Pikmin is a more obscure Nintendo series that recently made it’s way onto the Nintendo Switch with Pikmin 4. Pikmin is all about alien adventurers that explore, usually by crashing, new planets and discovering what they have to offer. In this game the protagonist from the first game Olimar crash landed and is in need of a rescue; however, the team sent to rescue him also crashed and are in need of a rescue. That’s where you come in. Your goal is to save everyone and get them back to their home planet and along the way you meet these mysterious plant like creatures named Pikmin that do what they are told and assist as you navigate the world and find the people and treasures hidden within.

Pikmin is one of those series that’s really hard to explain in a way that makes it sound entertaining but it’s a shockingly addicting game. Here you have all the time in the world to rescue everyone but you’re encouraged to try and delegate your Pikmin as much as possible. For example, after upgrades you can have up to 100 Pikmin out at once and you can have them collectively do one project but the true fun in the game is to find ways to have small groups of Pikmin each doing their own tasks. You can use Pikmin to open paths, gather treasure, defeat monsters and so much more. You use them by running around and throwing them at what you want them to interact with and while one can barely do anything if you have several you can move large objects, slay large monsters and take them back to base to use them to grow even more Pikmin.

One change that I thought was interesting was the onions, spaceships used to grow the Pikmin. In the previous games it really didn’t take long to find them all but in this one you actually unlock the Pikmin before you unlock a way to grow them yourself. So you’ll be in situations where you need a Pikmin type but since you have no way of replacing them if they die you are very careful in how you use them. I really liked this aspect as it really made you think hard on obstacles depending on those types. While you get Red, Blue and Yellow quickly you won’t find ways to grow Flying, Ice, Rock and more till towards the end of the game.

When you’re not exploring the overworld you also have caves. Caves are all over the map and each of them contain several treasures and potentially people to rescue. These caves are tricky because you have several floors in succession and your goal is to get to the end while collecting everything but keep in mind as you’re in the cave you can’t make new Pikmin so it’s important to be smart and not lose your Pikmin to the traps and monsters all over the place as you deal with the puzzles inside.

The real challenge is planning things out to best fit each Pikmin’s unique qualities since they come in different types. Red Pikmin are immune to fire so naturally using them for any fire breathing monsters is ideal while Blue Pikmin are the only ones able to swim so those are handy to have when you’re traversing large bodies of water. You can have up to three different types of Pikmin out at one time and the key is to find a way to have them working on several things at once or Dandori as the game refers to it as.

Speaking of Dandori that gets into the new aspect of the game called Dandori battles. In these games you and an enemy start with a set number of Pikmin and your goal is to collect the most points by growing an army of Pikmin and collecting treasure and monsters while sabotaging your enemy. Now we have seen multiplayer battles before but this is the first time we’ve had them available as a single player mode too and they were so much fun. You really have to think of a plan quickly and react on the fly a lot so it has the fast paced action we love from some of the more challenging aspects of Pikmin.

The final new addition is the night battle mode. For the first time in the history of Pikmin you can play at night. In this mode you’re introduced to a new type of Pikmin called Glow Pikmin which seem to have all of the elemental advantages of the others and can only be used either in this mode or in caves. These modes are fun as your goal is to survive the night by protecting the Pikmin base until morning as monsters come to destroy it. It’s very fast paced and using Pikmin with no need to worry about the elements works perfectly as you really don’t have time to take that into consideration in this mode.

There are some quality of life improvements too. For example you can now rewind time if you are in a cave and you stumble upon a trap that just decimates your Pikmin army or maybe you didn’t quite have enough time to get a treasure back to camp before nightfall. This does make the game far easier than the previous games, but I actually think that works well as it’s not only optional but an easier more carefree game fits the mood of Pikmin really well until it randomly decides to spring an intense challenge on you. You also have a wide array of items to use from bombs and lightning to use on your enemies or various beacons to make sure you keep track of your Pikmin because when you have 100 all over the map you’re going to lose track of a few.

Then there’s Oatchi the new companion of the series. He’s a dog like creature that can be ordered around like Pikmin and his inclusion is a game changer. I honestly had to get used to all of the improvements he offered. He can sniff out anything you’re looking for, fight, grab treasures and can basically do it all so having him around made for a valuable ally. Plus as you rescue people you gain points to upgrade him to do so much more. Either more damage, can run faster, can carry a lot more and a slew of other upgrades.

The game also has a story, sort of. Yes it’s the story of rescuing Pikmin as you come across a lot of new faces as well as some old favorites. Though really there’s only just enough story present to explain what’s going on which is fine. This isn’t a game where you get hooked on the story but rather the gameplay.

Overall Pikmin 4 is a great new addition to the series. You have more quality of life improvements and items that make the game mostly carefree until it shows it’s more difficult moments. The Pikmin are fun to use to delegate all over the map with various jobs and the new modes like Dandori and night battles offer a challenging but new feel to an already fun franchise. Pikmin 4 does a great job keeping the things that people love about the series while adding some nice stuff to make for a game with no shortage of things to do.