sequel" label at it yet. That describes things like, say, Chrono Cross (a title I loved).
 

Kai Dracon

Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
I had just replayed NPC Pikmin and Pikmin 2 back to back to prepare for this game. With memories of both fresh, I have to say so far, I prefer Pikmin 3 to both of them.

To me, 3 seems like a conscious attempt to find the core of the game's premise, using elements from 1 and 2 to do that. Pikmin 1 was short and simplistic, but the flow of the game was excellent. Pikmin 2 was sprawling but repetitive, turning into more of an adventure / dungeon crawler than Pikmin. The weird disparity in time between the overworld clock the timeless dungeons was extreme.

3 strikes a really sweet spot for me so far. Far more interesting world than Pikmin 1, and a lot less of a grind than Pikmin 2. Collecting the fruit rather than the hundreds of treasures in Pikmin 2 isn't a downgrade IMO; the fruit are part of the core design with "building" more days ahead.

While they certainly could have layered on more systems just for the sake of it - like sprinkling treasure around to prospect for money, too - it feels like that would have introduced bloat. The mission mode is there for that and it seems a lot better designed and replayable than the challenge stages in Pikmin 1 or 2.

At the moment my criticisms of the game is that it could certainly use more missions if they're the same quality as what's here, so hopefully they will work on that as has been suggested. And there's a couple of needed interface tweaks such as an in-game photo album for your collection. An alternate version of the Pikilopedia would have been quite nice where you fill it out with your own photos.

For me these are really minor points contrasted against the polish and superb design of the game. IMO it is pretty much the perfect realization of Pikmin's fundamental concept.
 

marc^o^

Nintendo's Pro Bono PR Firm
WorthPlaying: 8/10
http://worthplaying.com/article/2013/8/5/reviews/90059/
Pikmin 3 is a solid sequel. It improves on the mechanics of the previous games and includes a good amount of enjoyable content. It's a very easy game to pick up and play for players of any age group, and it strikes a good balance between easy to play and difficult to master. It's exactly the kind of sequel you'd expect from the Pikmin franchise. Perhaps its biggest flaw is that it isn't a system seller.
 
I would argue a great sequel isn't afraid to drop things from previous installments for the sake of the whole. Pikmin 3 places much more emphasis on exploration and puzzles than combat compared to 2, and I think it's the better game because of it. It also sems to me even the normal enemies are more dangerous than they used to be so that even when there are fewer encounters, they are more meaningful. (Of course I may just be rusty without the super strong Purples.)

Of course if combat was your favourite part of 2, you would be disappointed.

Combat was not my favourite part of pikmin 2, the overall sense of a densely packed game with amazing humour did it for me, and the massive variety of enemies helped.
Pikmin 3 (and 1) have far better worlds to explore than 2, the caves in pikmin 2 were awful.

You can drop enemies from previous titles, that's fine,
i'd actually rather they had mostly new ones.
And i realise that they already had the engine done when making pikmin 2,
so they could just re-skin/alter a lot of the enemies.
But they lack of variety in this game in terms of enemies is very poor,
it's a simple case of throwing some fur on a bulborb, changing the color to white and maybe even make it more aggressive.

emphasising exploration and puzzles is far better than combat, but a variety in enemies is needed for the sense of discovery, and experiencing different situations.
You can drop enemies, that's fine, but if your going to do so, you need to make sure you have enough new ones to replace them. which this game didn't.
 

masud

Banned
Well you use the second analog for the camera. It would be nice if they gave you the option to customize, though you'd have to rely on centering in lieu of actual camera control

Yeah but full camera control isn't really needed as it not available when using the wiimote (unless I'm missing something). The center button is enough.
 

Kai Dracon

Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
:|

I'm not looking forward to W101 reviews.

At this point, I'm starting to suspect the default assumption in the west is that the only viable "system sellers" are: a filmic linear 3rd person action adventure; a photorealistic military shooter focused on online multiplayer with experience unlocks; or an open world sandbox game set in a contemporary environment with a heavy focus on finding and stockpiling weapons and the ability to start big fights.
 

Yoshi

Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
It's not a system seller? Why would someone who decides to buy or not to buy the game care for that? What does it even have to do with the quality of the game >.<?
 
At this point, I'm starting to suspect the default assumption in the west is that the only viable "system sellers" are: a filmic linear 3rd person action adventure; a photorealistic military shooter focused on online multiplayer with experience unlocks; or an open world sandbox game set in a contemporary environment with a heavy focus on finding and stockpiling weapons and the ability to start big fights.

Well, I don't care if it's a system seller or not. Pikmin probably isn't. It never has been, really. Being a system seller for the Wii U with its usual numbers would speak to a pretty bad situation overall with the system.

I just don't see the relevance in a review. The time to bitch about whether this sells systems or not was when it was announced two years ago. If you really feel it was a waste of resources, it should have been known there. When you're trying to communicate to people whether you think a game is good or bad, how much of a sales lifeboat it is to the console is irrelevant, at best.
 

This review... :/

The topic is Pikmin 3, not your personal 2 cents about the future of Wii U. Plus, learn how to form an idea that requires more than a 6th grade writing level.

This review gets a D-. This site should hire better writers. The writer doesn't know what a compound sentence is. The person who wrote this doesn't understand grammer or spelling. Spell check would have been a requirement for this to be readable.

I thought Pikmin 3 was pretty good. I won't buy a Wii U for it. So I'll write a review that's really about how I don't like Wii U.
 

Kai Dracon

Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
Well, I don't care if it's a system seller or not. Pikmin probably isn't. It never has been, really. Being a system seller for the Wii U with its usual numbers would speak to a pretty bad situation overall with the system.

I just don't see the relevance in a review. The time to bitch about whether this sells systems or not was when it was announced two years ago. If you really feel it was a waste of resources, it should have been known there. When you're trying to communicate to people whether you think a game is good or bad, how much of a sales lifeboat it is to the console is irrelevant, at best.

I suppose my angle is that: any game can be a system seller. It depends on who wants the system for what kind of play. But the western perspective is fixated on whether or not every game fits into a narrow range of at this point stereotypical selections.

As if there's some kind of bizarre assumption that if a game fits into one of the officially mandated categories of System Seller, it won't merely be more popular, it'll be a better game. Maybe the thinking is based on the notion that if everybody likes it, that proves it's objectively better.

Edit: upon a moment's reflection, maybe we should stop using "system seller" and instead "trendy games". Will X console sell? Maybe not, it doesn't have any trendy games. Because it's not about quality any more, but whatever is trendy with the current demographic.
 
Ok, so map questions:

The first two areas are clearly Antarctica and Australia, continental drifted into a single continent. What is the third area, up in the northeast? I can't make it out
 

zroid

Banned
For me these are really minor points contrasted against the polish and superb design of the game. IMO it is pretty much the perfect realization of Pikmin's fundamental concept.

I agree, and I think this is clear as day, even near the beginning of the game. In many ways Pikmin 2 introduced a lot of neat ideas which felt undercooked. Having two leaders, for example. Pikmin, on the other hand, was a relatively tightly designed game but it was obviously a barebones concept, which happened to be executed quite well.

Pikmin 3 immediately feels to me like a game which does at least as much in terms of evolving the gameplay over Pikmin 2 as 2 did over 1, but executes these ideas much more effectively. As a result, even though the game seems a little light on content, or missing beloved features here and there like the Piklopedia, the actual design is exceptionally tight and the systems work brilliantly. The brunt of the resources were put into making sure the fundamentals were sound, and I think it shows.

With any luck, another sequel will be able to expand on all the effort put into Pikmin 3's core design, churning out tons of new enemy types and environments and yes, an all-new Piklopedia.
 

Semajer

Member
Ok, so map questions:

The first two areas are clearly Antarctica and Australia, continental drifted into a single continent. What is the third area, up in the northeast? I can't make it out

Ah, I was hoping this topic would turn up. Although I thought that the final area was
Australia
, as I'm pretty sure you can see
Ayers Rock
as you're landing.
 

kubus

Member
Very true!

Quick question before I begin playing: I had tried to take a screenshot yesterday, but the game told me that I didn't have a certain software to upload it. Anybody know what it was talking about?
o_O

Did you download the patch for Pikmin 3? I think it added Miiverse functionality, among other things.

Otherwise: have you set up a NNID and opened Miiverse yet? Could be it.
 
Played 5 hours yesterday, and I'll be playing more as soon as I finish these New Leaf chores, but I have to say...

Even though I have a lot of games on the Wii U (both retail and VC/eShop), having Pikmin 3 (which is what I originally bought the Wii U for) makes me feel like this console purchase is justified, it's been such a great game so far, and I'm just so excited to keep on playing it.
 
With any luck, another sequel will be able to expand on all the effort put into Pikmin 3's core design, churning out tons of new enemy types and environments and yes, an all-new Piklopedia.

The core elements are all done, this is what nintendo needs to start realising,
My hope is that the positive way in which mario galaxy 2 was received,
will push them to start working on fast turn around sequels using the same core engine,
it means they can spend more time on the actual game itself.
If the pickmin 3 team aren't already working on pikmin 4 then it's a big mistake.
 
Played 5 hours yesterday, and I'll be playing more as soon as I finish these New Leaf chores, but I have to say...

Even though I have a lot of games on the Wii U (both retail and VC/eShop), having Pikmin 3 (which is what I originally bought the Wii U for) makes me feel like this console purchase is justified, it's been such a great game so far, and I'm just so excited to keep on playing it.

Yeah, I feel the same way about Pikmin 3, feels like I made the right decision. Next month is The Wonderful 101 yay :)
 
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