Pikmin 4 is great, and it might even be the strongest game of the series. However, in this advancement it can’t help implement new mechanics and means of approachability that dilute the once-challenging gameplay formula. Most of these features I never used once during my review playthrough, or felt confused about what exactly they’d add to the experience if I did. Nintendo takes it too far in one direction with no going back.
The biggest culprit of this shortcoming is Rewind, a new mechanic that Pikmin 4 thrusts to the forefront and never stops advertising. As the name suggests, this ability allows you to rewind to a previous checkpoint or specific moment in time whenever something goes wrong. If a Pikmin dies, you can turn back time and bring them to life, or if an entire army falls flat there is now an avenue to avoid the massacre altogether. Whenever I made even a slight mistake a disembodied voice would stem from a nearby dialogue box tempting me to use Rewind as if I couldn’t just replace my deceased Pikmin using flowers in a matter of seconds anyway.
I’ve always celebrated the unintentionally morbid nature of Pikmin, and how, despite its cute aesthetic, you are essentially an otherworldly invader ordering this planet’s inhabitants to kill its fellow wildlife and pillage resources for your own selfish gain. A dozen or so of the lovely multicoloured dudes are going to bite the dust, that’s just the cost of doing business as you follow around a stranger from another planet who happily throws you at giant insects ahead of carrying their corpses back home as a means of sustenance. Nintendo's charm aside, this is kinda messed up. I’d rather Nintendo lean into that than make it way less challenging.
You’ve also got nighttime expeditions. These tower defense horde missions are a tense thrill and present existing environments in a foreboding new light, but instead of actual exploration across these transformed biomes you’re kept to a strict time limit and objectives you must fulfil or risk being punished. I would have much preferred the same levels as daytime, but taken over by the darkness. Change the positions of enemies, introduce plentiful new treasures for us to collect, and perhaps even a new area or two.
This would better suit the game’s otherwise lackadaisical nature too, letting us navigate the night on our own terms even if things end up a little spookier. In its current form, Pikmin 4 is something of a missed opportunity, albeit one that still has you wanting to collect treasures and duke it out with bugs at every turn.
You could argue that if I don’t enjoy these new features I could simply avoid them, but they’re baked into the foundations now, and make the game less challenging or ambitious by their very existence. It’s a small gripe, but I can’t help feeling that Pikmin 4 should have gone bigger instead of simpler, chasing new features that expanded upon what we love in previous games instead of awkwardly complementing it with elements that don’t belong.
Let me explore this planet with absolute freedom instead of locking me into archaic systems with new features that only further highlight its mechanical simplicity. Pikmin 4 is far from a bad game, and is often a great one, but after a decade of waiting it could have been so much more than a predictable sequel that plays it safe.