Pikmin 3: A Familiar Call From a Distant World

Review by: Nicholas Ware

Pikmin. The name alone conjures up memories of GameCube's golden age. Running around as Captain Olimar with your own army of Pikmin, taking on enemies, solving puzzles, and collecting treasure while trying to find your ship parts to return home. The game was interesting with its real-time strategy style gameplay, beautiful scenery, and soothing music and was popularly embraced among gamers.


With the success of Pikmin, Nintendo decided to launch a sequel to it, Pikmin 2. Introducing a new character and story as well as new Pikmin to create a new and enjoyable challenge. Using these new additions to solve new puzzles and destroy new enemies, the new Pikmin created a more diverse army to play with. It was another successful installment of the game, which left fans eagerly awaiting the next Pikmin story. With the launch of the Wii, Pikmin fans were eagerly awaiting the next chapter to make an appearance on Nintendo's new console. Sadly, that wasn't the case, as only the first 2 games were available to play. Fans had no other choice but to wait and see what Nintendo's plan would be for Pikmin. The anticipation wouldn't end until the announcement of Nintendo's next console, the Wii U.

The game was said to feature new gameplay with the capabilities allowed by the Wii U's technology. Promising a new story with new characters and gameplay. The game was supposed to be a launch title but didn't appear upon the system's release date. Multiple delays were announced when as the game approached it's release. As a Pikmin fan myself, this was an extremely disappointing time. 
After all the waiting, it finally paid off. On August 4th, 2013, Pikmin 3 hit the store shelves. 

The game introduces three new characters, which plays as a central part in the game. Characters Alph, Charlie and Brittany embark on a voyage to a new planet, PNF-404. They are in search of fruit to cultivate seeds in order to return to their home planet and save the Koppai from starving. On the descent to the planet, their ship crashes into it, separating the three astronauts. The mission is to find your lost companions and search for fruit to survive and return home with. With the help of the friendly Pikmin you find nearby, you're soon off to start your adventure. A couple new Pikmin types make an appearance to help you as well the well known blue, red, and yellow types from previous games. The title also brings the arrival of Rock Pikmin and flying Pikmin who help to bring a extra powers to your army in addition to helping with new obstacles along your quest. There are also new enemy types but many of the classics once again return. The boss battles are exceptionally crafted to say the least, making you use different strategies to take them down. Being able to multitask with the three different characters allows for new fighting strategies, new solutions to puzzles, as well as getting much more done in less time during the course of the day. This new addition helps to create a wonderful story in the land of Pikmin. Despite it's length falling shorter than the second, it still managed to be amazing; and in my opinion, it was a game worth waiting for. 


The gameplay is innovative with the new systems and addicting to the point of being unable to put down. I just wanted to continue playing to see whats next. The mission mode and boss roulette offer more replay value however, after the story mode is over. The juice the fruit produces, makes the game similar to the first with the 30 days worth of oxygen. The visuals and graphics are stunning with so much detail put into the scenery throughout the game. Enemies looked scary and beautiful at the same time and the Pikmin look better than ever. The music is calming yet fitting to the franchise. The soundtrack is that of a beautiful adventure in a world filled with curious discoveries. The difficulty varies from time to time. With some parts requiring patience and planning to get past with the least losses of time and Pikmin. Overall, this game was worth every minute i put into it and I will be sure to pick it up again for another run. For that, I give this game a 9 out of 10. Good job Nintendo. 


          

The Wii U Question:

Now the question is, is this game worth buying a Wii U for? My answer is both yes and no. If you're a fan of the Pikmin franchise and have waited for this installment, I would say yes. For any Pikmin fan this game is a wonderful and fun new way to play and provides many hours of gameplay and replay value. If you're not that much of a fan, I'd say to wait until more titles arrive in stores before you pick up the console. There's still not many titles out yet, but many promising titles are in the works. Once those games release, the Wii U may become hard to find. This may be one of the first of the Wii U's anticipated titles, and its certainly one of it's best. There seems to be great things yet to come from Nintendo, and I for one cant wait to see them. Happy gaming.